JTS Torah Commentary

Praying for the Peace of Jerusalem

May 13, 2024 By Alan Cooper | Public Event video | Video Lecture | Yom Hazikaron-Yom Ha'atzma'ut

In Commemoration of Yom Hazikaron (Israel’s Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror)

With Dr. Alan Cooper, Elaine Ravich Professor of Jewish Studies, JTS

What It Means to Enjoy

Sep 1, 2023 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Ki Tavo

In Deuteronomy, the Torah commands us no fewer than eight times to “rejoice” in the fulfillment of religious obligations. Two of those occurrences are in this week’s parashah. The first comes after bringing first fruits to the sanctuary and thanking God for the harvest: And you shall enjoy all the goodness (vesamahta bekhol hatov) that Adonai your God has bestowed upon you and your household, together with the Levite and the stranger in your midst.

God: Unchanging? 

Jun 12, 2023 By Alan Cooper | Public Event video | Video Lecture

When we sing the hymn Yigdal, we declare that God is One and unique in Unity, of mysterious and infinite Oneness. The idea that God is ineffable and unchanging is embedded in Jewish (as well as Christian and Muslim) thought. While that may be true of God, however, it does not apply to the various ways of discerning God’s Presence from biblical times to the present. In this session, we explore some of the ways in which perception of God has changed, especially in the transition from biblical religion to post-Temple and post-prophetic Judaism. 

The Blasphemer in Leviticus: A Marginal Figure 

Apr 24, 2023 By Alan Cooper | Public Event video | Video Lecture

The Bible abounds with characters who transgress boundaries, for better and for worse. One of these characters who comes to a bad end is the half-Israelite, half-Egyptian blasphemer in Leviticus 24:10-16, 23. It’s clear that the Bible wants this story to show the dire consequences for blasphemy, but why is the identity of the blasphemer so specific, and how does this story relate to other laws outlined in the same chapter of the Torah? We explore these issues with the aid of both traditional and modern critical commentary.

(Far From) All About Eve

Jun 20, 2022 By Alan Cooper | Public Event video | Video Lecture

the diverse ways that readers fill those gaps engender remarkably divergent interpretations. What do we learn about biblical storytelling when we confront a text that can be interpreted in diametrically opposite ways? And what do we learn about ourselves from the interpretive decisions that we make? 

The “Burning Heart”:
From the Book of Jeremiah to the Metropolitan Opera

Mar 7, 2022 By Alan Cooper | Public Event video | Video Lecture

In Jeremiah 20:9, the prophet compares the divine word to “a burning fire in my heart, shut up in my bones.” This powerful image of irresistible passion constrained has long been interpreted in both positive and negative ways.  Dr. Alan Cooper examined how the image has been used by Jewish authors and also glance at the way it has come to prominence as the title of both Charles M. Blow’s memoir and Terence Blanchard’s pioneering opera based on the memoir. Dr. Alan Cooper examined how the image has been used by Jewish authors and also glance at the way it has come to prominence as the title of both Charles M. Blow’s memoir and Terence Blanchard’s pioneering opera based on the memoir. 

“It is not up to you to finish the work” (Pirkei Avot 2:21): On Striving for the Unattainable

Dec 13, 2021 By Alan Cooper | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Some of the most dramatic moments in the Tanakh describe the completion of work—the creation of the world (Genesis); the fabrication of the Tabernacle (Exodus); and the construction of the Temple (Chronicles).  In contrast, at the end of chapter 2 of Pirkei Avot, Rabbi Tarfon admonishes us that while we are under pressure with much work, a tight deadline, a penchant for laziness, and a demanding boss, nevertheless “it is not up to [us] to finish the work.”

Different But Equal?
The Paradox of Chosenness

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

Jewish conceptions of chosenness or election—rooted especially in the language of Exodus 19:5-6—traditionally 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 “difference” that is simultaneously non-hierarchical yet answerable to traditional sources?  

The Certainty of Uncertainty

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

Psalm 84, 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. 

“A Time to Weep”: The Power of Lament in Times of Crisis

Jun 22, 2020 By Alan Cooper | Public Event video | Video Lecture

More than a century ago, William James asserted that prayer was “the very soul and essence of religion.” At the same time that James was writing, biblical scholars were identifying and analyzing the forms and genres of biblical prayer. One of the most prominent of them is the lament, in which worshippers (individual or communal) cry out to God in times of duress. The effusion of pain and grief is a way of reaching out for the knowledge and comfort of God’s Presence—for reassurance that the suffering has been noticed and that God may be moved to provide relief. In this class, we consider selected prayers of lament in order to discern the continuing power of the genre as form of prayerful expression.

What It Means to Enjoy

Sep 23, 2016 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Ki Tavo

At one of our Shabbat afternoon Talmud classes some 50 years ago, after the usual bout of eating, drinking, and singing, the topic under discussion was what it means to “enjoy” Shabbat and Yom Tov (Sabbath and Festivals). We discussed Rabbi Eliezer’s statement that Festival “rejoicing” is obligatory, as well as the two alternative ways he proffers for attaining pleasure: either by eating and drinking or by sitting and studying. Rabbi Joshua interjects that it should be half of one and half of the other (BT Pesahim 68b).

Arts and Crafts: Commentary on Parashat Ki Tissa

Feb 11, 2014 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Ki Tissa

There are aspects of the Bible’s account of the construction of the Tabernacle in the wilderness that seem incredible; so much so that early critical commentators tended to reject its historical accuracy out of hand.

Why Did God Flood the World?

Oct 1, 2013 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Noah

The end of Parashat Bereishit finds God regretting the creation of humankind and resolving to wipe it out along with “beasts, creeping things, and birds of the sky” (Gen. 6:7). A note of optimism creeps into the concluding verse (6:8), however, with the statement that Noah, whose birth and naming were noted in 5:29, “found favor” with God.

The Torah’s Prescription for Healing

Apr 9, 2013 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Metzora | Tazria

At a glance, the opening chapters of Parashat Metzora seem like a biblical antecedent of WebMD. Leviticus 13 describes the disfiguring symptoms of צרעת/tzara`at, starting with “a swelling, a rash, or a discoloration” that “develops into a scaly affection” (Lev. 13:1).

Psalm 27: The Days of Awe

Aug 25, 2012 By Alan Cooper | Rosh Hashanah

The custom of reciting Psalm 27 during the penitential season, variously understood to entail the period from Rosh Hodesh Elul through Yom Kippur, Hoshanah Rabbah, or Shemini Atzeret, is codified in Mishnah Berurah, siman 581: “In our region it is customary to recite [Psalm 27] followed by kaddish at the conclusion of the morning and evening services every day from Rosh Hodesh Elul until Yom Kippur; we customarily recite it until Shemini Atzeret.”

The Last Day of Passover

Apr 14, 2012 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Pesah

Of all the extra festival days that we celebrate in Diaspora (yom tov sheni shel galuyot), perhaps the most irksome is the eighth day of Pesah. The second day of Sukkot adds to the delight of the holiday when the weather cooperates; the second day of Shemini Atzeret brings us the joy of Simhat Torah as a day unto itself. Even the second seder has its pleasures, except perhaps for those who have to prepare the meal and clean up afterward. But the eighth day of Pesah? Enough already! Bring on the pizza and pasta.

Eating in the Wilderness

Sep 24, 2010 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Sukkot

With Sukkot on my mind, the wilderness controversy prompted me to imagine what the Israelites’ experience of the wilderness might be like nowadays in contrast to biblical times. How much of the hardship of their forty-year trek from Egypt to Canaan might they have been spared if their four-wheel (instead of four-legged)-drive vehicles had been guided by GPS rather than meandering pillars of fire and cloud, or if the signage in the desert had amounted to more than a few indecipherable graffiti (even more obscure than Garden State Parkway markers)?

A Nation with Priests

Apr 30, 2010 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Emor

Many Conservative synagogues no longer distinguish between members who claim descent from the priestly castes (kohen, levi) and ordinary Jews (yisra’el). The priestly blessing is recited by whoever happens to be leading the prayer service; the first two aliyot to the Torah are handed out democratically and dubbed rishon/sheni (“first/second”) instead of kohen/levi. Nevertheless, it is important to keep the old distinctions in mind as we read biblical priestly law in general and Parashat Emor in particular. Distinctions between priests and their fellow Israelites, like those between Israel and the nations, are fundamental to the biblical concept of holiness.

Realizing Our Human Potential

Apr 25, 2009 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Metzora | Tazria

This week’s double dose of purity laws is unlikely to top anyone’s list of favorite Torah portions. While the laws may be discomfiting and obscure, however, they also are fundamental to an understanding of biblical theology and anthropology, and they convey a message that transcends their particular details.