Category: Learning

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?

Exploring Judaism April 4, 2024 Blessings CJLS

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.

Ilana Sandberg February 29, 2024 JTS Senior Sermon Learning

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.

Rabbi Talia Kaplan February 7, 2024 JTS Senior Sermon Learning

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.

Amalya Volz February 1, 2024 JTS Senior Sermon Learning

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.

David Harrison January 31, 2024 Holidays Learning

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.

Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin January 3, 2024 CJLS Climate and Environment

Women and Headcovering

In a written teshuvah, Rabbi Jane Kanarek explains the answer to the question, "Should women and girls wear a headcovering?"

Reena Bromberg Gaber January 3, 2024 CJLS Halakhah

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.

Reena Bromberg Gaber January 3, 2024 Accessories for Prayer CJLS

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.

Rabbi Sydni Adler Rubinstein December 26, 2023 Every Day Learning

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?

Emily Jaeger December 26, 2023 Conservative Judaism Israel

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.

Rabbi Dr. Bradley Shavit Artson December 19, 2023 Blessings Conservative Judaism

What does Judaism say about Abortion?

An overview of what Judaism says about abortion based on the decisions and analysis of the Rabbinical Assembly.

Rabbi Susan Grossman, Rabbi Avram Israel Reisner December 10, 2023 CJLS Halakhah

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.

Rabbi Mark Asher Goodman December 6, 2023 Inclusion Learning

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.

Caleb Brommer November 30, 2023 JTS Senior Sermon Learning

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.

Rabbinical Assembly October 19, 2023 Hebrew Bible Israel

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. ...

Rabbi Mordechai Rackover October 9, 2023 Interpersonal Interactions Israel

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.

Reena Bromberg Gaber September 28, 2023 CJLS Halakhah

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.

Rabbi Miriam T. Spitzer September 21, 2023 Death and Dying Family

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.

Rabbi Avram Israel Reisner September 7, 2023 Ethics Every Day

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?"

Rabbi Dr. Bradley Shavit Artson August 13, 2023 Daily Living Embodied Prayer

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

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Rabbi Max L. Forman z"l June 29, 2023 CJ Journal - 1945-1959 Conservative Judaism

Protected: Conservative Judaism as a Unifying Force (1949)

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Rabbi Max Arzt z"l 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.

Hazzan Sara Geffen Geller 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.

Rabbi Daniel Nevins, The Observant Life (Book) 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.

Rabbi Daniel Nevins, The Observant Life (Book) 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.

Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, The Observant Life (Book) 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?

Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, The Observant Life (Book) 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.

Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, The Observant Life (Book) May 24, 2023 Business Ethics Commerce

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.

Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, The Observant Life (Book) 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.

Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, The Observant Life (Book) 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.

Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, The Observant Life (Book) 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.

Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, The Observant Life (Book) 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?

Rabbi Elliot Dorff, The Observant Life (Book) 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.

The Observant Life (Book) 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.

The Observant Life (Book) 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.

The Observant Life (Book) 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.

The Observant Life (Book) May 18, 2023 Ethics Inclusion

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.

Rabbi Deborah Megdal 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.

Rabbi David J Fine, PhD April 30, 2023 Blessings CJLS

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.

Emily Jaeger March 19, 2023 Food Halakhah

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.

Emily Jaeger March 19, 2023 Holidays How to observe Passover

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?

Exploring Judaism 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.

Rabbi Carl Astor, The Observant Life (Book) February 28, 2023 Confronting Death Death and Dying

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 ...

Rabbi David Golinkin, The Schechter Institutes February 5, 2023 Halakhah Learning

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 ...

Ariel Ya'akov Berry (they/them/הוא) January 27, 2023 Every Day Learning

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.

Emily Jaeger December 25, 2022 Death and Dying Every Day

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 ...

Rabbi Susan Leider November 17, 2022 Community Every Day

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 ...

Rabbi Deborah Silver August 1, 2022 CJLS Halakhah

The Biblical Sources and Context for Tzedakah

The Torah provides many examples and legal provisions which are the foundation of our understanding of tzedakah.

The Observant Life (Book), Rabbi Elliot Dorff June 29, 2022 Every Day Hebrew Bible

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.

Linda Sussman June 21, 2022 Inclusion Learning

A Contemporary Understanding of Mitzvot

Rabbi Bradley Artson explains how Mitzvot function as an indispensable manifestation of a meaningful Jewish life.

Rabbi Dr. Bradley Shavit Artson June 21, 2022 Learning Mitzvot

Why You Should Host a Pride Shabbat

Aimee Close shares her story of becoming a synagogue member and the power and importance of Pride Shabbat and being welcoming.

Aimee Close June 7, 2022 Inclusion LGBTQ+

What are Kitniyot and when can I eat it?

In the early medieval period, it became customary for Ashkenazi Jews to not eat a category of foods called kitniyot. What are they?

Exploring Judaism March 31, 2022 CJLS Halakhah

Category: Learning

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