JTS Torah Commentary

Going Toward the Present

Nov 11, 2011 By David Hoffman | Commentary | Vayera

Martin Buber, the great 20th-century Jewish theologian, observed a powerful literary connection between the beginning of Abraham’s life and the end. God first speaks to Abraham suddenly, seemingly without introduction, and commands: “Go forth (lekh lekha) from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you” (Gen. 12:1). With these few words, God introduces God’s Self to Abraham and it is with these words that their relationship is founded.

The Redeeming of Captives

Nov 5, 2011 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Lekh Lekha

What does it mean to be someone’s brother or sister, beyond a biological fact? In Genesis, the answer seems to be: not much. Every story involving brothers is one of violence, discord, enmity, or deceit. Cain murders Abel; Ham shames his father and is doomed to serve his brothers. Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers—we all know how those relationships played out. In fact, the only brother who comes to his brother’s aid is not actually his brother: it is Abraham—then Abram—who rides to the rescue of his nephew Lot.

Gifts to God

Nov 5, 2011 By David Levy | Commentary | Text Study | Lekh Lekha

The midrash seems to be pointing out that we can learn from Abraham: we are to give a gift to God when we receive good news.

Creating an American-Jewish Counterculture

Oct 31, 2011 By Carol K. Ingall | Public Event video

This lecture was part of the 100th anniversary celebration of The Teachers Institute of The Jewish Theological Seminary.

Hebrew at the Heart

Oct 31, 2011

“Hebrew at the Heart” chaired by Dr. Rela Mintz Geffen with Dr. Shuly Rubin Schwartz and Nessa Rapoport. This lecture was part of the 100th anniversary celebration of The Teachers Institute of The Jewish Theological Seminary.

Rabbi Harold Kushner at the Teachers Institute

Oct 31, 2011

Rabbi Harold Kushner (SC ’55, RS ’60, ’72) delivers the keynote address in memory of William Davidson (z”l) at the 100th anniversary celebration of The Teachers Institute of The Jewish Theological Seminary

The Future of Higher Education

Oct 31, 2011

“The Future of Higher Education,” a discussion with JTS Chancellor Arnold M. Eisen and Barnard College President Debora L. Spar. This lecture was part of the 100th anniversary celebration of The Teachers Institute of The Jewish Theological Seminary.

A Sabbath Song for Parashat Noah

Oct 29, 2011 By Judith Hauptman | Commentary | Noah

It is a lovely Jewish practice to sing songs at the Shabbat table. The little booklets that contain grace also provide the words of many zemirot, Sabbath songs. If we look at two of the more popular ones, Yah Ribbon and Mah Yedidot Menuhatekh, we find that their common theme is a plea to observe the Sabbath in the present, and a hope for a future in which God redeems the People Israel. But there is one song that differs from all the rest. It makes reference to this week’s Parashat No·ah. The name of the song is “The Dove Found a Place to Rest on the Sabbath (Yonah Maz’ah Bo Manoah).”

Small Crimes, Big Punishment

Oct 29, 2011 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Text Study | Noah

This week’s midrash has a rather shocking answer to the question of why the world deserved to be wiped out in the days of Noah.

The Women Who Reconstructed American Jewish Education

Oct 27, 2011 By Carol K. Ingall | Public Event audio

Louis Finkelstein and the Conservative Movement: Conflict and Growth

Oct 27, 2011 By Michael B. Greenbaum | Public Event audio

Rabbi Michael B. Greenbaum, vice chancellor and chief operating officer of JTS, discussed his recently republished book, Louis Finkelstein and the Conservative Movement: Conflict and Growth (JTS Press, May 2009), a history of the Conservative Movement and and a case study of mission conflict through an exploration of Finkelstein’s presidency of JTS between 1940 and 1955.

Sage Tales: Wisdom and Wonder From the Rabbis of the Talmud

Oct 27, 2011 By Burton L. Visotzky | Public Event audio

Dr. Burton Visotzky, Appleman Professor of Midrash and Interreligious Studies and director of the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies of JTS, presents a Library Book Talk on his new work Sage Tales: Wisdom and Wonder from the Rabbis of the Talmud.

Hope in a Democratic Age

Oct 27, 2011 By Alan Mittleman | Public Event audio

Dr. Alan Mittleman, director of the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies and the Tikvah Institute for Jewish Thought, as well as professor of Jewish Philosophy at JTS, discusses his book Hope in a Democratic Age, in this Library book talk.

Jewish Mysticism and the Spiritual Life

Oct 27, 2011 By Eitan Fishbane | Public Event audio

Eitan Fishbane, assistant professor in the Department of Jewish Thought of The Jewish Theological Seminary, presents a Library book talk on Jewish Mysticism and the Spiritual Life: Classical Texts, Contemporary Reflections.

Judaism and Islam in America Today

Oct 25, 2011 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

Arnold M. Eisen, chancellor of JTS; Sherman Jackson, professor of Islam at the University of Michigan; and Serene Jones, president of Union Theological Seminary discuss Judaism and Islam in the United States today.

Reason Versus Faith

Oct 22, 2011 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Bereishit

If the ancients worried to prove God’s existence, the challenge of Darwinian evolution posed an even greater threat: counterevidence to the biblical account of Creation. In the postmodern era, we Jews-in-the-center find ourselves oddly caught in the middle of a debate portrayed in the news media as between those who insist literally on the biblical account and those who reject it altogether.

Creation and Good Health

Oct 22, 2011 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Bereishit | Simhat Torah

With this week’s celebration of Simhat Torah and Shabbat Bereishit, we return to the very beginning of Torah as we read anew the narratives of Creation, the Garden of Eden, and the tragedy of Cain and Abel.

The Universal and Particular Nature of Creation

Oct 22, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Bereishit

Shortly after Rosh Hashanah this year, Jewish extremists torched a mosque in an Arab-Israeli village in the Galilee, damaging the building and destroying its holy books. Two days later, a rabbinic statement condemning this desecration of a house of worship on Israeli soil garnered the signatures of more than a thousand rabbis of all denominations within 36 hours of the document’s publication. One of my former JTS classmates, however, explained with great disappointment why he did not add his name to this effort.

Between Hope and Doubt

Oct 15, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Sukkot

After the High Holy Days, I sometimes feel torn between feelings of hope and feelings of doubt regarding humanity’s prospects for improvement. At the very least, it helps me to know that our ancient Sages understood this emotional tension.

Work Transforming into Joy

Oct 14, 2011 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Sukkot

In my mind’s eye, I maintain quite an idealized image of Sukkot. I imagine a beautiful sukkah, resting on a lush green lawn, surrounded by trees not quite yet at the peak of autumn. I sit with my family and friends, leisurely enjoying a delicious meal (which appears magically, costs nothing, and requires no cleanup), under a radiant blue sky during the day and a glittering canopy of stars at night. The tension between ideal and real: exactly where we should be, four days after Yom Kippur.