The PhD Degree

Programs of Study

  • Hebrew Bible and Its Interpretation
  • Rabbinic Literatures and Cultures
  • Medieval and Early Modern Jews of the Mediterranean World
  • Modern Jewish Literatures and Cultures
  • Modern Jewish Communities of Europe and America

About the Program

The PhD program provides advanced academic training in broad areas of Judaic scholarship with intensive specialization in one area in preparation for an academic career. The degree certifies that the recipient is qualified to teach a wide range of Judaica at the undergraduate level and to train graduate students in their fields of specialization. It also requires the knowledge of foreign languages and may require course work at other institutions participating in a consortium with The Graduate School. It is a full-time program.

When applying to the PhD program, student will work in one of our five academic clusters.

Hebrew Bible and Its Interpretation

The Hebrew Bible is a foundational text for both Judaism and Christianity and for Western culture as a whole, and the interpretive traditions of midrash and parshanut form the matrix in which various forms of Judaism create themselves anew throughout the centuries. The graduate cluster on Hebrew Bible and Its Interpretation is geared to graduate students focusing on any form of biblical interpretation, ranging from the prebiblical context in which the Bible came into being, through the Bible itself, into classical midrash, medieval rabbinic and Karaite exegesis, and modern Jewish thought. Regardless of what area of focus they choose, all students receive thorough grounding in biblical texts as well as languages relevant to the area of study. Topics falling within this cluster include texts and versions of the Bible; literary analysis of the Bible; biblical theology; techniques of classical interpreters; the place of context in medieval interpreters; the connections between Jewish exegetes and the pagan, Muslim, and Christian scholars with whom they interacted; and the relationships between biblical commentary and other areas of Jewish culture.

Core Faculty
  • Beth Berkowitz: Cultural criticism of rabbinic literature; constructions of rabbinic authority; the Jew/Gentile boundary; animal studies; dynamics and mechanics of legal interpretation
  • Alan Cooper: Biblical poetry; medieval and early modern Jewish biblical interpretation
  • Stephen Garfinkel: Method in the study of Bible; Hebrew Bible and religious meaning; Bible in its ancient Near Eastern context
  • Stephen A. Geller: Biblical literature, biblical history and religion, Hebrew and cognate languages
  • Robert Harris: Medieval Jewish biblical exegesis
  • Barry Holtz: Pedagogy of Jewish text
  • Amy Kalmanofsky: Biblical literature, biblical religion, gender
  • Marjorie Lehman: Late medieval and early modern aggadic commentaries; Sephardic and Ottoman Jewry; history of the Book; gender
  • Anne Lapidus Lerner, emerita: Bible in literature
  • David Marcus: Semitic languages; Hebrew Bible; Masorah
  • Ray Scheindlin: Hebrew and medieval Arabic interpretation of the Bible
  • Benjamin D. Sommer: History of Israelite religion; biblical theology; the Bible and modern Jewish thought; literary study of the Bible; prophecy; the Bible and the ancient Near East
  • Burton L. Visotzky: Midrash and scriptural interpretation; rabbinic narrative; Byzantine and Medieval Jewish and Christian biblical interpretation; early Islamic traditions on Jews and Biblical figures; history of rabbinic interpretation of scripture; Jewish-Christian and Jewish-Muslim dialogue in modernity
  • Walter Herzberg: Traditional Jewish Bible exegesis

Rabbinic Literatures and Cultures

Rabbinic Literatures and Cultures represents the canonical core of Jewish history, yet it reflects a movement whose success was by no means guaranteed and whose character was contested from both within and without, from ancient origins through today. The PhD program at JTS addresses key questions in rabbinics such as: How can we characterize rabbinic ideologies, theologies, and textualities? What were the social and political settings in which the Rabbis produced their teachings? How did the Rabbis adapt and reframe those teachings in the course of transmitting them? Doctoral students are trained in a number of complementary approaches: source criticism (e.g., Mishnah/Tosefta, Bavli/Yerushalmi, stammaitic redaction); literary and cultural criticism (e.g., analysis of gender, ritual, authority, religious identity); historiography of late antique Judaism (e.g., emergence and development of the rabbinic movement, Jewish social history, Hellenization, Christianization); evolution of Jewish law (e.g., literary genres, legal topics, jurisprudence). Students work firsthand with the rich resources in rabbinics of the Rare Books Room in The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary, and draw on related JTS strengths such as Bible, medieval and modern Jewish literatures, and Jewish thought.

Core Faculty
  • Beth Berkowitz: Cultural criticism of rabbinic literature; constructions of rabbinic authority; the Jew/Gentile boundary; animal studies; dynamics and mechanics of legal interpretation
  • Neil Danzig: Talmud and rabbinic literature; Talmud Yerushalmi; Geonic literature and institutions; Cairo Genizah
  • Eliezer Diamond: Asceticism; rabbinic terminology; 20th century Yerushalmi scholarship; pedagogy of Talmud instruction
  • Judith Hauptman: Development of Jewish ideas and practice over time; reading rabbinic passages in synchronic and diachronic settings; reading the Mishnah in the context of the Tosefta; feminist text analysis; women's social history
  • Richard Kalmin: Rabbinic literature; ancient Jewish history and culture
  • David Kraemer: Talmud; rabbinics; ritual studies; religion; anthropology of rabbinic Judaism; history and development of rabbinic Judaism
  • Marjorie Lehman: Talmudic Aggadah; gender; ritual studies; Talmudic pedagogy
  • Jonathan Milgram: Talmud criticism; Jewish law; ancient law; medieval halakhah
  • Joel Roth: Jewish legal literature and the legal process; evolution of the Talmudic text
  • Burton Visotzky: Midrash and scriptural interpretation; rabbinic narrative; history of Judaism in late antiquity; Byzantine and medieval Jewish and Christian biblical interpretation; early Islamic traditions on Jews and Biblical figures

Medieval and Early Modern Jews of the Mediterranean World

The medieval and early modern Mediterranean was a dynamic, mobile, creative, and innovative place in Jewish and world history. It was also an era of crisis and reorganization, migration and renewal. This cluster focuses on relations between religious groups (Jews, Muslims, and Christians); among Jewish subethnic legal and religious traditions; between rabbinic authorities and other groups of Jews; and between Jewish communities and the states in which they lived, with emphasis on Spain and Italy. Students have access to one of the world's most important collections of medieval and early modern Jewish manuscripts and early printed works from Spain, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire. In social history, students are trained in skills and methodological approaches for the use of archival sources and Jewish sources such as the Responsa literature. The cluster offers access to faculty and advanced courses in medieval and early modern rabbinic literature, Kabbalah, poetry, visual and material culture, and gender studies.

Core Faculty
  • Neil Danzig: Geonic literature and institutions; medieval Jewish law; medieval Jewish history and culture in the East; medieval manuscripts; Cairo Genizah
  • Benjamin R. Gampel: Social and religious history; medieval Iberia
  • Raymond P. Scheindlin: Medieval Hebrew literature; Judeo-Arabic culture
  • Stefanie B. Siegmund: Late medieval and early modern Italy; ghettoization; conversion; gender
  • Eitan Fishbane: Jewish thought; Kabbalah
  • Vivian B. Mann: Jewish ceremonial art; synagogue and communal architecture
  • Menahem Schmelzer, Emeritus: Medieval Jewish literature, Hebrew bibliography
  • Marjorie Lehman: Late medieval and early modern aggadic commentaries; Sephardic and Ottoman Jewry; history of the Book; gender

Modern Jewish Literatures and Cultures

Literature and the arts (performance, music, visual arts, and other media) have been a defining force in both religious and secular modern Jewish life, presenting us with an immensely rich tapestry of aesthetic and linguistic mediations. These "texts" have given voice to the explorations, dilemmas, conflicts, and ideologies of the Jewish people and have taken an active part in the Jewish discourse of modernity and post-modernity. Because the core faculty of this cluster is conversant in more than one Jewish language and culture—e.g., Hebrew and Yiddish—and is grounded in cultural and literary theory, our courses have a comparative dimension, be it "Jewish Responses to Catastrophe" or "Israeli Theater and Drama." Thus, our students discover the messy simultaneity of past and present, Israel and Diaspora, and are exposed to the totality of Jewish self-expression, seen through such multiple lenses as gender and nation, territory and time.

Core Faculty
  • Barbara Mann: Hebrew and Yiddish modernism; cultural studies
  • Alan Mintz: Modern Hebrew literature; Holocaust studies; American Jewish culture
  • Edna Nahshon: Theater and drama; performance studies
  • David G. Roskies: Yiddish literature; Holocaust literature; Jewish literary history
  • Shuly Rubin Schwartz: American Jewish culture; gender
  • Boaz Tarsi: Music theory; liturgy; liturgical music of Ashkenazi tradition

Modern Jewish Communities of Europe and America

The modern era has been a time of great challenge as well as extraordinary Jewish creativity and dynamism. This cluster is devoted to the exploration of the religious, ethnic, and national movements—both their institutions and their ideas—created and experienced by Jews in modern times down to the present. This cluster has two foci: First, students can focus on the social, political, intellectual, and religious history of the Jews in Europe and America in modern times. By combining the study of European and American Jewries, the program draws attention to the continuities and differences between these two centers of modern Jewish life. Second, students can focus their studies on the contemporary American Jewish community utilizing the tools and methods of religious studies and the social sciences. The program's faculty has research interests ranging from Jewish life and thought in Germany and Eastern Europe to American Judaism, and includes contemporary Jewish thought, identity, education, and communal institutions.

Core Faculty
  • Aryeh Davidson: Jewish identity: sociological and psychological perspectives; Jewish education; enculturation
  • Arnold Eisen: Modern Jewish thought
  • Shira Epstein: Pedagogy and teaching; early childhood; gender and education
  • David Fishman: East European Jewry; Jewish intellectual and cultural history
  • Jeffrey Kress: Jewish identity; psychology and Judaism; informal Jewish education
  • Barbara Mann: Hebrew and Yiddish modernism; cultural studies
  • Alan Mintz: Modern Hebrew literature; Holocaust studies; American Jewish culture
  • Alan Mittleman: Modern Jewish thought; German Jewry; ethics and political theory
  • Edna Nahshon: Theater and drama; performance studies
  • David G. Roskies: Jewish cultural history of the modern period
  • Ismar Schorsch: Modern Jewish history; Wissenschaft des Judentums
  • Shuly Rubin Schwartz: American Jewish history; gender
  • Jack Wertheimer: Modern Jewish history; American Jewish history; contemporary American Jewry

Upon successful completion of all requirements for the PhD other than the dissertation, a student may apply for the degree of MPhil.

The Graduate School offers a number of substantial merit fellowships for students pursuing PhD studies. All entering students are automatically considered for these fellowships. These include:

  • The Revson Fellowships, made possible through the Charles H. Revson Foundation
  • The Professor Saul Lieberman and Dr. Judith Berlin Lieberman Graduate Fellowships in Talmudic Studies, made possible by the Dr. Bernard Heller Foundation
  • The Dr. Bernard Heller Fellowship
  • The Rabbi Seymour Siegel Scholarship
  • The Rabbi Benjamin Plotkin Fellowship
  • The Gerson D. Cohen Fellowship
  • The Stroock Fellowship in Ancient Judaism
  • The Anna and William Blanksteen Fellowship for the study of European Jewish Civilization
  • The Robert Lee Kohns Foundation Graduate Fellowship
  • The Michael Klebanoff Graduate Fellowship
  • The Jacob Shatzsky Memorial Fellowship
  • The Stanley J. Friedman Graduate Fellowship in Jewish History
  • The Louis and Alice Shimberg Fellowship
  • The Betsy and Edward E. Cohen Fellowship
  • The Elbogen Fellowship

All entering and continuing PhD students are automatically considered for these fellowships.

Application Procedures

Application forms may be obtained from the Office of Admissions, JTS Graduate School, 3080 Broadway, New York, New York 10027; (212) 678-8022, by completing our inquiry form, or through Admissions.

An applicant for admission as a degree candidate must submit the following:

  • A completed application form and the $65 fee;
  • An official transcript of academic records from each college and university previously attended;
  • Official scores of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or Miller Analogies Test (MAT);
  • Three letters of academic recommendation; and
  • A sample of written academic research in English in the field of study.

An interview with a member of the admissions committee and/or department chair is recommended and may be required.

Applicants whose native language is other than English and who have not been educated at a college where English is the language of instruction must submit official scores of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). A minimum TOEFL score of 100 (Internet-based) is required. The Graduate School also may require that nonnative English speakers prove satisfactory proficiency by scoring at level 10 on the placement test administered by Columbia University's American Language Program (ALP). For more information, please contact The Graduate School's Admissions Office at (212) 678-8022.

Requirements

Residence

Two consecutive academic years of full-time residence are required of all students in the PhD program.

Full-time residence demands that advanced study be the student's principal responsibility. The student must be free to devote himself/herself primarily to study and research, schedule courses without limitations on hours, participate fully in The Graduate School and departmental activities, and arrange conferences with the adviser and other faculty members. A student fulfilling full-time residence may accept outside employment only with permission of the dean.

See information concerning student status following completion of the two-year residence requirement.

First-Year Review

The candidacy of each first-year PhD student will be reviewed after the first year of residence. The student's department, in conjunction with the dean, will review the progress the student has made to date and assess the student's potential to complete the degree. If the department or the dean is not satisfied with the student's progress or potential, the student will be dropped from the PhD program but will be allowed to complete the first year of residence.

Hebrew


All entering students must take the Hebrew placement examination on line and demonstrate knowledge of at least one year of college-level Hebrew, placing into HEB 2103 or higher. Progress beyond this level is part of the first-year review. To receive the degree, students must demonstrate a proficiency in Hebrew equivalent to the level of HEB 5303 (Advanced Hebrew). Beginning with the first semester of matriculation, students must study Hebrew every semester until this proficiency is attained.

Prior to taking the Comprehensive Examination, doctoral students are required to pass a proficiency exam in reading Hebrew academic texts, for which HEB 5999: Reading Academic Texts provides the requisite skills.

Prerequisite Courses

Hebrew and prerequisite courses listed immediately below are not counted toward the credit minimum. Students must complete the following prerequisite courses, demonstrate that the same materials were taken for credit previously, or show proficiency by examination:

MDS 5102: Classics of the Jewish Tradition. A focus on the classics of the medieval and modern age, considering the social, religious, and historical significance of each of the works against the background of the period in which it was written. This seminar must be taken during the first year of graduate study.

BIB 5011: Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. An introduction to the contents, structure, and themes of the Hebrew Bible. Integrated with that content, the course will also introduce students to a variety of methods in the study of Bible, both traditional and modern.

TAL 5025: Introduction to Text Study. An introductory course designed for graduate students not majoring in Talmud. Students are introduced to the methodology, structure, and terminology of the Babylonian Talmud, as well as to the skills necessary for reading Rashi's commentary. Students should take this course after completing both BIB 5011 and demonstrating Hebrew proficiency at the level of HEB 2201.

Course Work

A minimum of 30 credits of graduate course work beyond the master's degree in Judaica is required. Twenty-one credits are to be in the area of specialization and ancillary subjects; the remainder may be distributed according to the student's needs. All programs must be worked out in consultation with the departmental or program adviser and require the adviser's advance approval.

As part of the 30-credit minimum, PhD students are required to take at least one graduate-level course in religion (which may include Theory and Method in Study of Religion, History of Religion, or similar courses approved by The Graduate School) at one of the institutions in the consortium.

Consortium

The Graduate School has a consortium agreement on the PhD level with numerous institutions including Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University, Fordham University, New York University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton University, Union Theological Seminary, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and Yale University. Students may be required to take courses in other universities for supplementary study in the area of their specialty. A student may receive credit for courses taken at these institutions only with the advance approval of the adviser and registers for them at JTS. These credits are not considered transfer credits. The host institution reserves the right to give its own students priority enrollment.

Transfer Credit

A student who wishes to request transfer credit for graduate-level courses taken at other institutions of higher learning must submit an official transcript with complete course descriptions to the dean, who will consult with the appropriate department. Credits counted toward another degree will not be considered. The maximum number of credits accepted for transfer is 12. No credit will be accepted for transfer from courses in which a grade lower than a B was earned. To be considered for transfer, credits may be no older than ten years.

Foreign Language Requirements

Every PhD candidate must demonstrate reading proficiency in German and at least one other modern research language to be determined by the candidate's department or program. Some departments or programs require proficiency in additional languages as well. Proficiency can be demonstrated by one of three options. First, by examination. Foreign language examinations are offered once each semester; for specific dates consult the academic calendar. Use of a dictionary is permitted during the exam. Second, by course work completed within the previous four years. Two years of study of a foreign language on the undergraduate level with a grade of B or better each semester of the second year will be accepted in lieu of the examination. The third option is successful completion of the second semester of a year-long reading course with a grade of B or better. Foreign language requirements must be completed prior to taking the comprehensive examinations.

Communication Skills

Each candidate for the degree of doctor of philosophy is required to demonstrate skill in communicating scholarly findings to students or to an educated public. Students may provide evidence of such skill in one of two ways:

  1. The successful teaching of an undergraduate course in the candidate's field, under expert supervision, with an appraisal of performance by a qualified and experienced teacher; or
  2. The presentation, in a public lecture or in print and in language understandable to the educated public, of the findings and significant implications of his or her research.

The adviser will confirm in writing to the dean that the requirement has been fulfilled.

Comprehensive Examination

Most departments require a comprehensive examination in the field of specialization and related ancillary subjects. It is to be taken upon completion of all required course work and foreign language examinations. The comprehensive examination will be graded on the following scale: pass with distinction, pass, and fail. A student who fails the examination may take it once more. A second failure automatically terminates the student's participation in the PhD program.

Dissertation

Upon completion of all course and examination requirements, the student must select an appropriate dissertation topic for an original contribution to the area of research. A written proposal must be submitted to the adviser and approved in writing by the adviser. Both the proposal and the adviser's approval are then submitted to The Graduate School office for final approval. The dissertation is written under the direct guidance of the adviser who approved the proposal and a second member of the faculty selected by the adviser and the student in consultation with the dean. Dissertations are written in English.

After the dissertation is approved by the adviser and the second reader, it is defended before a committee. The committee consists of at least five members: the adviser, the second reader, and three other faculty members, one of whom is from another JTS department and one of whom is from another institution. The committee will be determined by the dean, the adviser, and the student. Copies of the approved dissertation must be submitted to the office of The Graduate School for distribution to the members of the committee at least eight weeks before the defense. A student must apply for permission to defend the dissertation during the registration period of the semester in which he/she plans to defend. The defense committee may approve the dissertation as submitted, accept it with minor or major revisions, or reject it. If major revisions are required, a subcommittee will be appointed by the defense committee chair and adviser in consultation with the dean to review the revised dissertation. Rejection of a dissertation automatically terminates the student's participation in the PhD program.

After final approval by the defense committee or the subcommittee, the dissertation shall be prepared in final form for deposit at least six weeks before commencement. Guidelines for the preparation and deposit of doctoral dissertations are available in The Graduate School office.

Completion of Requirements

A candidate must complete all requirements for the PhD degree including courses, demonstration of foreign language proficiency, comprehensive examination, and deposit of the dissertation in no more than seven years from the date of formal admission to the PhD program. The dean regularly reviews student files to ascertain that appropriate progress is being made toward the completion of degree requirements. However, candidates engaged in the writing of the dissertation may apply in writing to the dean for an extension, which ordinarily cannot exceed two years.

To be considered making satisfactory academic progress in order to continue receiving federal Title IV funds (GSL), full-time students normally must complete all the course requirements within the first three years of the program or a minimum of one-third the required number of credits, depending on area of specialization and prerequisites needed. Students in the fourth and fifth years prepare for the comprehensive examination and begin research for the dissertation. The sixth and seventh years are devoted to completion of the dissertation, which must be defended by the second semester of the seventh year.