Category: Learning

A Beginner’s Guide to Learning Torah

A Beginner’s Guide to Learning Torah

How do you get started learning Torah? Where do you even begin? I have four recommendations for you that will help you get going.
April 3, 2025 Learning Torah Study
What Medicines May One Take During Pesah?

What Medicines May One Take During Pesah?

If medicine is not food, why should there be any restrictions on taking it during Pesah? The question arises because although medicine is not food, ...
March 26, 2025 CJLS Halakhah
The Power of Intentional Revelation

The Power of Intentional Revelation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yu2a34PttAOriginally given as a senior sermon at JTS. I was six years old when I went thrift shopping for the perfect red button-up sweater to play ...
March 24, 2025 Holidays JTS Senior Sermon

When God Revealed Themself

There are various ways to look at God's revelation at Sinai, including as a "coming out." Read Ariel Dunat's JTS senior sermon on this.
February 20, 2025 JTS Senior Sermon Learning

Trusting the Process of the Journey

Parshat Bo is about trusting the process of the journey put in front of you. Learn more in Alicia Rothamel's Senior Sermon at JTS.
February 19, 2025 JTS Senior Sermon Learning

How Far Should One Go to Make Peace?

How far should one go to make peace? We can learn the answer to this from looking at stories of how Aaron makes peace.
February 18, 2025 Daily Living Every Day
Balancing Torah Study and Worldly Engagement Can it work

Balancing Torah Study and Worldly Engagement: Can it work?

You can find a harmonious existence where Torah study enriches your engagement with the world and the world inspires your spiritual growth.
, February 13, 2025 Learning Living
Pharaoh’s Hardened Heart and the Nature of Free Will 

Pharaoh’s Hardened Heart and the Nature of Free Will

Free will gives us a lot of responsibility. But the sages teach we're still able to make mistakes and the teshuvah to repair them.
February 13, 2025 Parashat Shemot Parashat Shemot Dvar Torah
How to Deal With Difficult People

How to Deal With Difficult People

A delicate balance is required in dealing with difficult people, and the rabbis provide us a framework to explore this very question.
February 13, 2025 Every Day Human interactions
Food in the Talmud A Window Into a Distant Past

Food in the Talmud: A Window Into a Distant Past

Food is a way to discover layers of knowledge, connect to an ancient memory, and an invitation to revisit the lives of our distant ancestors.
February 13, 2025 Food Living
Balancing Work and Faith: The Dilemma of Modern Jewish Life

Balancing Work and Faith: The Dilemma of Modern Jewish Life

Through thoughtful choices, self-reflection, and a commitment to growth, we can balance our professional obligations and spiritual practices.
February 13, 2025 Living Mitzvot
Educational Milestones are Jewish Moments

Educational Milestones are Jewish Moments

Celebrating educational milestones as Jewish moments, we pass on a legacy, linking their achievements to generations past and future.
February 10, 2025 Education Learning
What’s the deal with electricity on Shabbat?

What’s the deal with electricity on Shabbat?

Why is electricity such a complicated issue when it comes to Shabbat? What are the considerations? How can I learn more about it?
February 4, 2025 CJLS Halakhah
Lech Lecha: Weaving the Bonds of Trust and Loyalty

Lech Lecha: Weaving the Bonds of Trust and Loyalty

This portion reveals the intricate layers of psychological conflicts, while revealing the love, loyalty, and trust that exist amongst us.
January 22, 2025 Family Parashat Lech Lecha
Does God Punish us Looking Deeper at Deuteronomy's Theology

Does God Punish Us? Looking Deeper at Deuteronomy’s Theology

Unpacking Deuteronomy's Theology: How could such a loving God allow us to suffer? Does God want us to suffer? Is it a punishment?
January 22, 2025 Job Jonah
Gathering Stones: How to be a Morah Derekh

Gathering Stones: How to be a Morah Derekh

Stones represent the memories and wisdom gathered from living our lives. Each affirms that moment and its worthiness of being remembered.
December 17, 2024 JTS Senior Sermon Learning
How Will You Embody Hope?

How Will You Embody Hope?

We are the inheritors of Moses and Miriam and all the generations of Hebrews and Jews who came before us and every bit of hope ...
December 15, 2024 Learning Ordination Year 2025
An Invitation to Approach

An Invitation to Approach

Prayer is God’s constant invitation to approach. An opportunity to our deepen relationships with God and ourselves, by sharing how we feel.
December 13, 2024 JTS Senior Sermon Learning
What is feminist Torah and how do we do it?

What is feminist Torah and how do we do it?

Feminist Torah is an approach to how we relate to Torah and a set of commitments about which Torah to draw from in our teaching ...
December 2, 2024 Community Inclusion
“Peace is Great!” A Challenging Jewish Teaching

“Peace is Great!”  A Challenging Jewish Teaching

Achieving true peace here on earth is a tremendous task which we can fully accomplish only when we have God pushing us to do so.
November 24, 2024 Derekh Eretz Zuta Ideas
The Dignity of Self-Definition

The Dignity of Self-Definition

We can choose, in our relationships, to see others as if through G-d’s eyes. This helps us be less alone and to see one another's ...
November 15, 2024 JTS Senior Sermon Learning
Fat Liberation in Gan Eden

Fat Liberation in Gan Eden

God created humans with naked bodies and no shame. Now, we live in a world that wants us to forget that we were made in ...
November 14, 2024 JTS Senior Sermon Learning
Our Proselytizing Ancestors: Three Tools for Holding Conviction in Mixed Company

Our Proselytizing Ancestors: Three Tools for Holding Conviction in Mixed Company

Sasson Brown, RS '25, speaks on the unexpected act of Abraham and Sarah's proselytizing and the lessons we can learn from it.
November 8, 2024 JTS Senior Sermon Learning
How to Get the Get (A Jewish Divorce) and Why It Matters

How to Get the Get (A Jewish Divorce) and Why It Matters

The Get or “decree of divorce,” plays a fundamental role in the Jewish life cycle of a couple whose marriage has come to an end ...
November 3, 2024 Divorce Halakhah
Tanakh Yomi: The Beauty Of Daily Study

Tanakh Yomi: The Beauty Of Daily Study

Every person’s study experience with Tanakh is simultaneously unique and unifying. May we all learn and grow together in the days to come.
, October 22, 2024 Every Day Learning
A Talmudic Reading Of The High Holiday Prayer Un’taneh Tokef

A Talmudic Reading Of The High Holiday Prayer Un’taneh Tokef

Un'taneh Tokef: What makes this prayer so attractive? Could it be the poignant question, “Who will live and who will die?”
September 23, 2024 High Holidays Holidays
Reflections on Death (1973)

Reflections on Death (1973)

Heschel writes in 1973 in "Reflections on Death": Life here and now is the task. Every moment can be an achievement.
September 22, 2024 CJ Journal - 1945-1959 Confronting Death
Introduction to the Kaddish: For Those who Died in the Israeli War (1957)

Introduction to the Kaddish: For Those who Died in the Israeli War (1957)

Written by S.Y. Agnon in the Conservative Judaism Journal for those who died in the War of 1948, these words are especially fitting today.
September 20, 2024 CJ Journal - 1945-1959 Conservative Judaism Journal
כיצד ראוי לחגוג את שמחת תורה בשנת תשפ״ה?

?כיצד ראוי לחגוג את שמחת תורה בשנת תשפ״ה

חווינו אחד מן האסונות הגדולים ביותר בתולדות המדינה, ומאז, כיצד ראוי לחגוג את שמחת תורה בשנת תשפ״ה?
September 20, 2024 Halakhah High Holidays
How to Appropriately Celebrate Simchat Torah in 5785

How to Appropriately Celebrate Simchat Torah in 5785

With the ongoing tragedy of October 7th and the ongoing hostage situation and war, how do we appropriately celebrate Simchat Torah in 5785?
September 20, 2024 Halakhah High Holidays

High Holiday Liturgy: Making Meaning from the Metaphors for God

By understanding the nuance of Divine justice, we are given a powerful model for healthier relationships in the human realm.
September 18, 2024 High Holidays Holidays
How To Live A Morally Good Life

How To Live A Morally Good Life

The moral life, with its choices, its responsibilities, its missteps, and its modes of repair, is an integral part of what it means to be ...
September 17, 2024 Ethics High Holidays
How To Get Religious Accommodations At Work

How To Get Religious Accommodations At Work

Want to know your rights as a Jew in the workplace? Need religious accommodations? Find out what your rights are and how to exercise them.
September 9, 2024 Elul Government

Why We Study Mishnah To Grieve Someone Who Has Died

There is a custom of learning and reciting chapters of Mishnah as part of the mourning process. Where does this come from? How does this ...
, September 3, 2024 Death and Dying Learning
Medieval Musings on the Emotional Content of a Fast

Medieval Musings on the Emotional Content of a Fast

Can we do work and labor on Tisha B'av? What role do our emotions play in that? The Medieval posek Terumat HaDeshen has an answer.
July 31, 2024 Fasting on Tisha B'av Halakhah
Why Conservative Judaism Changed Sacrifices in the Prayer Book

Why Conservative Judaism Changed Sacrifices in the Prayer Book

Explore why Conservative Judaism changed the language of the sacrifices in the prayer book. It shows more about the Movement.
July 23, 2024 Conservative Judaism Every Day
On Changes in Judaism Frankel

On Changes in Judaism (1845)

Rabbi Zecharias Frankel in 1845 explores the nature of Judaism as it faces progress and highlights the nature of change in Judaism.
July 17, 2024 Conservative Judaism Core Conservative Judaism Ideas
Are Non-Kosher Animals Permitted for Organ Transplants?

Are Non-Kosher Animals Permitted for Organ Transplants?

Are non-kosher animals permitted for organ transplants? Rabbi Shai Cherry explains the recent teshuvah from the CJLS.
July 10, 2024 Animals CJLS
The Jewish Status of a Child Born Using a Gestational Carrier

The Jewish Status of a Child Born Using a Gestational Carrier

In a recent teshuvah, the CJLS answers the question, "what is the Jewish status of a child born using a gestational carrier?"
July 5, 2024 Child Birth CJLS

Democracy in Post-Biblical Judaism (1948)

Rabbi Greenberg writes, many ideas matured in rabbinic thought, particularly "group of ethical values usually associated with the concept of Democracy."
July 2, 2024 CJ Journal - 1945-1959 Conservative Judaism
The Biblical Basis of Democracy (1948)

The Biblical Basis of Democracy (1948)

Rabbi Gordis writes, "the main current of Biblical thought and Jewish tradition is fundamentally democratic..."
July 2, 2024 CJ Journal - 1945-1959 Conservative Judaism
Tisha B'av in Rome 1949

Tisha Be-Av In Rome, Under the Arch of Titus (1949)

Rabbi Abramowitz z''l: "...Tish'a be-Av amid the ruins of the Roman Empire [was] fraught with inner meaning and significance...in 1948"
June 30, 2024 CJ Journal - 1945-1959 Conservative Judaism Journal
Marriage As Mitzvah

Marriage As Mitzvah

Jews see marriage as mitzvah based on biblical and rabbinic texts. Marriage is seen as important for spirituality and closeness with God.
, June 26, 2024 Learning Lifecycles
Shabbat for Jewish Pets and Their Owners

Shabbat for Jewish Pets and Their Owners

Here are a few tips to celebrate Shabbat for Jewish pets and their owners and how to enhance your family's Shabbat experience.
June 19, 2024 Animals Daily Living

Shavuot 5784: Tiny Tikkun

Shavuot is often considered a holiday of converts. Our Tiny Tikkun collects some texts on conversion to study with a friend or on your own.
May 30, 2024 Conversion Holidays
Common Terms in Torah Study

Common Terms in Torah Study

The Exploring Judaism team has prepared this printable sheet of common terms you might encounter in your Torah study that might help you out.
May 24, 2024 Holidays Learning
Temple Envy

Temple Envy

This an exploration of my "temple envy" through the emotions of grief, wonder, and desire for Jewish unity during a recent vacation to Nikko.
May 22, 2024 Every Day Holidays

Ten Torah Resources You Should Know

Here are our top ten Torah resources you should know, including Conservative/Masorti organizations and resources for kids and families!
May 15, 2024 Holidays Learning
Yom Ha-Atzma'ut: Sow With Tears, Reap with Joy

Yom Ha-Atzma’ut: Sow With Tears, Reap with Joy

Yom Ha-Atzma’ut in 2024, as in 1948, is a time of rejoicing and weeping. Just as then, today, too, we have much work ahead.
May 9, 2024 Holidays Torat HaShaah
What blessing do I recite over an eclipse?

What blessing do I recite over an eclipse?

A solar eclipse is certainly a unique natural event that causes us to ponder our place in the universe. What blessing do I recite?
April 4, 2024 Blessings CJLS
Parashat Ki Tisa: On Relationships with God and Other Human Beings

On Relationships with God and Other Human Beings

Ilana Sandberg (JTS RS '24) explores parashat Ki Tisa and speaks on relationships with God and other human beings.
February 29, 2024 JTS Senior Sermon Learning
Parashat Mishpatim: The Torah of Disorienting Moments

The Torah of Disorienting Moments

Talia Kaplan (JTS RS '24) explores parashat Mishpatim and the Torah of disorienting moments, reflecting on her rabbinical school experience.
February 7, 2024 JTS Senior Sermon Learning
Parashat Yitro: Binding Love and Loss

Binding Love and Loss

Amalya Volz (JTS RS '24) explores Parashat Yitro through the binding of love and loss and the people of Israel's relationship with God.
February 1, 2024 JTS Senior Sermon Learning
Charlton Heston Speaking

Charlton Heston Speaking

We can learn about leadership from Moses, as well as from Charlton Heston speaking, as he plays Moses in the Ten Commandments movie.
January 31, 2024 Holidays Learning
The Mitzvah of Environmental Sustainability

The Mitzvah of Environmental Sustainability

What does Judaism say about environmental sustainability? Yishuv Ha'olam is the mitzvah to build and maintain a sustainable world.
January 3, 2024 CJLS Climate and Environment
Women and Headcovering

Women and Headcovering

In a written teshuvah, Rabbi Jane Kanarek explains the answer to the question, "Should women and girls wear a headcovering?"
January 3, 2024 CJLS Halakhah
Tallit on the Bimah: Optional or Required?

Tallit on the Bimah: Optional or Required?

This CJLS teshuva explores where and when a tallit should be worn on the bimah. This also addresses women wearing tallitot.
January 3, 2024 Accessories for Prayer CJLS
How to Write a D’var Torah

How to Write a D’var Torah

There are many ways to write a d'var Torah. Read how this rabbi thinks about giving divrei Torah and what she thinks about while writing.
December 26, 2023 Every Day Learning
Being a Conservative Jew in Jerusalem

A Conservative Jew in Jerusalem

What is it like being a Conservative Jew in Jerusalem and how do we understand the holiness of the holiest place in the world?
December 26, 2023 Conservative Judaism Israel
Ani Ma'amin: Conservative Judaism as a Dynamic Force

Ani Ma’amin: Conservative Judaism as a Dynamic Force

Rabbi Artson shares his "Ani Ma'amin," the credo that he recites every day as he things about Conservative Judaism as a dynamic force.
December 19, 2023 Blessings Conservative Judaism
What does Judaism say about abortion

What does Judaism say about Abortion?

An overview of what Judaism says about abortion based on the decisions and analysis of the Rabbinical Assembly.
, December 10, 2023 CJLS Halakhah
Elevating the Matriarchs, and the Women, in Judaism

Elevating the Matriarchs, and the Women, in Judaism

Elevating the Matriarchs is important. Rabbi Goodman encourages this with a midrash on Parashat Shemini, urging that representation matters.
December 6, 2023 Inclusion Learning
Finding Quiet Solace in a Stormy World

Finding Quiet Solace in a Stormy World

Caleb Brommer, RS '24, speaks on finding quiet solace in a stormy world, for his JTS senior sermon, on Parashat Vayishlach.
November 30, 2023 JTS Senior Sermon Learning
Psalms for this Time of Crisis in Israel

Psalms for this Time of Crisis in Israel

Seven psalms as a liturgical response to our individual and collective emotions, including grief, fear, rage, desperation, and others.
October 19, 2023 Hebrew Bible Israel
Violence in Israel: Self-Care and Mental Health

Violence in Israel: Self-Care and Mental Health

The bombing at Hebrew University was a transition moment in my life. I got by for about a month and then started to break down. ...
October 9, 2023 Interpersonal Interactions Israel
Non-Fasting Sh"tz on Yom Kippur

Non-Fasting Sh”tz on Yom Kippur

When should we use a non-fasting sh"tz on Yom Kippur? This CJLS teshuvah, originally written by Rabbi Gail Labovitz, explains.
September 28, 2023 CJLS Halakhah
Remembering Our Loved Ones Before Us

Remembering Our Loved Ones Before Us

When our loved ones die, who remembers those they remembered? Here's a way to remember all of those that came before us.
September 21, 2023 Death and Dying Family
Halakha and the Assessment of Risk

Halakha and the Assessment of Risk

Halakha can be used for the assessment of risk; this can be relevant for pikuach nefesh (saving a life) or kashrut.
September 7, 2023 Ethics Every Day
Deja Jew, or, Asking the Question Yet Again: Why Be Jewish?

Deja Jew, or, Asking the Question Yet Again: Why Be Jewish?

Dig deeper into Jewish identity, memory, spirituality, and wisdom, exploring more into the question: "Why Be Jewish?"
August 13, 2023 Daily Living Embodied Prayer

Distinctive Emphasis in Conservative Judaism: Vis-a-Vis the Halakha (1952)

Rabbi Max L. Forman z"' wrote: "the formulation of a dynamic approach to Jewish law; not to a corpus or platform, but to a methodology."
June 29, 2023 CJ Journal - 1945-1959 Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism as a Unifying Force (1949)

Rabbi Max Arzt z"l wrote, "Its realistic and reverential attitude to tradition is animated by a profound concern for Jewish unity..."
June 28, 2023 CJ Journal - 1945-1959 Conservative Judaism

Shlach Lecha: Learning Inclusion from the Scouts

As God commanded Moses to include Caleb and Joshua, we can imagine the same command applies to us. We can seek to include people.
June 16, 2023 Inclusion Parashat Shlach

The Textual Foundations of Honoring One’s Parents

The Rabbis explain that honoring one’s parents is to be understood essentially as an act of worshiping God.
, May 31, 2023 Family Learning

Jewish Obligations of Parents to Children

When speaking about family, there is a wide variety of opinions and also a variety of obligations of parents, situations and relationships.
, May 30, 2023 Family Halakhah

Ethical Approaches to Advertising: A Jewish Perspective

The responsibility of sellers to enact ethical advertising of their products is equal to, if not greater than that of the careful consumer.
, May 25, 2023 Business Ethics Commerce

A Jewish Lens on Investing and Gambling

What special ethical concerns arise as the distinction between company owners and customers is blurred by equity investment?
, May 25, 2023 Business Ethics Commerce

Talmudic Discussions on Monopolies

Where a monopoly offers a clear benefit to consumers, Jewish tradition does sanction them on a closely regulated basis.
, May 24, 2023 Business Ethics Commerce
Signing of Business Contract

Honesty in Business

The laws that govern commerce aim to prevent the unscrupulous transfer of property or money from its rightful possessor to another person.
, May 24, 2023 Business Ethics Commerce

Shopping Intentions as an Ethical Consumer

Customers share in the responsibility for ensuring that transactions are fair, and should be upfront about their intentions as consumers.
, May 24, 2023 Business Ethics Commerce

Fair Prices: A Jewish Perspective

The Mishnah defines the fair price of an item, such that the seller earn a fair price, while not defrauding the buyer.
, May 24, 2023 Business Ethics Commerce

Commerce and Competition in Jewish Law

The Talmud sets a limited precedent for free market competition by balancing the rights of merchants with the interests of consumers.
, May 24, 2023 Business Ethics Commerce

Ethical Fundraising: A Jewish Perspective

Are bingo and more serious forms of gambling allowed to raise funds for synagogues and other Jewish institutions?
, May 24, 2023 Charity Ethical Fundraising

Three Types of Prohibited Speech According to Jewish Law

It is largely agreed upon that the types of speech encompassed by the biblical prohibition fall into three categories of increasing severity.
May 19, 2023 Every Day Human interactions

When Does Jewish Law Say We Are Permitted to Talk About Others

Lashon hara I’to·elet are those occasions when it is permissible, or even required, to speak about other people.
May 18, 2023 Ethics Inclusion

Biblical Texts Addressing Gossip

Human beings have been given the divine power of speech to enable our participation in the ongoing work of sustaining God’s creation.
May 18, 2023 Ethics Inclusion

Does Prohibited Speech Apply to the Internet?

As online communication becomes more complicated and sophisticated, so too do the laws governing defamatory speech.
May 18, 2023 Ethics Inclusion
A New Egalitarian Divorce

A New Egalitarian Divorce

Rabbi Barmash's new teshuvah empowers women and infuses the rites of marriage and divorce with more equality and dignity for both partners.
May 8, 2023 CJLS Divorce

When Using Tribal Distinctions, How Might Women Be Called Up for Aliyot?

While writing a teshuvah on changing our language for aliyot to kohenet from bat kohen, Rabbi David J Fine, PhD, reflects on egalitarianism.
April 30, 2023 Blessings CJLS
Mujaddara on Passover

Mujaddara on Passover

How my family created and passed down cultural traditions, and how the Conservative Teshuvah on Kitniyot impacts our life outside the academy.
March 19, 2023 Food Halakhah
Why Is Diversity Important at the Passover Seder?

Why Is Diversity Important at the Passover Seder?

This is why I think my family's tradition of inviting a non-Jew each year to the Passover seder is important.
March 19, 2023 Holidays How to observe Passover
When Can a Passover Seder Start Early?

When Can a Passover Seder Start Early? Other Festivals?

When is the earliest time that we can begin observing Jewish festivals, on first or second day of Yom Tov, in particular, the Passover seder?
March 19, 2023 CJLS Halakhah

What Does Jewish Law Say About Autopsies and Organ Donation?

The halakhah does not generally permit autopsies, due to honoring the dead. However, there are two important exceptions to that rule.
, February 28, 2023 Confronting Death Death and Dying
Is Alcohol the best way to celebrate Purim?

Is Alcohol the best way to celebrate Purim?

According to a well-known custom, drinking – and drinking to excess – on Purim is required for Jews celebrating the holiday. What is the origin ...
, February 5, 2023 Halakhah Learning
Life exists in relation

Life Exists in Relation

If we try to look past the tangible, if we focus on the other, in relationship, we can come to see the Divine, even if ...
January 27, 2023 Every Day Learning
What is the jewish afterlife

What is the Jewish Afterlife?

What does Judaism say about the afterlife? Exploring the inherent conflicts between the different ideas and why that's a good thing.
December 25, 2022 Death and Dying Every Day
The Risks of Playing Jewish Geography

The Risks of Playing Jewish Geography

In the game of Jewish geography, you connect with who you don’t know by connecting through who you do know. But is the game good ...
November 17, 2022 Community Every Day
How to call Non-Binary Jews to the Torah

How to call Non-Binary Jews to the Torah

Being called to Torah is a moment of sacred encounter. Here's how to call Non-Binary Jews to the Torah based on the CJLS Teshuvah in ...
August 1, 2022 CJLS Halakhah
The Biblical Sources and Context for Tzedakah

The Biblical Sources and Context for Tzedakah

The Torah provides many examples and legal provisions which are the foundation of our understanding of tzedakah.
, June 29, 2022 Every Day Hebrew Bible
Expanding Our Embrace: A Reflection on Inclusion

Expanding Our Embrace: A Reflection on Inclusion

Linda Sussman reflects on the story of her journey and the lessons about inclusion she learned along the way.
June 21, 2022 Inclusion Learning
A Contemporary Understanding of Mitzvot

A Contemporary Understanding of Mitzvot

Rabbi Bradley Artson explains how Mitzvot function as an indispensable manifestation of a meaningful Jewish life.
June 21, 2022 Learning Mitzvot

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