Jewish Theological Seminary of America

About: Jewish Theological Seminary of America is a education organization based out in New York, New York, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Judaism & Talmud. The organization has 106 authors who have published 174 publications receiving 1156 citations. The organization is also known as: JTS.

Crossing the Boundary and Becoming a Jew

Abstract: Who was a Jew in antiquity? How was “Jewishness” defined? How did a non-Jew become a Jew, and how did a Jew become a non-Jew? In their minds and actions the Jews erected a boundary between themselves and the rest of humanity, the gentiles, but the boundary was always crossable and not always clearly marked. A gentile might associate with Jews and observe Jewish practices, or might “convert” to Judaism and become a proselyte. A Jew might avoid contact with Jews and cease to observe Jewish practices, or might deny Judaism outright and become an “apostate.” Or the boundary could be blurred through the marriage of a Jew with a gentile.

School‐Based Social and Emotional Learning Programs

Abstract: It is important to note that while we acknowledge the centrality of the five developmental arenas reviewed earlier, there may be other developmentally linked areas of change that would impact on implementation efforts. For interventions to succeed, a convergence of a large number of what are essentially developmental influences must take place. Consultants, as well as school leaders, who attempt to implement innovations can hardly keep all of the possible areas clearly in mind and coordinate the affect, cognition, and behavior necessary to do so. Yet, some interventions, like SDM/SPS in TCI, succeed. We hypothesize that for this to happen, a critical mass of those involved in the implementation process must have a generalized, developmental understanding that pervades their work. It may take the form of a generalized expectancy, a superordinate schema, or some other higher-order transactional organizing structure. This is a matter for future research. What is clear, however, is that our understanding of the implementation process (and consultation process) can be enhanced by adding the perspective of a gradient of developmental relevance and applying it to the context of interventions, as a complement to a developmental perspective on the student recipients and their match to developmental content of the intervention itself. Keywords: community psychology; emotional intelligence; institutionalizing innovation; prevention and health promotion; program implementation; social and emotional learning; school-based consultation; school-based professional development; school-based programming; zone of proximal development

The Origins of the Matrilineal Principle in Rabbinic Law

Abstract: According to rabbinic law, from the second century to the present, the offspring of a gentile mother and a Jewish father is a gentile, while the offspring of a Jewish mother and a gentile father is a Jew (albeit, according to the Mishnah, a mamzer, a Jew of impaired status). Each of these two rulings has its own history, as I shall show below, but it is convenient to group them together under the general heading of the “matrilineal principle.” Anthropologists and sociologists use the term matrilineal to describe societies in which kinship is determined through the females and not the males. Such societies once existed in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, and can still be found in parts of Africa, India, and Polynesia. Although rabbinic society and family law have not yet been studied in the light of modern anthropological and sociological theories, it seems clear that the kinship patterns which characterize matrilineal societies are thoroughly foreign to rabbinic society. With only a few exceptions, rabbinic family law is patrilineal. Status, kinship, and succession are determined through the father. (“The family of the father is considered family, the family of the mother is not considered family,” B. Bava Batra 109b.) Why, then, did the rabbis adopt a matrilineal principle for the determination of the status of the offspring of mixed marriages?

Language, power and identity in ancient palestine

Abstract: Etude de la fonction de la langue hebraique dans l'ideologie de groupe des anciens Juifs. Trois periodes sont distinguees dans l'histoire sociale de l'hebreu. Jusque 300 av. J.-C., l'hebreu etait couramment parle par les Israelites/Juifs de Palestine mais cela jouait un role peu important dans la construction de l'identite collective. De 300 av. J.-C. a 70 ap. J.-C., l'hebreu fut remplace par l'arameen mais l'hebreu demeurait la langue du temple de Jerusalem et du Pentateuque. De 70 au 4 eme siecle, l'hebreu conserva son pouvoir evocatif mais perdit de sa signification pratique. L'analyse du changement de la fonction de l'hebreu est mise en parallele avec la structure de l'ancienne societe juive et son evolution en reponse aux differents modeles de domination imperiale

Jewish Eating and Identity Through the Ages

Abstract: 1. Introduction 2. Food in the Bible: Our Animals, Their Animals 3. The Second Temple Period: The Food of the Gentiles 4. "Thou Shalt Not Eat a Calf with a Mother's Milk" 5. Problematic Mixings 6. Blessing Food 7. Waiting for the Next Meal 8. Separating the Dishes 9. Crossing Boundaries 10. "Bugs in the System (Kashrut Wars)