M.A. in Teaching Tanakh & Parshanut
Department Head: Professor Eli Hadad
Program Director: Rabbi Reuven Spolter
Admissions Director: Hadassah Levy
For over 30 years, Teaching Tanakh has been the flagship educational degree program at Herzog College, training thousands of teachers for Israel’s religious schools. Our Master’s degree in Teaching Tanakh and Parshanut takes this program to a higher level for teachers in Israel and around the world, raising the standard of professional learning in the topic central to Judaic studies in educational institutions around the world.
Teaching Tanakh is a multi-disciplinary endeavor, exploring Biblical verses and their commentaries drawn from multiple sources including Talmud, Midrash and Halachic literature. The Herzog approach to the study of Tanakh involves literary analysis of every chapter, understanding its historical context, the places where its events took place, and its philosophical messages. Interpretations of Biblical stories can also be examined through engagement with contemporary literature, poetry, art, cinema and theater.
Students in the M.A. program will study passages from the Tanakh, expand their knowledge of its many classical interpretations, and explore opportunities for engaging multidisciplinary teaching. The program will combine traditional commentaries with new study methods, modern research and interpretative tools, while retaining an authentic religious Jewish commitment to the Torah text.
During the first year of the program, courses will focus on exploring connections between the Biblical text and other Jewish traditional sources and developing pedagogy skills. During the summer program and second year courses, we will develop techniques for interpreting, researching and teaching the Tanakh and its commentaries.
Sorry! Registration for the academic year 2024-5 is now closed.
We recommend that you sign up for individual courses that can earn you credit toward our Master’s degree next year and also toward our Tanakh Teaching Certificate.
STUDY IN ENGLISH
Alongside the Hebrew-language Master’s course taught in Jerusalem, the English-language version of the program will be taught mostly online, with one two-week summer semester in July 2025.
The English two-year Master’s program includes 14 hybrid and asynchronous courses in English with the option to take classes in Hebrew.
The Chumash and Navi courses will focus on how to teach Sefer Shemot, David HaMelech, Yechezkel, Shivat Tzion and Hassidut. The Education and Pedagogy courses will include Parshanut, Ethics & Morals, Intrinsic Motivation, and Student-Centered Learning. There will also be two courses geared towards writing a Master’s seminar paper.
Many of our existing Tanakh Teaching Courses are accredited as part of this degree. If you have taken online courses through Herzog College, you may already have earned credits toward the M.A. degree. You are invited to join these courses while you wait for the 2025 registration cycle. Click here to find out more.
M.A. Degree in Tanakh & Parshanut
Department Head: Professor Eli Hadad
Program Director: Rabbi Reuven Spolter – rspolter@herzog.ac.il
Admissions Director: Hadassah Levy – admissions@herzog.ac.il
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