Explore JTS’s Online Torah

We invite you to search our vast collection of today’s most compelling Jewish conversations, teaching, and resources, including weekly Torah commentaries, online lectures, curricula for community use, and more.

Use the search bar and filters to find what inspires you.

Read weekly Torah commentaries

Read weekly Torah commentaries

Reflections on the Torah reading cycle

Learn more
Holiday Learning and Resources

Holiday Learning and Resources

Commentaries and more on the themes, texts, and liturgy of the holidays.

Learn more
Take a Class in Biblical Hebrew

Take a Class in Biblical Hebrew

Take individual courses or pursue the certificate in Biblical Hebrew

Learn more
Listen to JTS podcasts

Listen to JTS podcasts

Learn on the go

Learn more
Watch lecture recordings

Watch lecture recordings

Videos of public events

Learn more
Nusah & Cantillation

Nusah & Cantillation

The tunes for Shabbat, festival, and high holiday services and Torah readings

Learn more

Featured

A Parent’s Prayer

A Parent’s Prayer

Oct 23, 2026 By Yael Landman | Commentary | Lekh Lekha

When we think about Abraham and prayer, we might immediately recall the patriarch’s bold petition to God on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah. We might even think of God telling King Abimelech that Abraham is a navi, a prophet, and thus has the special capacity to pray on the king’s behalf. Yet Abraham emerges as a person of prayer even earlier in his story. Following years of his wife Sarah’s infertility, and the birth of Ishmael to Abraham and Sarah’s slave Hagar, Parashat Lekh Lekha narrates the Divine promise to Abraham that Sarah will finally give birth. But instead of expressing joyous gratitude to God, Abraham responds: לוּ יִשְׁמָעֵאל יִחְיֶה לְפָנֶיךָ —“If only Ishmael could live before you!” (Gen. 17:18).

Read More
We Plant Again After the Flood

We Plant Again After the Flood

Oct 16, 2026 By Randy Michaels | Commentary | Noah

This October marks what would have been my thirtieth wedding anniversary. My beloved wife, Marlene (z’l), passed away in 2023, and in the years since, I have found myself focused on a strange detail that is in this week’s parashah (Noah)— one I never noticed until I needed it. When the floodwaters finally recede, and Noah steps out onto dry land, the Torah tells us almost nothing about what he felt. There is no accounting of everyone or everything now gone—no crying or description of grief at all. We are simply told of what he did next: he built an altar, and later, he planted a vineyard (Gen. 8:20, 9:20). Before feeling came building. Before understanding came planting.

Read More
How Should We Translate Genesis 1:1?

How Should We Translate Genesis 1:1?

Oct 9, 2026 By David Zev Moster | Commentary | Bereishit

בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ The opening words of the Torah are surprisingly difficult to translate. The grammatical issues are technical, the stakes are high, and there is pressure on the interpreter to get it right. Here we will explore the pros and cons of the two most popular approaches. Warning: we are […]

Read More
Dancing with Torah

Dancing with Torah

Oct 2, 2026 By Amy Kalmanofsky | Commentary | Sukkot

The interplay between the written and the oral Torah has sustained the Jewish people over time. Although they debated the proportions and priorities of what to study, the Talmud’s rabbis recognized the importance of both the Written and the Oral Torahs [Kiddushin 30a; Baba Metzia 33a]. They understood the sacred dance between the seen and the heard, the read and the taught, the fixed and the fluid. 

Read More
We Are All Sukkah-Dwellers

We Are All Sukkah-Dwellers

Sep 25, 2026 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Sukkot

The relationship between flesh and bone can serve as a useful paradigm for thinking about the symbolism of the sukkah; moreover, it can shape our experience of dwelling in it. All year long we dwell in houses. We experience them as durable shelters, places to retreat from the rest of the world and focus on our own lives, untethered to needs and demands of others—especially if we can avoid checking our smartphones.

Read More

SUBSCRIBE TO TORAH FROM JTS

Our regular commentaries and videos are a great way to stay intellectually and spiritually engaged with Jewish thought and wisdom.