JTS Torah Archive

God-naming

Jan 8, 2016 By Reuven Greenvald | Commentary | Va'era

“And God spoke to Moshe, and [God] said to him: I am YHVH. I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzhak, and to Ya’akov as El Shaddai, but by my name YHVH I was not known to them” (Exodus 6:2–3).

When God shifts from using the ancient El Shaddai (usually translated as “God Almighty”) to YHVH, meaning, “I will be what I will be,” the divine-human relationship becomes more intimate.  

Words Fail Me

Jan 8, 2016 By Jan Uhrbach | Commentary | Va'era

This common idiom—so casually tossed off in a moment of surprise—expresses a deep truth. Words do indeed fail us, sometimes to tragic effect. 

That is the way the Zohar (the foundational text of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism) understands our exile in Egypt: as the exile of speech, a failure of words. In this reading, the breakdown of speech is both cause and effect of our enslavement, while healing and redeeming speech—finding our voice—is both the process and hallmark of redemption. 

The Landscape of Revelation

Jan 2, 2016 By Eitan Fishbane | Commentary | Shemot

“Our age is retrospective. It builds the sepulchres of the fathers. . .The foregoing generations beheld God and nature face to face; we, through their eyes. Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the history of theirs?…”

Hope and the Unknown

Jan 2, 2016 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Shemot

As legend has it, my great-grandfather quit school after the eighth grade. Apparently this decision had little to do with academics: my Grandpa Harry, z”l, was a smart man who went on to become a successful furrier with his own business in Manhattan. No, apparently it had everything to do with social pressure. As legend has it, he walked into school on the first day of the ninth grade, realized that no one at his new school knew him, and walked out.

Mourning for Joseph

Dec 25, 2015 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Commentary | Vayehi

Joseph and Zulaykha was written by Jāmī, a Persian poet and adherent of the mystical tradition of Islam (Sufism). It is based on the biblical story of Joseph and the wife of the Egyptian courtier, Potiphar (she is known as Zulaykha in Muslim tradition).

Blessings From Love

Dec 25, 2015 By Joel Alter | Commentary | Vayehi

Given all that’s come before in Genesis, the Torah’s notice that Israel’s days are nearing their end brings dread. This stems not from fear of death, but a dread of blessing. The passing of a patriarch means that a scene of generational blessing is imminent.

Holiday Webinars for Rabbis Archive

Dec 23, 2015

The resources on this page were produced exclusively for rabbis. Please exercise discretion when sharing. Sufferings Large and Small: The Religious Meaning of Life’s Everyday Disappointmentswith Dr. Sarah WolfeDownload source sheet Polarization, Mistrust, and Teshuvah:Civic Friendship in Jewish Thought andthe High Holiday Liturgywith Dr. Shira BilletDownload source sheet The Complexity of Memory During the Yamim […]

A Tale of Two Dreamers

Dec 18, 2015 By Eliezer B. Diamond | Commentary | Vayiggash

Shortly after Jacob arrives in Egypt Joseph—undoubtedly eager to introduce his father and his patron to each other—arranges an audience with Pharaoh for his father. Following the time honored traditions of polite conversation, Pharaoh asks a prosaic question: “How many are the years of your life?”

Judah’s Story, Our Stories, and the Stories of Refugees

Dec 17, 2015 By Julia Andelman | Commentary | Vayiggash

They grabbed me and led me to a van. I told them: ‘I’m an old man. I’m not a threat.’ But they didn’t listen. On our way to the prison, they kept stopping on the street and collecting more people. They blindfolded me when we arrived and they beat me very badly. Then they put me with seventy other people in a room smaller than this one. It was very cold because it was December and I was barefoot because I’d lost my slippers. 

Shabbat Hagadol

Dec 16, 2015

⁴ Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of yore and in the years of old.

Joseph, Hanukkah, and the Dilemmas of Assimilation

Dec 11, 2015 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Miketz | Hanukkah

Ruminations about assimilation come naturally to Jews in North America during the winter holiday season. How much should a parent insist that Hanukkah is part of public school celebrations that give students a heavy dose of Christmas? How often should one remind store clerks who innocently ask Jewish children which gifts they hope to receive from Santa this year that there are other faiths observed in our communities, and other holidays?

Joseph’s Feast

Dec 11, 2015 By Michael R. Boino | Commentary | Miketz

In Joseph’s Feast, Joseph struggles with his family trauma as well as his desire for familial love. The title as well as some of the content of the poem alludes to Belshazzar’s feast as told in the Book of Daniel (Chapter Five).

Disabilities, Inclusion, and Jewish Education

Dec 9, 2015 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

How does the Jewish community help individuals with a range of disabilities participate meaningfully in Jewish education and Jewish life? A panel of experts discusses key innovations and challenges in the field as they apply to both formal and informal Jewish education, and explores which programs, services, and opportunities are still missing.

Redemption in the Dark Pit

Dec 5, 2015 By Jason Gitlin | Commentary | Vayeshev

Old pirates, yes, they rob I;
Sold I to the merchant ships,
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit.

The Values of a Jewish Home

Dec 5, 2015 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayeshev

A few weeks ago, Etgar Keret, an accomplished author on the Israeli literary scene, made a pilgrimage from his home in Tel Aviv to JTS’s Schocken Institute in Jerusalem to address a group of rabbinical students from JTS and HUC. Among the many thoughtful and reflective insights he shared, he spoke of the need for Israeli society to reflect the best of Jewish values. 

Revolutionaries at Home

Dec 3, 2015 By Alisa Braun | Short Video | Hanukkah

How to Be Righteous

Dec 3, 2015 By Adam Zagoria-Moffet | Short Video | Hanukkah

The purely righteous do not complain about darkness, but increase light. They don’t complain about evil, but increase justice. They don’t complain about heresy, but increase faith. They don’t complain about ignorance, but increase wisdom.

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, Arpilei Tohar (1914), p. 2.

The Story of We

Dec 3, 2015 By Stephanie Ruskay | Short Video | Hanukkah

Face to Face

Nov 24, 2015 By Anne Lapidus Lerner | Commentary | Vayishlah

The tortured relationship between the twin brothers Esau and Jacob has been a significant element in the two previous parshiyot—Toledot and Vayetze. It is resolved in this week’s parashah, Vayishlah. Although there is no peace treaty, the resolution is deeply desired by both brothers and reflected both in the undoing of the language that started the problem and in the brothers’ truly seeing and acknowledging each other.

No Religion Is an Island

Nov 24, 2015 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video

A conversation between UTS President Professor Serene Jones and JTS Chancellor Professor Arnold Eisen, celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Abraham Joshua Heschel’s revolutionary address at Union Theological Seminary.