The Rabbinical School — Admissions Essays

Admissions Essays Application Part II

We welcome your decision to apply to The Rabbinical School of The Jewish Theological Seminary and realize that it is the product of serious and careful thought. We also know that standardized test scores, transcripts, and letters of recommendation provide only a partial view of your qualifications for the rabbinate. For this reason, we ask you to prepare four essays that will allow us to get to know you better. Please respond to each of the four sets of questions below with an essay of approximately 750 to 1000 words; the four essays, in total, should take up no more than twenty (20) pages. We ask that you address all of the questions, though you may focus on some issues more fully than others. While there are no "right" answers, your responses should relate your own experiences and beliefs. Do not attempt to conform to an assumed ideal.

Biography: Please reflect on your spiritual autobiography from childhood until this point. What people, institutions, and experiences have had the greatest impact on your Jewish identity? Who are your rabbinic role models and mentors? Which Jewish communities and ideologies have you explored? What is your experience of Israel and what roles do the Land of Israel and the Jewish State play in your life? What books, both on and off our reading list, have stimulated your intellectual and spiritual growth?

Practice: Please describe your current experience of the mitzvot, including study (Talmud Torah), ethics (e.g., gemilut hasadim), and ritual (e.g., kashrut, Shabbat, tefillah). Does a specific mitzvah have particular significance in your life? Which one, and why? How do you relate to the concept of chiyuv, religious obligation? Give an example of a prayer or practice with which you struggle, and how you would counsel someone in a similar situation.

Faith: How do you experience the Divine? What do you believe about the nature of Torah as revealed word and deed, and how does this affect your religious action? Explore one of the following topics, bringing to it the insights that you have gleaned from your readings and experience: revelation, redemption, or theodicy.

Rabbinate: Why have you chosen to apply to rabbinical school, and what makes JTS the best fit for you? What makes for a good rabbi? Please include a text from Torah or tefillah that has shaped your vision. What do you consider to be the primary religious challenges facing 'Am Yisrael in the coming years? Describe an initiative that you think would address these challenges.