Part of the series, Living a Life of Meaning

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In Vilna, “the Jerusalem of Lithuania,” a group of Jewish writers and intellectuals risked their lives to rescue Jewish books, manuscripts, and art from the Nazis. While working as slave laborers for a Nazi looting agency, they “stole” Jewish cultural treasures from their masters, smuggled them into the ghetto, and hid them in underground cellars and bunkers. The few members of this group who survived the war returned to Vilna after its liberation, and led an operation to retrieve the treasures.

The book smugglers of the Vilna Ghetto believed that culture and Jewish heritage were ultimate values, greater than their own life or death. They chose to engage in a life of meaning, even as their deportation and murder was imminent. This inspiring story of Jewish spiritual resistance can help us reflect on what ultimate values we might lay down our lives for today. 

ABOUT THE SERIES

The disruption to our normal life, and for many, close encounters with mortality, provides an opportunity to evaluate what is truly important in our lives. Guided by 91�첥 faculty and fellows we discuss the role of values, ethics, and Torah in the quest for a well-lived life.

View All Sessions in the Series

SPONSOR A SESSION

At 91�첥, we are committed to providing the Jewish community with outstanding classes in Judaic studies. We hope you will partner with us so that we can continue to do so. Did you know that you can sponsor a learning session to honor a loved one, celebrate an occasion, or commemorate ayahrzeit? To learn more visit theor emaillearninglives@jtsa.edu.

Part of the series, Living a Life of Meaning

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The medieval decisor and 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 medium by which people could flourish both politically and personally—which for Maimonides meant the attainment of intellectual comprehension.  

This session explores the significance of Maimonides’ view and how two modern Jewish thinkers, Mordecai Kaplan and Eliezer Berkovits, built on Maimonides’ ideas to develop their own understandings of how observance of the mitzvot can advance human growth and the attainment of perfection.  

With Dr. Yonatan Brafman, Assistant Professor of Jewish Thought and Ethics; Director of the MA Program in Jewish Ethics, 91�첥.

ABOUT THE SERIES

The disruption to our normal life, and for many, close encounters with mortality, provides an opportunity to evaluate what is truly important in our lives. Guided by 91�첥 faculty and fellows we discuss the role of values, ethics, and Torah in the quest for a well-lived life.

View All Sessions in the Series

SPONSOR A SESSION

At 91�첥, we are committed to providing the Jewish community with outstanding classes in Judaic studies. We hope you will partner with us so that we can continue to do so. Did you know that you can sponsor a learning session to honor a loved one, celebrate an occasion, or commemorate a yahrzeit? To learn more visit the  or email learninglives@jtsa.edu.

Part of the series, Living a Life of Meaning

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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 “Holocaust survivors” 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.

With Dr. Edna Friedberg,91�첥 Fellow and historian at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

ABOUT THE SERIES

The disruption to our normal life, and for many, close encounters with mortality, provides an opportunity to evaluate what is truly important in our lives. Guided by 91�첥 faculty and fellows we discuss the role of values, ethics, and Torah in the quest for a well-lived life.

View All Sessions in the Series

SPONSOR A SESSION

At 91�첥, we are committed to providing the Jewish community with outstanding classes in Judaic studies. We hope you will partner with us so that we can continue to do so. Did you know that you can sponsor a learning session to honor a loved one, celebrate an occasion, or commemorate a yahrzeit? To learn more visit the  or email learninglives@jtsa.edu.

Part of the series, Living a Life of Meaning

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, quoted in the Havdalah service, 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. 

�¾��ٳ����ٰ�.��������������ǴDZ���, Elaine Ravich Professor of Jewish Studies, 91�첥.

ABOUT THE SERIES

The disruption to our normal life, and for many, close encounters with mortality, provides an opportunity to evaluate what is truly important in our lives. Guided by 91�첥 faculty and fellows we discuss the role of values, ethics, and Torah in the quest for a well-lived life.

View All Sessions in the Series

SPONSOR A SESSION

At 91�첥, we are committed to providing the Jewish community with outstanding classes in Judaic studies. We hope you will partner with us so that we can continue to do so. Did you know that you can sponsor a learning session to honor a loved one, celebrate an occasion, or commemorate a yahrzeit? To learn more visit the  or email learninglives@jtsa.edu.

Part of the series, Living a Life of Meaning

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Life’s 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 the Kotzker Rebbe that “there is nothing more whole than a broken heart.”   

With Rabbi Mychal Springer, Manager of Clinical Pastoral Education at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City and Adjunct Professor, 91�첥. 

ABOUT THE SERIES

The disruption to our normal life, and for many, close encounters with mortality, provides an opportunity to evaluate what is truly important in our lives. Guided by 91�첥 faculty and fellows we discuss the role of values, ethics, and Torah in the quest for a well-lived life.

View All Sessions in the Series

SPONSOR A SESSION

At 91�첥, we are committed to providing the Jewish community with outstanding classes in Judaic studies. We hope you will partner with us so that we can continue to do so. Did you know that you can sponsor a learning session to honor a loved one, celebrate an occasion, or commemorate ayahrzeit? To learn more visit theor emaillearninglives@jtsa.edu.

Part of the series, Living a Life of Meaning

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Even as we are zooming forward into a new, Covid-altered educational landscape, there are goals of Jewish education—whether in schools, camps, home, or other settings—that are enduring. In this session we will look at Jewish education through the lenses of character, community, and meaning-making to provide context for current discussions of online and hybrid learning, and to expand our thinking about the goals and processes of Jewish learning.

With Dr. Jeffrey Kress,Dr. Bernard Heller Chair in Jewish Education, 91�첥.

ABOUT THE SERIES

The disruption to our normal life, and for many, close encounters with mortality, provides an opportunity to evaluate what is truly important in our lives. Guided by 91�첥 faculty and fellows we discuss the role of values, ethics, and Torah in the quest for a well-lived life.

View All Sessions in the Series

SPONSOR A SESSION

At 91�첥, we are committed to providing the Jewish community with outstanding classes in Judaic studies. We hope you will partner with us so that we can continue to do so. Did you know that you can sponsor a learning session to honor a loved one, celebrate an occasion, or commemorate ayahrzeit? To learn more visit theor emaillearninglives@jtsa.edu.

Part of the series, Living a Life of Meaning

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Moses’ final speech concludes with a declaration of the happiness of being a Jew: “Happy are you, O Israel!” But does the Torah describe any individual as happy? While the pursuit of happiness is one of the founding ideals of American culture, the Torah is remarkably sparse in its references to anyone’s happiness. What is the Jewish understanding of happiness, as expressed in the Torah and its interpretations? Is the American ideal of happiness a Jewish concept at all? 

With Rabbi Jan Uhrbach, Director of the Block / Kolker Center for Spiritual Arts, 91�첥.

ABOUT THE SERIES

The disruption to our normal life, and for many, close encounters with mortality, provides an opportunity to evaluate what is truly important in our lives. Guided by 91�첥 faculty and fellows we discuss the role of values, ethics, and Torah in the quest for a well-lived life.

View All Sessions in the Series

SPONSOR A SESSION

At 91�첥, we are committed to providing the Jewish community with outstanding classes in Judaic studies. We hope you will partner with us so that we can continue to do so. Did you know that you can sponsor a learning session to honor a loved one, celebrate an occasion, or commemorate ayahrzeit? To learn more visit theor emaillearninglives@jtsa.edu.

Part of the series, Living a Life of Meaning

Download sources

In the voluminous and rich literature of hasidic homilies from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries (in Poland, Ukraine, and beyond), we encounter a pervasive and multifaceted effort to read the Torah as a portal into the discovery of renewed spiritual meaning, the wonder and mystery of the inner life of the person, and the discovery of God and the sacred in all the elements of the world—especially in the Torah and the mitzvot.

In this session we explore several powerful examples in which hasidic spiritual masters read the Hebrew Bible figuratively in order to often playfully and brilliantly convey deep spiritual insights about the nature of life, of the world, and of God‘s immanent presence in our lives. 

With Dr. Eitan Fishbane, Associate Professor of Jewish Thought, 91�첥.

ABOUT THE SERIES

The disruption to our normal life, and for many, close encounters with mortality, provides an opportunity to evaluate what is truly important in our lives. Guided by 91�첥 faculty and fellows we discuss the role of values, ethics, and Torah in the quest for a well-lived life.

View All Sessions in the Series

SPONSOR A SESSION

At 91�첥, we are committed to providing the Jewish community with outstanding classes in Judaic studies. We hope you will partner with us so that we can continue to do so. Did you know that you can sponsor a learning session to honor a loved one, celebrate an occasion, or commemorate ayahrzeit? To learn more visit theor emaillearninglives@jtsa.edu.