Dean’s Message

Welcome from the Dean

The Faculty of Jewish Studies at Bar Ilan is the largest and strongest of its kind in the world. Faculty members research and teach in all areas of Jewish Studies: Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls and Second Temple Literature, Rabbinic Literature, the various types of Medieval Literature, Hasidut, the Modern and Contemporary periods. In-depth study of Jewish Intellectual History, Jewish Philosophy, and Kabbala takes place in the faculty. Several faculty members specialize in the archaeology and material culture of the Land of Israel in its various periods, and in Jewish art in different periods. The faculty strongly emphasizes research into Hebrew language, as well different Jewish languages such as Ladino and Yiddish. Faculty members also study Semitic languages and Near Eastern Studies. All of these activities take place in the nine departments of the faculty: Bible, Talmud, Jewish History, Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, Hebrew and Semitic Languages, The Literature and Art of the Jewish People, Jewish Thought, and the interdisciplinary department of Jewish Studies. Research takes place in each of these departments as well as in 20 research centers and 30 endowed chairs. The faculty and its different departments publish ten periodicals: Studies in Bible and Interpretation (Iyyune Mikra Ufarshanut); Sifra and Kenishta, both in Talmud, Jewish Linguistics (Balshanut Yehudit); Ars Judaica in Jewish art; From East and West (Mimizrah Umimaarav) in Jewish History, Ladiniar in Ladino studies, and the Jewish Studies Internet Journal (JSIJ). The central library for Jewish Studies serves all of the students on campus and contains --- volumes. All students of the university study with faculty members as part of the Program in Basic Jewish Studies. One hundred and thirty senior faculty members teach and research in the faculty, as do approximately 2500 students for all three degrees, of whom 400 are doctoral candidates. The faculty is characterized by striving for excellence in research, a wide range of research approaches, and an emphasis on a high level of teaching. The faculty is known for openness in thinking and for good interpersonal relations, in a positive and warm atmosphere.