Degree Programs at the HfJS
The HfJS offers a variety of courses of study. The course listings range from Biblical Studies, Rabbinics, Jewish Art history, and Jewish Philosophy to programs in community work and rabbinic training. The specific courses of study are as follows:
B.A. Jewish Studies
The B.A. in Jewish studies offers to students of the HfJS a course of study that is focused on the humanities and cultural studies. It is not connected to any particular denomination or confession and requires no previous knowledge of Hebrew, nor does it presuppose a familiarity with Jewish religion, history or culture. The portion of general studies can count as 75%, 50%, or 25% of the total course of study. Students who chose this path focus on the sources of Judaism: that is, the sacred texts of Judaism and their interpretation over the course of history; the history of the Jewish people; Jewish philosophy, art, and literature; as well as other thematically associated fields. In this way, the object of inquiry is time and again viewed through the perspective offered by a number of academic disciplines.
B.A. Community Work
The B.A. degree program in community work offers an academically rich course of study in the field of Jewish studies. The student will attain a variety of proficiencies that will qualify him or her for research and a comfortable interaction with the sources. The obtainment of ease and comfort in the performance of various religious and communal practices is granted a special significance. The numerous possibilities open to the student correspond to the professional perspective of the graduate. This course of study prepares the student as much for administrative tasks as for social work and cantorial training. Furthermore, the core studies of the Rabbinics degree program is also covered, and thus the student may proceed to a M.A. degree program as a precondition for the rabbinic ordination. The HfJS follows in this the educational motto Torah u-Madah, i.e. that an academic education unites here both traditional Jewish learning and academic study. The acquaintance with and studying of traditional texts in the space of classically guided study groups is offered parallel to lectures and seminars of a more traditional academic character. The educational concept that stands upon these two pillars, Torah and academic rigor, guarantees a high level and foundational understanding of the field for the graduate.
M.A. Jewish Studies
After the completion of the B.A. with a portion of at least 50%, the course of study can be continued in order to acquire the degree of M.A. in Jewish Studies. In the course of the student’s M.A. studies the knowledge gained during the B.A. will be expanded and deepened. The comprehensive course offerings at the HfJS makes it possible for students who aspire to the M.A. in Jewish studies to specialize in an area of study according to their own choosing. The M.A. degree qualifies graduates for PhD study.
M.A. Jewish Studies/History of Jewish Culture (Joint Degree)
In contrast to the M.A. in Jewish studies the HfJS also offers a joint masters degree program in Jewish Studies and the History of Jewish Culture. The program is open for all advanced students in the fields of the humanities, social sciences and theology, as well as students with a degree in Islamic studies or political science. This course of study offers to graduates who have already become acquainted in the course of their bachelor studies with technical and research-intensive modes of learning a rapid entrance into the academic field of Jewish Studies. Students are able to quickly specialize and to choose for themselves their focus according to their individual interests.
This program is offered by the HfJS in conjunction with the Karl-Franzen-Universität Graz. After a first required semester in Heidelberg the student must spend at least one semester in Graz. This M.A. qualifies graduates for PhD study.
M.A. Rabbinics
The Rabbinics program at the HfJS is entitled “Torat Ashkenaz” after the Hebrew name that became prevalent during the Middle Ages for the area in the vicinity of the Rhein and Danube. Torat Ashkenaz (the “teachings of Germany”) is a Rabbinics program that trains students from a variety of different denominations in methodologically diverse ways. It seeks to guarantee that Judaism in Germany remains viable, and that it is led by spiritual and learned rabbis who are capable of maintaining a degree of ritual integrity. The future leaders should stem from their own ranks, academically educated and at the same time having at their disposal a recognized rabbinic authority. Torat Ashkenaz looks to foster a particular type of spiritual leader who is comfortable communicating with members of other denominations in order to create an open Jewish society.
By offering a degree program in Rabbinics, the HfJS complies with the wish of the federal government and the Central Consistory of the Jews in Germany.
M.A. Medieval Studies (Heidelberger Mittelaltermaster)
The study of the medieval period has traditionally been separated between different faculties and departments. In the past several decades new perspectives have been developed in the humanities that stress transdisciplinary research, and through which new forums of scholarly exchange have been created. The graduate of the Heidelberg M.A. in Medieval Studies will attain a degree of familiarity with these developments and shall seek to make them consistently fertile for advanced research projects. Students are able to draw upon the extensive course offerings in medieval history, culture and the research at the various faculties of the University of Heidelberg and the HfJS.
State Examinations
The HfJS also endeavors to train teachers for positions in Jewish education. This course of study is fully compatible with the teacher’s course of studies at the University of Heidelberg and leads to the state examinations. Courses are taken as a rule together with students from other degree programs at the HfJS, albeit in closer connection to the teaching chair for Jewish pedagogy of religion (Lehrstuhl für jüdische Religionspädagogik).
For more Information please try the german version.