Jewish Theological Seminary？

[Hatsuyuki]

http://www.jtsa.edu/phd-degree

I noticed few people had talked about PhD at JTS on this forum. I'm trying to get an overall idea of how JTS compares with other schools academically. I'm most interested in Hebrew Bible and Rabbinical Literature.

Edited January 31, 2019 by Hatsuyuki
Clarification of the program

[OmniscienceQuest]

I looked at JTS a while back and I can't compare it to other programs but I do believe you need a high level of proficiency in Hebrew and Aramaic. I'm also unsure about their funding (meaning -- I don't know). But the program looks fantastic to me, comparable to a traditional yeshiva education

[Hatsuyuki]

9 hours ago, OmniscienceQuest said:

I looked at JTS a while back and I can't compare it to other programs but I do believe you need a high level of proficiency in Hebrew and Aramaic. I'm also unsure about their funding (meaning -- I don't know). But the program looks fantastic to me, comparable to a traditional yeshiva education

Could you please elaborate on in what ways it is comparable to a traditional yeshiva education? I don't know much about yeshiva but isn't it usually more religiously-oriented than a PhD is?

[xypathos]

1 hour ago, Hatsuyuki said:

Could you please elaborate on in what ways it is comparable to a traditional yeshiva education? I don't know much about yeshiva but isn't it usually more religiously-oriented than a PhD is?

I cannot immediately recall ever coming across a PhD alum of JTS. That said, the language on their website, faculty, and current students suggests that it is still a very religiously oriented program. There is a heavy focus on Rabbinic literature and philosophy, with a showing of modern critical analysis. Just because a school offers a PhD does not mean that it's void of a religious bias.

I know of someone that did an MA there and left. She mentioned that all classes, at least her's, were taught fully in Hebrew and students were expected to converse in it while on school property. 

[DavidMM]

Hi, I’ve taken courses at JTS and seriously considered applying there. Much of what has been said above is not true. JTS used to guarantee full funding for PhD students, but it looks like they now promise tuition remission and substantial merit based aid.  That being said, If you are a competitive applicant, I’m sure they would make it a PhD there worth your time since they have the money for it through various fellowships and foundations. Coursework is in English, except for maybe modern Hebrew language courses, a standard practice at most instructions. Strong Hebrew is needed for admittance like ancient Greek and Latin are needed for early Christianity programs, but Aramaic would definitely depend on your chosen concentration. Like any other PhD, having modern French or German for reading would help, but are less importance for admittance. JTS is modeled on a Protestant seminary and getting a PhD there would be very similar to getting a PhD from Union Theological Seminary or BU school of theology. Primarily the institution focuses on ordaining and training conservative (denomination, not political ideology) rabbis and some of their classes reflect this, but even these rabbis are trained in academic biblical criticism and documentary hypothesis. Yes there is a religious bias, but there is as well at Notre Dame and other Christian schools. The PhD at JTS is not akin to a yeshiva program, where emphasis is on learning Talmud and other rabbinic texts with medieval and modern commentaries for practical religious matters. With concentrations in Hebrew bible, rabbinics, medieval, modern Jewish thought, pursuing a PhD here should be no different than learning Hebrew bible (if that is your interest), than at any Christian or secular university. A major perk of JTS is consortium agreements with a handful of top rate schools, including Columbia, Fordham, NYU, Princeton, PTS, Union theological seminary, University of Pennsylvania, Yale and Yeshica University. Let me reiterate, JTS’s PhD program bears little to no resemblance to a yeshiva, from the material studied to the approaches to the text. 

[sacklunch]

I have also studied at JTS and it's far from a yeshiva. It's fairly close to the environment you might encounter at e.g. PTS, but obviously the interests at JTS lean rabbinic rather than, say, biblical studies. I can't say that I know anyone with a PhD from JTS. It has a very good reputation, but is so closely associated with Jewish Studies/rabbinics that I suspect having a PhD from there would limit you to certain kinds of jobs. This may be fine for you, but it's something to consider. If the funding situation is as DavidMM says, then you might consider/apply elsewhere. If you want to do rabbinics, you could very well apply to Columbia and take lots of coursework over at JTS; and there are of course lots of top rabbinics scholars at other unis without any official religious affiliation.