Jewish Theological Seminary of America
The Jewish Theological Seminary is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism as well as a hub for academic scholarship in Jewish studies. The Jewish Theological Seminary Library is one of the most significant collections of Judaica in the world.
History
Possible antecedents: Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau
was a rabbi and leading figure in mid-19th-century German Jewry. Known for both his traditionalist views and the esteem he held for scientific study of Judaism, Frankel was at first considered a moderate figure within the nascent Reform movement. He severely criticized the 1844 first Reform rabbinic conference of Braunschweig, yet eventually agreed to participate in the next despite warnings from conservative friends such as Solomon Judah Loeb Rapoport. He withdrew from the assembly, held in Frankfurt in 1845, making a final break with the Reform camp after coming to regard their positions as excessively radical. In 1854, he became the director of a new rabbinical school, the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau.Bernard Drachman, a key Frankel student and one of the founders of the American JTS, was himself Orthodox, and claimed that the Breslau seminary was completely Orthodox. Others disagree, citing the published viewpoint of Frankel. In his magnum opus Darkhei HaMishnah, Frankel amassed scholarly support which showed that Jewish law was not static, but rather had always developed in response to changing conditions. He called his approach towards Judaism "Positive-Historical", which meant accepting halakha and tradition as normative while remaining open to changing these as they have always changed over time.
Seminary's founding: Morais era (1886–1897)
The Jewish Theological Seminary was founded in 1886 through the efforts of two distinguished rabbis, Sabato Morais and Henry Pereira Mendes, along with a group of prominent lay leaders from Sephardic congregations in Philadelphia and New York. Its mission was to preserve the knowledge and practice of historical Judaism. In 1887, JTS held its first class of ten students in the vestry of the Spanish-Portuguese Synagogue, New York City's oldest congregation.About this time in North America, the Reform movement was growing at a rapid pace, alarming more traditional Jews. Sabato Morais, rabbi of Philadelphia's Congregation Mikveh Israel championed the reaction to American Reform. At one time, Morais had been a voice for moderation and bridge-building among the Reformers. He opposed the more radical changes but was open to moderate changes that would not significantly depart from tradition. After the Reform movement published the Pittsburgh Platform in late 1885, Morais recognized the futility of his efforts and began to work with like-minded rabbis to strengthen the Orthodox institutions.
One of the tools his group used was creating a new rabbinical school in New York City. The "Jewish Theological Seminary Association" was founded with Morais as its President in 1886 as an Orthodox institution to combat the hegemony of the Reform movement. The school was hosted by Henry Pereira Mendes' Congregation Shearith Israel, a sister synagogue to Mikveh Israel.
Morais and Mendes were soon joined by Alexander Kohut and Bernard Drachman, both of whom had received semikhah, rabbinic ordination, at Rabbi Frankel's Breslau seminary. They shaped the curriculum and philosophy of the new school after Rabbi Frankel's seminary. The first graduate to be ordained, in 1894, was Joseph Hertz, who would go on to become the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth.
Morais was president of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America until he died in 1897.
Schechter era (1902–1915)
After Morais's death, Mendes led the school, but the association's financial position became precarious, and Mendes lacked the resources to turn it around. In October 1901, a new organization was projected entitled the "Jewish Theological Seminary of America", with which the association was invited to incorporate. This arrangement was carried into effect April 14, 1902. The new organization was endowed with a fund of over $500,000 and was presented with a suitable building on University Heights, Bronx by Jacob H. Schiff. It obtained a charter from the state of New York, "for the perpetuation of the tenets of the Jewish religion, the cultivation of Hebrew literature, the pursuit of Biblical and archeological research, the advancement of Jewish scholarship, the establishment of a library, and the education and training of Jewish rabbis and teachers. It is empowered to grant and confer the degrees of Rabbi, Ḥazan, Master and Doctor of Hebrew Literature, and Doctor of Divinity, and also to award certificates of proficiency to persons qualified to teach in Hebrew schools." The reorganized seminary was opened on Sept. 15, 1902, in the old building of the Theological Seminary Association at 736 Lexington Avenue. A search was executed for a new president.Solomon Schechter was recruited from Great Britain. His religious approach seemed compatible with JTS's, and he assumed the presidency, as well as serving as Professor of Jewish theology. In a series of papers, he articulated an ideology for the nascent movement of Conservative Judaism. Many of the Orthodox rabbis associated with JTS vehemently disagreed with him, and left the institution. About 100 days after Schechter's appointment, the Union of Orthodox Rabbis formed, principally in protest, and declared that they would not accept any new ordinations from JTS, though previous recipients were still welcome. The more moderate Orthodox Union, however, maintained some ties to JTS, and some of its rabbis, including Drachman, continued to teach there.
In 1913, Schechter directed the creation of the United Synagogue of America, as a formal group for member synagogues who subscribed to his philosophy. The group has been strongly aligned with JTS from its inception to the present day.
Along with Schechter and Bernard Drachman, professors at the seminary at the time included: Louis Ginzberg, professor of Talmud; Alexander Marx, professor of history and rabbinic literature and librarian; Israel Friedländer, professor of Bible; Joseph Mayor Asher, professor of homiletics; and Joshua A. Joffe, instructor in Talmud. In 1905, Israel Davidson joined the faculty, teaching Hebrew and Rabbinics. According to David Ellenson and Lee Bycel, "each of these men was a distinguished scholar, and the academic reputation of the Seminary soared with the addition of these men to the faculty.... Schechter was determined to carve out the highest academic reputation for the Seminary."
The rabbinical school had very high academic standards. The curriculum focused mainly on Talmud, legal codes, and classical rabbinic literature, but aside from a little time for a homiletics class, very little time was spent on practical training for serving in a rabbinical position.
As of 1904, there were 37 students in the theological department, and 120 students took a set of courses designed for teachers. This set of courses later evolved into the Teachers Institute.
Mordechai Kaplan joined the faculty during this period, becoming professor of homiletics following Joseph Mayor Asher's death. Kaplan became the first principal of the Teachers Institute, which opened in 1909. A majority of TI students were women, partly because teaching was perceived as a women's profession and partly because the Teachers Institute was one of the few institutions where women could pursue advanced education in Jewish studies. The Teachers Institute offered both undergraduate and graduate degrees. The undergraduate division is now the Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies, and the graduate division is the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education.
Adler era (1915–1940)
In 1915, Schechter was succeeded by Cyrus Adler, the President of Dropsie College. A member of the board with impressive academic qualifications, he was initially seen as an interim replacement for Schechter. Adler went on to serve as President until 1940.During the 1920s, Adler explored the possibility of a merger with Yeshiva University, but the Orthodox leaders of Yeshiva University viewed JTS as insufficiently Orthodox.
New faculty appointed during the early part of Adler's tenure included the Biblical scholar Jacob Hoschander. In the 1920s, Boaz Cohen and Louis Finkelstein, both of whom were ordained at JTS and completed their doctoral degrees at Columbia University, joined the Talmud faculty. In the 1930s, Adler appointed H.L. Ginsberg, Robert Gordis, and Alexander Sperber as professors of Bible. He also gave appointments to Israel Efros, Simon Greenberg, Milton Steinberg, and Ismar Elbogen. Rabbi Moses Hyamson was appointed Professor Emeritus of Codes in 1915, serving until 1940.
During his tenure, Adler groomed Louis Finkelstein as his chosen successor. In 1931, he appointed Finkelstein to a full professorship. Finkelstein became the Solomon Schechter Professor of Theology. In 1937 Adler appointed Finkelstein as Provost.
In 1930 the organization commissioned a new headquarters for 122nd Street and Broadway in a neo-colonial style, with a tower at the corner. The architects were Gehron, Ross and Alley.
In 1931, the Seminary College of Jewish Studies was established for students who wanted college-level courses in Jewish studies but who were not preparing for teaching careers. This branch is now part of the Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies.
Finkelstein era (1940–72)
became chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1940. During his chancellorship, JTS made significant efforts to engage the American public. One of its signature programs was a radio and television show called The Eternal Light. The show aired on Sunday afternoons, featuring well-known Jewish personalities like Chaim Potok and Elie Wiesel. Broadcasts did not involve preaching or prayer, but drew on history, literature and social issues to explore Judaism and Jewish holidays in a manner that was accessible to persons of any faith. The show continued to run until 1985.During the 1940s, the Jewish Theological Seminary established Camp Ramah as a tool for furthering Jewish education. The founders envisioned an informal camp setting where Jewish youth would reconnect with the synagogue and Jewish tradition, and a new cadre of American-born Jewish leadership could be cultivated. The first camp opened in Conover, Wisconsin in 1947. The program was drawn up by Moshe Davis and Sylvia Ettenberg of the JTS Teachers' Institute.
In 1945, JTS established a new institution, the Leadership Training Fellowship, designed to educate young people within Conservative synagogues and guide them into Jewish public service.
In 1952, the Jewish Theological Seminary opened a new school known as the Cantors Institute. This was at roughly the same time that the other established American Jewish seminaries, Hebrew Union College and Yeshiva University, opened cantorial schools. Prior to this time, American cantors were often trained in Europe.
In 1950, Finkelstein created the Universal Brotherhood program, which "brought together laymen interested in interpreting the ethical dimensions of Judaism to the wider society." JTS expanded its public outreach in the 1950s with Finkelstein's development of JTS's Institute for Religious Studies and the establishment of its Herbert H. Lehman Institute of Ethics.
During the Finkelstein era, the Institute for Religious and Social Studies brought together Protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish scholars for theological discussions.
In 1957, JTS announced plans to build a satellite campus in Jerusalem for JTS rabbinical students studying in Israel. A building was completed in 1962. In 1962, the seminary also acquired the Schocken Institute for Jewish Research and its library in Jerusalem.
In 1968, JTS received a charter from the State of New York to create an Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, which conferred bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. The Institute was designed as a non-sectarian academic institute which would train future college and university professors. Its first students enrolled in 1970. The Institute later evolved into the Graduate School of the Jewish Theological Seminary.