Meeting the Moment: Urgent Questions for Israel and American Jews

May 19, 2025 By Arnold M. Eisen | Public Event video | Video Lecture

In a time of deep internal division and existential challenges for Israel, what are the most urgent issues facing the Jewish state today鈥攁nd how can American Jews meaningfully engage? Professor Arnold M. Eisen,Rabbi Gordon Tucker, andRabbi Ayelet Cohenof 91抖阴 had a thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation based on the themes that emerged at theIsrael at a CrossroadsConvening. Together, they explored how Jewish values can guide us in responding to this critical moment: bridging divides, sustaining hope, and strengthening our collective future.

Who Belongs?

May 16, 2025 By Rachel Rosenthal | Commentary | Emor

Who is the Other? This question, which is asked more and more often in our world, is not often easy to answer. Can one choose to be part of a community? Are people who were once outsiders ever fully welcomed as insiders? In Judaism, these questions are especially important. While Judaism has categories to define and even praise non-Jews, opting into the Jewish community is not simple. However, the Talmud tells us that once someone converts to Judaism, we are supposed to treat them as any other Jew. Unfortunately, this is a mission in which many communities fail. This failure can have significant consequences, as we see in this week鈥檚 parashah, Emor.

Healing Together: How Those in Trauma Provide Care for Others

May 12, 2025 By Naomi Kalish | Public Event video | Video Lecture

How do individuals experiencing trauma find the strength to support others in crisis? Rabbi Naomi Kalish, Harold and Carole Wolfe Director of the Center for Pastoral Education at 91抖阴, discusses this and other topics withRabbi Annabelle Tenzer, chaplain at Hadassah Hospital-Ein Kerem. Together, they will explore how trauma survivors can also serve as caregivers and highlight key organizations working to provide emotional and spiritual support. This conversation offers insights into resilience, compassion, and communal care in times of crisis.

Love Beyond Grudges: Living the Mitzvah of Love Your Neighbor

May 9, 2025 By Jonah Guthartz | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim

Parashat Kedoshim begins by laying out dozens of mitzvot, including the prohibition against idolatry and the mitzvot of charity, Shabbat, honesty in business, honoring one鈥檚 parents, and the sanctity of life. Perhaps the best- known mitzvah is 诇止纸讗志转执拽止旨证诐讜职诇止纸讗志转执讟止旨专謾讗侄转志讘职旨谞值郑讬注址诪侄旨謹讱指讜职讗指纸讛址讘职转指旨芝诇职专值注植讱指謻讻指旨诪謶讜止讱指讗植谞执謻讬讬职-讛止讜指纸讛變 (Lev. 19:19) 鈥淵ou shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against members of your people. Love your fellow [Israelite] as yourself: I am the Lord鈥� Rabbi Akiva famously names this as a fundamental value of the Torah (Sifra, Kedoshim 4:12).

Israeli Society: Between Cohesion and Fragmentation

May 5, 2025

Throughout Israel鈥檚 history, there have been deep divisions between different segments of society. Israelis are divided on issues concerning national security, religion, economics, majority-minority relations, and more. Yet Israel鈥檚 democratic system contained those divides, and Israelis knew how to unite in times of crisis. What is the Israeli 鈥渇ormula鈥� for division and unity? Are we experiencing rifts that are no longer bridgeable? How do these Israeli divides impact American Jewry?

A Vision for Storytelling

May 4, 2025

Acclaimed authorJonathan Safran Foerinterviewed program directorEtgar Keret to announce the launch of 91抖阴鈥檚 MFA in Creative Writing. Together, they鈥檒l discuss the art of contemporary storytelling and their vision for 91抖阴鈥檚 groundbreaking new MFA.

The Torah鈥檚 Prescription for Healing

May 2, 2025 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Metzora | Tazria

Given the discomfort, discomfiture, and uncertainty that even mild skin eruptions can cause us nowadays, it should come as no surprise that they were a source of anxiety in ancient times. In this week鈥檚 parashah, that anxiety finds expression amidst an array of concerns about the human body and its functions. The purity laws inLeviticus 11through 15, which digress from the narrative flow of the book,[i]are concerned with diet (chapter 11), reproduction (chapter 12), and bodily integrity (chapters 13 to 15, including property as an extension of the person).

Israel at a Crossroads – Expanding the Conversation

Apr 28, 2025

This series builds on the discussions from 91抖阴鈥檚 Israel at the Crossroads convening, bringing 91抖阴 alumni into conversation about the evolving challenges of Israeli identity, culture, and collective resilience. Through explorations of art, spirituality, and national memory, we will consider how Israeli society navigates questions of belonging, pluralism, and meaning in this complex moment. By engaging voices from across disciplines, Expanding the Conversation seeks to illuminate the ways individuals and communities are shaping Israel鈥檚 cultural and spiritual landscape today.

The “Art” ofZionistThoughtandIsraeliIdentity

Apr 28, 2025 By Matthew Berkowitz | Public Event video | Video Lecture | Yom Hazikaron-Yom Ha'atzma'ut

In this session, we explored classical works of pre-State and鈥疘sraeli鈥痑rt鈥痶hat reflect the ethos of the鈥痁ionist鈥痸ision.鈥� Visual鈥痑rt and the artists behind these creations were in animated conversation with classical and modern鈥痁ionist鈥痸oices.鈥� We reflected on the extent to which the material artistic culture of Israel reflects and engages compelling spiritual and national visions of Zionism and a State for the Jews, in light of current events and the ways artists and cultural institutions are responding to this moment

Six Takes on a Leader鈥檚 Attributes

Apr 25, 2025 By Walter Herzberg | Commentary | Shemini

Identifying the textual problem: commentators have noticed that the phrase 鈥渄raw near unto the altar鈥� seems superfluous. If Aaron is being commanded to 鈥減erform the service of the sin offering,鈥� is it not obvious that he will need to approach the altar? This textual issue will serve as the basis for our consideration of the attributes of a leader based on our examination of the comments of the traditional Jewish commentaries.

The Bones We Carry

Apr 18, 2025 By Abigail Uhrman | Commentary | Pesah

Consider the scene: after over 200 years of slavery, the Israelites, at long last, are preparing to depart. They are frantically gathering their belongings鈥攇old, silver, all their earthly possessions鈥攁nd scrambling to prepare food for their journey. In this urgent rush, Moses, rather than attending to the needs of the people and their immediate concerns, embarks on a singular mission: to retrieve the bones of Joseph, fulfilling a centuries-old promise. It begs the question: Why, in the midst of these epic events, does the Torah highlight this seemingly minor detail? What is the significance of Moses’s dedication to this task, his resolute commitment to honoring a promise made generations ago?

Can We Sanctify Incivility?

Apr 11, 2025 By Gordon Tucker | Commentary | Shabbat Hagadol | Tzav

Parashat Tzav opens with instructions for the olah, the offering (primarily the twice-daily sacrifice) that is entirely burnt on the altar. The ninth chapter of the talmudic tractate Zevahim, notes that the word olah, which means 鈥渁scending,鈥� can be understood both as denoting an ascent to heaven from earth, and equally, an ascent up the ramp of the altar to the place from which it is offered. The double meaning gave rise to a principle that is articulated in the opening mishnah of that ninth chapter. But some background is necessary before citing that principle.

Who is Liable?

Apr 4, 2025 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Vayikra

The opening parashah of Leviticus comprises regulations for the performance of sacrifices. Of these, the most complicated are the hattat and the asham offerings, discussed in chapters 4 and 5. As James Watts observes in the best English-language commentary to appear since Milgrom鈥檚,[1] these chapters have been 鈥渢he subject of an especially contentious history of interpretation.鈥� The reason is the ambiguity of the biblical text, with its conjoining of 鈥渟in鈥� and 鈥済uilt,鈥� and the absence of a clear distinction between actual (objective) guilt and (subjective) guilty feelings.

91抖阴 MFA in Writing: The Power of Storytelling

Mar 31, 2025

Acclaimed Israeli author Etgar Keret, the director of the 91抖阴 MFA in Writing, shared his passion for storytelling in this session of our series, “What’s Next: New Ways of Engaging with Jewish Text” He spoke with Lisa Springer, Dean of the Division of Lifelong and Professional Studies (DLPS) and Associate Provost for Continuing and Digital Learning.

The Give and Take of Strength

Mar 28, 2025 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Pekudei | Shabbat Hahodesh

Rituals of closure are common in both the secular and religious realms. An example of the first is the sounding of retreat and the lowering of the flag marking the end of the official duty day on military installations. An instance of the second is the siyyum, a liturgical ritual and festive meal that is occasioned by […]

Who Shall Cross: A Talmudic Reimagining of the Passover Narrative

Mar 24, 2025 By Jan Uhrbach | Public Event video | Pesah

In preparation for your seder, Rabbi Jan Uhrbach, Director of the Block / Kolker Center for Spiritual Arts, led a thought-provoking session, exploring a Talmudic story that reflects key themes of Passover, raising profound questions about free will, obligation, and inclusion. How do we determine our purpose? Who are our fellow travelers, and what do we owe them? This discussion offers new insights to bring to your Passover table.

Sacred Gifts and the Holiness of Diversity

Mar 21, 2025 By Rabbi Ayelet Cohen | Commentary | Shabbat Parah | Vayak-hel

Parashat Vayak-hel demands that we notice the details, recounting with exquisite specificity the ornamentation and beautification of the Miskhan and the sacred vestments. Among all of the parshiyot detailing the construction of the Mishkan, Vayak-hel is particularly notable in lifting up the sacred contributions of women and of the artists and artisans. It also expands […]

From Online Auction to 91抖阴 Special Collections: How Two Historic Bibles Were Reunited in the 91抖阴 Library

Mar 17, 2025 By David Zev Moster | Public Event video | Video Lecture

This summer, for his 40th birthday, David Moster purchased a rare set of books from the 1800s. The chain of events that followed led to the 91抖阴 Library temporarily welcoming a rare and valuable 13th Century Tanakh manuscript into its collection. In this session, you learn about the fascinating backstory of this manuscript and the thrilling story of its reunification. We explore how the study of manuscripts and the scribes who created them can help you think about your own translation and interpretation of the Tanakh.

The Day Is Short, but Our Story Is Long

Mar 14, 2025 By Yael Landman | Commentary | Ki Tissa | Purim

Within the book of Exodus, certain details link the golden calf story with the account of revelation at Sinai. Mount Sinai is the site of the Israelites forming a covenant with God, but it is also the site of them violating that covenant. It鈥檚 where God tells Moses to go up and receive the stone tablets, and where Moses carries down those tablets before he witnesses the Israelites partying and hurls the tablets to the ground. The word kol (which we might translate 鈥渟ound,鈥� 鈥渘oise,鈥� or 鈥渢hunder鈥�) recurs in the context of God鈥檚 revelation, only to recur in the account of the golden calf with respect to the Israelites鈥� ill-advised festivities. In these ways, the golden calf story is inextricably connected to the initial moment of revelation and lawgiving at Sinai, even as it threatens to destroy that covenantal foundation.

Anina Dassa – Senior Sermon (鈥�25)

Mar 12, 2025 By 91抖阴 Senior Sermon | Commentary | Senior Sermon | Ki Tissa

Ki Tissa

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