The Rabbinical School offers a five-year program of full-time graduate study leading to the Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters (Los Angeles) or Master of Arts in Hebrew Literature degree (New York) as well as rabbinic ordination. Students admitted to the rabbinical program are required to spend their first academic year, beginning in late June, at the College-Institute's campus in Jerusalem. In rare instances, students with exceptional backgrounds and degrees in Hebrew and cognate studies may be exempt from the Year-in-Israel Program. Upon successful completion of the Year-in-Israel Program, students may choose to study on either the Los Angeles or New York Campus. Application is made to HUC-JIR and not to a particular campus.
Rabbinic ordination is awarded after the successful completion of 155 credit hours.
Admission Requirements
Preliminary Consultation with an Admissions Counselor
As part of the application process to the HUC-JIR Rabbinical School, we require that you speak with a professional in the Office of Recruitment and Admissions. This informal, preliminary consultation is a way for us to get to know you better and make sure you are taking the right steps in preparation, and for you to ask your questions and ascertain that this is the right time for you to apply. Use this link to quickly schedule a time to speak with a member of our team as soon as someone is available.
The Application
Please submit all elements of the application by the application deadline.
A Personal Statement
In no more than six double-spaced, typed, and numbered pages, please discuss your intellectual, religious, and spiritual development as well as the life experiences that have led you to make this decision. Why have you chosen to become a rabbi? In sharing your story, please try to reflect on at least one of the following:
- The evolution of your current Jewish practice
- Your relationship with Israel—the People, the land, and the State
- Your conception of and relationship with the Divine
- The role of Peoplehood and community in Jewish life today
Two Short Essays
- Please respond to both of the following essay prompts separately. Limit both responses to the two prompts to a total of six double-spaced, typed pages.
- Reflect on a selection of Torah, Tanakh, Jewish prayer, text or teaching that has inspired you or challenged you. You may include classical or contemporary commentary that has been helpful to you in understanding the text.
- Describe a challenge that faces the Jewish community through your own experience of that challenge and offer some of the ways you have tried to understand that challenge and address its resolution.
A Resumé
Please include a resumé that focuses on your academic and professional accomplishments, awards, honors, publications, and any significant leadership positions in which you have served.
Four Letters of Recommendation
- Two Academic References: College professors or instructors with whom you have engaged in serious academic study should write academic references. If you have been out of college more than five years, you may obtain academic references from adult or informal education instructors. Academic references should be able to speak to your growth and contributions in the classroom, your progress through the class material and what intellectual challenges you faced, whether successfully or not.
- One Judaic Reference: HUC-JIR encourages you to submit a Judaic reference from a rabbi (if one has already not been submitted in another category). A strong rabbinic reference will speak to the qualities and gifts a candidate brings to the rabbinate. While you should choose a rabbi who knows you best, an HUC graduate may have a unique perspective on our program.
- One Professional Reference: In addition, please request a professional reference from a supervisor of your work, paid or volunteer, preferably in a Jewish setting. More important than setting, however, this person should be able to speak to your work, your leadership within the organization, your ability to respond to feedback and critique and how you work with others.
Transcripts
Please request transcripts at least four weeks before the application deadline to allow time for them to be sent to HUC-JIR. Transcripts must be received to schedule an interview. Please provide us with one copy of an official transcript from all the following:
- The college from which you graduated as well as any other colleges you attended. (This includes any school at which you took a college-level course for transfer credit.)
- Any graduate schools where you have been enrolled, as well as schools where you have taken graduate-level classes.
- Any “Year Abroad” programs or other foreign study. (If grades from international programs are recorded on your college transcript you do not need to submit a separate transcript.)
Have your schools mail the transcripts directly to:
Office of Recruitment and Admissions
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
3101 Clifton Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45220
tward@huc.edu
For international applicants
Year-by-year records from colleges and universities attended are required. The record must indicate the number of hours per week devoted to each course, grades received for each course, and degrees awarded, with dates the degrees were conferred. This information must be provided in English. If this information is not available in English, it is the applicant’s responsibility to have it professionally translated and certified before it is sent to HUC-JIR. If grades are not determined on a 4.0 scale system, please include guidelines in English from the school that explain the grading system.
Submit GRE Scores
Graduate Record Examination (GRE): All applicants are required to take the GRE General Test. When registering for the GRE, please use the school code number 1291, which directs the results to the Office of Admissions and Recruitment on the HUC-JIR Cincinnati campus. For GRE information, please see www.ets.org/gre.
NOTE: We recommend that the test be taken at least four weeks before the application is due to allow time for the scores to be sent to HUC-JIR. Scores need to be received in order to schedule an interview. GRE scores are only valid for five years. Candidates with a prior degree from HUC-JIR, Ph.D. or Master’s degree (post-Bachelor) from an accredited institution may be exempt from submitting a current GRE score. Please email admissions@huc.edu with a request to be exempt from this requirement.
Submit TOEFL Scores
Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL): International applicants for whom English is not the first language must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The TOEFL is administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in approximately 100 centers outside the United States. See the information available at: www.ets.org/toefl.
Please note that the TOEFL exam is not a substitute for the GRE. The TOEFL school code for HUC-JIR is 1291.
Program Requirements
You must be able to meet the following criteria by June of the summer you intend to enroll:
- A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
- An academic record reflecting a 3.0 grade point average or above on a four-point scale.
- Capacity in the Hebrew language comparable to one year of college-level Modern Hebrew, as demonstrated by performance on the Hebrew Capacity Examination which is given at the time of the interview.
- Completion of a preliminary consultation with a representative of the admissions office or a Rabbinical School Director.
- Submission of the general Graduate Record Examination (GRE) to HUC-JIR.
- International applicants from non-English speaking countries must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), now an internet-based test (IBT). International applicants must have a working knowledge of English and a score of at least 90 on the TOEFL, with at least 22 on each constituent part.
- Demonstration of the interpersonal skills needed to interface with people in diverse situations.
- A readiness for graduate study, including the capacity to meet the intellectual, ethical, and emotional demands of graduate school.
- A serious commitment to academic study and the capacity to develop self-awareness.
- A commitment to and leadership experience within Reform Judaism and K’lal Yisrael.
- An ability to engage in abstract reasoning, to think analytically and conceptually, and to formulate mature judgments.
- An aptitude for clear oral and written self-expression.
Financials
| Rabbinical Ordination Annual Tuition |
$28,500 |
| Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters (Cincinnati and Los Angeles) Annual Tuition |
$28,500 |
| Master of Arts in Hebrew Literature (New York) Annual Tuition |
$28,500 |
| Student Activity Fee (Full-Time - Cincinnati, Los Angeles, and New York) |
$35 |
Degree Requirements
The Rabbinical School educates rabbis for the diverse challenges of the 21st-century rabbinate. Students prepare to become rabbis and leaders in a variety of settings, including congregations, Hillel foundations, schools, communal organizations, and pastoral settings. The curriculum of the Rabbinical School has two phases. The first phase, the Core Curriculum, is covered during the Year-In-Israel and the first two years stateside. The second phase consists of work done primarily in the fourth and fifth years of the Program; most courses in these years are electives chosen by students.
The curriculum reflects learning outcomes created by the faculty for the Rabbinical School. The faculty of each stateside campus creates courses and other learning experiences that allow each student to meet the standards and outcomes. Consequently, the course of study varies slightly on each of the two stateside campuses.
The curriculum of the Rabbinical School:
- Promotes the acquisition of skills and competence in the study of Jewish texts, history, thought, language, and literature.
- Promotes professional development through course work and fieldwork.
- Promotes the spiritual and religious growth of each student through worship experiences, discussion of core issues in Jewish thought and life, and mentoring.
Additional Requirements
All rabbinic students are expected to participate in worship services at HUC. Students are assigned to lead services, read Torah, and deliver divrei Torah. On the New York campus, rabbinical students lead worship in partnership with cantorial students; on the Cincinnati and Los Angeles campuses, rabbinical students lead worship with a cantor from the community. Students receive feedback from faculty advisors to help strengthen their worship leading skills.
The synagogue calendar, which contains these assignments, is published at the beginning of each academic year, and can be found on Outlook Calendar in LA and on SharePoint in New York.
- Each rabbinic student will deliver two sermons, one each during the fourth and fifth years. Sermon dates are assigned at the beginning of the academic year and printed in the synagogue calendar. Students work with a faculty advisor and write a sermon on a topic of their choosing. Following the sermon, there is community discussion in which faculty and students offer feedback to the preacher and discuss issues raised in the sermon.
- Each student must complete three years of fieldwork, one year in a monthly student pulpit (or its equivalent) and one year in a supervised internship. Each student must also complete a pastoral care internship or one unit of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education).
- Each student will participate in the the joint HUC-CCAR Mentoring program. Assignments for the mentoring program are made by a committee of HUC faculty, CCAR alumni, administration, and CCAR staff during the fourth year and will continue two years after Ordination. Successful completion of this program is required for Ordination and membership in the CCAR.
- Each student must complete a capstone: a rabbinic thesis, a text immersion, or a project under the supervision of a member of the HUC faculty.
Capstone Requirements
- Every student is required to complete a capstone during their final year of rabbinic school.
- Each year, the Rabbinical Program Director will review the current capstone requirements with fourth year students. Capstone guidelines will be posted on Canvas.
- During the fourth year, a student must submit the proposed subject of the capstone to the Rabbinical Program Director on or before the date set that year.
- The student shall first discuss the proposed capstone subject with a member of the faculty with whom the work is to be pursued. Written approval must be obtained from the advisor regarding the formulation of the subject.
- Ordinarily, a capstone is supervised by one advisor, a member of the local campus faculty. When a capstone involves more than one area of study or methodological approach, a second and, if necessary, third faculty member from our schools or associated institutions may be co-opted as minor advisors.
- The capstone proposal form may be downloaded from Canvas and once signed by the advisor is to be submitted to the Rabbinical Program Director, together with the student’s proposal.
- A request to amend the capstone topic or vehicle, or to change advisors must be submitted to the Rabbinical School Office at the beginning of the fall semester of the student’s fifth year.
- No faculty member may be expected to serve as advisor for more than three rabbinic capstones in a given year. Faculty members are not expected to serve as capstone advisors while on sabbatical.
- Students are required to meet regularly with their advisor throughout the time that the work is in progress. If a student fails to meet according to the schedule agreed upon by the student and the faculty advisor, the student will not be allowed to continue work on the capstone. As a result, they will not be ordained that year.
- In the senior year, the candidate delivers the completed capstone to the advisor(s) and to the Library no later than the date announced on the Academic Calendar. If, for reason of illness or other similar extenuating circumstances, a student is unable to present the completed work by that date, they may, upon the written permission of the Rabbinical Program Director (who will consult with the advisor), be granted up to a one-week extension. The student must also submit a Capstone Completion Form, signed by the advisor(s).
- The faculty, via the Rabbinical Program Director, may grant one more year to complete the thesis at their discretion. Upon completion of the thesis, the student will then be eligible to seek a position through the CCAR. Any student who does not complete the thesis after a second year will have their tenure in the program terminated.
Fifth-Year Residency and Requirements
During their final year of rabbinical school, students are expected to meet with their capstone advisors, participate in the Senior Seminar, and complete their course work.
All rabbinic students should register for the Capstone course and the Senior Seminar during each semester of their fifth year.
Students must complete all required coursework in the spring semester of their final year by the date determined by the Registrar.
Plan of Study
First-Year
The Year-In-Israel program is mandatory for first-year rabbinical students. Students who are accepted to the rabbinical school who can demonstrate native or near-native fluency in Hebrew, and have a strong background in Jewish Studies, and have spent a significant amount of time living in Israel, may be able to apply for an exemption from the Year-In-Israel through an examination. The program begins at the start of in early July and culminates in mid-May of the following year. Year-in-Israel priorities include the following:
- An understanding of the structure of the Hebrew language which will serve our students in mediating between the sources of Judaism and the North American Jewish community.
- An encounter with Israel which leaves the students informed, enthused, and energized about the challenges of statehood and the implications of peoplehood.
- The acquisition of basic textual skills which allows the successful continuation of studies in the U.S.
- An exploration of the students' religious and spiritual identities, with special emphasis on Reform Judaism.
- The provision of professional skills and the encouragement of a self-consciousness as future Jewish professionals within the community.
Studies are full time with classroom study 5 days a week, Sunday thorough Thursday, divided between core courses and, professional courses, and worship. and a weekly First Year Seminar. Other requirements include week-long intensive, tefillah, inquiry groups, field study trips, advisory, end-of-year colloquium, a mid-year colloquium, and community service project.
Core Courses:
- Cantillation of the Torah (Summer)
- Mechinah: Introduction to Books of the Beit Midrash (Summer)
- Foundations of Biblical Grammar (Summer)
- Modern Hebrew (Summer, Fall, Spring)
- Liturgy (Fall, Spring)
- Beit Midrash: Torah (Fall) Beit Midrash: Mishnah (Spring)
- Survey of Jewish History (Summer, Fall, Spring)
- Seminar - Israeli Society (Fall, Spring)
Professional Courses:
- Tefillah (Summer, Fall, Spring)
- Mechinah: Ritual and Clergy Formation (Summer)
- Worship Lab (Fall, Spring)
- Rabbinic Workshop -RS (Fall, Spring)
- Cantorial Workshop - DFSSM (Fall, Spring)
- Reform Judaism in Israel (Intensive)
- Musicianship and Modes – DFSSM (Fall, Spring)
- Cantoral Coaching - DFSSM (Fall, Spring)
- Voice Lessons – DFSSM (Fall, Spring)
- Israeli Music – DFSSM (Spring)
Electives:
- Contemporary Jewish Thought (Winter)
- Contemporary Jewry – Required for JDC Fellows (Spring)
- Jewish Text – TBD (Spring)
First Year Seminar - Israeli Society: Its multiple voices and search for solidarity: For one day a week, Israel is the classroom, as students explore aspects of Judaism and the Jewish State as part of the Richard J. Scheuer Seminar. Some days, studies take place on campus and many others there are site visits of various kinds. Learning techniques include text study sessions, film, independent research and more. Two of the extended field study trips are part of the wider course. Requirements include two research papers and active participation. Sessions tend to run from 8:30am until 4:00 pm throughout the year. Subjects include Religion and State, Life Cycle and Zionism.
Second-Year
Third-Year
Fall:
- JJL 603 Aramaic Intensive
- JTI 604 Jewish Textual Interpretation: Talmud and Codes
- JTI 605 JTI Beit Midrash
- PHI 601 Medieval Jewish Thought
- PDE XXX Pastoral Care & Life Cycle
- PDE XXX Teaching (for LA) PDE 602 Homiletics (for NY)
Spring:
- JTI 606 Jewish Textual Interpretation: Talmud and Codes
- JTI 607 JTI Beit Midrash
- PHI 602 Modern Jewish Thought
- PDE XXX Pastoral Care & Life Cycle
- PDE XXX Teaching (for LA) PDE 603 Homiletics (for NY)
Fourth-and-Fifth-Year
Years Four and Five: The post-core program comprises PDE 650 Leadership in Practice (Year Four); Senior Seminar (Year Five), and an additional year of small group supervision, as well as 45 elective credits. Electives are chosen by the student with two caveats:
- To ensure that students continue to deepen their Judaica knowledge and skills, students may take no more than four of the 15 electives in Professional Development.
- If a student receives an LP in a Core course, the student must take an elective in that subject area and receive a P in that course.
- Electives in each discipline may not be taken before the completion of the Core courses in that discipline.
Others
Clinical Education
A critical aspect of the rabbinical training at HUC-JIR is the practical experience that students gain through their fieldwork experiences. These in-field opportunities are coordinated with academic courses to form an integrative learning experience. As part of the fieldwork program, students receive guidance from rabbinical mentors, and on-site supervisors. In addition, the students participate in supervision with professionals within HUC-JIR. The support of rabbinical mentors and supervisors helps to guide the students through these important and sometimes challenging professional growth experiences. The Rabbinical School offers students opportunities to serve as student rabbis in small congregations around the country and as interns in congregations and organizations that are near HUC-JIR campuses.
As rabbinical interns in congregations, students have the opportunity to be part of a clergy team and to be exposed to the diversity of services, programs, and activities of large metropolitan and suburban congregations. The internships typically include a range of responsibilities, such as teaching in the religious school, preparing b’nai mitzvah students, teaching adults, and advising the youth group, as well as taking part in leading worship services, preaching, and participating in life cycle events. Through regular meetings with their supervising rabbi, the student gains a realistic perspective on the life of the congregational rabbi.
Additional field work opportunities include Hillel or Jewish student centers on college campuses (working specifically with a Reform group on campus or providing a Reform rabbinical presence); serving in homes for the aged; Jewish communal agencies, military chaplaincy, and working in Reform-affiliated organizations such as WRJ, URJ, and CCAR chaplaincy. Internships in non-profit organizations offer students interested in non-congregational work the opportunity to learn about organizational structure and the role a rabbi can play in these institutions.
At “student pulpits”, rabbinical students serve as the sole clergy to small communities to which they travel on a bi-weekly or monthly basis. During their weekend visits, students fulfill a full range of responsibilities, from leading worship, preaching, providing pastoral care, administering, and teaching in the religious school, training b’nai mitzvah students and officiating at their service, and occasionally officiating at life cycle events. The students work closely with the lay leaders in visioning and planning for the congregation. Students with solo weekend pulpits work closely with a rabbinic mentor who is available for regular meetings and consultation and who will visit the students’ pulpit during the year to observe and give feedback.
In addition to congregational experience, rabbinical students at HUC-JIR are required to complete a supervised Pastoral Care Internship. Most often, this requirement is fulfilled by completing a unit of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) at a hospital. Students often describe this training, sometimes experienced with students from other seminaries, as a highlight of their years at HUC-JIR; it is essential for all rabbis, regardless of the professional path they ultimately chose to take.
All clinical education experiences are coordinated either through the Rabbinical Program Director or the Director of Field Work.
Learning Opportunities
In addition to academic classes and field work, HUC-JIR provides rabbinical students with a number of co-curricular learning experiences that enrich students’ personal and spiritual growth and development.
- Gerecht Institute: In addition to addressing the important topics of conversion and interfaith families in various classes in the Rabbinical Program, students participate in HUC-JIR’s Gerecht Family Institute for Outreach and Conversion. Through text study, prayer, and discussion with professionals in congregations, outside experts in the field, URJ staff, and Jews-by-choice, students receive an in-depth introduction into this most important topic.
- Spiritual Development: Beyond academic and professional development, a rabbinical student must also nurture their spiritual growth. Spiritual development takes place in many different venues and varies from individual to individual. Participating in worship regularly is an important avenue for spiritual growth. Other opportunities include spiritual direction, spirituality retreats, electives devoted to spiritual growth, and intersession or summer intensives. Students are always encouraged to discuss their religious interests and challenges with their faculty adviser and/or rabbinical mentor.
Joint Degree Opportunities
- Master of Educational Leadership
- Rabbinical students may pursue this degree by enrolling in the Clergy Education year under the auspices of the School of Education; it is usually undertaken between a student’s third and fourth years of Rabbinic School.
- Students may apply six credits earned in the Clergy Education year toward their post-MAHL course requirements. Any elective taken that year beyond the School of Education requirements may be counted as a rabbinical school elective.
- Certificate in Jewish Organizational Leadership or Master of Arts in Jewish Nonprofit Management
- Rabbinical students may earn a Certificate in Jewish Organizational Leadership through one summer of course work. Two courses from the program may also be applied toward the student’s Rabbinical School requirements. A student who wishes to earn the Master of Arts in Jewish Nonprofit Management must complete a year of fieldwork in the nonprofit sector and attend the biennial Israel Seminar in addition to all required coursework.
- The master’s degree in Jewish Nonprofit Management can be completed concurrently with rabbinic school studies. The concurrent degree requires two summers of coursework, 1 year of fieldwork and practicum, Capstone, and participation in the Seminar in Nonprofit Global Innovation. The certificate in Jewish Organizational Leadership can be completed concurrently in a single summer of coursework.
- This decision to do the concurrent MAJNM should be made with input from the directors of the two schools. Students must do one year of fieldwork that satisfies the requirements of the Zelikow School.
- Students who enroll in both the Rabbinic Education program and a Zelikow School program may apply six credits toward their post-Master’s degree requirements; the student may choose which of the courses listed above to apply toward rabbinical school requirements.
After Ordination
“The sun never sets on the graduates of the Hebrew Union College,” aptly said Dr. Jacob Rader Marcus, z” l, Professor of American Jewish History, and founder of the American Jewish Archives at HUC-JIR. Our graduates are truly international, coming from many nations around the world and serving congregations, organizations, and institutions on almost every continent. Rabbinical alumni are forging new entrepreneurial visions and applying the latest technologies to worship experiences and community building, as they provide the leadership for the next generations of our far-flung Jewish people.
HUC-JIR works closely with the other arms of the Reform Movement and the larger Jewish world to assist our students in finding employment at the conclusion of their studies at the College-Institute. The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), and HUC-JIR together comprise the components of the Rabbinical Placement Commission: the committee of placement professionals, lay leaders, rabbis, and educators who guide in the placement of rabbinical students (and rabbis already in the field) for employment in Reform synagogues throughout North America. Our Hillel rabbis also have professional placement processes to aid them in this most important milestone. For those interested in international pulpits, HUC-JIR assists in working with the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) placement system.
Rabbinical graduates find personal fulfillment as well as competitive salaries and benefits as leaders in a broad range of settings:
- Nearly 900 Reform congregations in North America
- Progressive Movement synagogues and communities in Israel and around the world
- Reform congregational schools, Jewish day schools, and boards of Jewish education
- URJ summer camps and Israel youth programs
- NFTY youth groups
- URJ, CCAR, WUPJ, and WRJ program departments
- Hillel Foundations, Birthright, and Jewish student centers on college campuses
- Federations and social service agencies
- National and regional Jewish communal organizations
- Academic administration and faculty positions at universities
- Jewish communal and private philanthropic foundations
- Jewish museums and cultural institutions
- Jewish community centers and educational outreach organizations
- Jewish media
- Chaplaincies and administration in hospitals and hospices
- U.S. military chaplaincy
- HUC-JIR sustains close ties with rabbinical alumni through the Rabbinical Alumni Association, which offers continuing education resources, on campus and distance learning programs, collegial support, and privileges at HUC-JIR’s libraries. Rabbinical alumni serve as mentors to students during their student pulpits and other professional development programs and are vital partners in helping to recruit the next generations of Jewish leaders.
Study at Other Institutions
- Students may enroll in graduate level courses at accredited institutions and receive credits toward their HUC degree, provided that the proposed course of study is submitted in advance, in writing, and is approved by the Director of the School of Rabbinic Studies.
- The Los Angeles campus has a reciprocity agreement with the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies of the American Jewish University which enables full-time Los Angeles students to take rabbinical school courses at AJU with no additional tuition fee. Students should check the AJU website for course information and consult with their advisors about appropriate courses.
- Cooperative arrangements with The General Theological Seminary, The Jewish Theological Seminary, New York University, Union Theological Seminary, and the University of Southern California enable full-time students to take select courses at these institutions at reduced rates or with no additional tuition fee.
- No more than 25% of course requirements can be fulfilled by studying at other institutions, whether that work is done prior to enrollment at HUC-JIR or during the student’s tenure at HUC-JIR.
Academic Advising
- The faculty advisor is intended to support students; to stimulate students’ personal, professional, and intellectual growth; and challenge students to develop wider perspectives on Jewish life, belief, and practice, as well as deeper insights into their academic and experiential learning.
- Each student is assigned a member of the faculty or administration as an advisor. The advisor is available to the student to discuss academic, professional, and personal issues.
- Changes may be requested by the advisor or the student. Unless a change is requested, students will have the same advisor from the beginning of their second year until ordination.
- Students and advisors should meet no fewer than four times a year. The first meeting should take place at the onset of the academic year. Meetings should then take place later in the first semester and twice during the second semester. Additional meetings are encouraged.
- We wish to create an atmosphere of trust between students and their advisors. A student should be able to speak to their advisor with confidence that the advisor will not discuss the student’s academic situation with another student or with anyone not directly involved professionally in the student’s academic program. If an advisor believes that sharing information with faculty members would be beneficial, they should speak to the student about sharing that information.
- Students are required to consult with their advisors as they prepare to give divrei Torah and sermons in the HUC-JIR Synagogue.