The Voice of the Prophet

The Voice of the Prophet

Oct 10, 2017 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Podcast or Radio Program

Reclaim the message of the prophets for today with the weekly Haftarah portion narrated in English by renowned actor Ronald Guttman.

Read More
Justice and Ritual

Justice and Ritual

Sep 25, 2017 By Daniel Nevins | Short Video | Yom Kippur

Read More
Fearless Women

Fearless Women

Jul 14, 2017 By Meredith Katz | Commentary | Pinehas

Many narratives coalesce in Parashat Pinehas, and it is challenging to review without connection to the current political and social climate. The daughters of Zelophehad make a proposal to inherit their father’s portion, as part of a land division framework aiming toward equality: “to the more thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to the fewer thou shalt give the less inheritance.” The daughters raise their claim with Moses et al. as women, demanding their right to inherit in the absence of any sons, a significant step for women in ancient times that is then added to the canon.

Read More
Leftover Scraps

Leftover Scraps

May 5, 2017 By Julia Andelman | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim | Shavuot

The Torah exhorts us in this week’s parashah: “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest…you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger” (Lev. 19:9-10). This mitzvah plays out in beautiful narrative form in the Book of Ruth, read on the upcoming holiday of Shavuot. But Ruth is the exception; she is rescued from her destitute state by Boaz, the owner of the field where she gleans, who marries her. What of all those who remained gleaners—whose survival depended on the daily toil of gathering other people’s leftovers?

Read More
Another Passover Season

Another Passover Season

Apr 14, 2017 By Ruth Messinger | Commentary | Pesah

As we come, again, to the end of another Passover season, many of us are looking forward to moving beyond the matzah intensity. We are obliged, also, to ask ourselves what it means to have retold the story of our people’s quest for freedom, what new insights we might have gained, what the lessons are that we should take back into the world. I want to talk about our commitment to fight oppression as it manifests itself today in our lives and in the lives of others, and I want to make some observations about the roles there are to play in these struggles, about what we can learn about how to lead in these endeavors.

Read More
Global Refugee Crisis: Time for New Thinking

Global Refugee Crisis: Time for New Thinking

Mar 16, 2017 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

David Milliband, president of the International Rescue Committee and former UK Foreign Secretary, discusses ways to address one of the most pressing political and moral issues of our time. 

Read More
Is It Right?

Is It Right?

Mar 17, 2017 By Yehudah Webster | Commentary | Ki Tissa

Cowardice asks the question: is it safe? Expediency asks the question: is it politic? Vanity asks the question: is it popular? But conscience asks the question: is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular—but one must take it simply because it is right.

—Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “A Proper Sense of Priorities”

Read More
The US Health Care System: What Does the Future Hold?

The US Health Care System: What Does the Future Hold?

Feb 14, 2017 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

The Affordable Care Act of 2010 took a giant step toward universal health insurance coverage in the United States. Although it has been quite successful in accomplishing that goal, it has remained highly controversial. The new Administration is intent on repealing the law and replacing it with an alternative model.  

Why is health care reform so challenging? Why does “Obamacare” look as it does? Could alternative plans under consideration achieve the same gains? And what are the political prospects of those alternatives? Prominent health policy expert Dr. Sherry Glied describes the past, present, and possible future of health reform efforts in the US.

Read More