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Jewish studies are the discipline that allows students to learn the A-Z of Jewish people. You explore a wide range of their life spheres during the program, such as the origin of religion, traditions, historical events, etc. 

There are strong links between Jewish studies and Israel studies. Due to the many similarities both in structure and purpose of both studies, Jewish studies are referred to as an older sibling for Israel studies. 

Jewish studies might not be a popular discipline. However, it exists like thorough and self-standing academic direction for the previous several decades already. 

In the majority of universities, you will meet the program under the Faculty of Divinity. Jewish studies subjects guide students to different aspects of Jewish history: religion, philosophy, theological, sociological, ethnographic. 

Different universities offer different courses for the discipline. The list below, however, includes the main subjects you can find in most of the universities:

  • Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
  • Judaism 
  • Jewish background to the New Testament and Early Christianity
  • Rabbinic Literature
  • Modern Jewish philosophy and theology
  • Judaism's relation and integration with other religious traditions
  • Jewish diaspora studies

Hebrew Bible studies allow students to read and understand the Bible even without knowing the Hebrew language. The course opens the door to analysis and a deeper understanding of many of the Biblical events that happened and changed humanity's history. In particular, you will learn about the widely known Biblical moments such as Adam and Eve's story, The Flood and Noah's story, etc. Usually, there is also a section about the life traditions of patriarchs. Old Testament/Hebrew Bible is crucial to study in the context of Jewish Studies, as in Judaism, Hebrew Bible plays a crucial role. It's the main text of instruction for a moral.

Judaism courses help explore the way Jews read and interpreted the scriptures throughout history. Through this course, you will also find the clues of religion and modern Jews: the way they examine and inspire from the traditional texts. 

The course of Rabbinic Literature is about the basic contours of the corpus of early rabbinic writings such as Mishna, Tosefta, Babylonian Talmud. It also covers the styles and types of rabbinic interpretation by the texts. 

Modern Jewish studies provide multidisciplinary training in the field of modern Jewish experience. The years of experience that are discussed during studies are usually in the range between 1750-1980. The emphasis of the studies is on religion and culture.

Jewish diaspora studies examine the questions related to the ancient exile of the Jews from their ancestral land. The course is especially informative and useful from the perspective of migration, ethnicity, and transnationalism. 

Where can a Jewish Studies degree take your career?

Judaism studies develop skills of critical thinking, communication, etc. which help them generally enlargen a mental horizon. Looking at what usually Jewish studies majors work in the future, below you will see the list of Jewish Studies graduates main working opportunities;

  • Author
  • HR specialist
  • media correspondent
  • archivist
  • blogger
  • International aid worker
  • politician
  • interpreter
  • cultural consultant
  • Jewish community worker
  • public policy analyst
  • rabbi
  • librarian
  • researcher
  • linguist
  • historian
  • speechwriter
  • translator, etc. 

We hope this section's opportunities in ARMACAD will help you dig into the oldest and the most interesting area of human history, Jewish studies.