When Theology Fails

Mar 17, 2009 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Shemini | Yom Hashoah

There is a fearful symmetry to the three chapters that make up this week’s parashah; symmetry made all the more fearful because the harmonies of theme and structure in Sh’mini contrast so mightily with the awful events it describes. 

What Did Abraham Actually Know?

Oct 30, 2015 By Tim Daniel Bernard | Commentary | Vayera

“But was he really as strongly convinced of such a revealed doctrine, and also of its meaning, as is required for daring to destroy a human being on its basis?”

—Immanuel Kant, Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason §4, transl. George di Giovanni

What would you do if a voice told you to sacrifice your child?

Abraham Joshua Heschel: The Call of Transcendence

Jan 23, 2014

Rabbi Shai Held discusses his book about Abraham Joshua Heschel with JTS Chancellor Arnold Eisen.

The Fiction of Teshuvah

Nov 20, 2012

Does anyone ever really change their ways? Can we become “someone new”? Is teshuvah really possible, or is it just fiction? Best-selling authors Susan Isaacs and Linda Fairstein as they discuss this topic through the characters in their books.

The State of Israel: Messianism Without a Messiah?

Nov 23, 2015 By Benjamin R. Gampel | Public Event video

This presentation explores what the messianic idea has meant for Jews through the ages and in contemporary Israeli politics—and the dramatic implications of messianic thinking in shaping the future and fate of the Jewish state.

Gaza, the IDF Code of Ethics, and the Morality of War

Nov 20, 2014

This summer, Israel faced a war with Gaza, but what are the moral implications involved in such a war? The Jewish Theological Seminary’s (JTS) Chancellor Arnold M. Eisen and Dr. Moshe Halbertal, Gruss Professor of Law at New York University School of Law discuss this complicated topic.

Patient Autonomy in the Dying Process: A Jewish Perspective

Feb 10, 2014

This lecture explores Rabbi Moses Feinstein’s approach to establishing an appropriate balance between the strong Jewish legal mandate to preserve life and the value of maximizing patient autonomy. Rabbi Feinstein’s biblical and talmudic sources, as well as the philosophical and ethical implications of his theory for end-of-life issues in Jewish and comparative law, were discussed.

What Is Life Worth? Tailoring the Law to Meet the Challenges of Unique Catastrophes

Nov 6, 2013

9/11. The BP oil spill. The Boston Marathon bombing. Major tragedies captivate the public and often galvanize officials into using unconventional strategies to help those most affected.