HEBREW UNION COLLEGE

The 'Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion' (also known as 'HUC', 'HUC-JIR', and 'The College-Institute') is the oldest Jewish seminary in the New World and the main seminary for training rabbis, cantors, educators and communal workers in Reform Judaism.

Contents

History

Notable faculty

Gender equality and HUC

External links

History

HUC was founded in 1875 under the leadership of Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise in Cincinnati, Ohio. A second campus in New York City was created through a merger with the rival Reform Jewish Institute of Religion in 1950 and additional campuses were added in Los Angeles, California in 1954 and Jerusalem in 1963. [1]
Today, the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is an international seminary and university of graduate studies offering a wide variety of academic and professional programs. In addition to its Rabbinical School, the College-Institute includes Schools of Graduate Studies, Education, Jewish Communal Service, sacred music, Biblical archaeology and an Israeli rabbinical program. [2]
The Los Angeles campus operates many of its programs and degrees in cooperation with the neighboring University of Southern California, a partnership that has lasted over 35 years. [3]

Notable faculty

Notable faculty members have included Judah Magnes, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Nelson Glueck, Moses Buttenweiser, Eugene B. Borowitz, and Jacob Z. Lauterbach.

Gender equality and HUC

In keeping with the tradition of gender equality in Reform Judaism, HUC has both male and female students in all its programs, including rabbinic and cantorial studies. Since its founding, the College-Institute has ordained over 2700 rabbis and over 400 cantors. As of 2006, 424 ordained rabbis and 174 invested cantors have been women. [4] ''See'' Women and the rabbinical credential.

External links

★ Hebrew Union College Website

★ Central Conference of American Rabbis Website

★ The Union for Reform Judaism Website

★ Reform Judaism Magazine Home Page