Revolutionizing Belonging: Disability Inclusion and the Future of Jewish Camp

Oct 27, 2025 By Abigail Uhrman | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Jewish summer camps are bright spots of innovation in disability inclusion—expanding access, investing in specialized staff, and reimagining what true belonging can look like. But the impact of these programs extends far beyond the individual camper with disabilities.

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. 

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.