JTS Torah Commentary

Expanding the Conversation: Nasreen Haddad Haj-Yahya

By Expanding the Conversation | Podcast or Radio Program

What does it mean to live fully in two worlds—and feel at home in neither?

In this episode of Expanding the Conversation, Dr. Nasreen Haddad Haj-Yahya, one of Israel’s leading experts on Arab society and state policy, shares a deeply personal and analytical perspective on the experience of Palestinian citizens of Israel. Drawing from her research and lived experience, she explores how government policy, economic marginalization, and social separation shape everyday life for Arab Israelis—and what it means to seek belonging, dignity, and equality in a divided society.

This conversation, recorded after her appearance at the JTS convening Israel at a Crossroads, offers a rare and nuanced window into the complexities of identity, the enduring impact of the Nation-State Law, and the fragile promise of a shared future.

Expanding the Conversation: Roy Peled

By Expanding the Conversation | Podcast or Radio Program

In this episode, Dr. Roy Peled—legal scholar and former youth activist—reflects on the legal and political forces shaping Israel’s identity. Speaking at the Israel at a Crossroads convening, Speaking at the Israel at a Crossroads convening, Peled traces the unfinished story of Israel’s constitution and the impact of Basic Laws on minority rights—especially the Arab minority. With clarity and nuance, he unpacks the political forces behind the Nation-State Law, the shifting role of the judiciary, and the tensions between national identity and democratic principles.

Expanding the Conversation: Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib

By Expanding the Conversation | Podcast or Radio Program

In this powerful episode, Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib—a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a Palestinian American raised in Gaza—shares his story of survival, loss, and conviction. Speaking at the Israel at a Crossroads convening, Ahmed explores the personal and collective traumas that shape Palestinian life today, including the devastating impact of the current war on his own family.

Sacred Words: Revealing the Earliest Hebrew Book

By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary

Sacred Words: Revealing the Earliest Hebrew Book March 19–July 24 After 1,300 years of untold travels along the Silk Road, the oldest Hebrew book reveals its remarkable story. In Sacred Words, guests will behold the oldest-known Hebrew book, containing Sabbath-morning prayers, liturgical poems, and the world’s oldest Haggadah, which was mysteriously written upside down. Learn about […]

Standing Together: Prayer, Presence, and the Power of Community

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. 

You Say You Want a Revolution: Jewish Encounters with Radical Change 

What does revolution look like in Jewish life—spiritual, social, technological, or political? This fall, join JTS scholars for a provocative webinar series exploring transformative moments across Jewish history. From the emergence of monotheism to the Russian Revolution, from handwritten manuscripts to digital frontiers, from summer camps to the Talmud, we’ll consider how Jews have sparked, resisted, and reimagined change. Each session invites reflection on what revolution means—then and now. 

Senior Sermons: Class of 2026

By JTS Senior Sermon | Commentary | Public Event video | Senior Sermon

Presentations by senior Rabbinical School students in 5786 Find the written text for the senior sermons on Exploring Judaism Sarah Rockford – Bereshit Noa Rubin – Noah Sara Birnbaum – Lekh Lekha Zachary Bernstein-Rothberg – Vayera Rachel Cohn – Hayyei Sarah Jacob Lipkin – Toledot Micah Cowan – Vayishlah Marc Hersch – Beshallah Eitan Bloostein – […]

Between the Lines: Lost Synagogues of Europe

Part of Between the Lines: Author Conversations from The Library of JTS Lost Synagogues of Europe recreates in vivid color paintings and chronicles the life stories of nearly eighty majestic—and destroyed—European synagogues, each one a testament to the approximately 17,000 synagogues decimated during the Third Reich and early takeover of the Communist regimes. After WWII only about […]

Jacob Lipkin – Senior Sermon (RS ’26)

Toledot All Class of 2026 Senior Sermons

The John Leopold and Martha Dellheim Senior Recital (December 2025)

Graduating Cantorial School senior Marc Szechter headlined an exciting evening of music and spirit. The recital featured a wide range of Jewish music, along with choral works and both existing and newly premiered compositions by Marc and Cantor Gerald Cohen. Marc was accompanied by pianist Joyce Rosenzweig, JTS adjunct instructor, and the combined choir of the H. L. Miller Cantorial School and Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music.  

Micah Cowan – Senior Sermon (’26)

By JTS Senior Sermon | Commentary | Senior Sermon | Vayishlah

Vayishlah

Seasons of Responsibility: Interreligious Conversations on Environmental Justice and Repair

Winter-Spring 2026 Learning Series Across Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Hindu traditions, the early spring season is a shared period of reflection, renewal, and ethical clarity. While rooted in different stories and practices—from Tu BiShvat to Lent and Easter, from Ramadan to Holi and Passover—these holidays collectively invite communities to consider how human choices shape the […]

Jewish Worlds Illuminated: A Treasury of Hebrew Manuscripts from The JTS Library

By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary

Jewish Worlds Illuminated: A Treasury of Hebrew Manuscripts from The JTS Library September 17–December 27, 2025Grolier Club 47 E 60th St. New York, NY 10022 Jewish Worlds Illuminated features over 100 manuscripts and books offering a world tour of Jewish literary creativity across many centuries and thousands of miles. The exhibition explores the diversity of cultures […]

Truth or Fiction?

By MFA in Creative Writing | Public Event video | Video Lecture

The JTS MFA in Creative Writing is built around conversation about hard truths and strange fictions—about writing, teaching, failure, ambition, and why anyone keeps doing this in the first place. This three-part online series invites you into those conversations, with faculty and students speaking honestly about craft, community, and what it really means to commit to the work.

Between the Lines: Children of the Book

By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video | Video Lecture

In Children of the Book: A Memoir of Reading Together (St. Martin’s Press / On Sale: August 26, 2025), Ilana Kurshan reveals how literature weaves an invisible thread through the tapestry of family life. Kurshan, a mother of five living in Jerusalem, struggles to balance her passion for books with her responsibilities as a parent. Gradually she learns how to relate to reading not as a solitary pursuit and an escape from the messiness of life, but rather as a way of forging connection and teaching independence. Introducing her children to sacred and secular literature—including the beloved classics of her childhood—she becomes both a better mother and a more compassionate reader. 

Indigenous Leadership and Ecological Responsibility 

Download Sources Drawing on the Center for Earth Ethics’ Freedom to Be: Dialogues on Freedom of Religion or Belief for Indigenous Peoples, this session built a foundation for understanding Indigenous identity, spirituality, and relationships to land. Roberto Múkaro Borrero and Rabbi Stephanie Ruskay explored where religious communities have shown up—and where they have not—and invite participants to consider how faith […]

Law, Agency, and Ecological Responsibility: A Catholic–Jewish Conversation Drawing on the Book of Esther 

What does it mean to act responsibly when power is uneven, harm is systemic, and silence can feel safer than action? Drawing on the Book of Esther, this Catholic–Jewish conversation reflects on moral agency, ecological responsibility, and the challenges of ethical decision-making within contemporary legal and institutional systems. 

Between Fast and Feast: Hindu and Jewish Perspectives on Restraint and Responsibility  

What does it mean to act responsibly when there is no guarantee of results? Jewish and Hindu traditions both turn to fasting as a practice of restraint and agency. Focusing on the Fast of Esther, alongside Hindu fasting traditions, this session explores how intentional self-restraint—held in tension with celebration—can shape ethical responses to the climate crisis.