Rabbi Dovid Katz, PhD is lauded for his extensive knowledge of Jewish History, his engaging and insightful lecture series, and eye opening historical international tours. He has been at the helm of Beth Abraham Congregation in Baltimore for almost 20 years and was the driving force behind the revitalization of this beloved synagogue after the tragic passing of it's founding Rav. Rabbi Katz has attracted a following not only at Beth Abraham (where, besides weekly sermons, he gives three classes a week, including a very popular weekday seminar for women), but in the Baltimore Jewish community and beyond. He also teaches at Talmudical Academy, lectures at Johns Hopkins Univeristy (“Introduction to the History of Rabbinic Literature”) and University of Maryland (a survey course in Jewish history), and appears as a scholar-in-residence at various venues around the country. In the past few years he has been to Houston, St. Louis, New Haven, Conn., Teaneck, N.J., Lancaster, Pa., and elsewhere. He is currently working on several projects about Judaism in the early modern era. Born in Baltimore, he graduated from the Talmudical Academy, received semicha [ordination] from Ner Israel Rabbinical College, a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, and his doctorate from the University of Maryland. His dissertation was on early modern Jewish history (the period between 1492 and 1790). He has been a contributing editor and translator of the ArtScroll edition of the Babylonian Talmud, and has appeared in a diverse variety of scholarly publications, from the Journal of Halachah and Contemporary Society and Yeshurun (a 75-page biography of Rabbi Yaakov Ruderman) to the Catholic Historical Review (“The Medici State and the Ghetto of Florence”). As a professor of Jewish History at Johns Hopkins University and University of Maryland, Rabbi Katz uses his comprehensive knowledge of history to crystallize complex timelines and provide context that allows well known figures and incidents to become human once again in the eyes of his students and audiences. Rabbi Katz has built a diverse community of thinkers, encouraging people from every walk of life to examine their connections to their past and consider how those connections will affect their future.