Jewish Theological Seminary of America
Encyclopedia
The Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS or JTSA) is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism
, and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies.
JTS operates five schools: Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies (which is affiliated with Columbia University
and offers joint/double bachelors degree programs with both Columbia and Barnard College
); The Graduate School; the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education; the H. L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music; and The Rabbinical School. It also operates a number of research and training institutes.
Zecharias Frankel
(1801–1875) at one time was in the traditional wing of the nascent Reform Judaism
movement. After the second Reform rabbinic conference (1845, Frankfurt, Germany
) he resigned after coming to believe that their positions were excessively radical. In 1854 he became the head of a new rabbinical school, the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau
. In his magnum opus Darkhei HaMishnah (Ways of the Mishnah
), Frankel amassed scholarly support which showed that Jewish law
was not static, but rather had always developed in response to changing conditions. He called his approach towards Judaism
'Positive-Historical', which meant that one should accept Jewish law and tradition as normative, yet one must be open to changing and developing the law in the same historical fashion that Judaism has always historically developed.
championed the reaction to American Reform
. At one time Morais had been a voice for moderation within the coalition of Reformers. He had opposed the more radical changes, but was open to moderate changes that would not offend traditional sensibilities. After the Reform movement published the Pittsburgh Platform, Morais recognized the futility of his efforts and began the creation of a new rabbinical school in New York City
. The "Jewish Theological Seminary Association" was founded with Morais as its President in 1886.
Morais was soon joined by Alexander Kohut
and Bernard Drachman
, both of whom had received semicha
(rabbinic ordination) at Rabbi Frankel's Breslau seminary. They shaped the curriculum and philosophy of the new school after Rabbi Frankel's seminary. The first graduate to be ordained was Morris Mandel who went to lead Adas Israel congregation (Washington, D.C.)
.
Morais served as the president of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America until his death in 1897.
by Jacob H. Schiff. It obtained a charter from the state of New York (approved Feb. 20, 1902), "for the perpetuation of the tenets of the Jewish religion, the cultivation of Hebrew literature
, the pursuit of Biblical and archeological research, the advancement of Jewish scholarship, the establishment of a library, and the education and training of Jewish rabbis and teachers. It is empowered to grant and confer the degrees of Rabbi
, Ḥazan, Master and Doctor of Hebrew Literature, and Doctor of Divinity
, and also to award certificates of proficiency to persons qualified to teach in Hebrew schools." The reorganized seminary was opened on Sept. 15, 1902, in the old building of the Theological Seminary Association at 736 Lexington Avenue.
Solomon Schechter
assumed presidency of JTS, as well as serving as Professor of Jewish theology. In a series of papers he articulated an ideology for the nascent movement of Conservative Judaism
. In 1913 he presided over the creation of the United Synagogue of America. (The name was changed in 1991 to the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
.)
Along with Schechter and Bernard Drachman
, professors at the Seminary at the time included: Louis Ginzberg
, professor of Talmud; Alexander Marx
, professor of history
and rabbinical literature and librarian
; Israel Friedländer
, professor of Bible
; Joseph Mayor Asher, professor of homiletics; and Joshua A. Joffe, instructor in Talmud. In 1905, Israel Davidson
joined the faculty, teaching Hebrew and Rabbinics. According to David Ellenson
and Lee Bycel, "each of these men was a distinguished scholar, and the academic reputation of the Seminary soared with the addition of these men to the faculty.... Schechter was determined to carve out the highest academic reputation for the Seminary."
The rabbinical school had very high academic standards. The curriculum focused especially on Talmud
, legal codes, and classical rabbinic literature
, but aside from a little time for a Homiletics class, very little time was spent on practical training for serving in a rabbinical position.
As of 1904 there were 37 students in the theological department, and 120 students took a set of courses designed for teachers (which later evolved into the Teachers Institute).
Mordechai Kaplan also joined the faculty during this period and became professor of homiletics (upon Joseph Mayor Asher's death) and also the first principal of a new school within JTS known as The Teachers Institute (TI). The Teachers Institute opened in 1909. A majority of its students were women, both because teaching was seen as a women's profession and because the Teachers Institute was one of the only institutions where women could obtain an advanced education in Jewish studies. The Teachers Institute offered both undergraduate and graduate degrees. (Its undergraduate division later evolved into the Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies, and its graduate division evolved into the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education.)
, the President of Dropsie College. A member of the board with impressive academic qualifications, he was initially seen as an interim replacement for Schechter. But no better chancellor was found, and Adler went on to serve as President until 1940.
During the 1920s, Adler explored the possibility of a merger with Yeshiva University
, but Orthodox
leaders of Yeshiva University
viewed JTS as insufficiently Orthodox.
New faculty appointed during the early part of Adler's tenure included the Biblical scholar Jacob Hoschander. In the 1920s, Boaz Cohen
and Louis Finkelstein
, both of whom were ordained at JTS and completed their doctoral degrees at Columbia University
, joined the Talmud faculty. In the 1930s, Adler appointed H.L. Ginsberg, Robert Gordis
, and Alexander Sperber as professors of Bible. He also gave appointments to Israel Efros, Simon Greenberg
, Milton Steinberg
, and Ismar Elbogen
.
During his tenure, Adler groomed Louis Finkelstein
as his chosen successor. In 1931, he appointed Finkelstein to a full professorship. Finkelstein became the Solomon Schechter Professor of Theology. In 1937 Adler appointed Finkelstein as Provost.
In 1930 the organization commissioned a new headquarters for 122nd Street and Broadway in a neo-colonial style, with a tower at the corner. The architects were Gehron, Ross and Alley.
In 1931, the Seminary College of Jewish Studies was established for students who wanted college-level courses in Jewish studies but who were not preparing for teaching careers. (The Seminary College of Jewish Studies later became the Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies.)
became Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1940. During his chancellorship, JTS made significant efforts to engage the American public. One of its signature programs was a radio and television show called The Eternal Light
. The show aired on Sunday afternoons, featuring well-known Jewish personalities like Chaim Potok
and Elie Wiesel
. Broadcasts did not involve preaching or prayer, but drew on history, literature and social issues to explore Judaism and Jewish holidays in a manner that was accessible to persons of any faith. The show continued to run until 1985.
During the 1940s, the Jewish Theological Seminary established Camp Ramah
as a tool for furthering Jewish education
. The founders envisioned an informal camp setting where Jewish youth would reconnect with the synagogue
and Jewish tradition, and a new cadre of American-born Jewish leadership could be cultivated. The first camp opened in Conover, Wisconsin
in 1947. The program was drawn up by Moshe Davis
and Sylvia Ettenberg
of the JTS Teachers' Institute.
In 1945, JTS established a new institution, the Leadership Training Fellowship, designed to educate young people within Conservative synagogues and guide them into Jewish public service.
In 1952, the Jewish Theological Seminary opened a new school known as the Cantors Institute. (The school was later renamed the H. L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music.) This was at roughly the same time that the other established American Jewish seminaries, Hebrew Union College
and Yeshiva University
opened cantorial schools. Prior to this time, American cantors were often trained in Europe.
In 1950, Finkelstein created the Universal Brotherhood program, which "brought together laymen interested in interpreting the ethical dimensions of Judaism to the wider society." JTS expanded its public outreach in the 1950s with Finkelstein's development of JTS's Institute for Religious Studies and the establishment of its Herbert H. Lehman Institute of Ethics.
During the Finkelstein era, the Institute for Religious and Social Studies brought together Protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish scholars for theological discussions. (In 1986, the name of the institute was changed to the Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies in Finkelstein's honor.)
In 1957, JTS announced plans to build a satellite campus in Jerusalem for JTS rabbinical students studying in Israel. A building was completed in 1962. (The campus eventually evolved into the home of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies
.) In 1962, the seminary also acquired the Schocken Institute for Jewish Research and its library in Jerusalem.
In 1968, JTS received a charter from the State of New York to create an Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, which conferred bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. The Institute was designed as a non-sectarian academic institute which would train future college and university professors. Its first students enrolled in 1970. The Institute later evolved into the Graduate School of the Jewish Theological Seminary.
, Alexander Marx
, Mordecai Kaplan
, H.L. Ginsberg, Robert Gordis
, and Boaz Cohen
.
In 1940, Finkelstein made his most significant academic appointment, hiring the prominent Talmud scholar Saul Lieberman
as Professor of Palestinian Literature and Institutions. In 1948, Lieberman became dean of the Rabbinical School. In 1958, he was named rector of the Seminary.
In 1945, Finkelstein hired the theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel
, who had been teaching for a brief period at Hebrew Union College
. During the course of his chancellorship, Finkelstein also gave academic appointments to other prominent scholars including Moshe Davis
(1942), Shalom Spiegel (1943), Yochanan Muffs
(1954), Max Kadushin
(1960), Gerson Cohen, David Weiss Halivni
, Judah Goldin, Chaim Dimitrovsky, and Seymour Siegel
.
Finkelstein appointed Max Arzt to serve as Vice-Chancellor of JTS in 1951, and he appointed Arzt as Israel Goldstein Professor of Practical Theology in 1962.
became Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1972.
Prominent faculty during Cohen's chancellorship included David Weiss Halivni
of the Talmud Department and José Faur
. Both of these scholars resigned when the JTS faculty voted to ordain women as rabbis and as cantors in 1983.
Yochanan Muffs
, who had joined the JTS faculty in 1954, was a prominent professor of Bible
. Max Kadushin
, who had joined the JTS faculty in 1960, taught ethics and rabbinic thought until his death in 1980.
In 1972, Cohen appointed Avraham Holtz as the dean of academic evelopment. Neil Gillman
served as Dean of the JTS Rabbinical School for much of the Cohen chancellorship. Morton Leifman served as Dean of the Cantors Institute.
Cohen oversaw the appointment of Judith Hauptman
as the first female professor of Talmud at JTS. Hauptman began teaching at JTS in 1973.
Joel Roth
, who had begun teaching at JTS in 1968, was appointed Associate Professor of Talmud upon completing his Ph.D. at JTS in 1973. Roth went on to serve as the dean of the Rabbinical School from 1981 to 1984. He was succeeded by Gordon Tucker
, who became dean of the Rabbinical School in 1984.
In June 1973, the Seminary's Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities was granted permission to grant Ph.D. degrees in Jewish History
, Bible
, Talmud
, Jewish Philosophy
, and Hebrew. In 1975, the Seminary replaced the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities with the Graduate School of the Jewish Theological Seminary, which brought together JTS's non-theological academic training programs. Cohen appointed historian Ismar Schorsch
as the first dean of the Graduate School.
, daughter of JTS faculty member Abraham Joshua Heschel
. After years of discussion, the JTS faculty voted to ordain women as rabbis and as cantors in 1983. The first female rabbi to graduate from the school (and the first female Conservative Jewish rabbi in the world) was Amy Eilberg
, who graduated and was ordained as a rabbi in 1985. The first class of female rabbis that was admitted to JTS in 1984 included Rabbi Naomi Levy
, who later became a best-selling author and Nina Beth Cardin, who became an author and environmental activist. Erica Lipitz and Marla Rosenfeld Barugel were the first women ordained as cantors by JTS (and the first female Conservative Jewish cantors in the world.) They were both ordained in 1987.
became Chancellor of JTS in 1986.
Among his accomplishments was creating the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education, which was established through an endowmen by William Davidson
of Detroit in 1994.
Prominent faculty in the Talmud and Rabbinics department during Schorsch's chancellorship included Joel Roth
, Mayer Rabinowitz
, David C. Kraemer
and Judith Hauptman
. Hauptman was the first woman appointed to teach Talmud at JTS. The Bible department included David Marcus and Stephen A. Geller. The Jewish literature Department included David G. Roskies
. The Jewish history department included Jack Wertheimer
and Shuly Rubin Schwartz
. The Jewish Philosophy department included Neil Gillman
and Shaul Magid
. In 2004, Alan Mittleman
joined the Jewish Philosophy department and became head of JTS's Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies.
The number of advanced programs in the Graduate School grew over the course of Schorsch's tenure. The Graduate School came to describe itself as being "the most extensive academic program in advanced Judaica in North America."
Gordon Tucker
's tenure as dean of the Rabbinical School ended in 1992. His predecessor, Joel Roth
, again became dean, serving in 1992-1993. Roth was succeeded by William Lebeau, who served as dean from 1993-1999. Lebeau was succeeded by Alan Kensky, and then Lebeau became dean of the Rabbinical School again in June 2002.
In 1998, Henry Rosenblum
was appointed Dean of the H.L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1998, becoming the first Hazzan to hold that position. Rosenblum remained in this position until 2010.
, Koshland Professor of Jewish Culture and Religion and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Stanford University, took office as Chancellor-elect on July 1, 2006, the day after Schorsch stepped down. Eisen assumed the position full time on July 1, 2007.
Eisen is the second non-rabbi, after Cyrus Adler
, to hold this post. He is also the first person with a social science background to serve as Chancellor; previous chancellors had backgrounds in Jewish history
or Talmud
.
In January 2007, at the start of Eisen's chancellorship, Daniel S. Nevins
was named the Dean of the Rabbinical School of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, succeeding Rabbi William Lebeau
. Biblical scholar Alan Cooper
was named Provost. In 2010, Henry Rosenblum
left the H.L. Miller Cantorial School as part of JTS's restructuring efforts, and Nevins also became responsible for oversight of the H.L. Miller Cantorial School.
In June 2009, Goldman Sachs
executive Abby Joseph Cohen
was named Chairman of the Board of JTS, the first woman to hold the position.
Also in 2009, with funding from the Charles H. Revson Foundation and the Booth Ferris Foundation, JTS established The Center for Pastoral Education with the goal of teaching the art of pastoral care to seminary students and ordained clergy of all faiths. The Center was developed by Rabbi Mychal Springer
, formerly an Associate Dean of the Rabbinical School. Springer became the Center's first director.
In 2010, the Tikvah Fund endowed a new institute at JTS, the Tikvah Institute for Jewish Thought, which is "devoted to the intellectual encounter between the best sources of Jewish and broader Western reflection on the deepest problems of human life." According to the Seminary, "JTS was selected by the Tikvah Fund based on its academic excellence and its mission to advance Jewish life in the modern world." Alan Mittleman
, Chair of the Department of Jewish Thought, was appointed as its director.
Professor Burton L. Visotzky was appointed to replace Mittleman as director of the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies. His early work as director of the Finkelstein Institute focused on Muslim-Jewish dialogue. In October 2010, a group of prominent Muslim and Jewish scholars and leaders, joined by the heads of several Christian seminaries, met at JTS for two days to discuss and compare the situations of Islam and Judaism in America.
In May, 2011, Eisen launched “Conservative Judaism: A Community Conversation,” an interactive website featuring original essays on Conservative Judaism, with responses from Movement and Lay leaders and scholars.
In April 2011, JTS held a Yom Iyyun, or day of learning, about LGBTQ issues, and their intersection with Judaism. Joy Ladin, a transgender woman who teaches English at Yeshiva University
, gave a talk about her life. Other programs included creating welcoming communities, and inclusive prayer, among others. It was sponsored in part by Keshet
, the Jewish social action group that works to see queer individuals included in all sectors of Jewish life.
's leadership unveiled the following mission statement:
The Seminary sees its mission statement as based on six principles:
in America. The United Synagogue of America, the organization of Conservative synagogues, was founded by Solomon Schechter while he served as President of JTS.
During the chancellorship of Louis Finkelstein
, however, there were many tensions between JTS and the Conservative Judaism
movement which it led. JTS was often more traditional in matters of religious practice than the denomination as a whole. Finkelstein was also perceived as focusing on American and world Jewry as a whole while paying little attention to the Conservative movement.
According to scholar Michael Panitz, the situation changed under Finkelstein's successors. Under Chancellor Gerson Cohen (chancellor from 1972–86), JTS "decisively embraced its identity as a Conservative Jewish institution, it thereby abandoned its earlier hopes to provide a non-denominational unifier for traditional and moderate American Jews." The next chancellor, Ismar Schorsch
(1986–2006), "emerged as an outspoken advocate for Conservative Judaism." With the new mission statement introduced by Chancellor Arnold Eisen (2007-), the school has positioned itself as serving both "Conservative Judaism" and "the vital religious center."
As of 2010, JTS's website describes JTS as "the academic and spiritual center of Conservative Judaism worldwide." Others describe it as "the academic and spiritual centre of Conservative Judaism in the United States." A second important center for Conservative Judaism in the United States is the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies
in California, founded by graduates of JTS in 1996.
As of 2010, the rabbinical school requires five or six years of study. Its curriculum requires extensive study of Talmud
, midrash
, Bible
, Jewish history
, Hebrew language, and various professional skills. Students are required to spend the second year of the program at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies
in Jerusalem.
Students must choose a field of concentration during their studies. Concentrations include:
The school is technically divided into two parts: the entity formally known as the H. L. Miller Cantorial School invests students as hazzanim, while the entity known as the College of Jewish Music awards the Master's degree in Sacred Music. All students in the Cantorial School are enrolled in both programs simultaneously.
At present, the first year of cantorial school at JTS is generally spent in Israel
. The curriculum during the five years focuses on three main areas: general music
, Jewish music
and Jewish text study
.
of Detroit, Michigan established a $15 million endowment at JTS to fund the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education, which trains educators who can serve in Jewish institutions and elsewhere, in both formal and informal settings. The Davidson School offers both master's and doctoral degrees.
; almost all List College students are enrolled in dual-degree programs (BA/BA or BA/BS) with either Columbia University
’s School of General Studies or Barnard College
.
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
, and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies.
JTS operates five schools: Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies (which is affiliated with Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and offers joint/double bachelors degree programs with both Columbia and Barnard College
Barnard College
Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...
); The Graduate School; the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education; the H. L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music; and The Rabbinical School. It also operates a number of research and training institutes.
Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau
RabbiRabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
Zecharias Frankel
Zecharias Frankel
Zecharias Frankel was a Bohemian-German rabbi and a historian who studied the historical development of Judaism. He was born in Prague and died in Breslau...
(1801–1875) at one time was in the traditional wing of the nascent Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
movement. After the second Reform rabbinic conference (1845, Frankfurt, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
) he resigned after coming to believe that their positions were excessively radical. In 1854 he became the head of a new rabbinical school, the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau
Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau
Das Jüdisch-Theologische Seminar , The Jewish Theological Seminary of BreslauInstitution in Breslau for the training of rabbis, founded under the will of Jonas Fränckel, and opened in 1854...
. In his magnum opus Darkhei HaMishnah (Ways of the Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
), Frankel amassed scholarly support which showed that Jewish law
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
was not static, but rather had always developed in response to changing conditions. He called his approach towards Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
'Positive-Historical', which meant that one should accept Jewish law and tradition as normative, yet one must be open to changing and developing the law in the same historical fashion that Judaism has always historically developed.
The Morais era (1886–1897)
About this time in America, Rabbi Sabato MoraisSabato Morais
Sabato Morais was an Italian-American rabbi, leader of Mikveh Israel Synagogue, pioneer of Italian Jewish Studies in America, and founder of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City.- Early years :...
championed the reaction to American Reform
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
. At one time Morais had been a voice for moderation within the coalition of Reformers. He had opposed the more radical changes, but was open to moderate changes that would not offend traditional sensibilities. After the Reform movement published the Pittsburgh Platform, Morais recognized the futility of his efforts and began the creation of a new rabbinical school in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The "Jewish Theological Seminary Association" was founded with Morais as its President in 1886.
Morais was soon joined by Alexander Kohut
Alexander Kohut
Alexander Kohut was a rabbi and orientalist. He belonged to a family of rabbis, the most noted among them being Rabbi Israel Palota, his great-grandfather, Rabbi Amram , and Rabbi Chayyim Kitssee,...
and Bernard Drachman
Bernard Drachman
Rabbi Dr. Bernard Drachman was a leader of Orthodox Judaism in the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century....
, both of whom had received semicha
Semicha
, also , or is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination of a rabbi within Judaism. In this sense it is the "transmission" of rabbinic authority to give advice or judgment in Jewish law...
(rabbinic ordination) at Rabbi Frankel's Breslau seminary. They shaped the curriculum and philosophy of the new school after Rabbi Frankel's seminary. The first graduate to be ordained was Morris Mandel who went to lead Adas Israel congregation (Washington, D.C.)
Adas Israel Congregation (Washington, D.C.)
Adas Israel, located in the Cleveland Park neighborhood, is the largest Conservative synagogue in Washington, D.C.-History:The congregation was founded in 1869 by 69 members of the Washington Hebrew Congregation who objected to that congregation's move towards Reform Judaism.Sermons were given in...
.
Morais served as the president of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America until his death in 1897.
The Schechter era (1902-1915)
After Morais's death, the financial position of the association became precarious. In October 1901, a new organization was projected entitled the "Jewish Theological Seminary of America," with which the association was invited to incorporate. This arrangement was carried into effect April 14, 1902. The new organization was endowed with a fund of over $500,000, and was presented with a suitable building on University HeightsUniversity Heights, Bronx
University Heights is a residential neighborhood of the West Bronx in New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 5 and Bronx Community Board 7. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are: West 190th Street to the north, Jerome Avenue to the east, West...
by Jacob H. Schiff. It obtained a charter from the state of New York (approved Feb. 20, 1902), "for the perpetuation of the tenets of the Jewish religion, the cultivation of Hebrew literature
Hebrew literature
Hebrew literature consists of ancient, medieval, and modern writings in the Hebrew language. It is one of the primary forms of Jewish literature, though there have been cases of literature written in Hebrew by non-Jews...
, the pursuit of Biblical and archeological research, the advancement of Jewish scholarship, the establishment of a library, and the education and training of Jewish rabbis and teachers. It is empowered to grant and confer the degrees of Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
, Ḥazan, Master and Doctor of Hebrew Literature, and Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....
, and also to award certificates of proficiency to persons qualified to teach in Hebrew schools." The reorganized seminary was opened on Sept. 15, 1902, in the old building of the Theological Seminary Association at 736 Lexington Avenue.
Solomon Schechter
Solomon Schechter
Solomon Schechter was a Moldavian-born Romanian and English rabbi, academic scholar, and educator, most famous for his roles as founder and President of the United Synagogue of America, President of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and architect of the American Conservative Jewish...
assumed presidency of JTS, as well as serving as Professor of Jewish theology. In a series of papers he articulated an ideology for the nascent movement of Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
. In 1913 he presided over the creation of the United Synagogue of America. (The name was changed in 1991 to the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism is the primary organization of synagogues practicing Conservative Judaism in North America...
.)
Along with Schechter and Bernard Drachman
Bernard Drachman
Rabbi Dr. Bernard Drachman was a leader of Orthodox Judaism in the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century....
, professors at the Seminary at the time included: Louis Ginzberg
Louis Ginzberg
Rabbi Louis Ginzberg was a Talmudist and leading figure in the Conservative Movement of Judaism of the twentieth century. He was born on November 28, 1873, in Kovno, Lithuania; he died on November 11, 1953, in New York City.-Biographical background:...
, professor of Talmud; Alexander Marx
Alexander Marx
Alexander Marx was an American historian, bibliographer and librarian.-Biography:Born in Elberfeld, Germany, the son of George Marx, a banker, and Gertrud Simon-Marx, a published poet. Alexander Marx grew up in Königsberg . He spent a year in a Prussian artillery regiment where he excelled in...
, professor of history
Jewish history
Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their religion and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Since Jewish history is over 4000 years long and includes hundreds of different populations, any treatment can only be provided in broad strokes...
and rabbinical literature and librarian
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
; Israel Friedländer
Israel Friedlander
Israel Friedlander, also spelled Friedlaender was a rabbi, educator, translator, and biblical scholar...
, professor of Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
; Joseph Mayor Asher, professor of homiletics; and Joshua A. Joffe, instructor in Talmud. In 1905, Israel Davidson
Israel Davidson
Israel Davidson was an American Jewish writer and publisher and has been recognized as one of the leading American Hebrew writers in his era. His magnum opus was the four volume Otsar ha-shirah veha-piyut = Thesaurus of Mediaeval Hebrew Poetry .Davidson studied in yeshivas in Jonava, Volozhin, and...
joined the faculty, teaching Hebrew and Rabbinics. According to David Ellenson
David Ellenson
David Ellenson is a rabbi who is known as a leader of the Reform movement in Judaism. He is the president of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion , and the I.H. and Anna Grancell Professor of Jewish Religious Thought...
and Lee Bycel, "each of these men was a distinguished scholar, and the academic reputation of the Seminary soared with the addition of these men to the faculty.... Schechter was determined to carve out the highest academic reputation for the Seminary."
The rabbinical school had very high academic standards. The curriculum focused especially on Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, legal codes, and classical rabbinic literature
Rabbinic literature
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew term...
, but aside from a little time for a Homiletics class, very little time was spent on practical training for serving in a rabbinical position.
As of 1904 there were 37 students in the theological department, and 120 students took a set of courses designed for teachers (which later evolved into the Teachers Institute).
Mordechai Kaplan also joined the faculty during this period and became professor of homiletics (upon Joseph Mayor Asher's death) and also the first principal of a new school within JTS known as The Teachers Institute (TI). The Teachers Institute opened in 1909. A majority of its students were women, both because teaching was seen as a women's profession and because the Teachers Institute was one of the only institutions where women could obtain an advanced education in Jewish studies. The Teachers Institute offered both undergraduate and graduate degrees. (Its undergraduate division later evolved into the Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies, and its graduate division evolved into the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education.)
The Adler era (1915-1940)
In 1915, Schechter was succeeded by Cyrus AdlerCyrus Adler
Cyrus Adler was a U.S. educator, Jewish religious leader and scholar.-Biography:Adler was born in Van Buren, Arkansas, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania in 1883 and gained a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1887, where he taught Semitic languages from 1884 to 1893...
, the President of Dropsie College. A member of the board with impressive academic qualifications, he was initially seen as an interim replacement for Schechter. But no better chancellor was found, and Adler went on to serve as President until 1940.
During the 1920s, Adler explored the possibility of a merger with Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
, but Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
leaders of Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
viewed JTS as insufficiently Orthodox.
New faculty appointed during the early part of Adler's tenure included the Biblical scholar Jacob Hoschander. In the 1920s, Boaz Cohen
Boaz Cohen
Boaz Cohen was a leading scholar of Talmud, a legal decisor , and a professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America....
and Louis Finkelstein
Louis Finkelstein
Rabbi Louis Finkelstein was a Talmud scholar, an expert in Jewish law, and a leader of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Conservative Judaism.-Brief Biography:...
, both of whom were ordained at JTS and completed their doctoral degrees at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, joined the Talmud faculty. In the 1930s, Adler appointed H.L. Ginsberg, Robert Gordis
Robert Gordis
Robert Gordis was a leading Conservative rabbi. He founded the first Conservative Jewish day school, served as President of the Rabbinical Assembly and the Synagogue Council of America, and was a professor at Jewish Theological Seminary of America from 1940 to 1992.He wrote one of the first...
, and Alexander Sperber as professors of Bible. He also gave appointments to Israel Efros, Simon Greenberg
Simon Greenberg
Dr. Simon Greenberg, was a Russian born American Conservative rabbi and scholar. Greenberg was part of the senior management of many Jewish organizations in America. He helped to found a number of institutions, including the American Jewish University, of which he was the first President...
, Milton Steinberg
Milton Steinberg
Milton Steinberg was an American rabbi, philosopher, theologian and author.-Life:Born in Rochester, New York, he was raised with the combination of his grandparents' traditional Jewish piety and his father's modernist socialism...
, and Ismar Elbogen
Ismar Elbogen
Ismar Elbogen was a Jewish-German rabbi, scholar and historian....
.
During his tenure, Adler groomed Louis Finkelstein
Louis Finkelstein
Rabbi Louis Finkelstein was a Talmud scholar, an expert in Jewish law, and a leader of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Conservative Judaism.-Brief Biography:...
as his chosen successor. In 1931, he appointed Finkelstein to a full professorship. Finkelstein became the Solomon Schechter Professor of Theology. In 1937 Adler appointed Finkelstein as Provost.
In 1930 the organization commissioned a new headquarters for 122nd Street and Broadway in a neo-colonial style, with a tower at the corner. The architects were Gehron, Ross and Alley.
In 1931, the Seminary College of Jewish Studies was established for students who wanted college-level courses in Jewish studies but who were not preparing for teaching careers. (The Seminary College of Jewish Studies later became the Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies.)
The Finkelstein era (1940-72)
Louis FinkelsteinLouis Finkelstein
Rabbi Louis Finkelstein was a Talmud scholar, an expert in Jewish law, and a leader of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Conservative Judaism.-Brief Biography:...
became Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1940. During his chancellorship, JTS made significant efforts to engage the American public. One of its signature programs was a radio and television show called The Eternal Light
The Eternal Light
The Eternal Light is a long-running American radio and television program on the NBC Radio Network, produced in conjunction with the Jewish Theological Seminary, that was broadcast between 1944 and 1989. Featuring interviews, commentary, and award-winning dramas from the perspective of Judaism, it...
. The show aired on Sunday afternoons, featuring well-known Jewish personalities like Chaim Potok
Chaim Potok
Chaim Potok was an American Jewish author and rabbi. Potok is most famous for his first book The Chosen, a 1967 novel which was listed on The New York Times’ best seller list for 39 weeks and sold more than 3,400,000 copies.-Biography :Herman Harold Potok was born in The Bronx, New York City, to...
and Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel
Sir Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel KBE; born September 30, 1928) is a Hungarian-born Jewish-American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He is the author of 57 books, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz, Buna, and...
. Broadcasts did not involve preaching or prayer, but drew on history, literature and social issues to explore Judaism and Jewish holidays in a manner that was accessible to persons of any faith. The show continued to run until 1985.
During the 1940s, the Jewish Theological Seminary established Camp Ramah
Camp Ramah
Camp Ramah is a network of Jewish summer camps affiliated with the Conservative Movement. The camps operate in the United States, Canada, and Israel. Ramah camps serve kosher food and are Shabbat-observant.-History:...
as a tool for furthering Jewish education
Jewish education
Jewish education is the transmission of the tenets, principles and religious laws of Judaism. Due to its emphasis on Torah study, many have commented that Judaism is characterised by "lifelong learning" that extends to adults as much as it does to children.-History:The tradition of Jewish...
. The founders envisioned an informal camp setting where Jewish youth would reconnect with the synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
and Jewish tradition, and a new cadre of American-born Jewish leadership could be cultivated. The first camp opened in Conover, Wisconsin
Conover, Wisconsin
Conover is a town in Vilas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,137 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated community of Conover is located in the town.- History :...
in 1947. The program was drawn up by Moshe Davis
Moshe Davis
Moshe Davis was a rabbi and a scholar of American Jewish history who taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Hebrew University....
and Sylvia Ettenberg
Sylvia Ettenberg
Sylvia Cutler Ettenberg is a Jewish educator and one of the founders of the Camp Ramah camping movement. A graduate of Brooklyn College and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America , she was invited by JTS Chancellor Louis Finkelstein to join the JTS administration in 1946...
of the JTS Teachers' Institute.
In 1945, JTS established a new institution, the Leadership Training Fellowship, designed to educate young people within Conservative synagogues and guide them into Jewish public service.
In 1952, the Jewish Theological Seminary opened a new school known as the Cantors Institute. (The school was later renamed the H. L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music.) This was at roughly the same time that the other established American Jewish seminaries, Hebrew Union College
Hebrew Union College
The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is the oldest extant Jewish seminary in the Americas and the main seminary for training rabbis, cantors, educators and communal workers in Reform Judaism.HUC-JIR has campuses in Cincinnati, New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem.The Jerusalem...
and Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
opened cantorial schools. Prior to this time, American cantors were often trained in Europe.
In 1950, Finkelstein created the Universal Brotherhood program, which "brought together laymen interested in interpreting the ethical dimensions of Judaism to the wider society." JTS expanded its public outreach in the 1950s with Finkelstein's development of JTS's Institute for Religious Studies and the establishment of its Herbert H. Lehman Institute of Ethics.
During the Finkelstein era, the Institute for Religious and Social Studies brought together Protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish scholars for theological discussions. (In 1986, the name of the institute was changed to the Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies in Finkelstein's honor.)
In 1957, JTS announced plans to build a satellite campus in Jerusalem for JTS rabbinical students studying in Israel. A building was completed in 1962. (The campus eventually evolved into the home of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies
Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies
The Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, located in Jerusalem, Israel, is an academic institution affiliated with Conservative Judaism first established in New York....
.) In 1962, the seminary also acquired the Schocken Institute for Jewish Research and its library in Jerusalem.
In 1968, JTS received a charter from the State of New York to create an Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, which conferred bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. The Institute was designed as a non-sectarian academic institute which would train future college and university professors. Its first students enrolled in 1970. The Institute later evolved into the Graduate School of the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Faculty during the Finkelstein era
When Finkelstein took office, prominent faculty members included Louis GinzbergLouis Ginzberg
Rabbi Louis Ginzberg was a Talmudist and leading figure in the Conservative Movement of Judaism of the twentieth century. He was born on November 28, 1873, in Kovno, Lithuania; he died on November 11, 1953, in New York City.-Biographical background:...
, Alexander Marx
Alexander Marx
Alexander Marx was an American historian, bibliographer and librarian.-Biography:Born in Elberfeld, Germany, the son of George Marx, a banker, and Gertrud Simon-Marx, a published poet. Alexander Marx grew up in Königsberg . He spent a year in a Prussian artillery regiment where he excelled in...
, Mordecai Kaplan
Mordecai Kaplan
Mordecai Menahem Kaplan , was a rabbi, essayist and Jewish educator and the co-founder of Reconstructionist Judaism along with his son-in-law Ira Eisenstein.-Life and work:...
, H.L. Ginsberg, Robert Gordis
Robert Gordis
Robert Gordis was a leading Conservative rabbi. He founded the first Conservative Jewish day school, served as President of the Rabbinical Assembly and the Synagogue Council of America, and was a professor at Jewish Theological Seminary of America from 1940 to 1992.He wrote one of the first...
, and Boaz Cohen
Boaz Cohen
Boaz Cohen was a leading scholar of Talmud, a legal decisor , and a professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America....
.
In 1940, Finkelstein made his most significant academic appointment, hiring the prominent Talmud scholar Saul Lieberman
Saul Lieberman
Saul Lieberman , also known as Rabbi Shaul Lieberman or The Gra"sh , was a rabbi and a scholar of Talmud...
as Professor of Palestinian Literature and Institutions. In 1948, Lieberman became dean of the Rabbinical School. In 1958, he was named rector of the Seminary.
In 1945, Finkelstein hired the theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel
Abraham Joshua Heschel
Abraham Joshua Heschel was a Polish-born American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century.-Biography:...
, who had been teaching for a brief period at Hebrew Union College
Hebrew Union College
The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is the oldest extant Jewish seminary in the Americas and the main seminary for training rabbis, cantors, educators and communal workers in Reform Judaism.HUC-JIR has campuses in Cincinnati, New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem.The Jerusalem...
. During the course of his chancellorship, Finkelstein also gave academic appointments to other prominent scholars including Moshe Davis
Moshe Davis
Moshe Davis was a rabbi and a scholar of American Jewish history who taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Hebrew University....
(1942), Shalom Spiegel (1943), Yochanan Muffs
Yochanan Muffs
Yochanan Muffs was an American-Jewish professor of the Bible and religion at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.-Biography:...
(1954), Max Kadushin
Max Kadushin
Max Kadushin was a Conservative rabbi best known for his organic philosophy of rabbinics.-Biography:After graduating from New York University, Kadushin studied for the rabbinate at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America during the 1920s. There he encountered Mordecai Kaplan and soon became a...
(1960), Gerson Cohen, David Weiss Halivni
David Weiss Halivni
David Weiss Halivni is an American-Israeli rabbi, scholar in the domain of Jewish Sciences and professor of Talmud.-Biography:...
, Judah Goldin, Chaim Dimitrovsky, and Seymour Siegel
Seymour Siegel
Seymour Siegel , often referred to as "an architect of Conservative Jewish theology," was an American Conservative rabbi, a Professor of Ethics and Theology at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America , the 1983-1984 Executive Director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council," and an...
.
Finkelstein appointed Max Arzt to serve as Vice-Chancellor of JTS in 1951, and he appointed Arzt as Israel Goldstein Professor of Practical Theology in 1962.
Library fire
In April 1966 JTS's library caught fire. 70,000 books were destroyed, and many others were damaged.The Cohen era (1972-1986)
Gerson D. CohenGerson D. Cohen
Gerson D. Cohen was a Jewish historian, a Conservative rabbi, and the Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America from 1972-1986. He was especially well-known for ordaining the first female rabbi in Conservative Judaism in 1985....
became Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1972.
Prominent faculty during Cohen's chancellorship included David Weiss Halivni
David Weiss Halivni
David Weiss Halivni is an American-Israeli rabbi, scholar in the domain of Jewish Sciences and professor of Talmud.-Biography:...
of the Talmud Department and José Faur
José Faur
José Faur is a Sepharadi Hakham , teacher and scholar. He was a Rabbi in the Syrian-Jewish community in Brooklyn for many years and brought many people closer to Judaism and to the Tora...
. Both of these scholars resigned when the JTS faculty voted to ordain women as rabbis and as cantors in 1983.
Yochanan Muffs
Yochanan Muffs
Yochanan Muffs was an American-Jewish professor of the Bible and religion at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.-Biography:...
, who had joined the JTS faculty in 1954, was a prominent professor of Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. Max Kadushin
Max Kadushin
Max Kadushin was a Conservative rabbi best known for his organic philosophy of rabbinics.-Biography:After graduating from New York University, Kadushin studied for the rabbinate at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America during the 1920s. There he encountered Mordecai Kaplan and soon became a...
, who had joined the JTS faculty in 1960, taught ethics and rabbinic thought until his death in 1980.
In 1972, Cohen appointed Avraham Holtz as the dean of academic evelopment. Neil Gillman
Neil Gillman
Neil Gillman is an American rabbi and philosopher, affiliated with Conservative Judaism.-Biography:Gillman was born in Quebec City, Canada. He graduated from McGill University in 1954. He was ordained as a rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1960. He received his Ph.D...
served as Dean of the JTS Rabbinical School for much of the Cohen chancellorship. Morton Leifman served as Dean of the Cantors Institute.
Cohen oversaw the appointment of Judith Hauptman
Judith Hauptman
Judith Rebecca Hauptman is a feminist Jewish Talmudic scholar. She grew up in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, United States....
as the first female professor of Talmud at JTS. Hauptman began teaching at JTS in 1973.
Joel Roth
Joel Roth
Joel Roth is a prominent American rabbi in the Rabbinical Assembly, which is the rabbinical body of Conservative Judaism. He is a former member and chair of the assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards which deals with questions of Jewish law and tradition, and serves as the Louis...
, who had begun teaching at JTS in 1968, was appointed Associate Professor of Talmud upon completing his Ph.D. at JTS in 1973. Roth went on to serve as the dean of the Rabbinical School from 1981 to 1984. He was succeeded by Gordon Tucker
Gordon Tucker
Gordon Tucker is a prominent rabbi, with a reputation as both a political and a theological liberal in Conservative Judaism. He currently has a position as senior rabbi of Temple Israel Center in White Plains, New York.-Education and career:...
, who became dean of the Rabbinical School in 1984.
In June 1973, the Seminary's Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities was granted permission to grant Ph.D. degrees in Jewish History
Jewish history
Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their religion and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Since Jewish history is over 4000 years long and includes hundreds of different populations, any treatment can only be provided in broad strokes...
, Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
, Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, Jewish Philosophy
Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy , includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or, in relation to the religion of Judaism. Jewish philosophy, until modern Enlightenment and Emancipation, was pre-occupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism; thus organizing...
, and Hebrew. In 1975, the Seminary replaced the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities with the Graduate School of the Jewish Theological Seminary, which brought together JTS's non-theological academic training programs. Cohen appointed historian Ismar Schorsch
Ismar Schorsch
Ismar Schorsch had been the son of hanoveranian Rabbi Emil Schorsch. They both experienced the so called "Reichskristallnacht" in a different manner. Dr. Ismar Schorsch became the sixth Chancellor of The Jewish Theological Seminary and is the Rabbi Herman Abramovitz Professor of Jewish history...
as the first dean of the Graduate School.
Admission of female students
Beginning in the 1970s, the topic of women's ordination was regularly discussed at JTS. Women who unsuccessfully sought admission to the rabbinical school during the 1970s included Susannah HeschelSusannah Heschel
Susannah Heschel is Dartmouth College's Eli Black associate professor of Jewish Studies, an award-winning author, and the daughter of Abraham Joshua Heschel....
, daughter of JTS faculty member Abraham Joshua Heschel
Abraham Joshua Heschel
Abraham Joshua Heschel was a Polish-born American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century.-Biography:...
. After years of discussion, the JTS faculty voted to ordain women as rabbis and as cantors in 1983. The first female rabbi to graduate from the school (and the first female Conservative Jewish rabbi in the world) was Amy Eilberg
Amy Eilberg
Amy Eilberg is the first female rabbi ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, one of the academic centers and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism.-Youth and early life:...
, who graduated and was ordained as a rabbi in 1985. The first class of female rabbis that was admitted to JTS in 1984 included Rabbi Naomi Levy
Naomi Levy
Naomi Levy is an American rabbi, author and speaker.Levy was born and raised in the Boro Park section of Brooklyn, New York. She attended Bialik School and Yeshiva of Flatbush....
, who later became a best-selling author and Nina Beth Cardin, who became an author and environmental activist. Erica Lipitz and Marla Rosenfeld Barugel were the first women ordained as cantors by JTS (and the first female Conservative Jewish cantors in the world.) They were both ordained in 1987.
The Schorsch era (1986–2006)
Ismar SchorschIsmar Schorsch
Ismar Schorsch had been the son of hanoveranian Rabbi Emil Schorsch. They both experienced the so called "Reichskristallnacht" in a different manner. Dr. Ismar Schorsch became the sixth Chancellor of The Jewish Theological Seminary and is the Rabbi Herman Abramovitz Professor of Jewish history...
became Chancellor of JTS in 1986.
Among his accomplishments was creating the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education, which was established through an endowmen by William Davidson
William Davidson
William Morse "Bill" Davidson, J. D. was an American businessman who was President, Chairman and CEO of Guardian Industries, one of the world's largest manufacturers of architectural and automotive glass...
of Detroit in 1994.
Prominent faculty in the Talmud and Rabbinics department during Schorsch's chancellorship included Joel Roth
Joel Roth
Joel Roth is a prominent American rabbi in the Rabbinical Assembly, which is the rabbinical body of Conservative Judaism. He is a former member and chair of the assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards which deals with questions of Jewish law and tradition, and serves as the Louis...
, Mayer Rabinowitz
Mayer Rabinowitz
Mayer Rabinowitz is a Conservative Rabbi and a professor of Talmud at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Rabinowitz is a recognized authority on Jewish law who served on the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly for twenty-five years...
, David C. Kraemer
David C. Kraemer
David Charles Kraemer is a Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics and the Joseph J. and Dora Abbell Librarian at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America...
and Judith Hauptman
Judith Hauptman
Judith Rebecca Hauptman is a feminist Jewish Talmudic scholar. She grew up in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, United States....
. Hauptman was the first woman appointed to teach Talmud at JTS. The Bible department included David Marcus and Stephen A. Geller. The Jewish literature Department included David G. Roskies
David G. Roskies
David G. Roskies is an internationally recognized literary scholar, cultural historian and author in the field of Yiddish literature and the culture of Eastern European Jewry...
. The Jewish history department included Jack Wertheimer
Jack Wertheimer
Jack Wertheimer is a Professor of American Jewish History at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, the flagship yeshiva of Conservative Judaism. He is the former Provost of JTS, and was the founding director of the Joseph and Miriam Ratner Center for the Study of Conservative Judaism...
and Shuly Rubin Schwartz
Shuly Rubin Schwartz
Shuly Rubin Schwartz is the Irving Lehrman Research Associate Professor of American Jewish History and Walter and Sarah Schlesinger Dean of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies at The Jewish Theological Seminary of America ....
. The Jewish Philosophy department included Neil Gillman
Neil Gillman
Neil Gillman is an American rabbi and philosopher, affiliated with Conservative Judaism.-Biography:Gillman was born in Quebec City, Canada. He graduated from McGill University in 1954. He was ordained as a rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1960. He received his Ph.D...
and Shaul Magid
Shaul Magid
Shaul Magid is a professor of religious studies and the Jay and Jeannie Schottenstein Chair of Jewish Studies in Modern Judaism at Indiana University.-Education:Magid recevied his semicha in Jerusalem in 1984....
. In 2004, Alan Mittleman
Alan Mittleman
Alan Mittleman is a professor of Jewish Philosophy and the director of the Tikvah Institute for Jewish Thought at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.-Education:...
joined the Jewish Philosophy department and became head of JTS's Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies.
The number of advanced programs in the Graduate School grew over the course of Schorsch's tenure. The Graduate School came to describe itself as being "the most extensive academic program in advanced Judaica in North America."
Gordon Tucker
Gordon Tucker
Gordon Tucker is a prominent rabbi, with a reputation as both a political and a theological liberal in Conservative Judaism. He currently has a position as senior rabbi of Temple Israel Center in White Plains, New York.-Education and career:...
's tenure as dean of the Rabbinical School ended in 1992. His predecessor, Joel Roth
Joel Roth
Joel Roth is a prominent American rabbi in the Rabbinical Assembly, which is the rabbinical body of Conservative Judaism. He is a former member and chair of the assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards which deals with questions of Jewish law and tradition, and serves as the Louis...
, again became dean, serving in 1992-1993. Roth was succeeded by William Lebeau, who served as dean from 1993-1999. Lebeau was succeeded by Alan Kensky, and then Lebeau became dean of the Rabbinical School again in June 2002.
In 1998, Henry Rosenblum
Henry Rosenblum
Henry Rosenblum is the hazzan of the Forest Hills Jewish Center in Queens, NY. From 1998 until 2010, he served as the Dean of the H.L. Miller Cantorial School of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America . He was the first hazzan to hold the position of Dean of the Cantorial School...
was appointed Dean of the H.L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1998, becoming the first Hazzan to hold that position. Rosenblum remained in this position until 2010.
The Eisen era (2007-present)
Arnold EisenArnold Eisen
Arnold M. Eisen, Ph.D. is Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Koshland Professor of Jewish Culture and Religion and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Stanford University...
, Koshland Professor of Jewish Culture and Religion and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Stanford University, took office as Chancellor-elect on July 1, 2006, the day after Schorsch stepped down. Eisen assumed the position full time on July 1, 2007.
Eisen is the second non-rabbi, after Cyrus Adler
Cyrus Adler
Cyrus Adler was a U.S. educator, Jewish religious leader and scholar.-Biography:Adler was born in Van Buren, Arkansas, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania in 1883 and gained a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1887, where he taught Semitic languages from 1884 to 1893...
, to hold this post. He is also the first person with a social science background to serve as Chancellor; previous chancellors had backgrounds in Jewish history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
or Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
.
In January 2007, at the start of Eisen's chancellorship, Daniel S. Nevins
Daniel S. Nevins
Daniel S. Nevins is an American rabbi and an adherent of the Conservative Movement who was named the Dean of the Rabbinical School of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America on January 29, 2007, succeeding Rabbi William Lebeau...
was named the Dean of the Rabbinical School of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, succeeding Rabbi William Lebeau
William H. Lebeau
William H. Lebeau is an American rabbi, and former Dean of The Rabbinical School, Vice Chancellor and Chairman of the Department of Professional Skills, and Lecturer of Professional Skills at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America of Conservative Judaism in New York City.Lebeau stepped down on...
. Biblical scholar Alan Cooper
Alan Cooper (biblical scholar)
Alan Cooper is the provost of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America , an academic institution in Jewish Studies and one of the centers for Conservative Judaism. He also serves as the Elaine Ravich Professor of Jewish Studies at JTS....
was named Provost. In 2010, Henry Rosenblum
Henry Rosenblum
Henry Rosenblum is the hazzan of the Forest Hills Jewish Center in Queens, NY. From 1998 until 2010, he served as the Dean of the H.L. Miller Cantorial School of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America . He was the first hazzan to hold the position of Dean of the Cantorial School...
left the H.L. Miller Cantorial School as part of JTS's restructuring efforts, and Nevins also became responsible for oversight of the H.L. Miller Cantorial School.
In June 2009, Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
executive Abby Joseph Cohen
Abby Joseph Cohen
Abby Joseph Cohen is an American economist and financial analyst on Wall Street. She is a partner and——Senior U.S. investment strategist at Goldman Sachs. Prior to that date, she was Chief Investment Strategist...
was named Chairman of the Board of JTS, the first woman to hold the position.
Also in 2009, with funding from the Charles H. Revson Foundation and the Booth Ferris Foundation, JTS established The Center for Pastoral Education with the goal of teaching the art of pastoral care to seminary students and ordained clergy of all faiths. The Center was developed by Rabbi Mychal Springer
Mychal Springer
Mychal Springer is a rabbi and the director of the Center for Pastoral Education of The Jewish Theological Seminary of America , where she also holds the Helen Fried Kirshblum Goldstein Chair in Professional and Pastoral Skills.-Education:...
, formerly an Associate Dean of the Rabbinical School. Springer became the Center's first director.
In 2010, the Tikvah Fund endowed a new institute at JTS, the Tikvah Institute for Jewish Thought, which is "devoted to the intellectual encounter between the best sources of Jewish and broader Western reflection on the deepest problems of human life." According to the Seminary, "JTS was selected by the Tikvah Fund based on its academic excellence and its mission to advance Jewish life in the modern world." Alan Mittleman
Alan Mittleman
Alan Mittleman is a professor of Jewish Philosophy and the director of the Tikvah Institute for Jewish Thought at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.-Education:...
, Chair of the Department of Jewish Thought, was appointed as its director.
Professor Burton L. Visotzky was appointed to replace Mittleman as director of the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies. His early work as director of the Finkelstein Institute focused on Muslim-Jewish dialogue. In October 2010, a group of prominent Muslim and Jewish scholars and leaders, joined by the heads of several Christian seminaries, met at JTS for two days to discuss and compare the situations of Islam and Judaism in America.
In May, 2011, Eisen launched “Conservative Judaism: A Community Conversation,” an interactive website featuring original essays on Conservative Judaism, with responses from Movement and Lay leaders and scholars.
Admission of LGBT students
Since March 2007, JTS has accepted openly gay students into their rabbinical and cantorial programs (the Seminary's other three schools upheld such non-discrimination policies prior to this date). A survey conducted prior to the decision indicated that 58% of the rabbinical student body supported this change. The school issued a press release announcing the new admission policy, without taking a stance on same-sex unions. JTS marked the first year anniversary of the change with a special program. Some students who opposed the change in admission policy said they felt excluded from the day's program because it did not sufficiently recognize the pluralism in the student body.In April 2011, JTS held a Yom Iyyun, or day of learning, about LGBTQ issues, and their intersection with Judaism. Joy Ladin, a transgender woman who teaches English at Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
, gave a talk about her life. Other programs included creating welcoming communities, and inclusive prayer, among others. It was sponsored in part by Keshet
Keshet (organization)
Keshet is a Boston-based nonprofit that works for the full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Jews in Jewish life. Keshet produced the groundbreaking documentary Hineini: Coming Out in a Jewish High School and companion curriculum....
, the Jewish social action group that works to see queer individuals included in all sectors of Jewish life.
New Mission
In May 2010, the Jewish Theological Seminary under Arnold EisenArnold Eisen
Arnold M. Eisen, Ph.D. is Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Koshland Professor of Jewish Culture and Religion and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Stanford University...
's leadership unveiled the following mission statement:
The Jewish Theological Seminary of America is a preeminent institution of Jewish higher education that integrates rigorous academic scholarship and teaching with a commitment to strengthening Jewish tradition, Jewish lives, and Jewish communities.
JTS articulates a vision of Judaism that is learned and passionate, pluralist and authentic, traditional and egalitarian; one that is thoroughly grounded in Jewish texts, history, and practices, and fully engaged with the societies and cultures of the present. Our vision joins faith with inquiry; the covenant of our ancestors with the creative insights of today; intense involvement in the society and State of Israel with devotion to the flowering of Judaism throughout the world; service to the Jewish community, as well as to all of the communities of which Jews are a part: our society, our country, and our world.
JTS serves North American Jewry by educating intellectual and spiritual leaders for Conservative Judaism and the vital religious center, training rabbis, cantors, scholars, educators, communal professionals, and lay activists who are inspired by our vision of Torah and dedicated to assisting in its realization.
The Seminary sees its mission statement as based on six principles:
- Scholarship in Service to Judaism and the Jewish Community
- Excellence in Teaching and Learning
- Synergy (bringing students from its different schools together)
- Partnerships (with other institutions)
- Reaching New Types of Students
- Engaging and Strengthening Conservative JudaismConservative JudaismConservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
and the Religious Center
JTS and the Conservative Movement
JTS was the founding institution of Conservative JudaismConservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
in America. The United Synagogue of America, the organization of Conservative synagogues, was founded by Solomon Schechter while he served as President of JTS.
During the chancellorship of Louis Finkelstein
Louis Finkelstein
Rabbi Louis Finkelstein was a Talmud scholar, an expert in Jewish law, and a leader of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Conservative Judaism.-Brief Biography:...
, however, there were many tensions between JTS and the Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
movement which it led. JTS was often more traditional in matters of religious practice than the denomination as a whole. Finkelstein was also perceived as focusing on American and world Jewry as a whole while paying little attention to the Conservative movement.
According to scholar Michael Panitz, the situation changed under Finkelstein's successors. Under Chancellor Gerson Cohen (chancellor from 1972–86), JTS "decisively embraced its identity as a Conservative Jewish institution, it thereby abandoned its earlier hopes to provide a non-denominational unifier for traditional and moderate American Jews." The next chancellor, Ismar Schorsch
Ismar Schorsch
Ismar Schorsch had been the son of hanoveranian Rabbi Emil Schorsch. They both experienced the so called "Reichskristallnacht" in a different manner. Dr. Ismar Schorsch became the sixth Chancellor of The Jewish Theological Seminary and is the Rabbi Herman Abramovitz Professor of Jewish history...
(1986–2006), "emerged as an outspoken advocate for Conservative Judaism." With the new mission statement introduced by Chancellor Arnold Eisen (2007-), the school has positioned itself as serving both "Conservative Judaism" and "the vital religious center."
As of 2010, JTS's website describes JTS as "the academic and spiritual center of Conservative Judaism worldwide." Others describe it as "the academic and spiritual centre of Conservative Judaism in the United States." A second important center for Conservative Judaism in the United States is the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies
Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies
The Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, informally known as the "Ziegler School" or simply "Ziegler", is the graduate program of study leading to Ordination as Conservative Rabbis at the American Jewish University...
in California, founded by graduates of JTS in 1996.
Rabbinical School
The Rabbinical School describes itself as offering "an intensive program of study, personal growth, and spiritual development that leads to rabbinic ordination and a career of service to the Jewish community."As of 2010, the rabbinical school requires five or six years of study. Its curriculum requires extensive study of Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
, Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, Jewish history
Jewish history
Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their religion and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Since Jewish history is over 4000 years long and includes hundreds of different populations, any treatment can only be provided in broad strokes...
, Hebrew language, and various professional skills. Students are required to spend the second year of the program at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies
Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies
The Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, located in Jerusalem, Israel, is an academic institution affiliated with Conservative Judaism first established in New York....
in Jerusalem.
Students must choose a field of concentration during their studies. Concentrations include:
- BibleBibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
- Rabbinics
- MidrashMidrashThe Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
- Jewish historyJewish historyJewish history is the history of the Jews, their religion and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Since Jewish history is over 4000 years long and includes hundreds of different populations, any treatment can only be provided in broad strokes...
- Jewish literatureJewish literatureJewish Literature refers to works written by Jews on Jewish themes, literary works of various themes written in Jewish languages, or literary works in other languages written by Jewish writers. Ancient Jewish literature includes Biblical literature and rabbinic literature...
- Jewish liturgyJewish liturgyJewish liturgy refers specifically to following the Torah in all of its rites and ceremonies, whether in the home or in the Synagogue. The main purposes of following the carefully laid out observances is to maintain uniformity, and to avoid improper and unacceptable practices at variance with those...
- Jewish educationJewish educationJewish education is the transmission of the tenets, principles and religious laws of Judaism. Due to its emphasis on Torah study, many have commented that Judaism is characterised by "lifelong learning" that extends to adults as much as it does to children.-History:The tradition of Jewish...
- Jewish philosophyJewish philosophyJewish philosophy , includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or, in relation to the religion of Judaism. Jewish philosophy, until modern Enlightenment and Emancipation, was pre-occupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism; thus organizing...
- Jewish women's studiesWomen's studiesWomen's studies, also known as feminist studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field which explores politics, society and history from an intersectional, multicultural women's perspective...
- Pastoral carePastoral carePastoral care is the ministry of care and counseling provided by pastors, chaplains and other religious leaders to members of their church or congregation, or to persons of all faiths and none within institutional settings. This can range anywhere from home visitation to formal counseling provided...
Cantorial School
The Cantorial School describes itself as training "select advanced students as hazzanim (cantors) for congregational service or as teachers of Jewish music, choral directors, composers, or research scholars."The school is technically divided into two parts: the entity formally known as the H. L. Miller Cantorial School invests students as hazzanim, while the entity known as the College of Jewish Music awards the Master's degree in Sacred Music. All students in the Cantorial School are enrolled in both programs simultaneously.
At present, the first year of cantorial school at JTS is generally spent in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. The curriculum during the five years focuses on three main areas: general music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, Jewish music
Jewish music
Jewish music is the music and melodies of the Jewish People which have evolved over time throughout the long course of Jewish History. In some instances Jewish Music is of a religious nature, spiritual songs and refrains are common in Jewish Services throughout the world, while other times, it is...
and Jewish text study
Torah study
Torah study is the study by Jewish people of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts...
.
Graduate School
The Graduate School of the Jewish Theological Seminary offers academic programs in advanced Jewish studies. It describes itself as offering "the most extensive academic program in advanced Judaic Studies in North America." The school grants MA, DHL, and PhD degrees in the areas of:- Ancient JudaismJudaismJudaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
- BibleBibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
and Ancient SemiticSemiticIn linguistics and ethnology, Semitic was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages...
Languages - Interdepartmental Studies (MA only)
- Jewish Art and Visual Culture (MA only)
- Jewish HistoryJewish historyJewish history is the history of the Jews, their religion and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Since Jewish history is over 4000 years long and includes hundreds of different populations, any treatment can only be provided in broad strokes...
- Jewish LiteratureJewish literatureJewish Literature refers to works written by Jews on Jewish themes, literary works of various themes written in Jewish languages, or literary works in other languages written by Jewish writers. Ancient Jewish literature includes Biblical literature and rabbinic literature...
- Jewish PhilosophyJewish philosophyJewish philosophy , includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or, in relation to the religion of Judaism. Jewish philosophy, until modern Enlightenment and Emancipation, was pre-occupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism; thus organizing...
- Jewish Studies and Public AdministrationPublic administrationPublic Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
(MA only) - Jewish Studies and Social WorkSocial workSocial Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
(MA only) - Jewish Women’s Studies (MA only)
- LiturgyJewish liturgyJewish liturgy refers specifically to following the Torah in all of its rites and ceremonies, whether in the home or in the Synagogue. The main purposes of following the carefully laid out observances is to maintain uniformity, and to avoid improper and unacceptable practices at variance with those...
- Medieval Jewish Studies
- MidrashMidrashThe Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
- Modern Jewish Studies
- TalmudTalmudThe Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
and Rabbinics
William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education
In 1994, William DavidsonWilliam Davidson
William Morse "Bill" Davidson, J. D. was an American businessman who was President, Chairman and CEO of Guardian Industries, one of the world's largest manufacturers of architectural and automotive glass...
of Detroit, Michigan established a $15 million endowment at JTS to fund the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education, which trains educators who can serve in Jewish institutions and elsewhere, in both formal and informal settings. The Davidson School offers both master's and doctoral degrees.
List College
Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies (List College) is the undergraduate school of JTSA. It is closely affiliated with Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
; almost all List College students are enrolled in dual-degree programs (BA/BA or BA/BS) with either Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
’s School of General Studies or Barnard College
Barnard College
Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...
.
Additional Institutes at JTS
- Tikvah Institute for Jewish Thought - devoted to the intellectual encounter between the best sources of Jewish and broader Western reflection on the deepest problems of human life.
- Melton Research Center for Jewish Education - focuses on improving the quality of Jewish education in North America.
- Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies - focuses on interfaith relations and public affairs.
- Saul Lieberman Institute for Talmudic Research - develops modern and rigorous computer tools for Talmud study.
- Institute for Jewish Learning - focuses on advanced adult education.
- Center for Pastoral Education - focuses on the art of pastoral care.
Notable alumni
- Bella AbzugBella AbzugBella Savitsky Abzug was an American lawyer, Congresswoman, social activist and a leader of the Women's Movement. In 1971, Abzug joined other leading feminists such as Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan to found the National Women's Political Caucus...
, lawyer, Congresswoman, social activist, feminist leader - Philip R. AlstatPhilip R. AlstatPhilip Reis Alstat was a well-known American Conservative rabbi, teacher, chaplain, speaker and writer. Born in Kaunas , Lithuania, he came to the United States in 1898, studying at City College of New York , Columbia University , and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America , where he received...
, rabbi, counselor, and chaplain - Bradley Shavit ArtsonBradley Shavit ArtsonBradley Shavit Artson is an American rabbi, author, speaker, and the occupant of the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean's Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, California, where he is Vice-President...
, dean of Ziegler School of Rabbinic StudiesZiegler School of Rabbinic StudiesThe Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, informally known as the "Ziegler School" or simply "Ziegler", is the graduate program of study leading to Ordination as Conservative Rabbis at the American Jewish University... - Herman BerlinskiHerman BerlinskiHerman Berlinski was a German-born American composer, organist, pianist, musicologist and choir conductor.-Family background; early upbringing:...
composer, organist, musicologist and choir conductor - Ben Zion BokserBen Zion Bokser-Biography:Bokser was born in Lubomi, Poland, and emigrated to the United States at the age of 13 in 1920. He attended City College of New York and Rabbi Isaac Elhanan Theological Seminary, followed by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Columbia University...
, rabbi and scholar - Daniel BoyarinDaniel BoyarinDaniel Boyarin is an historian of religion. Born in Asbury Park, New Jersey, he holds dual United States and Israeli citizenship. Trained as a Talmudic scholar, in 1990 he was appointed Professor of Talmudic Culture, Departments of Near Eastern Studies and Rhetoric, University of California,...
, professor of Talmudic Culture, Near Eastern Studies and Rhetoric, University of California at Berkeley - Boaz CohenBoaz CohenBoaz Cohen was a leading scholar of Talmud, a legal decisor , and a professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America....
, JTS professor, and chairman of the Law Committee of the Rabbinical AssemblyRabbinical AssemblyThe Rabbinical Assembly is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, and oversees the work of the Committee on Jewish Law and... - Gerson Cohen, Jewish historian and JTS chancellor
- Menachem CreditorMenachem CreditorMenachem Creditor is the rabbi of Congregation Netivot Shalom, in Berkeley, California. He is chair of , a co-founder and facilitator of , co-founder of KeshetRabbis: The Alliance of Gay-Friendly Conservative/Masorti Rabbis, and author of , a commentary on Jewish Spirituality...
, rabbi of Congregation Netivot Shalom, Berkeley, CA, founder of ShefaNetwork.org, co-founder of Keshet RabbisKeshet RabbisKeshet-Rabbis is an organization of Conservative/Masorti rabbis which holds that LGBT Jews should be embraced as full, open members of all Conservative/Masorti congregations and institutions... - David G. DalinDavid G. DalinDavid G. Dalin is an American Conservative rabbi and historian, is the author, co-author, or editor of ten books on American Jewish history and politics, and Jewish-Christian relations. He is currently a professor of history and politics at Ave Maria University, in Florida...
, historian - Elliot N. DorffElliot N. DorffElliot N. Dorff is a Conservative rabbi. He is a professor of Jewish theology at the American Jewish University in California , author and a bio-ethicist....
, scholar of Jewish ethics and theology, rector of American Jewish University - Matthew Eisenfeld, student killed in the Jaffa Road bus bombings in Jerusalem
- Louis FinkelsteinLouis FinkelsteinRabbi Louis Finkelstein was a Talmud scholar, an expert in Jewish law, and a leader of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Conservative Judaism.-Brief Biography:...
, longtime chancellor of JTS - Neil GillmanNeil GillmanNeil Gillman is an American rabbi and philosopher, affiliated with Conservative Judaism.-Biography:Gillman was born in Quebec City, Canada. He graduated from McGill University in 1954. He was ordained as a rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1960. He received his Ph.D...
, theologian - Ben-Zion GoldBen-Zion GoldBen-Zion Gold is an American rabbi who was the Rabbi of the Hillel at Harvard University from 1958 until he became Rabbi Emeritus in 1990. Gold was born in 1923 in Radom, Poland, and is the only member of his family to have survived The Holocaust...
, rabbi of Harvard Hillel - Jonathan A. GoldsteinJonathan A. GoldsteinJonathan A. Goldstein was a biblical scholar and author who wrote for the Anchor Bible Series. He was the author of definitive books on I Maccabees and II Maccabees, as well as a book about competing religions in the ancient world....
, Bible scholar - Robert GordisRobert GordisRobert Gordis was a leading Conservative rabbi. He founded the first Conservative Jewish day school, served as President of the Rabbinical Assembly and the Synagogue Council of America, and was a professor at Jewish Theological Seminary of America from 1940 to 1992.He wrote one of the first...
, president of the Rabbinical AssemblyRabbinical AssemblyThe Rabbinical Assembly is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, and oversees the work of the Committee on Jewish Law and...
and professor at JTS - Daniel GordisDaniel GordisDaniel Gordis is President of the Shalem Foundation and Senior Vice President and Senior Fellow at the Shalem Center in Israel. Gordis was the founding dean of the Ziegler Rabbinical School, the first rabbinical college on the West Coast of the United States.-Biography:Daniel Gordis was born on...
, senior vice president of Shalem CenterShalem CenterThe Shalem Center is a Jerusalem research institute that supports academic work in the fields of philosophy, political theory, Jewish and Zionist history, Bible and Talmud, Middle East Studies, archaeology, economics, and strategic studies... - David M. Gordis, former president of Hebrew CollegeHebrew CollegeHebrew College is an accredited college of Jewish studies in Newton Centre, near Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1921, Hebrew College is committed to Jewish scholarship in a transdenominational academic environment. The president of the college is Rabbi Daniel Lehmann...
- Arthur GreenArthur GreenArthur Green is a scholar of Jewish mysticism and Neo-Hasidism. He is a professor in the non-denominational rabbinical program at Hebrew College in Boston. He was a dean of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1987–1993.-Biography:...
, professor emeritus of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis, rector of Hebrew CollegeHebrew CollegeHebrew College is an accredited college of Jewish studies in Newton Centre, near Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1921, Hebrew College is committed to Jewish scholarship in a transdenominational academic environment. The president of the college is Rabbi Daniel Lehmann...
rabbinical school - Judith HauptmanJudith HauptmanJudith Rebecca Hauptman is a feminist Jewish Talmudic scholar. She grew up in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, United States....
, feminist Talmud scholar - Joseph H. HertzJoseph H. Hertz----Rabbi Joseph Herman Hertz, CH was a Jewish Hungarian-born Rabbi and Bible scholar. He is most notable for holding the position of Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom from 1913 until his death in 1946, in a period encompassing both world wars and The Holocaust.- Early life :Hertz was born in the...
, British Chief Rabbi and author; first graduate of JTS - Arthur HertzbergArthur HertzbergArthur Hertzberg was a Conservative rabbi and prominent Jewish-American scholar and activist.-Biography:...
, rabbi and historian - Brad HirschfieldBrad HirschfieldBrad Hirschfield is a rabbi, author and the president of CLAL–The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. Hirschfield was ranked three years in a row in Newsweek as one of America's "50 Most Influential Rabbis" and recognized as a leading “Preacher & Teacher” by...
, co-president of CLAL, National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership - Max KadushinMax KadushinMax Kadushin was a Conservative rabbi best known for his organic philosophy of rabbinics.-Biography:After graduating from New York University, Kadushin studied for the rabbinate at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America during the 1920s. There he encountered Mordecai Kaplan and soon became a...
, rabbi and philosopher - Ian KagedanIan KagedanIan Kagedan is a Canadian public servant known for his work on inter-religious and inter-ethnic relations. Formerly National Director of Government Relations of B'nai Brith Canada He was appointed to serve on the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada....
, Canadian public servant - Mordechai Kaplan, philosopher, educator, founder of Reconstructionist JudaismReconstructionist JudaismReconstructionist Judaism is a modern American-based Jewish movement based on the ideas of Mordecai Kaplan . The movement views Judaism as a progressively evolving civilization. It originated as a branch of Conservative Judaism, before it splintered...
- William E. KaufmanWilliam E. KaufmanWilliam E. Kaufman is a Conservative Jewish rabbi, theologian and author. His 1991 book, The Case for God, was the first on Jewish process theology.-Education:...
, ConservativeConservative JudaismConservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
rabbi and Jewish theologianTheologyTheology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo... - Irwin KulaIrwin KulaIrwin Kula is an American rabbi and author, currently serving as the president of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership . In 2008, he was listed as 7th in Newsweek’s “50 most influential rabbis” list.-Education:...
, co-president of CLAL, National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership - Lee I. LevineLee I. LevineLee I. Levine is an American-born rabbi, archaeologist and historian of classical Judaism. He is a strong believer in the ability of the Jewish people and Judaism to adapt to local settings as a key to survival...
, historian - Albert L. LewisAlbert L. LewisRabbi Albert L. Lewis was a leading American Conservative rabbi, scholar, and author; President of the Rabbinical Assembly , the international organization of Conservative rabbis; and Vice-President of The World Council of Synagogues...
, rabbi - David LieberDavid LieberDr. David L. Lieber, rabbi and scholar, was president emeritus of the University of Judaism and the senior editor of the Etz Hayim Humash...
, former president of the University of JudaismUniversity of JudaismThe American Jewish University, formerly the separate institutions University of Judaism and Brandeis-Bardin Institute, is a Jewish, non-denominational educational institution in Los Angeles, California.... - Abraham LubinAbraham LubinHazzan Abraham “Abe” Lubin is a London-born American Conservative Jewish Hazzan and former President of the Cantors Assembly, who currently serves at Congregation Beth El in Bethesda, Maryland.-Personal life:...
, cantor - Hershel MattHershel MattRabbi Hershel Jonah Matt was a rabbi, scholar and professor.-Family:Hershel was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on July 11, 1922 to Lena and Rabbi Calman David Matt. Hershel married his wife Gustine on March 10, 1946...
, rabbi and professor at Reconstructionist Rabbinical CollegeReconstructionist Rabbinical CollegeThe Reconstructionist Rabbinical College , is located in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, about 10 miles north of central Philadelphia. RRC is the only seminary affiliated with Reconstructionist Judaism. It is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and... - Marshall MeyerMarshall MeyerRabbi Marshall T. Meyer was an American-born Conservative rabbi and a recognized international human rights activist. Marshall Theodore Meyer was born in New York City and raised in Norwich, Conn. He attended Dartmouth College, graduating in 1952...
, rabbi and human rights activist - Jacob NeusnerJacob NeusnerJacob Neusner is an American academic scholar of Judaism who lives in Rhinebeck, New York.-Biography:Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Neusner was educated at Harvard University, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America , the University of Oxford, and Columbia University.Neusner is often celebrated...
, chair of Judaic Studies Department, Bard College - David NesenoffDavid NesenoffDavid Floyd Nesenoff is an American rabbi, independent filmmaker, singer/songwriter of contemporary Jewish music, and blogger. His short films have been shown at various festivals including Sundance and the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival...
, rabbi, independent filmmaker, and singer/songwriter - David NovakDavid NovakDavid Novak is a Jewish theologian, ethicist, and scholar of Jewish philosophy and law . He is an ordained Conservative rabbi and has also trained with Catholic moral theologians...
, scholar of Jewish philosophy, law, and ethics - Norman PodhoretzNorman PodhoretzNorman B. Podhoretz is an American neoconservative pundit and writer for Commentary magazine.-Early life:The son of Julius and Helen Podhoretz, Jewish immigrants from the Central European region of Galicia, Podhoretz was born and raised in Brownsville, Brooklyn...
, EditorEditingEditing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
, CommentaryCommentary (magazine)Commentary is a monthly American magazine on politics, Judaism, social and cultural issues. It was founded by the American Jewish Committee in 1945. By 1960 its editor was Norman Podhoretz, a liberal at the time who moved sharply to the right in the 1970s and 1980s becoming a strong voice for the...
magazine - Chaim PotokChaim PotokChaim Potok was an American Jewish author and rabbi. Potok is most famous for his first book The Chosen, a 1967 novel which was listed on The New York Times’ best seller list for 39 weeks and sold more than 3,400,000 copies.-Biography :Herman Harold Potok was born in The Bronx, New York City, to...
, authorAuthorAn author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and rabbi - Paula ReimersPaula ReimersPaula Reimers is an American rabbi. As of 2008 she was the rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel . Reimers is one of the first women to be ordained by the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary of America....
, rabbi and activist - Arnold E. Resnicoff, military chaplain and consultant to military and civilian leaders
- Joel RothJoel RothJoel Roth is a prominent American rabbi in the Rabbinical Assembly, which is the rabbinical body of Conservative Judaism. He is a former member and chair of the assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards which deals with questions of Jewish law and tradition, and serves as the Louis...
, scholar of Talmud and Jewish law and former dean of the JTS rabbinical school - Samuel SchaflerSamuel SchaflerSamuel Schafler was a New York-born rabbi, historian, editor and Jewish educator. He was Superintendent of the Board of Jewish Education of Metropolitan Chicago and President of Hebrew College in Brookline, Massachusetts....
, president of Hebrew CollegeHebrew CollegeHebrew College is an accredited college of Jewish studies in Newton Centre, near Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1921, Hebrew College is committed to Jewish scholarship in a transdenominational academic environment. The president of the college is Rabbi Daniel Lehmann...
, superintendent of the Chicago Board of Jewish Education - Ismar SchorschIsmar SchorschIsmar Schorsch had been the son of hanoveranian Rabbi Emil Schorsch. They both experienced the so called "Reichskristallnacht" in a different manner. Dr. Ismar Schorsch became the sixth Chancellor of The Jewish Theological Seminary and is the Rabbi Herman Abramovitz Professor of Jewish history...
, Jewish historian and JTS chancellor - Ira F. StoneIra F. StoneRabbi Ira F. Stone is a leading figure in the contemporary renewal of the Musar movement, a Jewish ethical movement.Stone was ordained as a rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1979, and proceeded to serve congregations in Seattle and Philadelphia while also teaching at the Jewish...
, rabbi, scholar of the Musar movement, and professor at Reconstructionist Rabbinical CollegeReconstructionist Rabbinical CollegeThe Reconstructionist Rabbinical College , is located in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, about 10 miles north of central Philadelphia. RRC is the only seminary affiliated with Reconstructionist Judaism. It is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and... - Gordon TuckerGordon TuckerGordon Tucker is a prominent rabbi, with a reputation as both a political and a theological liberal in Conservative Judaism. He currently has a position as senior rabbi of Temple Israel Center in White Plains, New York.-Education and career:...
, philosopher, legal scholar, and former dean of the JTS rabbinical school - Henrietta SzoldHenrietta SzoldHenrietta Szold was a U.S. Jewish Zionist leader and founder of the Hadassah Women's Organization. In 1942, she co-founded Ihud, a political party in Mandate Palestine dedicated to a binational solution.-Biography:...
, founder of Hadassah - Mordecai WaxmanMordecai WaxmanMordecai Waxman, KCSG , was a prominent rabbi in the Conservative Jewish movement for nearly 60 years. He served as rabbi of Temple Israel in Great Neck, New York for 55 years from 1947 through his death in 2002...
, rabbi, Temple Israel of Great Neck - David WolpeDavid WolpeDavid J. Wolpe is an author, public speaker and rabbi of Sinai Temple . Named the "#1 Pulpit Rabbi in America" by Newsweek magazine , he is considered a leader of the Conservative Jewish movement. Wolpe was named one of The Forward's Forward 50, and one of the hundred most influential people in...
, rabbi of Sinai TempleSinai Temple (Los Angeles, California)Sinai Temple in the Westwood district of Los Angeles, California is the oldest and largest Conservative congregation in the greater Los Angeles area. Architect Sidney Eisenshtat designed the current synagogue building, constructed in 1956 and expanded in 1998...
, Los Angeles
See also
- Rabbinical AssemblyRabbinical AssemblyThe Rabbinical Assembly is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, and oversees the work of the Committee on Jewish Law and...
- Cantors AssemblyCantors AssemblyThe Cantors Assembly is the international association of hazzanim affiliated with Conservative Judaism. The CA was founded in 1947 to develop the profession of the hazzan, to foster the fellowship and welfare of hazzanim, and to establish a conservatory for hazzanim...
- Conservative JudaismConservative JudaismConservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...