Project Judaica

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Project Judaica, established in 1991, is a joint venture between The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) and the Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH) in Moscow. Its principal goals are to train a generation of indigenous Russian scholars of Judaica, reestablish Jewish studies as a legitimate area of university study, foster the revival of Jewish life in Russia, and discover and describe all Jewish-related materials held in the archives of the former Soviet Union (FSU).

To these ends, The Jewish Theological Seminary, under the auspices of RSUH, the flagship FSU academic institution and the first academic program in Jewish studies in Russia in sixty years, created Project Judaica. Currently, Project Judaica has granted degrees to eight-two students and has sixty-one students studying in the five-year program. Project Judaica maintains an active publications program of textbooks, monographs and a journal, as well as the Jewish Archival Survey.

Now in its second decade, Project Judaica is a RSUH-run university center with all the rights and responsibilities of an academic department. Students study RSUH's five-year general curriculum and attend Jewish studies courses. The Judaica curriculum consists of Hebrew and Yiddish languages, Bible, Rabbinic literature, Jewish history, Jewish philosophy and thought, and modern Jewish literature and culture. Graduates of the program receive a diploma from RSUH (the equivalent of an American master's degree) as well as a certificate from JTS.

The Russian State University for the Humanities is located at 6 Miusskaya Ploschad, Moscow . Correspondence and inquiries in Moscow should be directed to Ms. Zhenya Nazarova at (7-495)628-5292. In New York , inquiries should be directed to Dr. David E. Fishman, director and professor of Jewish History, or Arielle Cohen, assistant director, at ProjectJudaica@jtsa.edu, or call (212) 678-8983. The North American Project Judaica office is located in Brush 619 at The Jewish Theological Seminary.