Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies

The Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies (SIJS) in Jerusalem is affiliated with JTS and the Masorti (Conservative) Movement. Comprised of The Graduate School of Advanced Jewish Studies, The (Schechter) Rabbinical School, TALI Education Fund and Midreshet Yerushalayim programs, and Midrash Hadash Department for Outreach. It is one of Israel's leading academic centers for modern Jewish learning.

SIJS has an enrollment of more than 500 students and boasts a diverse student body drawn from observant, traditional, and secular backgrounds. Meeting at the Schechter Institute in a warm atmosphere of religious pluralism, students and faculty commit themselves to overcoming Jewish illiteracy while seeking to unite Israeli society through its rich Jewish heritage. The Schechter Institute's unique approach to Jewish studies puts traditional learning into a modern and relevant context.

Schechter graduates include school teachers, principals, rabbis, and community center directors, and  form a unique cadre of Jewish educators. Having gained invaluable knowledge from traditional Jewish sources and texts, most return to the field, applying this learning coupled with a modern and pluralistic world view.

The institute confers an interdisciplinary master's degree in Jewish studies with concentrations in the Bible, Talmud and halakhah, midrash, Jewish history, Jewish thought, women's and gender studies, Jewish education, informal education, teaching Jewish studies in public schools, land of Israel, and family and community studies. A new master's program in Judaism and the arts was introduced last year.

Schechter's applied research institutes include the Center for Women in Jewish Law to formulate opinions that can alternate with those issued by Orthodox rabbinic courts, especially when women are refused divorces; the Institute of Applied Halakhah, whose aim is to produce a corpus of halakhic literature for use by Jews throughout the world; and the recently established Center for Judaism and the Arts, which focuses on the relationship between aesthetics and Judaism.

The Schechter Institute also oversees the TALI Education Fund (TEF), which supports a network of more than 100 schools and kindergartens throughout Israel. The Jewish learning that TALI has made available is helping thousands of Israeli schoolchildren and their families become knowledgeable Jews.

The Schechter Institute also operates Midreshet Yerushalayim, which provides educational programs for Jewish communities in Eastern Europe and the FSU, as well as for new immigrants in Israel. Established in 1984, the Schechter Institute is located near the Israeli Museum, the Knesset, and the Israeli Supreme Court. The Jewish Agency for Israel is a major supporter of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies.

For more information, please visit www.schechter.edu.