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'The Jewish Theological Seminary of America'

Inscription on Seal	"והסנה איננו אכל" (''Ve-Hasneh Ainenu Ukkal'' "And the Bush was not consumed") -Exodus 3:2
Established	1886
School type	Private
Chancellor	Dr. Arnold Eisen (current Acting Chancellor), will become Chancellor July 1, 2007.
Location	New York City, New York, USA
Campus	Urban
Homepage	www.jtsa.edu

The 'Jewish Theological Seminary of America', known in the Jewish community simply as JTS, is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism. Along with the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, it is one the movement's main rabbinical seminaries. It takes its name and basic ideology from the no longer extant Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau. JTS is one of the 4 affiliated schools of Columbia University (which also include Barnard College, Teachers College, and Union Theological Seminary).

Contents

University

The Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau

Positive-Historical Judaism in America

Admission of GLBT students

Notable Faculty

Notable alumni

External links and references

See also

University

The Jewish Theological Seminary comprises five schools: Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies, The Graduate School, The William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education, H.L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music, and The Rabbinical School. The latter four schools are graduate schools.

The Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau

Rabbi Zecharias Frankel (1801-1875) at one time was in the traditional wing of the nascent Reform Judaism movement. After the second Reform rabbinic conference (1845, Frankfurt, Germany) he resigned after coming to believe that their positions were exceedingly radical. In 1854 he became the head of a new rabbinical school, the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau. In his magnum opus ''Darkhei HaMishnah'' (Ways of the Mishnah) Rabbi Frankel amassed scholarly support which showed that Jewish law was not static, but rather had always developed in response to changing conditions. He called his approach towards Judaism 'Positive-Historical', which meant that one should accept Jewish law and tradition as normative, yet one must be open to changing and developing the law in the same historical fashion that Judaism has always historically developed.

Positive-Historical Judaism in America

About this time in America, Rabbi Sabato Morais championed the reaction to American Reform. At one time Rabbi Morais had been a voice for moderation within the coalition of Reformers. He had opposed the more radical changes, but was open to moderate changes that would not offend traditional sensibilities. After the Reform movement published the Pittsburgh Platform, Rabbi Morais recognized the futility of his efforts and began the creation of a new rabbinical school in New York City. He was soon joined by Rabbi Alexander Kohut and Rabbi Bernard Drachman, both of whom had received ''semicha'' (rabbinic ordination) at Rabbi Frankel's Breslau seminary. They shaped the curriculum and philosophy of the new school after Rabbi Frankel's seminary.
In 1902, Professor Solomon Schechter assumed presidency of JTS. In a series of papers he articulated an ideology for the nascent movement. In 1913 he presided over the creation of the United Synagogue of America. (The name was changed in 1991 to the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.)
Prominent professors at the Seminary were such luminaries as Saul Lieberman, Alexander Marx, Louis Ginzberg and Louis Finkelstein and others as well.
Between 1940 and 1985, the Jewish Theological Seminary produced a radio and television show called "The Eternal Light." The show aired on Sunday afternoons, featuring such social luminaries as Chaim Potok, Gene Wilder and Elie Wiesel. In accordance with Jewish law (and to differentiate its programs from other faith-based shows) broadcasts did not involve preaching or prayer, but rather drew from historical fiction in producing rich drama that focused on social issues. The broadcasts explored Jewish holidays and the nature of Jewish faith and life, but were also widely accessible to persons of any faith.

Admission of GLBT students

Effective March 26, 2007, the Jewish Theological Seminary accepts openly gay students into their rabbinical and cantorial programs. An announcement in the press, first posted on the school's website and typified by Haaretz.com has been made about the admission of and ordination of homosexual students for the rabbinate and for cantorship.

''A Conservative Jewish seminary in New York has agreed to admit gays and lesbians who want to become rabbis and cantors, but declined to take a stand on whether rabbis should officiate at same-sex unions.''
''The Jewish Theological Seminary announced its decision yesterday, more than three months after the Rabbinical Assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards authorized the ordination of gays and lesbians.''

While no official announcement has been made yet regarding any gay or lesbian students being accepted for the 2007-2008 school year, it is common knowledge within the community that at least one gay/lesbian student has indeed been accepted.

Notable Faculty

★ Abraham Joshua Heschel

★ Solomon Schechter

★ Mordechai Kaplan

★ Neil Gillman

★ Saul Lieberman

★ Joel Roth

★ Dov Mandelbaum

★ Ismar Schorsch

★ Gerson Cohen

★ Cyrus Adler

★ Alexander Marx

★ Louis Ginsberg

★ Louis Finkelstein

★ David G. Roskies

★ Raymond Scheindlin

★ Alan Mintz

★ Gordon Tucker

★ Arnie Eisen

★ Stephen Geller

★ David Marcus

★ Dov Zlotnick

★ Yochanan Muffs

★ Shamma Friedman

★ H. L. Ginzberg

★ Barbara Mann

★ David Weiss Halivni

★ Jack Wertheimer

★ José Faur

★ Miles Cohen

Notable alumni

★ Chaim Potok, author, and rabbi

★ Judith Hauptman, feminist Talmudic scholar

★ Joseph H. Hertz, British Chief Rabbi and Author; first graduate of JTS

★ Norman Podhoretz, former Editor, ''Commentary'' magazine

★ Dr. David Gordis, President of Hebrew College

★ Rabbi Dr. Jacob Neusner, Chair of the Judaic Studies Department at Bard College.

★ Rabbi Dr. Arthur Green, Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis and Rector of the Rabbinical School at Hebrew College.

★ Dr. Daniel Boyarin, Hermann P. and Sophia Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture, Departments of Near Eastern Studies and Rhetoric, University of California at Berkeley.

★ Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah

★ Rabbi Irwin Kula, Director of CLAL

★ Matthew Eisenfeld, student killed in the Jerusalem bus 18 massacres

External links and references

★ Jewish Theological Seminary Official Website

★ Neil Gillman's book "''Conservative Judaism: The New Century''" The origin of Conservative Judaism

★ Frankel's essay "''On changes in Judaism''" is on-line at: Frankel's understanding of Judaism

See also

★ Conservative Judaism

★ Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau

★ JTS library fire

★ Jüdisch-Theologisches Seminar

★ Rabbinical Assembly

★ Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano [1]

★ United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism