JTS Torah Online

Can Citizens Be Friends?

May 2, 2023

How much divisiveness, anger, contempt, distrust, and fear can democratic citizens have for one another before a democratic society irreparably weakens? Political philosophers since Aristotle have wondered about what citizens owe one another; whether they ought to recognize and respect one another’s views, profound disagreements notwithstanding. The ideal of mutual respect among democratic citizens as a foundation for a thriving civil society is called “civic friendship.” Join us as we explore this idea and its potential for diminishing the “civic enmity” that afflicts the US today.

Between the Lines: The Kabbalistic Tree

Mar 29, 2023 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

The Kabbalistic Tree, by J.H. Chajes, is the first book to explore the esoteric artifacts at the heart of Jewish mystical practice for the past 700 years: ilanot (trees). Melding maps, mandalas, and mnemonic memory palaces, ilanot provided kabbalists with diagrammatic representation of their structured image of the Divine. Scrolling an ilan parchment in contemplative study, the kabbalist participated mimetically in tikkun, the […]

Between Words and Pictures: Medieval Illuminated Haggadot from the JTS Library  

Mar 23, 2023 By Marcus Mordecai Schwartz | Public Event video | Pesah

This session explored some of the priceless treasures in JTS’s collection of Haggadah manuscripts. We consider how the text of the Haggadah and the accompanying hand-drawn illustrations are—or are not—in conversation with each other and make some other unexpected discoveries between the covers of these rare medieval manuscripts. 

Between the Lines: Shanda: A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy

Mar 14, 2023 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

SHANDA: A MEMOIR OF SHAME AND SECRECY Part of Between the Lines: Author Conversations from The Library of JTS The word “shanda” is defined as shame or disgrace in Yiddish. This book, Shanda, tells the story of three generations of complicated, intense 20th-century Jews for whom the desire to fit in and the fear of public […]

Between the Lines: Sephardic Food and Culture

Mar 8, 2023 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

Dr. Hélène Jawhara Piñer and Dr. Benjamin Gampel discuss how the mass conversion of Iberian Jews in the late 14th and 15th centuries, initially triggered by the anti-Jewish riots that swept Castile and Aragon in 1391, led to distinctive and identifiable food and eating practices among those Jews who were compelled to embrace the Christian faith.

Between the Lines: We Are Not One

Feb 7, 2023 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

In We Are Not One, historian Eric Alterman traces the debate about the fate of the state of Israel, and the Zionist movement that gave birth to it, from its 19th-century origins. Following Israel’s 1948/49 War of Independence (called the Nakba or “catastrophe” by Palestinians), few Americans, including few Jews, paid much attention to Israel or the challenges it faced. Following the 1967 Six Day War, however, almost overnight, support for Israel became the primary component of American Jews’ collective identity. Over time, Jewish organizations joined forces with conservative Christians and neoconservative pundits and politicos to wage a tenacious fight to define Israel’s image in the US media, popular culture, Congress, and on college campuses. We Are Not One reveals how our consensus on Israel and Palestine emerged and why, today, it is fracturing.

Searching for the Sacred: Why Jewish Theology Still Matters

Jan 25, 2023

Can Jewish thought help us understand our role in confronting climate change? Can it guide us when facing the loss of a loved one? In our modern, technology-saturated society, are there ways to feel close to God, to sense and appreciate sacred moments? Can Jewish theology speak to issues we care about and bring greater meaning to our lives? Rabbi Neil Gillman (z”l)—who taught theology at JTS and at countless synagogues during his long and distinguished career—believed that Jewish theology should be the province of all Jews and that it should honestly address the challenges of the day.

Mishnah Study in Observance of the Yahrzeit of Abraham Joshua Heschel (z”l)

Jan 11, 2023 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

The evening of January 10, 2023/18 Tevet 5783 marked the fiftieth yahrzeit of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (z”l). It is a traditional custom, especially in the Hasidic world in which Rabbi Heschel was nurtured, to study mishnah on a yahrzeit, focusing on mishnayot beginning with letters that spell out the name of the departed soul. It is considered to be anעילוי נשמה –a way of giving the soul yet another ascension (noting that in Hebrew, “mishnah” is an anagram of “neshamah” [soul]).

Between the Lines: The Stories They Tell

Dec 13, 2022 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

Dr. Judith Hauptman upends the long-held theory of the immutability of halakhah, Jewish law. In her detailed analysis of over 80 short halakhic anecdotes in the Babylonian Talmud, she shows that the Talmud itself promotes halakhic change. She leads the reader through one sugya (discussion unit) after another, accumulating evidence for her rather radical thesis. Along the […]

JTS Rabbinic Convocation, December 2022

Dec 5, 2022 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

Honor a Rabbi with a Donation to JTS We invite you to make a contribution to JTS in honor of your rabbi or one of the other Conservative rabbis recognized for over 25 years of distinguished service. Your gift helps educate a new generation of spiritual leaders for the Jewish people. Program PROCESSIONAL (0:00)Opening niggun […]

Between the Lines: The Object of Jewish Literature

Dec 5, 2022 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

THE OBJECT OF JEWISH LITERATURE: A MATERIAL HISTORY JTS Professor Barbara E. Mann discusses her latest book, The Object of Jewish Literature, a history of modern Jewish literature that explores our enduring attachment to the book as an object. With the rise of digital media, the “death of the book” has been widely discussed. But the physical object […]

Between the Lines: Choosing Hope

Nov 14, 2022 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

Throughout our history, Jews have traditionally responded to our trials with hope, psychologist David Arnow says, because we have had ready access to Judaism’s abundant reservoir of hope. The first book to explore the depths of this reservoir, Choosing Hope journeys from biblical times to our day to explore nine fundamental sources of hope in Judaism.

In a Human Voice: In Conversation with Psychologist Carol Gilligan

Nov 3, 2022 By The Center for Pastoral Education &nbsp | Public Event video

Psychologist Carol Gilligan revolutionized her field’s understanding of gender with her 1982 book, In A Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development. Her work in the field focused on the human voice and inspired and informed a feminist-oriented movement in philosophical ethics known as the ethics of care.

Rabbi Naomi Kalish is be in conversation with Professor Gilligan. The two talk about her background, reflect on the influence of her Jewish upbringing, and discuss her groundbreaking work and its implications for today, forty years later.

Between the Lines: Inside Jewish Day Schools

Oct 27, 2022 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

Part of Between the Lines: Author Conversations from The Library of JTS Dr. Jack Wertheimer, professor of American Jewish history at JTS, co-authored with Alex Pomson the new book Inside Jewish Day Schools: Leadership, Learning, and Community, which seeks to demystify Jewish day schools. His book talk addresses a number of questions: What revolutionary changes characterize current […]

Between the Lines: The Book of Revolutions

Sep 20, 2022 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

This is a conversation about The Book of Revolutions: The Battles of Priests, Prophets and Kings with author Rabbi Edward Feld and JTS’s Rabbi Jan Uhrbach. In dramatic historical accounts grounded in recent Bible scholarship, Feld unveils the epic saga of ancient Israel as the visionary legacy of inspired authors in different times and places.

Expanding the Canon: Transforming Judaism in the 21st Century

May 15, 2022

Jewish learning has long focused on texts by an elite group of ancient rabbis. What would it mean to radically expand our canon, incorporating the voices of women, Jews of Color, people with disabilities, and other historically marginalized groups? JTS scholars will introduce new voices and also offer new lenses through which to read ancient texts. Together we will explore how diversifying our canonical texts can help us create a more inclusive Jewish community. 

Reaching for the Heavens:
The Music of Composer Gerald Cohen

May 10, 2022 By Gerald Cohen | Public Event video

Download Program Amid the Alien Corn Text Reaching for the Heavens featured the vibrant and compelling music of Gerald Cohen, a leading composer of concert and Jewish music, and a faculty member of the H. L. Miller Cantorial School for nearly 30 years, as well as the Cassatt String Quartet and other renowned performers. The […]

Between the Lines: Hélène Jawhara Piñer on the History of Sephardi Cuisine

Apr 27, 2022 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

Scholar and author Hélène Jawhara Piñer discusses her unique books about Sephardi cuisine and demonstrates how to make a delicious muleta

Writing Jewish: A Discussion with Nicole Krauss and Joshua Cohen

Apr 25, 2022 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

Part of JTS’s Opening Season Jews have always been writers of books—from books for Jews with self-consciously Jewish content to books with no obvious Jewish consciousness directed toward the general reading public. But there are also authors who create worlds filled with Jews (and others) who embody human experiences with a Jewish twist for readers […]

The Still, Small Voice: A Journalist and Her Rabbi on Regaining Intimate, Authentic Conversation

Apr 6, 2022 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

Two years ago, when the pandemic first hit, good friends Dahlia Lithwick and Rabbi Jan Uhrbach decided it was time to begin the weekly Jewish study session they’d been talking about for a while.