Prerequisites for Rabbinical Study

Entrance Requirements for the Five-Year Program

• Hebrew language: Candidates are required to have completed four semesters of college-level Hebrew before applying to the program. The Hebrew Department will administer an online placement test during the admissions process and verify placement during orientation in the fall. Students entering year one need to place into the equivalent of HEB 5301, as taught by JTS's Department of Hebrew Language. Achievement of this prerequisite will be tested and certified by the Department of Hebrew Language.
• Tanakh: Accepted candidates must take a written exam to demonstrate familiarity with the content, themes, and structure of the Pentateuch and Nevi'im Rishonim, with a focus on religious significance. Students will also be asked to translate approximately one hundred chapters of Tanakh. For the biblical chapters covered and more information about this exam, please refer to the Bible Entrance Exam study guide. Achievement of these prerequisites will be tested and certified by the Department of Bible.
• Rabbinics: (a) Talmud: Accepted applicants are expected to demonstrate a mastery of at least ten folio pages (dapim) of Gemara and Rashi, from no more than two different chapters in the Talmud. Material mastered may come from any of the following tractates (or from another tractate specifically approved in advance by the Department of Talmud and Rabbinics): Shabbat, Pesahim, Ketubbot, Gittin, Kiddushin, Bava Kamma, Bava Mezia, Bava Batra, and Sanhedrin. (b) Mishnah: Entering students are tested for knowledge of selections (in Hebrew) from the Mishnah. Achievement of these prerequisites will be tested and certified by the Department of Talmud and Rabbinics.
• History: Students must have passed at least one course in any period of Jewish history (undergraduate courses are accepted).
• Philosophy: Students must have passed at least one course in a period or issue(s) of Western philosophy (undergraduate courses are accepted).

The entrance examinations in Mishnah and Tanakh are written and administered before the end of June, at JTS in New York and at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. Students taking the examination in the spring have the opportunity to take a makeup examination during the first week of August, should it be necessary. The Talmud examination is oral and must be coordinated through The Rabbinical School Office by the end of June.

All examinations must be passed before a candidate is permitted to register for year one of the Rabbinical School program, unless the candidate has successfully fulfilled the coursework of the JTS Mekhinah or Tokhnit Yesod programs. Questions about the exams should be directed to the director of admissions in the Rabbinical School Admissions Office. Admitted candidates who choose not to take all the exams must undertake preparatory work in the Mekhinah program.