@JTSVoice

The Jewish Theological Seminary, a preeminent institution of higher education, trains leaders and provides vision for the Jewish community worldwide

 New York, NY
jtsa.edu
Joined October 2011
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A Sapling in Your Hand. World-ending news does not excuse us from finishing the planting. #JTSTorah jtsa.edu/torah/we-plant-agai…

We Plant Again After the Flood - Jewish Theological Seminary

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...

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Getting it Right. The opening words of the Torah are surprisingly difficult to translate. #JTSTorah jtsa.edu/torah/how-should-we…

How Should We Translate Genesis 1:1? - Jewish Theological Seminary

בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃

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A Transmission of Tradition. Oral Torah opens our minds to new kinds of Torah. #JTSTorah jtsa.edu/torah/dancing-with-…

Dancing with Torah - Jewish Theological Seminary

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...

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The Symbolism of the Sukkah. The structures that make us are not visible to the naked eye. #JTSTorah jtsa.edu/torah/we-are-all-su…

We Are All Sukkah-Dwellers - Jewish Theological Seminary

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...

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A Stunning Paradox. Living life from the end helps us appreciate the mundane. loom.ly/9GPByqY #JTSTorah

From Whence to Where - Jewish Theological Seminary

Yom Kippur turns on a stunning paradox. A prodigious effort at repentance yields but the modest request of one more year to address our failings. Living life from the end is intended to heighten our...

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A Civic Liturgy for 9/11. Reflections for the Days of Awe. loom.ly/O2mFYWw #JTSTorah

A Civic Liturgy for 9/11: Reflections for the Days of Awe - Jewish Theological Seminary

This year, when the first night of Rosh Hashanah falls on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, we reflect on the lessons from that day, on its inexorable connection to the season of the Days of Awe, and on...

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Dreaming Happy Endings. We can only control our destiny up to a certain point.  #JTSTorah jtsa.edu/torah/the-choice-2/

The Choice - Jewish Theological Seminary

Imagine if you could choose your future—not know it, but choose it. What would happen to you? Would you live forever? Would you choose how you were going to die? What would be your legacy? If you...

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The Lived Reality of Freedom. Recognition of the other’s humanity both grows out of and further deepens one’s own humanity. #JTSTorah jtsa.edu/torah/after-liberat…

After Liberation - Jewish Theological Seminary

Parashat Ki Tavo opens with two ceremonies: the presentation of the first fruits (Deut. 26:1–11) and a declaration made after distributing the triennial tithe to the Levite, the stranger, the orphan,...

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An Odd Commandment. Remembering helps us to blot out bad memories. #JTSTorah jtsa.edu/torah/gods-love-is-…

God's Love is Here to Stay - Jewish Theological Seminary

I’m going to make a bold conjecture: that Ki Tetzei was the Bar Mitzvah portion of George Gershwin, and that his older brother Ira was inspired by the haftarah that young Yankele chanted. The section...

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Who Was “the Levite” in Deut. 18:6? Could the anonymous Levite have been Moses's grandson? jtsa.edu/torah/who-was-the-l… #JTSTorah

Who Was “the Levite” in Deut. 18:6? - Jewish Theological Seminary

From the dawn of biblical criticism, the opening verses of Deuteronomy 18 have played a crucial role in efforts to understand the history and development of the Israelite priesthood.  It seems clear...

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Right and Wrong. A legal system that is good is not sufficient on its own. jtsa.edu/torah/the-power-to-… #JTSTorah

The Power to Choose: A Founding Moment of Jewish Ethics - Jewish Theological Seminary

Choice – between right and wrong – is the opening theme of Parashat Re’eh. “See (re’eh), I place before you (lifneikhem) today blessing and curse. Blessing –

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Remembering Our Blessings. People who are satisfied often forget to feel gratitude. #JTSTorah jtsa.edu/torah/full-stomachs…

Full Stomachs, Forgetful Hearts - Jewish Theological Seminary

It is a good day when I happen upon the elementary school students at the Schechter School of Long Island while they are singing birkat hamazon, the

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Present in Everything. To hurt another person is to hurt God's presence in the world. #JTSTorah jtsa.edu/torah/the-hidden-me…

The Hidden Meaning of the Shema - Jewish Theological Seminary

There is a story about a rabbi who traveled through Europe after the Holocaust searching for Jewish children hidden in churches during the war. In one Catholic orphanage, the priest assured him there...

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Not the Way it Happened. When retelling old stories, it's tempting to present ourselves as the heroes. #JTSTorah jtsa.edu/torah/motivations-f…

Motivations for Storytelling - Jewish Theological Seminary

When our family gathers for celebrations, one refrain consistently punctuates every conversation: “That’s not the way it happened!” One of my adult children will then retell the story of how my...

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A Great Threshold. Transitions pull us towards what is coming. #JTSTorah loom.ly/g6_vP7U

The Whole Journey - Jewish Theological Seminary

School has ended, and with it comes a familiar flood of feelings. As my own children close out another year, I feel grateful and a little sad, eager for the summer and already nostalgic for the days...

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A Dramatic Shift. Why does a discussion about national catastrophe conclude with courtship and dancing? #JTSTorah jtsa.edu/torah/pinehas-and-t…

Pinehas and the Three Weeks - Jewish Theological Seminary

Most years, Parashat Pinehas is read near the beginning of the Three Weeks. While the timing before or after the Seventeenth of Tammuz shifts, the proximity is worth noticing. This minor fast day...

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The Wisdom of the Talking Donkey. We must uncover our eyes before we speak. #JTSTorah jtsa.edu/torah/who-sees-the-…

Who Sees the Truth, and Who Speaks It? - Jewish Theological Seminary

Long-time New York subway riders are familiar with the slogan, “See something, say something.” Balaam’s story in this week’s parashah is closer to: “Say something, because you didn’t see something.”...

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Speaking Up. A just society should be open to hearing challenges and taking them seriously. #JTSTorah jtsa.edu/torah/when-a-questi…

When a Question Threatens - Jewish Theological Seminary

In this week’s parashah, Korah organizes a group of two hundred and fifty well-respected people to protest Moses and Aaron’s leadership. “You have gone too far,” Korah and his group announce. “For...

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The Sayable and the Seeable. Images have both power and limitations.  #JTSTorah jtsa.edu/torah/grapes-of-can…

Grapes of Canaan - Jewish Theological Seminary

The spies’ illustration epitomizes the power of images but also their hermeneutic limitations. Of the complex story that Parashat Shelach Lekha relates concisely, the grapes are a central motif in...

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More Than a Craving. The rejection of manna emerges as a rejection of Moses himself. #JTSTorah jtsa.edu/torah/independence-…

Independence Day - Jewish Theological Seminary

In Escape from Freedom (1941), Erich Fromm argued that freedom is not merely liberation from external constraints (“freedom from”) but also entails the capacity for self-realization and responsible...

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