Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Launches Transformed Rabbinical School Curriculum and a New Virtual Pathway
July 16, 2024
New York, NY— Today, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) announced the launch of its redesigned rabbinical school curriculum, a transformative step forward in educating dynamic, visionary rabbis with the Jewish knowledge, skills, and practices to build and sustain thriving Jewish life in and beyond the Reform movement. Along with the most significant curricular revision in decades, HUC-JIR is launching a virtual pathway to expand access to the rabbinate for qualified second-career students who cannot attend its campus-based rabbinical program in Los Angeles or New York.
“Our new curriculum takes a more integrated, interdisciplinary, flexible approach to rabbinical education,” said Rabbi Dvora Weisberg, Ph.D., Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Rabbinics and Director of the Rabbinical School, who served as Chair of the Rabbinical Curriculum Task Force. “The curriculum is designed to integrate rigorous academic study with spiritual and professional growth while offering the flexibility needed to accommodate varying life circumstances. HUC-JIR’s mission is always to support each person’s unique journey from wanting to be a rabbi to becoming a rabbi.”
The redesigned rabbinical school curriculum has been developed to accommodate learners from diverse backgrounds and locations who seek a nurturing seminary education that integrates rigorous academic study with spiritual formation and professional development. The new curriculum is built around HUC-JIR’s core commitments to critical inquiry, a firm grounding in Hebrew language and Jewish history, an open and expansive concept of Torah, ongoing theological reflection, worship as a practice and an art form, the integration of coursework and fieldwork, prophetic leadership and social justice, pluralism, and a deep commitment to Israel and the global Jewish People.
Recognizing that rabbinical education involves a process of spiritual and professional formation that occurs at differing rates for different students, the curriculum allows for a more flexible and personalized educational experience. It considers each student’s background, strengths, growth areas, and holistic development while preparing students for the multifaceted demands of the 21st century rabbinate.
The new curriculum is responsive to significant changes in the rabbinate and higher education. At the same time, it recognizes that the core of what it means to be a rabbi remains constant: the study and teaching of Torah—expansively defined as the canon of Jewish sacred literature, including works of disparate genres, media, languages, and time periods—in ways that bring Jewish learning to bear on the most pressing contemporary issues and enrich the diverse Jewish communities that HUC-JIR-ordained rabbis serve.
Rabbi Andrea L. Weiss, Ph.D., Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Provost, explained: “The curriculum invites students to grapple with the great issues of Jewish life, history, and thought with academic depth and intellectual openness and curiosity. It encourages them to cultivate a committed, engaged Jewish life with strong connections to klal Yisrael, the global Jewish People in Israel and around the world, so they can courageously serve their sense of calling and play their part in fulfilling the biblical mandate to pursue justice and peace in our fractured world.”
Originally designed for campus-based students, the new curriculum is being adapted for virtual pathway students while maintaining the same rigorous standards and learning outcomes. The virtual pathway – which begins accepting applications today and will welcome its first pilot cohort in January 2025 – combines synchronous and asynchronous online classes with in-person intensives on the historic Cincinnati campus and the Taube Family Campus in Jerusalem, plus study opportunities in Los Angeles and New York. The virtual pathway also includes structured clergy formation mentoring, supervised fieldwork, tefilah leadership training, spiritual direction, and other hallmarks of seminary education at HUC-JIR, all of which enables HUC-JIR to welcome an expanded pipeline of candidates to study at the flagship Reform seminary for the first time.
The redesigned curriculum and virtual pathway are the result of several years of research and collaboration among faculty, experts in higher education, and hundreds of alumni.
“Since its establishment, Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion has distinguished itself by approaching the formation of Jewish leadership on the academic model. Our world-renowned faculty help students gain the knowledge and skills to make Jewish learning, practice, and tradition responsive to contemporary life and meaningful for contemporary Jews,” said Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion President Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D. “October 7th has further highlighted the urgency of addressing the needs of the Jewish People and fulfilling our mission to educate exceptional Jewish leaders. We’re doing this in-person and online through innovative academic programs that serve as laboratories for spiritual exploration, academic inquiry, and cultural creativity.”
Whether students are studying on a campus or from home, all HUC-JIR rabbinical students learn from and form relationships with field-leading scholars and top-notch practitioners who are invested in students’ academic, spiritual, and professional growth. Students benefit from being part of a diverse, dynamic community of learners and from an expansive network of relationships and partnerships within the Reform Movement and the wider Jewish community. After ordination, they will join the ranks of the thousands of dedicated, exceptional HUC-JIR alumni who are making a difference in people’s lives, making sure Judaism flourishes, and making the world a better place.
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Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion was founded in 1875 to provide rabbinical training for those who would offer progressive, enlightened, and modern spiritual leadership for the new American pulpit. Today, HUC-JIR is an international center of applied Jewish wisdom with a global reach and the academic, spiritual, and professional leadership development center of Reform Judaism. Learn more at HUC.edu.