Even God Makes Time for Leisure: Rabbinic Narratives About God’s Work, Play, and Rest Schedule
Oct 11, 2021 By Sarit Kattan Gribetz | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Genesis 2:2-3 announces that, after working hard to create the world and humanity over the course of six days, God took a day off to celebrate the Sabbath. Other passages in the Bible build upon God’s day of rest to mandate that all created beings rest, and that heads of households ensure that everyone under their control be allowed to rest on the seventh day. Divine time, we learn, alternates between periods of creative work and deliberate rest. But what does God’s work entail, how does God manage divine time, does God make time for leisure, and does God have a schedule?
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Six Days Shall You Labor: Shabbat and the Meaning of Work
Oct 4, 2021 By David C. Kraemer | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Shabbat, a day on which “work” is forbidden, also offers a commentary on work—on its place in our lives, its importance, and its limitations. Notably, the rabbinic Sabbath—that is, the “traditional” Sabbath—offers a perspective that differs from that of the Torah, both original and unique. Join Dr. David Kraemer to explore biblical and rabbinic views of the Sabbath as commentaries on the significance of work.
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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.
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“Six Days Shall You Labor:” Perspectives on Work in Jewish Text and Tradition
Oct 4, 2021 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Video Lecture
Many of us spend more time at work than anywhere else over the course of our lives—but are we defined by what we do? In this text-based series, JTS scholars will explore ideas about the meaning of work and rest in Jewish tradition, Jewish social movements around work, as well as the roles that gender, geography, and shifting economic and social circumstances have played in Jews’ professional paths and our understandings of the meaning and value of work.
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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.
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The Other in Jewish Text and Tradition
Jan 12, 2021 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video | Video Lecture
We live in a time of such polarization—political, racial, economic, religious—that the gaps between us sometimes feel insurmountable. But this is not a new condition for Jews, either within or outside of the Jewish community. JTS scholars guide us on an intellectual journey through Jewish history and text to understand how these gaps have been understood and, at times, bridged.
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Living a Life of Meaning
Dec 21, 2020 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video | Video Lecture
The disruption to normal life, and, for many, close encounters with mortality, provides an opportunity to evaluate what is truly important in our lives. Guided by JTS faculty and fellows, we will discuss the role of values, ethics, and Torah in the quest for a well-lived life.
Faith, Forgiveness and Prayer: Finding Meaning in the Days of Awe
Aug 31, 2020 By Jan Uhrbach | Public Event video | Video Lecture | Rosh Hashanah | Yom Kippur
A series of online classes with JTS faculty and staff
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