Academics

Curricular Overview

The Rabbinical School curriculum is a five-year, full-time course of study. The required course distribution applies to all students.

Students may be exempt for up to nine credits of coursework based on courses taken prior to The Rabbinical School. Normally, a student must take at least five courses and The Rabbinical School seminar (or a field-work assignment) during each semester.

Every student must be in full-time residence at JTS in New York for a minimum of four years.

Year One

After completion of year one, Rabbinical students are expected to pass competency examinations in liturgy and halakhah.

The liturgy examination will test the ability to identify and understand key passages from the weekday and Shabbat liturgies, liturgical structures, and the history of the siddur as found in Jewish Worship by Abraham Millgram.

Competency will be tested and certified by the Department of Jewish Literature. The Halakhah examination will test the knowledge of basic practical halakhah, with special attention to A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice by Isaac Klein (excluding chapters 22-25, 34-35, and 37). Competency will be certified by the Department of Talmud and Rabbinics.

Talmud studies are conducted in havruta/shiur format. Students study in hevrutot in the beit midrash prior to the shiurim given by each course instructor. The required hevruta should be supplemented by additional hevruta sessions in the beit midrash throughout the week. Tutors, including two Rabbi Bernard Leffel Beit Midrash Scholars, are available to assist students in their study in the Beit Midrash on a regular basis throughout the week.

Year Two

Beginning with the second year of rabbinical studies, courses may be taught in Hebrew. In addition, instructors in most courses may regularly assign readings in Hebrew to maintain and reinforce students' Hebrew skills. Normally, courses taken during the year in Israel will be taught in Hebrew.

The second year of the program is spent at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. A service project to which the student will be assigned in Jerusalem is also part of this requirement. Students requesting a deferment or exemption from the year in Israel must present a petition to a faculty committee constituted for this purpose. Exemptions will not be granted lightly and only on demonstration of the most pressing need. A meeting before the committee may be required.

The MA degree may be awarded upon successful completion of two years of The Rabbinical School curriculum. This is an appropriate time for a student to assess his/her progress toward the rabbinate and for consultation concerning career directions within the rabbinate.

The Rabbinical School seminar, in which all students must be registered each semester of the first and third years of the program, will not be a graded course in the usual sense. Instead, the seminar leader will write an extensive evaluation of each student at the end of the semester. That evaluation will assess the student's progress academically, religiously, and professionally, and may serve as a basis for further advice and guidance from the dean concerning the student's needs with respect to rabbinical training.

Year Four

The synagogue skills listed below must be completed by the end of year four of the program. Classes in nusah are offered as part of the required year-two and year-four curriculum. If a student already possesses competence in any of the skills, he/she may be tested by a member of The Rabbinical School administration or faculty or nusah instructor, for a notation on the student's record. Skills listed below that are not included in the nusah classes will need to be acquired on one's own and tested by a designated member of the faculty.

Required skills:

Weekday nusah: Shaharit, Minhah, and Ma'ariv
Shabbat: Kiddush and havdalah
Knots (tying of tzitzit and tefillin knots)
Hallel
Torah/haftarah reading
Shabbat nusah: Shaharit, Minhah and Ma'ariv
Use of luah
Megillot trope
High Holy Day Torah reading
Shofar
Shalosh Regalim

Internships

During year four, each student is required to work in a rabbinic setting for approximately fifteen hours per week. The work is done under a mentor with whom the student will be matched by The Rabbinical School office. In recognition of the generous support of Pearl and Jack Resnick, the program is known as The Resnick Internship Program. This major internship assignment will also be accompanied by various workshops and modules at JTS.

Mentors and Host Congregations/Agencies for 2009-2010 include:

Rabbi Ronald Androphy, East Midwood Jewish Center, East Meadow, New York
Rabbi Carie Carter, Park Slope Jewish Center, Brooklyn, New York
Rabbi Michael Friedland, Sinai Synagogue, South Bend, Indiana
Rabbi Aubrey Glazer, Jewish Community Center of Harrison, Harrison, New York
Rabbi Steve Gutow, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, New York, New York
Rabbi Yonah Hain, Kraft Center at Columbia University, New York, New York
Rabbi Barry Dov Katz, Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale, Riverdale, New York
Rabbi Aaron Melman, Congregation Beth Shalom, Northbrook, Illinois
Rabbi Jack Moline, Agudas Achim Congregation, Alexandria, Virginia
Rabbi Esther Reed, Rutgers University Hillel, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Rabbi Francine Roston, Congregation Beth El, South Orange, New Jersey
Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, Bronfman Center Hillel at NYU, New York, New York
Rabbi Craig Scheff, Orangetown Jewish Center, Orangeburg, New York
Rabbi Robert Scheinberg, United Synagogue of Hoboken, Hoboken, New Jersey
Rabbi David A. Schuck, Pelham Jewish Center, Pelham, New York
Rabbi Jeffrey T. Segelman, Westchester Jewish Center, Mamaronek, New York
Rabbi Moishe Steigmann, Westchester Jewish Center, Mamaronek, New York
Rabbi Gordon Tucker, Temple Israel Center, White Plains, New York

During the fourth and fifth years, students are required to take a series of Religious Leadership Colloquia (PRO 7407, 7408, 7409, and 7410) and Senior Homiletics (PRO 7209).