Jewish Theological Seminary of America
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| Motto | וְהַסְּנֶה אֵינֶנּוּ אֻכָּל |
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Motto in English
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And the bush was not consumed – Exodus 3:2 |
| Type | Private nonprofit |
| Established | 1886 |
| Affiliation | Conservative Judaism |
| Chancellor | Arnold Eisen |
| Provost | Alan Cooper |
| Vice-Chancellor | Marc Gary |
| Location |
New York City, New York, United States 40°48′43″N 73°57′37″W / 40.81194°N 73.96028°WCoordinates: 40°48′43″N 73°57′37″W / 40.81194°N 73.96028°W |
| Campus | Urban |
| JTS on Facebook | |
| Website | www |
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The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is located in New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism, and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies.
JTS operates five schools: Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies (which is affiliated with Columbia University and offers joint/double bachelor's degree programs with both Columbia and Barnard College); Gershon Kekst Graduate School; the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education; the H. L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music; and The Rabbinical School. It also operates a number of research and training institutes.
Rabbi Zecharias Frankel (1801–1875) was a leading figure in mid-19th Century German Jewry. Known both for his traditionalist views and the esteem he held for scientific study of Judaism, Frankel was at first considered a moderate figure associated with the nascent Reform movement. He severely criticized the 1844 first Reform rabbinic conference of Braunschweig, yet eventually agreed to participate in the next, in spite of warnings from conservative friends such as Solomon Judah Loeb Rapoport. He withdrew from the assembly, held in Frankfurt am Main in 1845, making a final break with the Reform camp after coming to believe their positions were excessively radical. In 1854 he became the director of a new rabbinical school, the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau.
Rabbi Bernard Drachman, a key Frankel student and one of the founders of the American JTS, was himself Orthodox, and claims that the Breslau seminary was completely Orthodox. Others disagree, citing the published viewpoint of Frankel. In his magnum opus Darkhei HaMishnah (Ways of the Mishnah), 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 that one should accept Jewish law and tradition as normative, yet one must be open to changing and developing the law in the same historical fashion that Judaism has always historically developed.
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