JTS Torah Commentary

Memory on Trial: Evaluating Eyewitness Identification Evidence In The 21st Century

Jan 23, 2013 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

Shalom, Shalom, Yet There is No Peace: Waging Peace and Making War

Dec 13, 2012 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

How can the United States defend its freedoms? What is required to promote peace around the world? And, what was it like to be the highest-ranking Jewish officer in the US military?

The Fiction of Teshuvah

Nov 20, 2012

Does anyone ever really change their ways? Can we become “someone new”? Is teshuvah really possible, or is it just fiction? Best-selling authors Susan Isaacs and Linda Fairstein as they discuss this topic through the characters in their books.

Judaism Without Revelation?

Oct 5, 2012

“Can There Be Judaism Without Revelation?” As part of the Tikvah Institute’s lecture series on Contemporary Jewish Philosophy, Professor Michael Morgan from the University of Toronto delivers a talk on just how necessary a central point of Jewish belief system truly is.

Maimonides and the Messiah

Oct 5, 2012

Professor Kenneth Seeskin, Northwestern University, discusses “Maimonides on the Days of the Messiah—Restorative or Utopian?”

On Holiness

Oct 5, 2012

If holiness is defined as transcendence, how does one emulate God’s transcendence? Dr. Lenn Goodman delivers a lecture relating to this topic.

The Renewal of the Covenant

Oct 5, 2012

The third in a series on Contemporary Jewish Philosophy by The Tikvah Institute for Jewish Thought at JTS, Rabbi Irving “Yitz” Greenberg delivers a lecture entitled “The Renewal of the Covenant- Humanity Come of Age.”

Zionism and Jewish Theology

Oct 5, 2012

Dr. David Novak of the University of Toronto, delivers a talk entitled “Zionism and Jewish Theology” as part of a series on Contemporary Jewish Theology by The Tikvah Institute for Jewish Thought of The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS).

Doing Jewish Theology Today

Oct 5, 2012 By Arnold M. Eisen | Public Event video

What does it mean to be a Jew in the modern world? Professor Arnold Eisen, Rabbi Julie Roth, Rabbi Gordon Tucker, and Rabbi Neil Gillman discuss this topic throughout the program, “Doing Jewish Theology Today: God, Torah, and Israel in Modern Judaism.”

Gillman on Gillman

Oct 5, 2012 By Neil Gillman (z”l) | Public Event video

What does it mean to be a Jew in the modern world? Professor Arnold Eisen, Rabbi Julie Roth, Rabbi Gordon Tucker, and Rabbi Neil Gillman discuss this topic throughout the program, “Doing Jewish Theology Today: God, Torah, and Israel in Modern Judaism.”

God As Immanent

Oct 5, 2012 By Gordon Tucker | Public Event video

What does it mean to be a Jew in the modern world? Rabbi Gordon Tucker describes a vision of an immanent God. A clip from “Doing Jewish Theology Today: God, Torah, and Israel in Modern Judaism.”

God on Campus

Oct 5, 2012 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

What does it mean to be a Jew in the modern world? Rabbi Julie Roth reflects on the role of God and theology in the lives of college students. A clip from “Doing Jewish Theology Today: God, Torah, and Israel in Modern Judaism.”

Preaching the Gospel of Martin Luther King Jr.

Oct 5, 2012

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. became famous in his protests that advocated for the equal treatment of African Americans. Reverend Dr. James Alexander Forbes Jr., the senior minister emeritus of Riverside Church in New York City and president of the Healing of the Nations Foundation delivers a lecture continuing on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophies.

A Jewish Feminine Mystique? Jewish Women in Postwar America

Oct 5, 2012

“A Jewish Feminine Mystique? Jewish Women in Postwar America” is a discussion between editors Shira Kohn, assistant dean of The Graduate School of JTS, and Rachel Kranson, a postdoctoral research fellow in Yiddish Studies at the libraries of New York University.

As Light Before Dawn: The Inner World of a Medieval Kabbalist

Oct 5, 2012 By Eitan Fishbane | Public Event video

Dr. Eitan Fishbane, assistant professor in the Department of Jewish Though, discusses his new book “As Light Before Dawn- The Inner World of a Medieval Kabbalist” in this book talk held through The Library of JTS.

Hope Will Find You: My Search for the Wisdom to Stop Waiting and Start Living

Oct 5, 2012

Rabbi Naomi Levy delivers a talk on her new book Hope Will Find You: My Search for the Wisdom to Stop Waiting and Start Living.

The Sabbath with Judith Shulevitz

Oct 5, 2012

Author Judith Shulevitz participates in the Henry N. Rapaport Memorial Lecture at The Jewish Theological Seminary, discussing her recent book, The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time. She is joined in dialogue by Rabbi Shai Held, cofounder of Mechon Hadar.

Translating Psalms

Oct 5, 2012 By Stephen A. Geller | Public Event video

Translating Psalms: A Reading and Reflection. A discussion with translator Pamela Greenberg

New American Haggadah

Oct 5, 2012

An extraordinary conversation with one of America’s most acclaimed and influential young authors discussing the timelessness of the Passover story, the thinking behind the New American Haggadah, the secret desire of Jewish writers to be rabbis, and more.

Making Our Democracy Work

Oct 5, 2012

The 2012 Bernard G. Segal Memorial Lecture in Law and Ethics
Why does the American public accepts the Court’s decisions? What must the Court do to maintain the public’s trust? How do our courts make our democracy work? This and more is discussed in this lecture by Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer of the United States Supreme Court.