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The Jewish Theological Seminary of America

Motto	V' Hasneh Ainenu Ukal ("And the Bush was not consumed") -Exodus 3:2
Established	1886
School type	Private
Chancellor	Rabbi Ismar Schorsch
Location	New York, New York, USA
Campus	Urban
Homepage	www.jtsa.edu

The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, known in the Jewish community simply as JTS, is the academic and spiritual center of Conservative Judaism, and is the movement's main rabbinical seminary. It takes it name and basic ideology from the no longer extant Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau.

1 The Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau

Rabbi Zecharias Frankel (1801-1875) at one time was in the traditional wing of the nascent Reform Judaism movement. After the second Reform rabbinic conference (1845, Frankfurt, Germany) he resigned after coming to believe that their positions were exceedingly radical. In 1854 he became the head of a new rabbinical school, the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau. In his magnum opus Darkhei HaMishnah (Ways of the Mishnah) Rabbi Frankel amassed scholarly support which showed that Jewish law was not static, but rather had always developed in response to changing conditions. He called his approach towards Judaism 'Positive-Historical', which meant that one should accept Jewish law and tradition as normative, yet one must be open to changing and developing the law in the same historical fashion that Judaism has always historically developed.

2 Positive-Historical Judaism in America

About this time in America, Rabbi Sabato Morais championed the conservative reaction to American Reform. At one time Rabbi Morais had been a voice for moderation within the coalition of Reformers. He had opposed the more radical changes, but was open to moderate changes that would not offend traditional sensibilities. After the Reform movement published the Pittsburgh Platform, Rabbi Morais recognized the futility of his efforts and began the creation of a new rabbinical school in New York CitySkyline, with Statue of Liberty New York, New York" redirects here. For alternate meanings, see New York, New York (disambiguation). New York — officially named City of New York and often called New York City to distinguish it from the state of New York,. He was soon joined by Rabbi Alexander Kohut and Rabbi Bernard Drachman , both of whom had received smicha (rabbinic ordination) at Rabbi Frankel's Breslau seminary. They shaped the curriculum and philosophy of the new school after Rabbi Frankel's seminary.

In 1902, Professor Solomon SchechterRabbi Solomon Schechter (1850-1915) was born to a Lubavitch Hasidic family and later became the second President of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America ( 1902 to 1915) and founder and President of the United Synagogue of America (later to become th assumed presidency of JTS. In a series of papers he articulated an ideology for the movement. In 1913 he presided over the creation of the United Synagogue of America. (The name was changed in 1991 to the United Synagogue of Conservative JudaismThe United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) is the official organization of synagogues practicing Conservative Judaism in North America. It closely works with the Rabbinical Assembly, the international body of Conservative rabbis, and the Jewish T.)

Prominent at the seminary were such luminaries as Saul LiebermanSaul Lieberman ( 1898- 1983), was a rabbi and a scholar of Talmud. He was for many years, head of Machon Harry Fishel in Israel and also president of the American Academy for Jewish Research. He was an honorary member of the Academy for the Hebrew Languag, Alexander MarxAlexander Marx was a brilliant historian, and the head of the department of Jewish history at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He was the son-in-law of Rabbi David Zvi Hoffman. See also: history., and others as well.

David Weiss HaLivni, now one of the heads of the Department of Judaic Studies at Columbia University was once at JTS. He left in the 1970s on account of the JTS agreeing to ordain women as rabbis.

Neil Gillman's book "Conservative Judaism: The New Century" The origin of Conservative Judaism
History of JTS
Frankel's essay "On changes in Judaism" is on-line at: Frankel's understanding of Judaism

Conservative Judaism Columbia University

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