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All the Horrors of War
Apr 6, 2021 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video
All the Horrors of War follows Hugh Llewelyn Glyn Hughes, a high-ranking British officer, and Rachel Genuth, a Jewish teenager from the Hungarian provinces, as they navigate the final, brutal year of World War II. Their stories converge before the war鈥檚 end, in Bergen-Belsen, where Hughes finds himself responsible for an unprecedented situation: thousands of war-ravaged inmates are in need of immediate hospitalization, including Genuth.
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Looking Back at Jews and the Civil Rights Movement
Apr 5, 2021
The story of how Jews were key allies to African Americans in the Civil Rights Movement is well known. But when historical narratives become conventional wisdom, it can lead to stagnation. Now, many are asking when it comes to Black-Jewish relations, where do we go from here? In this session, led by Dr. Jason Schulman, we will look back at the story of Jews and the Civil Rights Movement to explore some new directions for the study of the field and new bases for honest dialogue.
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Freedom for Whom?
Mar 22, 2021 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Public Event video | Video Lecture
First and foremost, the traditional Haggadah celebrates our liberation from Egypt. At the same time, it reflects our experience of oppression over the course of many centuries. It is therefore a plea to be redeemed anew that reflects and potentially re-enforces an adversarial relationship with the non-Jewish world. In our own time the Jews of the United States and Israel enjoy unprecedented freedom. How do we honor the voice of tradition while also including the modern voices seeking liberation for all?
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The Future of the Seminary in a Dogmatic Age
Mar 18, 2021 By Shuly Rubin Schwartz | Public Event video
A conversation between Chancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz and NYU President Emeritus John Sexton. Moderated by Krista Tippett.
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Conversion, Circumcision, and Ritual Murder in Medieval Europe
Mar 17, 2021 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video
Author and professor Paola Tartakoff of Rutgers University discusses her new book, Conversion, Circumcision, and Ritual Murder in Medieval Europe, which explores the “Norwich Circumcision Case” from multiple perspectives.
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When Jews Made Fellow Jews 鈥極ther鈥�: Hasidism and its Opponents
Mar 15, 2021 By David Fishman | Public Event video | Video Lecture
The Hasidim, followers of the Ba鈥檃l Shem Tov and his spiritual heirs, emerged in the 18th century with controversial ideas related to Jewish practice and belief. While Hasidim coexisted peacefully with non-Hasidim in many communities, theMitnagdim(鈥渙pponents鈥�) in many larger Jewish centers in Eastern Europe reacted to the Hasidim not only with condemnation, but with writs of excommunication and measures to persecute the members of the new movement. This internal Jewish religious strife led to the division of the community into rival 鈥渄enominations鈥� for the first time in nearly a thousand years. We will study the conflict between the Hasidim andMitnagdimand reflect on how the core principles of the dispute continue to shape our Jewish lives and guide our homes and institutions.
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The Self, the Other, and God in 20th Century Jewish Philosophy:
Cohen, Buber, and Levinas
Mar 8, 2021 By Yonatan Y. Brafman | Public Event video | Video Lecture
her, and where does our relationship tothe other Other鈥擥od鈥攆it in? Modern Jewish philosophers, including Hermann Cohen, Martin Buber, and Emmanuel Levinas placed the intersubjective relationship鈥攖he relationship between persons鈥揳t the center of their thinking. Dr. Yonatan Brafman explores their reflections鈥攖heir similarities and differences鈥攊n order to grapple with its implications for Jewish ethics.
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Facing the Other: Moral Dilemmas in Israeli Literature
Mar 1, 2021 By Barbara Mann | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Lyric poetry, with its unique voice and vivid imagery, offers a brief but intense opportunity toenter intothe intimate space of another.鈥疶hrough texts by canonical Israeli authors (Dan Pagis, Yehuda Amichai, and DaliaRavikovitch), we will trace a series of poetic encounters between Self and Other: survivor and perpetrator; mother and child; victim and hero; Jew and Palestinian.鈥�
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A Journey Across the Jewish Past
Feb 24, 2021 By David C. Kraemer | Public Event video
Hidden in the nooks and crannies of libraries and museums across the world are clues to an often-surprising Jewish past: a 15th-century Italian woman鈥檚 siddur that includes a special prayer thanking God for 鈥渃reating her as a woman鈥�; a Haggadah from a Nazi concentration camp; manuscripts from the Court Jews enmeshed in the intrigues of European kings.
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Reading the Resisting Woman as 鈥淥ther鈥�
Feb 22, 2021 By Shira D. Epstein | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Who has the right to anger? When is defiance cast as positive in our texts and when is it silenced? We will explore the Vashti narrative through the lens of power dynamics, status shifts, performing of gendered emotions, and as an example of reading the resisting woman as 鈥淥ther.鈥�
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A Single Life
Feb 18, 2021 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video
A discussion with author, rabbi, and scholar Daniel Ross Goodman about his novel, A Single Life, which blends a literary style and a Talmudic sensibility with the romance tradition.
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A Tour of Medieval Cairo
Feb 9, 2021 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video
Medieval Fustat-Cairo was a burgeoning metropolis that sat strategically astride the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and trans-Saharan trade routes, its fabulous wealth due in part to the Fatimid caliphs having founded their capital there in 969. But what was daily life like for its middling inhabitants? Marina Rustow discusses this question using fragments of the Cairo Genizah found in our collection at The 91抖阴 Library.
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Different But Equal?
The Paradox of Chosenness
Feb 8, 2021 By Alan Cooper | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Jewish conceptions ofchosennessor election鈥攔ooted especially in the language ofExodus 19:5-6鈥攖raditionally were hierarchical, often asserting Jewish superiority over others. Such notions run afoul of modern ideas about social justice, typically anchored in egalitarian values that would have been alien to pre-modern authors. Is it possible to uphold a version of Jewish 鈥渄ifference鈥� that is simultaneously non-hierarchical yet answerable to traditional sources?
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Legacy of Blood: Jews, Pogroms, and Ritual Murder in the Land of the Soviets
Feb 1, 2021 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video
A discussion with author and historian Elissa Bemporad about her book, Legacy of Blood: Jews, Pogroms, and Ritual Murder in the Lands of the Soviets.
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Other Gods: What the Bible Thinks about Other Nations鈥� Deities
Feb 1, 2021 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Public Event video | Video Lecture
The Bible frequently instructs the nation Israel not to worship 鈥渙ther gods鈥� (讗诇讛讬诐讗讞专讬诐).But the Bible never actually states that these other gods do not exist. Praying to other gods would be an act of disloyalty for an Israelite, but not an absurdity鈥攖here are apparently other gods who would hear the prayers in question. In fact, the Bible regards it as perfectly appropriate for other nations to worship them, because the 鈥渙ther gods鈥� are simply the gods of other nations. In this session, we will examine the biblical attitude toward these other gods and what their existence implies about other religions. We will see, paradoxically, that the Bible remains monotheistic, even though it acknowledges the existence of many deities.
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Some Unexpected Stories About Women in the Talmud
Jan 25, 2021 By Judith Hauptman | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Although most Talmudic anecdotes feature men, some feature wives, mothers, and daughters of rabbis. These women learned Jewish law, and even, on occasion, helped formulate it. Join Dr. Judith Hauptman to study several of these short episodes and explore their significance, both historically and through the present day.
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Speaking Out Against Hate
Jan 19, 2021 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video
Acclaimed Polish poet and musician Grzegorz Kwiatkowski speaks to the Library’s Dr. David Kraemer about his public condemnation of Holocaust denial, genocide, and the rise of populism, xenophobia, and nationalism in Poland and beyond.
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The Relentless Pursuit of Racial Justice
Jan 15, 2021 By 91抖阴 | Public Event video
For Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, the Rev. John Vaughn of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta joins us to discuss renewing the Black-Jewish coalition for social Justice.
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The Other in Jewish Text and Tradition
Jan 12, 2021 By 91抖阴 | Public Event video | Video Lecture
We live in a time of such polarization鈥攑olitical, racial, economic, religious鈥攖hat the gaps between us sometimes feel insurmountable. But this is not a new condition for Jews, either within or outside of the Jewish community. 91抖阴 scholars guide us on an intellectual journey through Jewish history and text to understand how these gaps have been understood and, at times, bridged.
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Demanding or Disengaging: How to Respond When We Feel Abandoned by God
Jan 12, 2021 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Public Event video
Part of the series, “Hope in the Time of Covid” at B’nai Torah Congregation, Boca Raton, FL.
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