The Jewish Theological Seminary - JTS

What do Jewish Storytelling and American Law in Post-WWII America have in common?

Join Dr. Shira Billet, Assistant Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics at JTS, for the next event in our Summer 2026 learning series, “America at 250: Jewish Ideas and the American Experiment.”

Dr. Billet will explore the surprising history and intersection between these two arenas.

When: June 8, 2026, at 1:00–2:15 p.m. ET
Where: Online

Register now: https://loom.ly/7FA8kFw

Celebrating nearly 75 years of Prozdor! Join 8th to 12th graders from across the greater New York area and build the skills and confidence to engage with Jewish tradition for life.

Prozdor meets weekly on Sundays, beginning October 11.

Learn more and register: https://loom.ly/zaBb90s

Special Privilege and Responsibility. There is no place for greatness in the presence of God. https://loom.ly/GlJ9uas

Barefoot and Backwards Levites - Jewish Theological Seminary Towards the end of Parashat Bemidbar, God commands Aaron and Moses to undertake a census of the Levitical clans (Numbers 4:2). They begin the census with the Kohathites, which is odd for three reasons: (1) Elsewhere the Levites are listed in birth order—Gershon, Kohath, Merari (Genesis 46:11, Numb...

Join us tomorrow for this virtual open house offered by JTS’s MA in Spiritual Care and Counseling program.

This event is for you, if you are:

- Drawn to the work of chaplaincy or spiritual care.
- Seeking a program that’s both Jewishly grounded and multifaith.
- Interested in a flexible, relational approach to education.

At this virtual open house, you will meet faculty and students and discover how JTS prepares leaders to serve with compassion and purpose.

When: Tomorrow, May 27, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. ET
Where: Online

Register now: https://loom.ly/S-o3MDM

JTS in the Berkshires!

Join Rabbi Ayelet Cohen, Pearl Resnick Dean of The Rabbinical School and Dean of the Division of Religious Leadership, and Dr. Shira Billet, Assistant Professor of Jewish Thought and Ethics, for two sessions of learning at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts.

When: July 10 and August 7, 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Where: Shakespeare & Company

Presented in partnership Knesset Israel and in cooperation with the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires.

Learn more: https://www.jtsa.edu/event/jts-berkshires-summer-2026/

Thank you, Debra Messing!

On Shavuot, we celebrate the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. On the first day of the holiday of Shavuot, European Sephardim and some Jewish communities in Islamic lands commemorate the mystical union between the Nation of Israel and the Torah by reading a symbolic marriage contract, like this "Ketubbah for Shavuot" pictured here.

The Shavuot ketubbah is publicly chanted in the synagogue to a special melody. The text closely follows the wording of the standard rabbinical marriage contract but sets the wedding at Mount Sinai on the 6th of Sivan, with Moses and Aaron as witnesses.

Ketubbah for the Holiday of Shavuot
Tetuan, Morocco, early 19th century
KET 354