Hebrew Union College Program to Prepare Israelis for Ordination As Rabbis in the Reform Movement

In a development described as one of historic significance, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) will introduce a graduate program this fall at its Jerusalem school to prepare Israelis for careers as rabbis in the Reform movement in Israel. According to the announcement, the program will accommodate seven students the first year and will subsequently accommodate 10 students a year.

Reform, or Progressive, Judaism in Israel is currently served by rabbis who were trained elsewhere in the world. Never has a Reform rabbi been ordained in the Jewish State, where the Reform movement is attracting a growing number of adherents, the announcement stated.

“Reform Judaism is filling a vital need in the spiritual life of Israel,” president Alfred Gottschalk of Hebrew Union College said today in announcing the new program. “In keeping with its traditions and commitments, Hebrew Union College is responding to this need by instituting an educational program which will enable Israelis to serve modern Judaism in their home country.”

Admission to the new graduate program, which leads to the Master of Arts degree in Judaic studies, will be open only to those Israeli students who have been accepted as candidates for a Master of Arts degree in the Department of Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, according to the HUC.

Upon satisfactory completion of both the Hebrew University and the Hebrew Union College courses of study, the Israeli students will be eligible for ordination as rabbis by a special ordaining body, which will include prominent rabbis and scholars. Dr. Gottschalk will be chairman of the ordaining body.

FOCUS OF STUDY PROGRAM

The HUC curriculum, which has been developed by a special faculty committee, will concentrate on such subjects as the history and philosophy of Reform Judaism, theology, medieval and modern Responsa literature, Codes, liturgy, Midrash, education and human relations. The focus of the students’ study at the Hebrew University will be in the areas of the history of Jewish thought, Bible, Talmud, Hebrew language and literature and Jewish history, all essential for rabbinic preparation, the announcement said.

Moreover, two dissertations will be required of the students, one for the Hebrew University degree and the other for the HUC degree.

The World Union for Progressive Judaism, with headquarters in Jerusalem, in hailing the innovative move by HUC, has pledged its support in meeting the additional academic and administrative costs. Rabbi Richard G. Hirsch, executive director of the World Union, said there was need today for the services of rabbis in Progressive congregations, in the Israeli youth movement, in kibbutzim and in other aspects of Israeli community life. He said Haifa, Nazareth and Beersheba were among a number of communities in which Reform congregations are now without the services of full-time rabbis.