JTS Torah Commentary

Open Book Open Heart: Siddur Lev Shalem and the Future of Prayer

May 24, 2016 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

Lev Shalem editors Rabbis Edward Feld and Jan Uhrbach discuss with Chancellor Arnold M. Eisen the unique spiritual needs and challenges of this generation and how this new prayer book responds.

Religion and Diplomacy

May 9, 2016 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

Religion is personal, yet it looms large in international diplomacy, much as it factors into interpersonal relations. This year’s lecture is a high level conversation between two veteran diplomats, Archbishop Bernardito Auza and Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer, whose religions are essential to who they are and how they conduct their diplomatic work.

Answering the Call to Holiness Together

May 8, 2016 By Arnold M. Eisen | Public Event video

A guest sermon at the Riverside Church of New York.

Free Speech vs. Hate Speech: The Changing Contours of Free Expression

Mar 28, 2016 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

Frederick M. Lawrence—Yale Law School senior research scholar, past president of Brandeis University, and a leading  expert on civil rights, free expression, and bias crimes—explores the boundaries of free expression in the 2016 Bernard G. Segal Memorial Lecture.

The Syrian Refugee Crisis: Realities and Responses

Feb 2, 2016 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

What are the realities on the ground in Syria and other affected countries? What are our responsibilities as individuals, as a country, and as a Jewish community? How do we fulfill the Jewish moral imperative of dealing compassionately with the stranger even as we ensure domestic security?

Disabilities, Inclusion, and Jewish Education

Dec 9, 2015 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

How does the Jewish community help individuals with a range of disabilities participate meaningfully in Jewish education and Jewish life? A panel of experts discusses key innovations and challenges in the field as they apply to both formal and informal Jewish education, and explores which programs, services, and opportunities are still missing.

No Religion Is an Island

Nov 24, 2015 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

A conversation between UTS President Professor Serene Jones and JTS Chancellor Professor Arnold Eisen, celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Abraham Joshua Heschel’s revolutionary address at Union Theological Seminary.

The State of Israel: Messianism Without a Messiah?

Nov 23, 2015 By Benjamin R. Gampel | Public Event video

This presentation explores what the messianic idea has meant for Jews through the ages and in contemporary Israeli politics—and the dramatic implications of messianic thinking in shaping the future and fate of the Jewish state.

50 Years of Jewish-Catholic Dialogue

Nov 20, 2015 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

Mordechay Lewy, the Immediate Past Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Holy See, delivers a lecture titled, “50 Years of Jewish-Catholic Dialogue.”

I Am My Beloved’s: Challenges of Marriage and Relationships in Contemporary Society

Nov 5, 2015

This panel, featuring Daniel Jones, editor of “Modern Love,” Dr. Mona Fishbane, couple therapy specialist, and Rabbi Aaron Brusso of Bet Torah, Mount Kisco, New York, focuses on the challenges within contemporary marriages and relationships in our society and particularly in the Jewish community. Rabbi Mychal Springer, Helen Fried Kirshblum Goldstein Chair in Professional and Pastoral Skills and director of the Center for Pastoral Education at JTS, moderates.

Timothy Cardinal Dolan: 50 Years of Nostra Aetate

May 7, 2015 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

His Eminence Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan celebrates Jewish-Catholic relations on the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetate.

The American Jewish Conversation about Israel

Apr 30, 2015

Once a great source of unity and pride for American Jews, Israel now often leads to impassioned conflict, heated debate, and even alienation within our community. J.J. Goldberg, Jonathan Tobin, and Rabbi Melissa Weintraub  explore whether anything can and should be done to bridge our polarization; whether there should be any “red lines” in discussing Israel, either for individuals or for Jewish communal organizations; and how the way we talk to each other about Israel impacts the American Jewish community, especially among younger generations, and how it affects Israel.

Defeating DOMA: The Changing Nature of Equality Under the US Constitution

Mar 18, 2015

Roberta Kaplan, Partner, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, who successfully argued before the United States Supreme Court the landmark U.S. V. Windsor marriage equality case, which struck down a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), explores this groundbreaking ruling. Dozens of courts have relied explicitly on this case to accord gay couples equal rights under the law.

Hanukkah Reignited! 1 Wondering Jew, Lab/Shul, and Friends Light Up JTS

Dec 2, 2014 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video | Hanukkah

A panel discussion with Jewish Daily Forward columnist Abigail Pogrebin and Lab/Shul founder Amichai Lau-Lavie (RS ’16) cohost this panel featuring Bruce Feiler, Rabba Sara Hurwitz, Rabbi David Ingber, Rabbi Jill Hammer, and Rabbi Burton L. Visotzky, and a performance with students from JTS’s cantorial school, cantors and song leaders of New York City congregations, and Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary.

Gaza, the IDF Code of Ethics, and the Morality of War

Nov 20, 2014

This summer, Israel faced a war with Gaza, but what are the moral implications involved in such a war? The Jewish Theological Seminary’s (JTS) Chancellor Arnold M. Eisen and Dr. Moshe Halbertal, Gruss Professor of Law at New York University School of Law discuss this complicated topic.

Veterans Day at JTS: Honoring US Military, Veterans, and Chaplains with Admiral Michelle Howard

Nov 10, 2014

What does the US Navy have to say about morals? Admiral Michelle Howard, the first female four-star admiral in the history of the US Navy, lectures on ethics and diversity.

Women of Value: Is the Bible a Patriarchal Text?

Oct 27, 2014 By Amy Kalmanofsky | Public Event video

Is the Bible a Patriarchal Text? Dr. Amy Kalmanofsky presents this topic at the opening plenary session of the Jewish Women’s University for a Day, an adult learning program hosted by JTS on Sunday, October 27, 2013 at Rice University in Houston, Texas.

MK Dr. Ruth Calderon’s JTS Commencement Address 2014

May 22, 2014

MK Dr. Ruth Calderon gives the 2014 JTS Commencement Address.

Eisen on Covenant at the Rabbinical Assembly

May 12, 2014 By Arnold M. Eisen | Public Event video | Short Video

The Future of Judaism and Islam on American Campuses

Feb 18, 2014 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

Judaism and Islam have quite a bit in common, so how can these two religions learn from each other, especially in the collegiate setting? This topic is discussed in this Annual John Paul II Center Lecture, including panelists Imam Abdullah Antepli of Duke University, Rabbi Gail Swedroe of the University of Florida Hillel, and Professor Mehnaz Afridi of Manhattan College, and moderated by Huffington Post Executive Religion Editor Rev. Paul Raushenbush.