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A Holiday of Contradictory Emotions

Mar 26, 2021 By Shuly Rubin Schwartz | Commentary | Shabbat Hagadol | Pesah

Preparing to celebrate our second Pesah under the grip of a global pandemic, our hearts are filled with both sadness and hope. No one has been untouched by COVID-19. We鈥檙e grieving a loved one, friend, or neighbor whose life was cut short. We鈥檙e experiencing its social and economic toll鈥攐vertaxed first responders, teachers, and food providers; overwhelming social isolation; devastating financial insecurity鈥攁ll exacerbated by underlying inequities. Thankfully, millions have received the vaccine, though many have yet to receive it, and new variants temper our expectations.

Freedom for Whom?

Mar 22, 2021 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Public Event video | Video Lecture

First and foremost, the traditional Haggadah celebrates our liberation from Egypt. At the same time, it reflects our experience of oppression over the course of many centuries. It is therefore a plea to be redeemed anew that reflects and potentially re-enforces an adversarial relationship with the non-Jewish world. In our own time the Jews of the United States and Israel enjoy unprecedented freedom. How do we honor the voice of tradition while also including the modern voices seeking liberation for all?

Standing at the Gates

Mar 19, 2021 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Vayikra

In Kafka鈥檚 cryptic parable 鈥淏efore the Law,鈥� a man stands before a gate seeking entry into the Law. The gate is open, but at its side is a gatekeeper who refuses his request to enter. The man uses every stratagem that he can think of to gain the gatekeeper鈥檚 permission, but every attempt fails. This stalemate continues until the moment of death arrives. 

The Future of the Seminary in a Dogmatic Age

Mar 18, 2021 By Shuly Rubin Schwartz | Public Event video

A conversation between Chancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz and NYU President Emeritus John Sexton. Moderated by Krista Tippett.

Conversion, Circumcision, and Ritual Murder in Medieval Europe

Mar 17, 2021 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

Author and professor Paola Tartakoff of Rutgers University discusses her new book, Conversion, Circumcision, and Ritual Murder in Medieval Europe, which explores the “Norwich Circumcision Case” from multiple perspectives.

When Jews Made Fellow Jews 鈥極ther鈥�: Hasidism and its Opponents

Mar 15, 2021 By David Fishman | Public Event video | Video Lecture

The Hasidim, followers of the Ba鈥檃l Shem Tov and his spiritual heirs, emerged in the 18th century with controversial ideas related to Jewish practice and belief. While Hasidim coexisted peacefully with non-Hasidim in many communities, theMitnagdim(鈥渙pponents鈥�) in many larger Jewish centers in Eastern Europe reacted to the Hasidim not only with condemnation, but with writs of excommunication and measures to persecute the members of the new movement. This internal Jewish religious strife led to the division of the community into rival 鈥渄enominations鈥� for the first time in nearly a thousand years. We will study the conflict between the Hasidim andMitnagdimand reflect on how the core principles of the dispute continue to shape our Jewish lives and guide our homes and institutions.

Holy Bling

Mar 12, 2021 By Amy Kalmanofsky | Commentary | Pekudei | Vayak-hel

I loved rummaging through my grandmother鈥檚 jewelry. To my child鈥檚 eye, her jewelry box was a treasure chest filled with sparkling gems, pearls, and gold. All 鈥減aste,鈥� I learned, but to me they were the crown jewels.

The Self, the Other, and God in 20th Century Jewish Philosophy:
Cohen, Buber, and Levinas

Mar 8, 2021 By Yonatan Y. Brafman | Public Event video | Video Lecture

her, and where does our relationship tothe other Other鈥擥od鈥攆it in? Modern Jewish philosophers, including Hermann Cohen, Martin Buber, and Emmanuel Levinas placed the intersubjective relationship鈥攖he relationship between persons鈥揳t the center of their thinking. Dr. Yonatan Brafman explores their reflections鈥攖heir similarities and differences鈥攊n order to grapple with its implications for Jewish ethics.

The Path to Justice

Mar 5, 2021 By Rachel Kahn-Troster | Commentary | Ki Tissa

I鈥檝e been a human rights activist for more than a decade, beginning my work by organizing the Jewish community to speak out against torture. One of the first things I learned鈥攁 theme that resurfaces across many of the campaigns for human rights that I have been part of鈥攊s that when people act out of fear, when their sense of safety and security is challenged, they make unfortunate choices. 

Facing the Other: Moral Dilemmas in Israeli Literature

Mar 1, 2021 By Barbara Mann | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Lyric poetry, with its unique voice and vivid imagery, offers a brief but intense opportunity toenter intothe intimate space of another.鈥疶hrough texts by canonical Israeli authors (Dan Pagis, Yehuda Amichai, and DaliaRavikovitch), we will trace a series of poetic encounters between Self and Other: survivor and perpetrator; mother and child; victim and hero; Jew and Palestinian.鈥�

The Masks that We Wear

Feb 26, 2021 By Ofra Arieli Backenroth | Commentary | Tetzavveh | Purim

Growing up in Israel, Purim was a wonderful experience, full of fun and games. Dressing up, putting on masks, going to parties, and attending the Purim Parade in Tel Aviv鈥攖he Adloyada. This name is derived from a rabbinic saying in the Talmud that one should revel on Purim by drinking 鈥渦ntil one no longer knows [how to distinguish between 鈥榗ursed is Haman鈥� and 鈥榖lessed is Mordecai鈥橾鈥� (BT Megillah 7b). Attending the parade was great fun, but also had a mysterious aspect. Who are the people hiding behind the masks? What are they concealing and what are they trying to reveal? It was all very colorful and happy but, in equal measure, scary and confusing.

Journey with 91快播

Feb 25, 2021 By 91快播

A Journey Across the Jewish Past

Feb 24, 2021 By David C. Kraemer | Public Event video

Hidden in the nooks and crannies of libraries and museums across the world are clues to an often-surprising Jewish past: a 15th-century Italian woman鈥檚 siddur that includes a special prayer thanking God for 鈥渃reating her as a woman鈥�; a Haggadah from a Nazi concentration camp; manuscripts from the Court Jews enmeshed in the intrigues of European kings.

Reading the Resisting Woman as 鈥淥ther鈥�

Feb 22, 2021 By Shira D. Epstein | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Who has the right to anger? When is defiance cast as positive in our texts and when is it silenced? We will explore the Vashti narrative through the lens of power dynamics, status shifts, performing of gendered emotions, and as an example of reading the resisting woman as 鈥淥ther.鈥�

Remembering Our Sacred Spaces

Feb 19, 2021 By Julia Andelman | Commentary | Shabbat Zakhor | Terumah

On Shabbat Zakhor鈥攖he Shabbat of remembering鈥攚e recall the Amalekites鈥� vicious attack on the Israelites in the desert, in which they targeted not the fighters but the weaker members of the community (Deut. 25:17鈥�19). This year, however, I suspect many of us will be focused instinctively on remembering something else: the anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic turning our lives upside down.

A Single Life

Feb 18, 2021 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

A discussion with author, rabbi, and scholar Daniel Ross Goodman about his novel, A Single Life, which blends a literary style and a Talmudic sensibility with the romance tradition.

God鈥檚 Currency

Feb 12, 2021 By Gordon Tucker | Commentary | Mishpatim | Shabbat Shekalim

The arrival of Parashat Shekalim (plural of shekel) each year is what might be called the liturgical 鈥渞ite of spring鈥� in the Jewish tradition, signaling that Pesah is six鈥搒even weeks away, and preparations (spiritual and physical) for the great festival are very soon to begin. This year, it will be observed on Rosh Hodesh Adar, when the weekly reading will be Parashat Mishpatim.

A Tour of Medieval Cairo

Feb 9, 2021 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

Medieval Fustat-Cairo was a burgeoning metropolis that sat strategically astride the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and trans-Saharan trade routes, its fabulous wealth due in part to the Fatimid caliphs having founded their capital there in 969. But what was daily life like for its middling inhabitants? Marina Rustow discusses this question using fragments of the Cairo Genizah found in our collection at The 91快播 Library.

Different But Equal?
The Paradox of Chosenness

Feb 8, 2021 By Alan Cooper | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Jewish conceptions ofchosennessor election鈥攔ooted especially in the language ofExodus 19:5-6鈥攖raditionally were hierarchical, often asserting Jewish superiority over others. Such notions run afoul of modern ideas about social justice, typically anchored in egalitarian values that would have been alien to pre-modern authors. Is it possible to uphold a version of Jewish 鈥渄ifference鈥� that is simultaneously non-hierarchical yet answerable to traditional sources?

Can God Prohibit an Emotion?

Feb 5, 2021 By Sarah Wolf | Commentary | Yitro

Part of my current research focuses on how human emotions are discussed and legislated in the Talmud and other ancient rabbinic texts, and so the last of the Ten Commandments (as counted in the Jewish tradition) raises for me some fundamental questions.