Explore JTS’s Online Torah

We invite you to search our vast collection of today’s most compelling Jewish conversations, teaching, and resources, including weekly Torah commentaries, online lectures, curricula for community use, and more.

Use the search bar and filters to find what inspires you.

Reflections on the Torah reading cycle

Learn more

Commentaries and more on the themes, texts, and liturgy of the holidays.

Learn more

Live series with JTS teachers

Learn more

Learn on the go

Learn more

Videos of public events

Learn more

The tunes for Shabbat, festival, and high holiday services and Torah readings

Learn more

Featured

Jacob’s Fear

Dec 5, 2025 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Vayishlah

The Torah wants us to identify with the ancestors we meet in the book of Genesis; indeed, Abraham and Sarah and their children become our ancestors when we agree not only to read their stories, but to take them forward. Abraham “begat” Isaac in one sense by supplying the seed for his conception. He “begat” him as well by shaping the life that Isaac would live, setting its direction, digging wells that his son would re-dig, making Isaac’s story infinitely more meaningful—and terrifying—by placing him in the line of partners with God in covenant. So it is with us. Nowhere is this impact of the ancestors more obvious than in the case of Jacob, who in this week’s parashah receives the name by which we heirs to the covenant call ourselves to this day: Israel. The ancestors are us, if we accept the Torah’s invitation to make them so. We are them: the latest chapter in the story that they lived and bequeathed to us, and which we have chosen to live and bequeath to others.

A Scholarly Revolution: Rewriting the Rules of Talmud Study

Dec 1, 2025 By Judith Hauptman | Public Event video | Video Lecture

In his many volumes of Talmud commentary, beginning with publication of the first in 1968, Professor David Weiss Halivni introduced a groundbreaking approach to Talmud study: distinguishing between the attributed teachings of the rabbis and the anonymous editorial layer that surrounds them. This interpretive revolution transformed the field, offering a powerful tool for understanding the development of rabbinic thought.

The Monumental Act of Listening

Nov 28, 2025 By Jessica Fisher | Commentary | Vayetzei

Parashat Vayetzei brings us to a climactic moment of a 20-year conflict between Jacob and Laban. When Jacob came to Laban’s house after tricking his own father and brother, Laban made him work for seven years to earn the right to marry Rachel, only to be tricked into marrying Leah. So he worked seven more years and finally married Rachel. More hiding and trickery ensued, until finally Jacob decided it was time to leave this toxic dynamic and he snuck away with his family. But Laban caught up to them and, after years of deceit, they had it out with each other, putting everything on the table once and for all: Laban was hurt that Jacob had left without giving him a chance to say goodbye to his children and grandchildren; Jacob was resentful for the years of hard labor, lies, and harsh treatment. (Gen. 31:26-42)

Possibility and Peril: Jews and the Russian Revolution

Nov 24, 2025 By David Fishman | Public Event video | Video Lecture

The Russian Revolution promised liberation and equality, but for Jews its legacy was far more complex. Dr. David Fishman examined the Jewish socialist movement known as the Bund, the revolutionary role of figures like Leon Trotsky, and Lenin’s complex position on the “Jewish question.” Through images and historical context, we’ll consider how the Revolution promised liberation even as it imposed new constraints, and how radical politics reshaped Jewish identity and community in the Soviet era.

Finding Our Way (and God’s) in the World

Nov 21, 2025 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Toledot

What do you make of our matriarch Rebecca? Certainly she is the boldest and most independent of the mothers. When as a girl she sees a stranger at the well, she rushes to water his caravan of thirsty camels, and then invites him to stay at her house. When offered the chance to travel with this man back to a distant land and a mysterious husband, she volunteers without hesitation. When her pregnancy becomes difficult, she seeks out God and challenges God with the bold question, “Why do I need this?” When her husband seems ready to bless the wrong son, she quickly conspires to rearrange the action so that Jacob will receive the primary blessing. In all of these actions, Rebecca is seen as a woman of strength and decisiveness.

Pages:

JTS Torah Commentary

Explore JTS’s Online Torah

Read weekly Torah commentaries

Holiday Learning and Resources

Join online classes

Listen to JTS podcasts

Watch lecture recordings

Nusah & Cantillation