In 1969 I spent a year in London. I was supposed to be studying politics and sociology, but I spent more time at anti-war rallies and protests, at folk-music clubs and concerts, writing articles, and traveling around England and Europe, than I did in class. On a whim, however, I decided to take a course in Jewish history at University College, taught by a professor named Chimen Abramsky, whom I had not heard of before that. Despite my general indifference to academic matters, I rarely missed a session of Abramsky's course, which met in a tiny classroom.
