The core of Bar-Ilan University is its Faculty of Jewish Studies, the world’s largest and most respected center for academic research in all fields related to Jewish heritage, ranging from Ancient Manuscripts to Holocaust Studies to Legal Ethics. The Faculty advocates a modern approach to Jewish studies that is at once open-minded, innovative and respectful of tradition. The Faculty boasts world-renowned scholars as Faculty members, and publishes a variety of important international journals. In addition, a broad array of research institutes and centers enriches the Faculty’s scope.
Our alumni are active in academia, research, education, Israeli public life, government and the Israeli Defense Forces. Faculty members serve as advisors at Yad Vashem, the Israeli Education Ministry, the Hebrew Language Academy and the Knesset, among others. Together, the faculty and alumni of these departments are creating a contemporary Jewish culture for the modern Jewish state. The Faculty offers multiple e-learning options for those wishing to pursue high-level studies over the internet and has developed novel, engaging techniques for teaching Talmud to schoolchildren.
Departments of the Faculty of Jewish Studies:
• The Zalman Shamir Bible Department
• The Talmud and Oral Law Department
• The Department of Jewish History
• The Program in Contemporary Jewry
• The Department of Hebrew and Semitic Languages
• Department for Hebrew Expression and Ulpan
• The Joseph and Norman Berman Department of Literature of the Jewish People
• Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology
• The Interdepartmental Division of Jewish Studies (which includes the Program in
Jewish Art )
• The Department of Jewish Thought
• The Department of Middle Eastern Studies
• The Helene and Paul Shulman Center for Basic Jewish Studies
