Need for More Teachers of Judaica Increasing at Phenomenal Rate, Says Dr. Sarna

Eleven Ph. D. graduates of Brandeis University’s Lown School of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies (NEJS) have become faculty members at institutions across the country and in Canada. At these institutions, courses in Judaic Studies were instituted coincident with their arrival, according to Dr. Nahum Sarna, chairman of the NEJS Department. “The need for more teachers of Judaica is increasing rapidly,” he observed. “There has been a phenomenal increase in the number of students wishing to learn Hebrew, and a very large increase in enrollment in all cur classes.” Dr. Sarna noted that this has been stimulated by the “influence of Israel as a factor in the lives of young Jews” and by the attention currently being given to Soviet Jews.

He said that Brandeis offers students, “especially non-Jewish clergy – of which there are a significant number at the Lown School – two added dimensions that they don’t get in the seminaries: a background in rabbinic studies, and modern Hebrew, in which most significant contemporary research in Judaic studies is published. It is not difficult to understand why so many American non-Jews–and Jews–want to study here. But it is interesting that we receive many applications from Israeli students, too.” At the Lown School students are offered 57 courses, taught by 15 professors, lecturers and instructors. There are courses in Bible, Jewish history, literature, thought and philosophy, ancient languages, modern Semitic languages, American Jewish community and Jewish education. Study abroad is a major part of the Lown School programs, and doctoral students are encouraged to study in Israel for one year after completing course work in the NEJS Department.