If you're a student in the joint program, this is the best (and only) on-campus housing option for you!

Spencer Szwalbenest, though only a freshman at the Joint Program between GS and the Jewish Theological Seminary, is already a published poet. His Facebook page puts out new content regularly, and he’s working on his second collection, The Decadent Season. Bwogger Elana Rebitzer sat down with Spencer, who self-identifies as “edgy, but in the ironic […]

Marriage maven Max Rettig dives into DOMA with Columbia Law adjunct professor and prominent lawyer Roberta Kaplan. “On the long road towards equal rights in this country, there are few milestones as significant as the decision in United States v. Windsor,” said JTS Executive Vice Chancellor Marc Gary in his introduction to last night’s event, “Defeating […]

This week, JTS hosted a panel with Arnold Eisen and Dr. Moshe Halbertal on modern issues with the Israeli Defense Force, its Code of Ethics, and where they stand in Gaza. Max Rettig (GS/JTS ’17) shares the discussion.  As a student in the Joint Program between GS and JTS, I am incredibly privileged to explore my […]

JTS held a screening and panel discussion of “Inglourious Basterds” yesterday. Sample quote: “Wow, that was fun…I’m not supposed to feel that way, I know — I’m Jewish.” (Times) Three family members were killed by a career criminal in an Upper West Side apartment; the attacker then fell to his death while trying to escape. […]

Westboro Baptist Church members, purveyors of, well, controversial ideas, were protesting at the Jewish Theological Seminary at 122nd Street today. Their chants were protested by members of the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, silently holding signs. The whole awkward affair was watched over by several police officers, who kindly told Bwog to “move along” before they pounced […]

Israel is one of few countries on earth with two independence days: sure, you could celebrate the Jewish state’s independence on May 14th (or on the 5th of Iyar, if you prefer), in recognition of David Ben Gurion’s declaration of the state of Israel after the termination of the British mandate. But if one independence day […]

Armin Rosen spent the past couple nights seeing what The Tribe is up to. Jewish philosophical smack dooooooown! It’s about time the philosophical salon made a comeback: on Tuesday night, a couple dozen List College students gathered in the Mathilde Shechter music room for some laid back Judaically-focused philosophical disputation. The night’s topic was the […]

Yesterday, PrezBo dusted off the ol’ blue and white robes and headed north for the inauguration of JTS’s new chancellor. Bwogger Armin Rosen dressed less ridiculously for the occasion. During his inaugural address as the newly-minted seventh chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, former Stanford professor Arnold Eisen recalled how, as a staffer for the […]

Let the spin-doctoring begin: “It’s a victory for free speech and anti-racism.” Kind farewell to Lisa Anderson: “Being in SIPA next to the law school is like living in Mexico on the border of the U.S.” JTS decides to admit gays and lesbians. In other news, sky does not fall. SGB “combats social injustice” by…recognizing groups […]

In a debate that could serve as a case study for a 2007 edition of James Davison Hunter’s Culture Wars, followers of conservative Judaism have fought long and hard over whether to ordain homosexual rabbis. At the center of the argument lies the Columbia-affiliated Jewish Theological Seminary, the generally-accepted center of Conservative Jewish thought. Although […]

Guest Bwog reporter Bari Weiss analyzes what the Jews are talking about now. The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS), the rabbinical committee of the Conservative movement, made international news today when it decided to allow gays and lesbians to be ordained as rabbis and rabbis to perform commitment ceremonies.  The Conservative Movement is […]