JTS Torah Commentary

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.

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.

Peshat: The Reinvention of Reading During the Twelfth Century Renaissance

Nov 10, 2025 By Robert Harris | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Dr. Robert Harris, Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages, JTS

Beginning in the 9th century in the Arabic-speaking Sephardic world and continuing through the 12th century in northern France, Jewish scholars introduced a new approach to reading the Bible. Alongside the traditional Rabbinic midrashim that had guided Jewish understanding for generations, they began writing plain-sense commentaries known as peshat. Reading the Bible was never the same!

Before the Print Revolution: Manuscripts and the World They Made

Nov 3, 2025 By Marcus Mordecai Schwartz | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Before the print revolution transformed how Jews accessed and spread knowledge, handwritten manuscripts shaped Jewish intellectual and spiritual life. In this session, Dr. Mordecai Schwartz explores the quiet revolutions embedded in manuscript culture—from scribal innovation to marginal commentary—and what they reveal about continuity, creativity, and change before Gutenberg. This session will highlight pieces on display at the Grolier Club of NYC in the exhibit, “Jewish Worlds Illuminated: A Treasury of Hebrew Manuscripts from The JTS Library,” which features over 100 manuscript and book offerings from The Library.

Monotheism: Evolution or Revolution

Oct 20, 2025 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Professor Benjamin Sommer discussed the debate among modern scholars about the origin of biblical monotheism: did this religious idea develop gradually among the ancient Israelites during the biblical period, or did it appear suddenly early in Israelite history? To what extent were the theological beliefs of the biblical authors radically innovative, and to what extent did they display continuity with the religions of the Israelites neighbors in Canaan, Babylonia, Assuria, and Egypt?

When It’s Easier to Hide: Jonah, Antisemitism, and Moral Courage

Sep 29, 2025 By Shuly Rubin Schwartz | Public Event video | Video Lecture | Yom Kippur

As we prepare for the Days of Awe, the Book of Jonah calls us not only to repentance, but to responsibility—especially in a fractured and fearful world. In this session, Chancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz explored Jonah’s reluctance to engage, his desire to retreat, and God’s challenge to him—and to us. The Book of Jonah summons us to engage and build bridges—even with those who may seem distant or hostile. This session engaged what it means to be brave and morally grounded when it would be easier to turn away—and how, like Jonah, each of us has the power to make a difference. 

Jews, Non-Jews, and the Purpose of the High Holidays

Sep 16, 2025 By David C. Kraemer | Public Event video | Video Lecture | Rosh Hashanah | Yom Kippur

The Amidah for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur presents a striking, even radical, vision: a world where God alone reigns, where all people—Jewish and not—live in peace, and oppressive regimes vanish. In this vision, the Jewish people are neither erased nor centered. Instead, they are part of a broader human hope. 

Beyond the Sermon: What the High Holiday Prayers Offer and Demand

Sep 8, 2025 By Jan Uhrbach | Public Event video | Video Lecture | Rosh Hashanah | Yom Kippur

We begin our High Holiday webinar series with guidance for how to engage more meaningfully in the prayer part of High Holiday services. Famously long and repetitive, services on these days may sometimes feel overwhelming, boring, or even alienating. In this session, Rabbi Jan Uhrbach, Director of the Block / Kolker Center for Spiritual Arts at JTS, offered practical strategies for participating more fully, and insight into what these services really ask of us and what they offer—especially in tumultuous uncertain times. Along the way, Rabbi Uhrbach will share some of her favorite passages in the Conservative Movement’s Machzor Lev Shalem, for which she was a member of the Editorial Committee. Whether you’re a seasoned prayergoer or showing up with hesitation, this session will help you begin the High Holiday season with openness, intention, and agency.

JTS High Holiday Webinars 2025

Jul 14, 2025

The High Holidays invite us into a season of profound reflection—not only on who we are as individuals, but on how we show up for one another and the world. This three-part webinar series explores the emotional and spiritual heart of this sacred time, focusing on the themes of vulnerability, responsibility, and connection.

Together, we’ll consider what it means to pray with presence, to engage meaningfully with others—even across difference—and to see these days not just as a personal journey, but as a call to collective transformation. Whether you are returning to familiar rituals or seeking a new way in, this series offers space to reflect, connect, and prepare with intention.

Meeting the Moment: Urgent Questions for Israel and American Jews

May 19, 2025 By Arnold M. Eisen | Public Event video | Video Lecture

In a time of deep internal division and existential challenges for Israel, what are the most urgent issues facing the Jewish state today—and how can American Jews meaningfully engage? Professor Arnold M. Eisen, Rabbi Gordon Tucker, and Rabbi Ayelet Cohen of The Jewish Theological Seminary had a thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation based on the themes that emerged at the Israel at a Crossroads Convening. Together, they explored how Jewish values can guide us in responding to this critical moment: bridging divides, sustaining hope, and strengthening our collective future. 

Healing Together: How Those in Trauma Provide Care for Others

May 12, 2025 By Naomi Kalish | Public Event video | Video Lecture

How do individuals experiencing trauma find the strength to support others in crisis? Rabbi Naomi Kalish, Harold and Carole Wolfe Director of the Center for Pastoral Education at JTS, discusses this and other topics with Rabbi Annabelle Tenzer, chaplain at Hadassah Hospital-Ein Kerem. Together, they will explore how trauma survivors can also serve as caregivers and highlight key organizations working to provide emotional and spiritual support. This conversation offers insights into resilience, compassion, and communal care in times of crisis.  

A Vision for Storytelling

May 4, 2025

Acclaimed author Jonathan Safran Foer interviewed program director Etgar Keret to announce the launch of  JTS’s MFA in Creative Writing. Together, they’ll discuss the art of contemporary storytelling and their vision for JTS’s groundbreaking new MFA. 

Israel at a Crossroads – Expanding the Conversation

Apr 28, 2025

This series builds on the discussions from JTS’s Israel at the Crossroads convening, bringing JTS alumni into conversation about the evolving challenges of Israeli identity, culture, and collective resilience. Through explorations of art, spirituality, and national memory, we will consider how Israeli society navigates questions of belonging, pluralism, and meaning in this complex moment. By engaging voices from across disciplines, Expanding the Conversation seeks to illuminate the ways individuals and communities are shaping Israel’s cultural and spiritual landscape today.

The “Art” of Zionist Thought and Israeli Identity

Apr 28, 2025 By Matthew Berkowitz | Public Event video | Video Lecture | Yom Hazikaron-Yom Ha'atzma'ut

In this session, we explored classical works of pre-State and Israeli art that reflect the ethos of the Zionist vision.  Visual art and the artists behind these creations were in animated conversation with classical and modern Zionist voices.  We reflected on the extent to which the material artistic culture of Israel reflects and engages compelling spiritual and national visions of Zionism and a State for the Jews, in light of current events and the ways artists and cultural institutions are responding to this moment

JTS MFA in Writing: The Power of Storytelling 

Mar 31, 2025

Acclaimed Israeli author Etgar Keret, the director of the JTS MFA in Writing, shared his passion for storytelling in this session of our series, “What’s Next: New Ways of Engaging with Jewish Text” He spoke with Lisa Springer, Dean of the Division of Lifelong and Professional Studies (DLPS) and Associate Provost for Continuing and Digital Learning.

Who Shall Cross: A Talmudic Reimagining of the Passover Narrative

Mar 24, 2025 By Jan Uhrbach | Public Event video | Pesah

In preparation for your seder, Rabbi Jan Uhrbach, Director of the Block / Kolker Center for Spiritual Arts, led a thought-provoking session, exploring a Talmudic story that reflects key themes of Passover, raising profound questions about free will, obligation, and inclusion. How do we determine our purpose? Who are our fellow travelers, and what do we owe them? This discussion offers new insights to bring to your Passover table.

From Online Auction to JTS Special Collections: How Two Historic Bibles Were Reunited in the JTS Library 

Mar 17, 2025 By David Zev Moster | Public Event video | Video Lecture

This summer, for his 40th birthday, David Moster purchased a rare set of books from the 1800s. The chain of events that followed led to the JTS Library temporarily welcoming a rare and valuable 13th Century Tanakh manuscript into its collection. In this session, you learn about the fascinating backstory of this manuscript and the thrilling story of its reunification. We explore how the study of manuscripts and the scribes who created them can help you think about your own translation and interpretation of the Tanakh.

The Masks of Doubt: Exploring Purim, Uncertainty, and the Hidden Divine

Mar 10, 2025 By Rabbi David Ingber | Public Event video | Video Lecture | Purim

Purim is a celebration of uncertainty—a holiday that invites us to embrace the hidden, the paradoxical, and the unknown. Join Romemu’s Rabbi David Ingber for a deep dive into the mystical themes of Purim, where doubt becomes a gateway to faith and masks reveal more profound truths. Together, we explore how the story of Purim reflects the concealment of the Divine, the role of chance and chaos in our lives, and the profound spiritual lessons that arise when we step into the space of not knowing. Discover how Purim challenges us to find meaning and connection amid mystery.

“Youth Shall See Visions”: Engaging the Next Generation of JTS Learners and Doers

Mar 3, 2025

In this past year, JTS launched two national fellowship programs for teens: Ruchot (in partnership with the Rabbinical Assembly, Adas Israel Congregation, USY, USCJ, and Ramah), which engages them in community organizing and social action, and the Emerging Leaders Fellowship, a student-led research program that introduces high school students to academic Jewish Studies. Both programs are inviting young Jews to establish their own connections to Jewish life and tradition. 

JTS Rabbinic Convocation 2025

Mar 3, 2025

JTS bestowed honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees at a convocation ceremony recognizing rabbis for their achievements over many years of distinguished service.