91快播

Mitzvot and the Path to Human Flourishing

Dec 14, 2020 By Yonatan Y. Brafman | Video Lecture

The medievaldecisorand philosopher Moses Maimonides claimed that the mitzvot (commandments) are a divine law. By this, he meant not only that the mitzvot originate with God, but that they were a mediumby which people could flourish bothpoliticallyand personally鈥攚hich for Maimonides meant theattainment of intellectual comprehension.This session explores the significance of Maimonides鈥檝iew and how two modern Jewish thinkers, Mordecai Kaplan and Eliezer Berkovits,built on Maimonides鈥� ideas to develop their own understandings ofhowobservance of themitzvotcanadvancehuman growth andthe attainment ofperfection.

Chancellor鈥檚 5781 Hanukkah Message

Dec 11, 2020 By Shuly Rubin Schwartz | Short Video | Hanukkah

Chancellor Schwartz shares her thoughts for Hanukkah.

Miracles of Today

Dec 11, 2020 By Shuly Rubin Schwartz | Commentary | Hanukkah

One of the things I love most about Jewish holiday observances is their evolution over time and space even as core rituals remain. Hanukkah exemplifies this phenomenon. Established by the Hasmoneans to commemorate the victory of the Maccabees over Antiochus, Hanukkah in the Talmud (composed several centuries after these events) focuses on celebrating the miracle of the Temple oil lasting for eight days. With few prescribed mitzvot associated with the holiday, Hanukkah has long been ripe for creative interpretation: theological, sociological, culinary, musical, and artistic. The Hanukkiah itself illustrates its generativity, for it has been hewn from the humblest potato or the most ornate, intricately designed sterling silver; it can take the form of a tiny travel jigsaw puzzle or an enormous outdoor display.

What a Manuscript Can Teach Us about the Jews of Medieval France

Dec 7, 2020 By David C. Kraemer | Short Video

Dr. David Kraemer explains what we can learn about the everyday lives of medieval French Jews from the text鈥攁nd the margins鈥攐f a manuscript from the 91快播 Library collection.

Borukh Ate

Dec 7, 2020 By 91快播 | Short Video | Hanukkah

鈥淏orukh ate鈥� zingt der tate鈥攁 father sings the opening words of the blessing, and kindles the light, and its soft rays fall on his pale face. With just a few words, the poet Avrom Reisen paints a picture of a slightly stooped, weary man, who somehow finds meaning and holiness in a simple act of lighting the Hanukkiah. The gentle melody, almost a lullaby, reminiscent of a folk song, yet soaring with emotion, was written by a composer Solomon Golub.

Communings of the Spirit, Vol. III

Dec 7, 2020 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

A discussion with Dr. Mel Scult: Mordecai M. Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionism, and the rabbi who initiated the first Bat Mitzvah, also produced the longest Jewish diary on record. In 27 volumes, running from 1913 to 1978, Kaplan shares with us not only his reaction to the great events of his time, but also his very personal thoughts on every aspect of religion and Jewish life. In this volume, editor and Kaplan biographer Mel Scult presents Kaplan contemplating the momentous events of the 1940s. 

Trauma and Testimony in an Oversharing Society

Dec 7, 2020 By Edna Friedberg | Public Event video | Video Lecture

The pandemic has forced us to live much of our lives online. But what happens when experiences that used to be private and intimate are exposed to the glare of public scrutiny? How is the impact of experience changed by retelling it, and does sharing our experiences make them more meaningful? This is a discussion of how refugees from war-torn Europe were recast as 鈥淗olocaust survivors鈥� and how trauma morphs when repackaged for broader consumption. The session will include pioneering early audio and film recordings of survivors as young people in the 1940s and 50s.

Having It All

Dec 4, 2020 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayishlah

After twenty years of estrangement, Jacob and Esau encounter one another yet again. Time has somewhat softened the bitterness and pain of the injustice done to Esau in Jacob鈥檚 theft of the blessing. And Esau has come to his senses, realizing that the murder of his brother will not right the wrong committed under the aegis of his scheming mother. Still, at the beginning of our parashah, Jacob is so uncertain and fearful of the encounter between him and his brother that he plans for the worst鈥攄ividing his family into two camps (lest one be destroyed, the other half will survive) and wrestling with the mysterious assailant (which portends his coming to terms with the misstep he committed so many years prior). Clearly, given what Jacob experienced in Laban鈥檚 home, the blessing received from Isaac has yet to come to fruition.

Bound in the Bond of Life

Dec 1, 2020 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

A discussion with author Dr. Beth Kissileff: On October 27, 2018, three congregations were holding their morning Shabbat services at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh鈥檚 Squirrel Hill neighborhood when a lone gunman entered the building and opened fire. He killed 11 people and injured six more in the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in American history. The story made international headlines for weeks following the shooting, but Pittsburgh and the local Jewish community could not simply move on when the news cycle did.

The Certainty of Uncertainty

Nov 30, 2020 By Alan Cooper | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Psalm84,quoted in theHavdalahservice,assures us that human felicity arises out of trust in God.But trust is hard to come by, and felicity seems remote in times of duress.In this session we will examine biblical texts that acknowledge the challenges of doubt and uncertainty and offer ways of meeting those trials with hope,faith,and trust.

The World in God

Nov 27, 2020 By Gordon Tucker | Commentary | Vayetzei

Our patriarch Jacob reaches a night camp on his way to Haran, a fugitive from the anger of his brother Esau. And then the text of Genesis 28:11 tells us: Vayifga bamakom. The New Jewish Version translation [JPS 1962] renders that phrase according to its straightforward, contextual meaning [peshat]: 鈥淗e came upon a certain place鈥濃�攁 place that we learn was first called Luz, and later Bet-El. But while the peshat is the primary way of reading a biblical text, it is almost never the only way to do so. 

The Real Lives of Jews in the Traditional World

Nov 23, 2020 By David C. Kraemer | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Many of us know the 鈥渙fficial version鈥� of the lives of Jews through the ages, according to which Jews were pious and thoroughly immersed in Jewish life鈥攁 life apart. But many of the rare materials in the 91快播 Library offer a different picture, according to which Jews lived in the world with their neighbors, experiencing life first as human beings and then as Jews. Dr. David Kraemer shares evidence from the Library鈥檚 great collections, surprising and even shocking you with a corrective to commonly repeated historical 鈥渢ruths.鈥�

The Wholeness of a Broken Heart

Nov 23, 2020 By Mychal Springer | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Life鈥檚 challenges raise up the reality of human vulnerability. Too often, people experience the heartbreak of suffering. In this session we will explore the paradoxical teaching of theKotzkerRebbe that 鈥渢here is nothing more whole than a broken heart.鈥�

Esau鈥檚 Primal Scream

Nov 20, 2020 By Amy Kalmanofsky | Commentary | Toledot

Sometimes words fail us. When they do, depending on the cause and our own propensities, we resort to song, dance, or other forms of wordless expression. And sometimes we scream. Primal screams that communicate an agony beyond verbal expression resound throughout the Torah.

A Dialogue of Love: Interreligious Cooperation and Global Well-Being

Nov 16, 2020 By 91快播 | Public Event video

Professor Azza Karam, secretary general of Religions for Peace International, discusses how multifaith alliances can further peace and well-being in our fractured world.

Lessons on Leadership from Abraham and Sarah

Nov 13, 2020 By Jonathan Milgram | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah

Sarah Imenu, matriarch of the Jewish people, is a rich and complex biblical character. As we read this week of her demise and her husband鈥檚 quest for her rightful resting place, it seems fitting to reflect on her extraordinary life, her role in the creation of the Jewish people, and the model of leadership she, together with Abraham, bequeathed to us as a legacy.

Kollot Parashat Hashavua, Winter – Spring 2020-2021

Nov 12, 2020 By Matthew Berkowitz

Tales of the Holy Mysticat

Nov 12, 2020 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

In Tales of the Holy Mysticat, Rabbi Adler, a professor of Modern Jewish Thought and one of our generation鈥檚 most profoundly creative scholars, uses a collection of whimsical stories, interspersed with cleverly drawn black-and-white illustrations, to provide unique insights into Jewish mysticism. And it’s all portrayed through the life of her cat. In this online conversation, Rabbi Adler discusses how, just as the Holy Mysticat became Adler’s teacher, so too can the Holy Mysticat teach us all.

Kollot Rabbinic Literature, 2020-21

Nov 12, 2020 By Jan Uhrbach

Israel Primer: Exploring the History of the Modern State of Israel

Nov 10, 2020 By Matthew Berkowitz