![Life: Quantity Vs. Quality](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/eliezer_diamond-300x300.jpg)
Life: Quantity Vs. Quality
Oct 23, 2013 By Eliezer B. Diamond | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah
“And the span of Sarah’s life was 127 years—the years of Sarah’s life” (Gen. 23:1; my translation). Whenever I read this verse, I feel a deep sadness that is only intensified by the story that follows. Let me explain.
Read More![Cantillation for Torah](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/jtslogo_pms173___high_res_square-300x300.jpg)
Cantillation for Torah
Oct 22, 2013 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Prayer Recordings
Recordings by Cantor Sarah Levine (CS ’17).
Read More![Prayer: Invitation and Outcry](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/barth__dr._samuel_square.jpg)
Prayer: Invitation and Outcry
Oct 16, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM), with many organizations and agencies working together to spread awareness and the understanding that this scourge is endemic in modern society—and that no religion and no sector of society is exempt. My friend and colleague Rabbi Lisa Gelber, associate dean of The Rabbinical School of The Jewish Theological Seminary, was invited by FaithTrust Institute to write the “Universal Prayer” for the call of unity that opened DVAM, and the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (which convened the call) then created artwork to frame the prayer on a flyer. The prayer has found wide acceptance and recognition.
Read More![A Hand to Hold](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/joel_alter.jpg)
A Hand to Hold
Oct 16, 2013 By Joel Alter | Commentary | Vayera
Her beautiful 16-year-old Ishmael lying whimpering nearby from mortal thirst and her own death close at hand, Hagar—in Genesis 21:15–18—is about as pitiable as one might imagine.
Read More![In Every Moment, the Choice Is Ours](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Matt_Berkowitz_updated_headshot-300x300.jpg)
In Every Moment, the Choice Is Ours
Oct 16, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayera
Sight and vision play an important role in the two opening narratives of Parashat Vayera.
Read More![Words of Prayer: New and Old](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/barth__dr._samuel_square.jpg)
Words of Prayer: New and Old
Oct 9, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
“What Page Are We on in the Prayer Book Blues” is a lighthearted song made famous by a pair of Orthodox artists in the 1980s called the Megama Duo (start at 3 minutes and 22 seconds in the linked video). The song would never have become as (in)famous as it was if the experience of “not being able to find the place” was unfamiliar. But, on the contrary, we have all been there, and it’s good to laugh at, and with, ourselves. When we do find the place in our prayer books, we see lines and paragraphs and pages of text, and it is often hard to find ourselves in the words.
Read More![What’s in a Name?](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/danny_nevins-300x300.jpg)
What’s in a Name?
Oct 9, 2013 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Lekh Lekha
What’s in a name? Quite a lot, but you need to know the story.
Read More![God As an Ally](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Matt_Berkowitz_updated_headshot-300x300.jpg)
God As an Ally
Oct 9, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Lekh Lekha
A journey of four thousand years begins with God’s command to Abraham.
Read More![A Jew’s Best Friend? The Image of the Dog Throughout Jewish History](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/jtslogo_pms173___high_res_square-1-300x300.jpg)
A Jew’s Best Friend? The Image of the Dog Throughout Jewish History
Oct 7, 2013 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event audio
Philip I. Ackerman-Liebrman, assistant professor of Jewish Studies and Law, as well as affiliated assistant professor of Islamic Studies and History, at Vanderbilt University, delivered a JTS Library Book talk on October 7th, on his new book, A Jew’s Best Friend? The Image of the Dog throughout Jewish History.
Read More![Why Did God Flood the World?](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/alan_cooper-300x300.jpg)
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.
Read More![The Noah of Genesis and the Noah of the Rabbis](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Matt_Berkowitz_updated_headshot-300x300.jpg)
The Noah of Genesis and the Noah of the Rabbis
Oct 1, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Noah
Parashat Noah, the Torah reading for this coming Shabbat, is renowned for the annual debate on Noah’s character that is sparked by the opening verse.
Read More![Simhat Torah: Which Way When the Circle Ends](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/barth__dr._samuel_square.jpg)
Simhat Torah: Which Way When the Circle Ends
Sep 23, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary | Simhat Torah
The annual celebration of Simhat Torah brings great joy to so many of us of all generations, and it is a fitting and triumphant conclusion to the long and multifaceted season of intense Jewish observance and focus that began (a little before Rosh Hashanah) with Selichot. In Israel and in congregations observing a single day of festivals, Simhat Torah is blended with Shemini Atzeret, offering the intense experience in the morning of Hallel, Hakkafot (processions with dancing) and Geshem (the prayer for Rain).
Read More![Bereishit with a Capital Bet](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/david_marcus-300x300.jpg)
Bereishit with a Capital Bet
Sep 22, 2013 By David Marcus | Commentary | Bereishit
With this week’s parashah, we once again commence the cycle of reading the Torah from the first chapter of Genesis, which begins with the Hebrew word bereishit.
Read More![Mastery = Harmony](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Matt_Berkowitz_updated_headshot-300x300.jpg)
Mastery = Harmony
Sep 22, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Bereishit
This coming Shabbat, we return to the beginning of Torah with Parashat Bereishit.
Read More![Welcome Guests—Visible and . . .](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/barth__dr._samuel_square.jpg)
Welcome Guests—Visible and . . .
Sep 16, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary | Sukkot
The sukkah is fragile and temporary, yet stands as a symbol of joy and celebration. Rabbi Reuven Hammer, in his commentary Or Hadash (Siddur Sim Shalom, 331), reminds us of a debate about the meaning of Leviticus 23:43 (“You shall live in Sukkot for seven days . . . in order that future generations will recall that I made the Israelite People dwell in Sukkot when I brought them out of Egypt”): “Rabbi Eliezer said that [these sukkot] were clouds of glory and Rabbi Akiba said they were actual huts (B. Sukkah 11b).”
Read More![The Ritual of Waters](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Matt_Berkowitz_updated_headshot-300x300.jpg)
The Ritual of Waters
Sep 16, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Sukkot
The festival of Sukkot is known as Z’man Simhateinu, the time of our rejoicing.
Read More![The Fruits of Close Reading](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Robbie-Harris-300x300.jpg)
The Fruits of Close Reading
Sep 16, 2013 By Robert Harris | Commentary | Sukkot
“In order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt” (Lev. 23:43).
Read More![Taking What Isn’t Ours](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/danny_nevins-300x300.jpg)
Taking What Isn’t Ours
Sep 11, 2013 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Yom Kippur
It’s not literally a skeleton in my closet, but I was still upset to find it hanging there.
Read More![Ne‘ilah: Final Closing, or Not Quite?](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/barth__dr._samuel_square.jpg)
Ne‘ilah: Final Closing, or Not Quite?
Sep 11, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary | Yom Kippur
“P’tach lanu sha’ar” (Keep open the gate for us) are the words of a fragment of a piyyut attributed to Elazar Kallir (6th century, Land of Israel) [see the Rabbinical Assembly’s Mahzor Lev Shalem, 414].
Read More![The Discipline of Atonement](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Matt_Berkowitz_updated_headshot-300x300.jpg)
The Discipline of Atonement
Sep 11, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Yom Kippur
This coming Shabbat culminates the period of aseret yamei teshuvah, the ten days of repentance, as we commemorate Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Read MoreSUBSCRIBE TO TORAH FROM JTS
Our regular commentaries and videos are a great way to stay intellectually and spiritually engaged with Jewish thought and wisdom.