/Institutions/Hebrew-Union-College-Jewish-Institute-of-Religion/json/current/Academic-Catalog-local.json

/Institutions/Hebrew-Union-College-Jewish-Institute-of-Religion/json/current/Academic-Catalog.json

Institutional Overview

Institutional Overview: A Legacy Institution with a Distinguished History

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is an international center of applied Jewish wisdom with a global reach that strives to create vibrant, inclusive, and respectful communities of learning. In-person and online. Our academic programs serve as laboratories for spiritual exploration, academic inquiry, and cultural creativity.

As the oldest institution of Jewish higher learning in the Western Hemisphere, Hebrew Union College was founded in Cincinnati in 1875 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, the architect of the institutions of American Reform Judaism, to educate rabbis able to provide progressive, enlightened, and modern spiritual leadership for the American pulpit. In 1922, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, the renowned advocate of social justice and Zionism, founded the Jewish Institute of Religion in New York as a nondenominational seminary. The two seminaries training liberal rabbis merged in 1950 and became Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR). A Los Angeles location opened in 1954, and in 1963 the foundation was laid for what is now the Taube Family Campus in Jerusalem. From these four campuses, HUC-JIR has been educating generations of Jewish leaders — rabbis, cantors, educators, and Jewish nonprofit professionals — as well as scholars and pastoral counselors.

Our mission statement, most recently revised in 2017, serves as the foundation for our work:

HUC-JIR is North America’s premier institution of Jewish higher education and the center for professional leadership development of Reform Judaism. A multicampus academic and spiritual learning community, HUC-JIR builds vibrant progressive Judaism in North America, Israel, and around the globe by:

• Studying the great issues of Jewish life, history, and thought with an open, egalitarian, inclusive, and pluralistic spirit;
• Educating innovative, visionary clergy and professionals who embody the sustaining values, responsibilities, practices, and texts of Jewish tradition to inspire future generations; and
• Advancing the critical study of Judaism and Jewish culture in accordance with the highest standards of modern academic scholarship.

HUC-JIR’s current programs of study include:

• Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music (DFSSM), with the Year-In-Israel Program in Jerusalem (year 1) and the remainder of the program (years 2-5) on the New York campus;
• Rabbinical School, with two options for the North American program: a Residential Pathway that involves the Year-In-Israel (year 1) in Jerusalem and North American programs for years 2-HUC-JIR's 5 currently in Cincinnati (until 2026), Los Angeles, and New York, and a Virtual Pathway for second career students unable to participate in the residential program; and the Israel Rabbinical Program (IRP)
• Pines School of Graduate Studies, with residential MAJS and Ph.D. programs based in Cincinnati (sunsetting and no longer accepting new students) and a non-residential DHL for select alumni;
• School of Education, which offers advanced degrees for residential early career Jewish educators and clergy students (MEdL), an online program for mid-career Jewish educational leaders (EMA), and educational offerings for Jewish Day educators (DeLeT Certificate and MAT);
• Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management, which offers online programs that prepare students to lead the business of Jewish life (MAJNM, MSOLI, Certificate in Jewish Organizational Leadership)

HUC-JIR has a large Jewish studies faculty, with 30 tenure-track faculty and other full-time and adjunct instructors, many of whom are internationally recognized for their scholarship, teaching, mentorship, and service to their fields. HUC-JIR is also renowned for its academic resources, which include the Klau Library system, which houses the largest collection of Hebraica and Judaica outside of Israel; the American Jewish Archives (AJA), one of the world’s largest archives of Jewish Americana; the Skirball Museum in Cincinnati and Dr. Bernard Heller Museum in New York; and the HUC-JIR Press.

The Taube Family Campus in Jerusalem houses the Year-In-Israel Program, the Israel Rabbinical Program, Rikma Program in Pluralistic Jewish Education with an M.A. in Education from the Hebrew University, Teachers’ Lounge and Democracy Labs, and the Blaustein Center for Pastoral Care. Louchheim School for Judaic Studies, the undergraduate program leading to a BA or a minor in Jewish Studies at the University of Southern California;

Housing

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is not a residential campus and does not provide housing accommodations.