The Academy for Higher Jewish Learning, a postgraduate institution devoted to the study of Jewish history, culture, literature, philosophy and religion, and offering a full program of rabbinical studies leading to ordination, was founded today in New York. The first classes of the academic year will be held on October 1st, when more than 20 graduate students who have applied for admission to the Academy will meet for the opening sessions.
The Academy will have two major divisions, the Academy for Higher Jewish Learning proper, which will offer courses on a graduate level in all fields of Jewish studies and a Rabbinical School where students who wish to devote themselves to the Jewish religious ministry may prepare themselves for ordination as rabbis Dr. Felix A. Levy, formerly of Chicago, will be dean of the Rabbinical School of the new Academy Dr. Levy is a past president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and was rabbi of the Emanuel Congregation of Chicago for over 47 years.
The Academy, in its approach to rabbinical education, is not committed to any single interpretation of Judaism. Students of any persuasion and opinion may enter the Academy, without any creedal or ritual requirement being made of them. Members of the faculty include rabbis from all branches of Judaism, as well as Jewish scholars who are not members of the clergy.
In its “Statement of Purpose,” the Academy says that it “seeks to be inclusive with respect to varying viewpoints in Jewish belief and practice. It wishes to serve the entire household of Israel, and students may choose their particular field of service in Jewish life. It is an academy where man preparing for the rabbinate may study together though espousing different points of view.”
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