In 1993, the Historical Society of Israel established a lecture series in memory of Prof. Menahem Stern, one of the most renowned historians of Jewish history of the Second Temple period. Prof. Stern served as the chairman of the Historical Society of Israel, editor of Zion, and chairman of the editorial board of the Zalman Shazar Center. Prof. Stern was murdered on June 22, 1989, while walking to the Jewish National Library in Jerusalem.

Each year the Historical Society of Israel invites a distinguished historian of world renown to Israel to deliver a series of three public lectures. The guest lecturers are those whose unique contributions to historical research ranks them among the top scholars of our times. The Jerusalem Lectures in History in Memory of Menahem Stern showcases never-before-presented research. The lectures are published in English by the Historical Society of Israel in a special series through Indiana University Press, and in Hebrew by the Historical Society of Israel and The Hebrew University Magnes Press.