HUC-JIR is making this opportunity available as part of an ongoing process of teshuvah. The reissuing of documents has been requested by alumni and survivors, and recommended by our Teshuvah Working Group.
New documents are available to all alumni of HUC-JIR who would like one, whether because your documents contained signatures of people who were abusive or caused harm, or because your documents contain gendered language that you would like corrected or changed. New diplomas are available for all earned master’s degrees, ordination documents, and doctoral degrees. At this time, we are unable to offer reissued documents for honorary doctorates.
No, for this one-time reissuing of documents, there is no charge.
Reissued documents will have the signatures only of the current President, Provost, and Board Chair of HUC-JIR. They will not have the signatures of any other members of the faculty or administration, past or present.
You will receive your document within 8-12 weeks of submitting your request.
Ordering for reissued documents will be open from October 18, 2023 – February 29, 2024.
Fill out the request form.
Per the change to cantorial language in 2012, all cantorial documents will read “ordained” and not “invested.”
Morateinu HaRav מורתנו הרב
Morateinu HaRabbah מורתנו הרבה
Moreinu HaRav מורנו הרב
Prior to 2016, HUC bestowed men with the title Moreinu HaRav (a traditional rabbinic title of esteem going back centuries), and women’s smicha documents read Rav u’Morah. That was changed in 2016 to make ordination document language equitable, and now all of our students of all genders may choose among the three options for rabbinic title in Hebrew – as may any alumni seeking reissued documents.
All three current options are rooted in the title Moreinu HaRav, which places both words in the masculine. Unless he chooses otherwise, a man being ordained now would receive this title.
Morateinu HaRav gives folks the option of making the word teacher feminine in Hebrew, while retaining the title Rav for rabbi. Given that some colleagues, especially in Israel, choose the title Rabbah instead of Rav, Morateinu HaRabbah makes both teacher and rabbi feminine in Hebrew. Anyone may choose any of these options.
You may choose among masculine, feminine, and non-binary Hebrew language. For rabbinical documents, this is a separate choice from the options for rabbinic title.
Here are samples for cantorial documents:
Here are samples for rabbinical documents:
No, you may keep your original documents. We know that individuals will have varying needs and ideas about the reissued documents. Some may choose to hang both documents side by side, or one behind the other, or simply to keep the original document somewhere else for historical purposes. Others may choose to rid themselves of their original document, ritually or otherwise.
With the understanding that alumni have varying needs and concerns, and that there are many paths to healing and repair, we recognize that some alumni may not want new documents. Some have already chosen to blot out the names of individuals who signed their documents, and/or to have a written statement adjacent to their diploma, such as the one available for download here.
