Awarding Smicha - Rabbinic ordination - to both men and women, studying together.

Rabbinic Fellowships

JOIN THIS PROGRAM

Find out more about joining our Rabbinic Fellowships program, taught in Hebrew.

MEET OUR STUDENTS AND ALUMNI

Download the
Beit Midrash Har'el
2023 Brochure (PDF)

We aim to develop, with our students, an authentic vision of Torah life and thought which will be compelling for Orthodox Jews and others beyond denominational boundaries today.

The curriculum of the Beit Midrash Har’el Rabbinic Fellowships Program is designed to provide the requisite knowledge and tools to engage in communal leadership and education. It includes a rigorous course of Talmud and Halacha, along with explorations of chassidut, creative writing, comparative religion and other disciplines. This course of studies emphasizes an attitude of intellectual honesty and openness to the world as much as the content of the subject matter itself.

FELLOWSHIP CURRICULUM

The program requires 3 full days and one evening of study each week. Fellows are accepted to the program based on a set of criteria including academic achievements, Jewish textual proficiency, exemplary character and leadership potential.

Key topics include:

Halacha
Public Policy
Philosophy of Halacha
Spirituality
Fundamentals of Comparative Religion

Additional topics to be covered over a 3-year period: Business Ethics and Halacha
Philosophy of Halacha, Gender Studies, Sociology of the Religious Community, Political Thought and Economics, Relating to the Other: Non-Jews and Jews who do not observe Halacha, LGBTQ, Religious Bureaucracy in Israel.

OUR STUDENTS

At Beit Midrash Har’el, men and women are recognized for equal accomplishment. Fellows are accepted to the program based on a set of criteria including academic achievements, Jewish textual proficiency, exemplary character and leadership potential. In addition to the contents of the program, there is a unique quality of learning which results from this mix of students.

OUR ALUMNI

Har’el alumni are visible, innovative religious leaders who are active in education, community building, social change organizations, and academic research and scholarship. Their work within a variety of religious communities and secular contexts sends an important message that deep commitment to our tradition can go hand in hand with promoting a more inclusive Jewish community and a more compassionate society in general.

“I came to Beit Midrash Har’el in search of serious Torah study, which is not blind to the modern way of life and ideals, and which is not afraid to acknowledge the serious theological issues challenging us today. Beit Midrash Har’el has been a nurturing environment helping me develop both as a student of Torah, and as a teacher of it as well.”

Rav Nadav Berger