Jewish Worlds Illuminated: A Treasury of Hebrew Manuscripts from The JTS Library
Jewish Worlds Illuminated: A Treasury of Hebrew Manuscripts from The JTS Library
September 17–December 27, 2025 Grolier 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 in the lands in which Jews resided, including Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, Yemen, Iraq and Iran, Italy, France, Spain, and Germany. Curated by Professor David Kraemer, Sharon Liberman-Mintz, and Dr. Marcus Mordecai Schwartz, and drawn from the important rare book collection of The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary, exhibition highlights include a fund-raising letter signed by the great rabbi and philosopher, Moses Maimonides; a monumental decorated prayer book for the Jewish High Holidays, created in Germany in 1290, which opens with an elaborate Gothic portal inviting the reader to enter and engage in the prayers; a richly illustrated Passover Haggadah from Renaissance Italy by the master scribe-artist Joel Ben Simeon; and a 1875 Haggadah from Baghdad, written in Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic. Made possible by support from the David Berg Foundation and the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation.
Attend a Lecture
The Decoration of Hebrew Manuscripts with Sharon Liberman-Mintz and Emile Schrijver Monday, October 20, 2025 at 6:00 p.m.
Monday, September 29, 2025 at 12:00 p.m. Monday, November 3, 2025 at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, November 16, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. Monday, December 1, 2025 at 12:00 p.m. Sunday, December 14, 2025 at 1:00 p.m.
Tour registration will be available at a later date.
Sunday Openings
October 19, November 2, November 16, and December 14 at 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Symposium in Honor of Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna
Two weeks ago, Chancellor Schwartz participated on a panel at a day-long symposium held in honor of Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna, the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History in the department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University. The event brought together leading voices from diverse fields to celebrate Dr. Sarna’s extraordinary career and enduring contributions to Jewish scholarship.
Chancellor Schwartz appeared with Rabbi David Wolpe, Scholar in Residence at the Maimonides Fund and Rabbi Emeritus of Sinai Temple; Rabbi David Ingber, founder of Romemu Synagogue and Senior Director of Jewish Life at the Bronfman Center of 92NY; and moderator Rabbi Lisa Grant, PhD, Director of the Rabbinical Program at Hebrew Union College.
Together, they engaged in a thought-provoking discussion on the current state and future of American Jewry in the wake of October 7. Topics included the rise of antisemitism, the “surge” of Jewish engagement, emerging divisions within the Jewish community, and the geographic consolidation of global Jewry. The panelists provided eye-opening insights and a compelling analysis that resonated deeply with attendees.
Later sessions shifted focus to themes of “Advocacy” and “Philanthropy,” culminating in special comments by Dr. Sarna himself. It was an inspiring conclusion to a memorable day of recognition for this preeminent scholar of American Judaism.
Listen now to a recent podcast conversation between Dr. Sarna and Ellie Gettinger, JTS’s Director of Outreach. Together they explore the roots of North American Zionism.
Symposium in Honor of Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna
Last week, Chancellor Schwartz participated in a distinguished panel at a day-long symposium held in honor of Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna, the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History in the department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University. The event brought together leading voices from diverse fields to celebrate Dr. Sarna’s extraordinary career and enduring contributions to Jewish scholarship.
Chancellor Schwartz appeared on a panel with Rabbi David Wolpe, Scholar in Residence at the Maimonides Fund and Rabbi Emeritus of Sinai Temple; Rabbi David Ingber, founder of Romemu Synagogue and Senior Director of Jewish Life at the Bronfman Center of 92NY; and moderator Rabbi Lisa Grant, PhD, Director of the Rabbinical Program at Hebrew Union College.
Together, they engaged in a thought-provoking discussion on the current state and future of American Jewry in the wake of October 7. Topics included the rise of antisemitism, the “surge” of Jewish engagement, emerging divisions within the Jewish community, and the geographic consolidation of global Jewry. The panelists provided eye-opening insights and a compelling analysis that resonated deeply with attendees.
Later sessions shifted focus to themes of “Advocacy” and “Philanthropy,” culminating in special comments by Dr. Sarna himself. It was an inspiring conclusion to a memorable day of recognition for this preeminent scholar of American Judaism.
Meet This Year’s Ordinees
At our ordination ceremony (Tekes Hasmakhah), JTS ordained 12 new rabbis and cantors. Read the teachings that guided them throughout their studies at JTS and that they will be taking into the future.
Enlighten our eyes with Your Torah, and cause our hearts to hold to Your commandments, and unify our hearts to love and revere Your name.
Liturgy, Ahavah Rabah
Alex Friedman
אביגדור אברהם בן לאה ריבא ויוחנן הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, חָבִיב אָדָם שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְצֶלֶם. חִבָּה יְתֵרָה נוֹדַעַת לוֹ שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְצֶלֶם
Rabbi Akiva would say: Beloved are people, that they were created in God’s image. Even more beloved are they, because it was made known to them that they were made in God’s image.
Why is the Torah likened to a fig tree? It is because other trees—the olive tree, the grapevine, the date tree—are each harvested all at one time, but the fig tree is harvested little by little. So too is the Torah.
One studies a bit today and more tomorrow, because it is not learned in just one or two years.
Midrash Tanchuma, Pinchas 11
Dr. Yael Landman Receives Berkowitz Fellowship
June 4, 2025
Congratulations to Dr. Yael Landman, Assistant Professor of Bible, for receiving the Berkowitz Fellowship from the NYU School of Law. Throughout the 2025–2026 school year, Dr. Landman will work on her research in progress, “The Biblical Legal Imagination: Law, Narrative, and the Performance of Justice.” Dr. Landman’s research participates in law and humanities discourses surrounding topics including the role that the humanities might play in the improvement of law; how to effect justice and deter wrongdoing; and the limits of judicial power. As a Berkowitz Fellow, Dr. Landman will be fully integrated with the intellectual community of the NYU School of Law and will have the opportunity to present her research in progress in the fall semester and in a workshop in the spring semester.
The Berkowitz Fellowship was created thanks to a generous gift by Mr. Ivan Berkowitz. The area of research addresses issues from a broad spectrum of Jewish learning and civilization. The fellowship facilitates research and scholarship into areas that examine the historical, cultural, and political forces that helped shape the intellectual atmosphere in which the integration of varying traditions of law into an operative jurisprudential system was affected.
A Day Filled With Exuberance as We Applauded Our Graduates’ Achievements
In a letter to the community,Chancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz reflected on the 131st Commencement Exercises and Tekes Hasmakhah: Ceremony of Rabbinic and Cantorial Ordination.
May 28, 2025
Dear JTS Community,
Last week, despite cold rains and the devastating news about the murders of Yaron Lischinsky z”l and Sarah Lynn Milgrim z”l, we celebrated a joyous milestone—our 131st commencement ceremony. Accomplished students, proud family members, special guests, esteemed honorary degree recipients, beloved alumni, and dedicated staff and faculty gathered in our atrium to honor graduates from multiple schools and programs. Sadly, we’ve become experts at holding both joy and sorrow in our hearts at the same time. And though we were shaken by the horrific event that occurred in Washington, DC, we were also overwhelmed with happiness.
The occasion was marked with exuberance as we applauded our graduates’ achievements, which we know have been hard won after the many challenges they faced during their student years. We celebrated throughout the day as we conferred bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees and granted four honorary degrees.
For those who were unable to attend in person or livestream it, I encourage you to view it here.
As I have every year since becoming Chancellor, I watched from the platform with tremendous pride as students transitioned from students to alumni. It was an honor to deliver the “Charge to the Graduates.” I reflected on the challenges of the past few years and spoke about how the JTS experience gives students the tools needed to see others fully and clearly but also brings a sense of compassion and empathy to every encounter. Integrating this lens with the rich learning they have internalized will fortify them into the future. Their dedication and sense of purpose fills us with enormous hope. You can see the full address here.
Guests also had the opportunity to hear from Dr. Christine Hayes, Sterling Professor Emerita of Religious Studies at Yale University, who delivered the Commencement Address. Based on her own life story, she wisely advised the graduates to cultivate curiosity and savor serendipity, in addition to encouraging them to choose “to believe in goodness in your pursuit of morality.” You can see her full address here.
Our other honorary degree recipients included Rabbi Amy Eilberg (the first woman rabbi ordained by JTS); Dr. Claudia Goldin (Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University); and Professor Ruth Halperin-Kaddari (Founding Academic Director of the Rackman Center for the Advancement of the Status of Women at Bar-Ilan University Law School in Israel). Honoree degree recipients will also be featured in our next Expanding the Conversation podcast series, launching this summer. Please be on the lookout for these engaging discussions with these distinguished women.
Two of our graduating students spoke from the heart as they delivered remarks. Hannah Faye Solon, a List College senior, spoke honestly about the “pain, protest, and deep division” that her class encountered, while also providing inspirational guidance: “Let’s be the class that chooses hope, chooses action, and chooses each other.” Loraine Schneider Enlow, a Gershon Kekst Graduate School graduate, reflected on her non-traditional path to JTS as a “middle-aged non-Jewish woman” and how an unexpected encounter with me several years ago led her to JTS.
Other highlights from the morning included inspiring opening remarks by Chair of the Board, Alan Levine, who warmly welcomed attendees, congratulated the graduates and their families, and celebrated the many achievements of JTS’s staff and faculty. We were also honored to hear words of Torah from Rabbi Bill Lebeau, a former dean of The JTS Rabbinical School and Chair of the Department of Professional Skills, and to induct Marc Gary into the JTS Society of Fellows. And lastly, what a gift it was to experience the beautiful music performed by the chorus and our graduating H. L. Miller Cantorial School students.
During the emotional ordination ceremony (Tekes Hasmakhah) in the afternoon, 12 new rabbis and cantors were ordained. It is always so moving to watch our newest clergy members step into their new roles alongside mentors, teachers, and beloved family and friends. Rabbi Ayelet Cohen, Pearl Resnick Dean of The Rabbinical School and dean of the Division of Religious Leadership, offered words of Torah related to Parashat Behar-Behukkotai and the concept of turning our awareness to the “passage of time, the promise of new beginnings, and the blessings and responsibilities of living in community.” She also reflected on the many changes that have taken place in the 40 years since Rabbi Eilberg was ordained, highlighting her profound impact on the rabbinate—particularly in the areas of chaplaincy, peacemaking, and racial justice. Rabbi Cohen also noted, with great pleasure, that this class of graduates includes the first openly transgender or non-binary students admitted to The JTS Rabbinical School.
And finally, to close the day, we moved to the dining hall for festive dancing. Although we were inside because of the rain, the energy was palpable, and the enthusiasm was contagious.
Through years shaped by both challenge and celebration, our graduates have already found ways to make meaningful change in our community and beyond. As they set out into the world, I look forward to seeing the impact they will have. Some will join the workforce in fields such as education, architecture, and technology. Others will pursue doctoral studies, law school, and medical school, or make aliyah to Israel, as others assume roles as clergy, Jewish professionals and educators, and scholars across North America. I have no doubt they will powerfully spread the values and spirit of JTS and lead with purpose, compassion, and courage.
Over the spring, JTS organized and participated in numerous events highlighting our love of Israel and the Jewish state.
Professor Suzanne Last Stone, Avihai Mandelblit, and Chancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz
On April 1–2, we hosted our spring convening, Israel at a Crossroads: Navigating Religion, Democracy, and Justice. Engaged audience members gathered to hear from experts in their fields, Israeli citizens, and spiritual leaders. Our many distinguished speakers included Avihai Mandelblit, Former Attorney General of Israel, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Academic Center for Law and Business, who presented on the topic “Legal Reform or Regime Revolution? Defending Israel’s Separation of Powers and Democracy” for the Segal Memorial Lecture. Watch the recordings of all the convening sessions here.
Building on discussions from the convening, our follow-up online webinar series, Israel at a Crossroads—Expanding the Conversation, brings JTS alumni into conversation about the evolving challenges of Israeli identity, culture, and collective resilience. Sessions meet Mondays, April 28–May 19, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. ET. Click here to register for our upcoming sessions and to watch recordings of sessions you may have missed.
The convening generated fascinating conversations which didn’t end after the in-person event. Our upcoming podcast series features convening guests such as Seth Farber, Rakefet Ginsberg, Dahlia Scheindlin, and Raquel Ukeles. These hour-long podcast conversations provide deeper insight and in-depth explorations of selected topics related to Israel. We look forward to sharing them at a later date.
Between Yom HaShoah and Yom Ha’atzmaut, JTS proudly joined the World Zionist Organization, along with many organizations, rabbis, public figures, and community leaders, for a festive event of reading Megillat Ha’atzmaut at the Egalitarian Kotel. This event was broadcast live in different languages to the whole Jewish world, strengthening our sense of Jewish peoplehood in Israel and abroad. Watch a recording here. JTS was also a co-sponsor of the 20th Israeli Palestinian Joint Memorial Ceremony, one of the largest Israeli-Palestinian jointly organized peace events in history.
On April 30, we observed Yom Hazikkaron, and prayed together for the lives of the fallen. In addition to our daily prayers for the hostages, Tzahal, and the victims of war that we’ve been chanting at our service throughout the year, Rabbi Gordon Tucker led the JTS community in a special and moving memorial. He shared Dorit Tzameret’s iconic poem, החיטה צומחת שוב, “The Wheat Still Grows Again.” In the afternoon, Rabbinical and Cantorial School students gathered offsite for a special minhah service and commemoration. One student shared a personal story about a family member who fell in battle.
While keeping all those impacted by the dangerous fires which broke out in Israel in our hearts and minds, JTS celebrated Yom Ha’atzmaut on May 1. Students, staff, faculty, and all those working at 3080 gathered in our courtyard for Israeli food and folk dancing, led by List College students Zack Singerman and Noa Wacholder. It was a joyous occasion for the community to come together, and we were lucky to have such wonderful weather for the day.
Throughout the spring, the JTS community also supported the World Zionist Elections. Several JTS community members are on the Conservative Movement/Mercaz slate including Chancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz; Rabbi Ayelet Cohen, Pearl Resnick Dean of The Rabbinical School and Dean of the Division of Religious Leadership; Rabbi Joel Seltzer, Vice chancellor for Institutional Advancement; and JTS students Christopher Penello and Micah Symons. Several videos were shared on social media encouraging people to vote in this important election.
On Sunday, May 11, Chancellor Schwartz attended a special and festive event at The Consulate General of Israel in New York to celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut.
Yesterday, even as we celebrated the release of Edan Alexander, we were aware that the horrors of war continue. Thus, our daily prayers in the Women’s League Seminary Synagogue still include pleas for the hostages, and for the innocent victims in both Israel and Gaza, and the IDF.
