(JTA) — Yeshivat Hadar, a traditional, egalitarian Jewish educational institute in New York City, is launching a program to ordain rabbis.
The Hadar program will be competing with the Conservative rabbinical schools that have ordained and trained some of its staff and alumni. It will provide an alternative for rabbinical students who want a rigorous, traditional curriculum of Talmud and Jewish law study in a gender-equal environment.
The ordination program is part of Hadar’s new Advanced Kollel, an in-depth Jewish study program for adults with extensive knowledge of Jewish texts. The Kollel, announced Tuesday, will launch this fall.
“Through the Advanced Kollel, we aim to contribute to the next generation of serious Torah scholars, incubate leadership for Hadar’s vision for Jewish life and advance more broadly the thriving of Jewish life in North America and Israel,” the announcement said. “Members of the Kollel will further Hadar’s mission as researchers, teachers, educators and leaders, helping to spread Torah and grow vibrant communities of learning and practice.”
The announcement said “a select group of students in the Kollel, who commit to four years of full-time study, along with additional leadership training and apprenticeship, will be eligible for semikhah,” or rabbinic ordination.
Founded in 2007, the yeshiva — part of the Hadar Institute — grew out of an unaffiliated minyan, or congregation, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has a one-year full-time Jewish study program for adult students that is not aimed toward rabbinic ordination. The institute also offers shorter programs and classes for Jewish professionals and students.
JTA has reached out to Hadar for further comment.