JTS Torah Commentary

The State of Catholic-Jewish Relations in the United States

Apr 12, 2011 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

A lecture by The Most Reverend Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York, and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Followed by a dialogue between Archbishop Dolan and JTS Chancellor Arnold M. Eisen.

GenNext: Religious Leadership 40 and Under

Feb 28, 2011

In this program, Haroon Moghul, a Muslim PhD student at Columbia University, and Rabbi Melissa Weintraub, the cofounder and North American director of the Encounter Programs, discuss religious leadership.

Empowered Judaism: What Independent Minyanim Can Teach Us about Building Vibrant Jewish Communities

Apr 27, 2010 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

How will the independent minyan movement affect the traditional American Jewish community? What does this new movement imply for the future of synagogues and Jewish education? 

Health Care Reform: Where Are We Now? Where Are We Going? Does Judaism Have Guidance to Offer?

Apr 12, 2010 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

Presented by the Louis Finkelstein Institute of The Jewish Theological Seminary.

“Sacred Trash”: Library Book Talk about the Treasures of the Cairo Genizah

Apr 10, 2010

The authors of Sacred Trash: The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza, acclaimed essayist Adina Hoffman and the MacArthur Foundation Award-winning poet and translator Peter Cole, tell the story of the recovery from a Cairo genizah (a repository for sacred texts) of the most vital cache of Hebrew manuscripts ever discovered, a story of buried scholarly treasure that rivals in drama, scope, and importance the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and sheds profound light on 900 years of Jewish life.

Religion, Science, and Wonder

Feb 17, 2010 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

Look up at the natural world, and what do you see? You see a world filled with so much wonder and greatness that only a divine being could have created it. However, modern science explains these wonders with complex explanations and equations, showing that God might not have been the creator of this world. Dr. Janna Levin, professor of Physics and Astronomy at Barnard College, and Rabbi Shai Held, cofounder and rosh yeshiva at Mechon Hadar and chair in Jewish Thought look at these different thoughts.

A Conversation on Creation and Evolution

Nov 17, 2009 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

One of the most hotly debated contradictions between the Bible and current scientific knowledge is creationism and Darwin’s theory of evolution. In this program, two leading philosophers, Lenn Goodman and Philip Kitcher, address this perceived conflict.

Inauguration of Arnold M. Eisen As Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary

Sep 5, 2007 By Arnold M. Eisen | Public Event video

Proclaiming that “we have important work to do,” Chancellor Arnold M. Eisen set forth his vision for the future of The Jewish Theological Seminary following his investiture as the seventh chancellor of JTS on September 5, 2007.

A Wandering People: Jewish Journeys, Real and Imagined

By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Notions of home and homeland have been redefined by Jewish wandering. Drawing on literary, spiritual, and historical sources and responses, JTS scholars explore what happens when Jews—whether by force or voluntarily, whether in reality or in the imagination—travel from one place to another. 

The Power of Emotion: Judaism and the Inner Life

By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Joy. Grief. Anger. Shame. Love. Emotional experience is often at the center of our lives. JTS scholars explore perceptions of emotions in Jewish texts and offer surprising and useful insights for understanding the feelings that make up our inner worlds.

JTS Cantorial Convocation, February, 2022

Program FEBRUARY 2, 2022, 3:30 P.M. ET   |  1 ADAR I 5782 VIRTUAL PROCESSION WELCOME Alan Levine, Esq., Chair, JTS Board of Trustees GREETINGS Hazzan Luis Cattan, President, Cantors Assembly D’VAR TORAH Hazzan Nancy Abramson, Director, H. L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music, JTS MUSICAL PERFORMANCE Shehecheyanu, composed by Hazzan Gerald CohenPerformed […]

Relating to God

By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Join JTS scholars to explore what Jewish texts and thought can teach us about how we might understand, experience, and be in relationship with the divine. 

The Future of Catholic-Jewish Relations

Catholic-Jewish dialogue has flourished since the promulgation of the Second Vatican Council’s 1965 Decree on non-Christian religions, Nostra Aetate. His Eminence Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, the first African American cardinal in the Catholic Church, discusses the history of that dialogue and to explore how current discussions might guide Catholic-Jewish relations in the future.

JTS High Holiday Webinars 2022

Join JTS in preparing for this 5783 High Holiday season with two meaningful and enriching sessions. 

High Holiday Webinars

Join JTS in preparing for the High Holiday season with meaningful and enriching sessions led by faculty.

Dangerous Ideas: Censorship Through a Jewish Lens

By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Throughout Jewish history, certain texts and ideas have been deemed too dangerous to circulate—whether by outsiders who banned Jewish writings, or Jewish leaders who suppressed ideas considered heretical or beyond the pale. In this series, JTS scholars will examine efforts to control knowledge from ancient to contemporary times, exploring the ways in which censorship both reflects and shapes broader ideological struggles. They will discuss the varying motivations for controlling or revising narratives, and consider whether and under what circumstances it might make sense to suppress certain ideas. These discussions will illuminate past struggles and help us understand the battles over censorship and free expression playing out today. 

Whose Law? Christians and Jews Rethink the Pharisees

Throughout the centuries, in Christian writings and homilies, the Pharisees have been called legalistic, money-loving, self-righteous hypocrites. That definition has become a label applied to Jews in general as well as any persons or groups the speaker or writer despised. For Jews, however, the Pharisees are respected teachers of the past who are in some way the predecessors of all forms of modern Judaism.
Who were the Pharisees, really? And why does this question matter today?

Purim on Broadway

Complete Purim services from the JTS, featuring the megillah reading and much holiday merriment. Purim Eve On (and Off) Broadway 2022/5782 Purim Off Broadway 2021/5781 Purim On Broadway 2020/5780 Purim On Broadway 2018/5778

The Dynamics of Change

By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Change is an integral part of life and a central feature of the Jewish experience. Join JTS scholars for an in-depth exploration of significant changes—religious, political, and personal—throughout Jewish history and life. Together we’ll consider core questions such as: What inspires change? What circumstances are most conducive to change, and what (or who) drives it? How do we experience change and adapt to its impact? How can Jewish values and ideas inspire us to change the world for the better?   

Cultivating a Habit of Generosity

By Eliezer B. Diamond | Public Event video

Part of the Global Day of Jewish Learning. With Rabbi Eliezer Diamond, PhD, Rabbi Judah Nadich Associate Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics, JTS  What is the relationship between our level of generosity and our beliefs, our attitudes, and our actions? For Rav Eliyahu Dessler (1892–1953, Belarus/England/Israel), love, faith, empathy, and social bonding are consequences of generosity—not its causes. In […]