Studies
The Jewish Studies program at Freie Universität strives to encompass the wide spectrum of subjects also offered by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute for Jewish Studies: Bible, Talmud, Hebrew language, Hebraic literature, Jewish History, Jewish Thought, mysticism, etc. Though a faithful successor of the German Jewish Studies tradition "Wissenschaft des Judentums", our program can only attempt to match Jerusalem's wide spectrum and specialization in research and teaching, which is due to limited funding of small disciplines and the resulting low number of professors and lecturers.
The courses offered at our Institute pertain to Jewish History, literature and religion from Antiquity to the present. Aside from a thorough training in both modern and biblical Hebrew, strong emphasis is placed on Late Antiquity, which is considered to be most influential for later developments. In addition, the curriculum focuses on medieval mystical literature, ethical literature, as well as Jewish-German cultural and intellectual History.
The range of courses is meant to cater to our students' needs primarily, but the Institute for Jewish Studies also makes an effort to include other disciplnes, such as History, Literature, Theology, and History of Religion, and to offer interdisciplinary classes.
University Library (most relevant to Jewish Studies of all FUB libraries)
