The Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies

The Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem is dedicated to the advancement of Conservative Judaism and religious pluralism in Israel and Europe. Schechter currently engages over 40,000 Israeli and European Jews in an open Jewish academic and educational discourse.

The Schechter Institute campus is home to four educational enterprises:

Schechter Rabbinical Seminary

The international rabbinical school of Conservative Judaism serving Israel, Europe and the Americas, the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary prepares spiritual and communal leadership for the Jewish people.  Schechter's  four-year rabbinical training program includes fieldwork, internships, and placement and offers a full spectrum of courses in Bible, Talmud, Midrash, Halakhah, Jewish history, Jewish philosophy, Zionism, and prayer, as well as interpersonal and pulpit skills. Graduates receive an M.A. in Jewish Studies and rabbinic ordination.

The Schechter Rabbinical Seminary runs academic programs for overseas rabbinical students from around the world. The Morris and Nellie Kawaler Year in Israel Study Program enables rabbinical students from The Jewish Theological Seminary to fulfill the requirement of spending a year studying in Israel. Similar programs are conducted for rabbinical students from the Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano in Argentina and additional seminaries in Europe and North America.

The school is pioneering the first accredited Clinical Pastoral Education (Chaplaincy) Program in Israel together with the National Association of Jewish Chaplains. Most recently, Schechter is establishing Learning Communities throughout Israel in response to requests by non-observant Israelis searching for Jewish meaning.

Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies

The Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies is an Israeli graduate school dedicated to training educational leadership through a unique interdisciplinary Jewish Studies M.A. program that is recognized by the Council for Higher Education in Israel. Over 500 Israeli Jewish educators from all religious backgrounds specialize in 14 Jewish studies tracks that combine art, women's studies, family and community studies, teaching, informal education, and the classical Jewish disciplines such as Bible, Talmud, Midrash, and Jewish Thought. Most recently, three new M.A. programs in Contemporary Jewry, Sephardic Jewry and Jews of Islamic Countries and Hebrew and Jewish Literature have been established. See the Schechter Course Catalogue for a complete listing of courses.

The Schechter Institute has more than seventy full- and part-time faculty members, including some of the foremost scholars in the State of Israel.

Close to 1000 Schechter M.A. graduates are working in Jewish education throughout Israel in the Israeli school system, Ministry of Education curriculum and management positions and the nationwide Community Center Association.

Research Institutes and Publications: Scholarship Working for Society

Three research centers bring the academic achievements of the Schechter Institute to the public at large.

The Institute of Applied Halakhah, which makes Jewish Law accessible to modern Jewish households around the world, celebrated a decade of advocacy work. Established in 1997 in order to publish a library of Halakhic literature in Hebrew, English and Russian, the Institute has published 22 volumes of scholarly research for the Conservative/Masorti world. Recent publications include Torah Lishma: A Festschrift in Honor of Prof. Shamma Friedman, Kuntress Hateshuvot Hehadash, Vol. 2 and Taking the Plunge: a Practical and Spiritual Guide to the Mikveh. A complete list of Schechter publications can be found at the Schechter Bookstore. Visit Responsa for Today, a site that features responsa written by Conservative/Masorti rabbis in conjunction with the institute.

The Center for Women in Jewish Law is devoted to researching, publishing, and educating the public on the rights of women from the perspective of the Jewish legal tradition. Through the publication of Za'akat Dalot (The Cry of the Wretched): Halakhic Solutions for the Agunot of Our Time and seven issues of Jewish Law Watch, the center is advancing Jewish law advocacy research in the area of 'agunot (chained women), who have not been able to receive a get from their husbands. A popular series, To Learn and to Teach, published in five languages, devotes each issue to a specific topic on the status of women in Jewish law. Five issues thus far have been published.

The Center for Judaism and the Arts initiated a first of its kind M.A. track in Judaism and the Arts.  In addition, the center is building an Electronic Archive on Judaism and the Arts.

TALI Education Fund

The TALI Education Fund (TEF), Hebrew acronym for "Enriched Jewish Studies," offers an enriched Jewish Studies program to 35,000 children in close to 200 Israeli schools and pre-schools throughout Israel. This rapidly expanding national school network today comprises 10% of all public (secular) elementary schools in Israel. Founded in 1987, TEF is recognized by Israel's Ministry of Education to provide educational guidance and resources to all TALI schools. The professional lifeline for 1,800 TALI teachers and principals, TEF provides schools with textbooks, teacher training, school rabbis, and pedagogic counseling, all of which create a Jewish environment for the school community.

Midreshet Yerushalayim: Israel, Eastern Europe and the FSU

Midreshet Yerushalayim is an education network established in 1990 to bring Russian-speaking Jews in Eastern Europe and Israel closer to their Jewish roots and religion. In the last two decades, tens of thousands of Jews have connected to pluralistic Judaism through studies taught in an academic and non-coercive environment.

Israeli programs include: Adult education centers from Karmiel to Eilat; the MILI Judaica quiz compettions for young adults; Land of Israel study courses combing classes and field studies; and most recently, Batei Midrash Learning Communities that are reaching out to immigrants as well as non-observant Israelis searching for meaningful ways to connect with Judaism.

Programs in the Ukraine include: Chernowitz TALI Day School, Camp Ramah for teens and young families; Education and Culture Center in Kiev; Family Education Center in Donetsk; National teacher training seminar; Leadership training for students and young.

In Budapest, students at the University of Jewish Studies are taught by visiting Schechter faculty.