Philosophy and Religious Studies > Jewish/Judaic Studies

Jewish/Judaic Studies

Jewish studies, also known as Judaic studies (from the Hebrew, romanized as madey ha-yahadut, lit. "sciences of Judaism"), is the academic study of Judaism and the Jewish people. Jewish study is an interdisciplinary field that draws upon a wide range of academic disciplines, including but not limited to history (primarily Jewish history), religion, anthropology, linguistics, archaeology, sociology, political science, geography, linguistics, women's studies, and ethnic studies. Jewish studies as a distinct academic discipline are primarily found in North American universities. Jewish philosophy in Israel is closely related to Holocaust studies and Israeli studies. Harvard was the first American university, and possibly the first in the world, to appoint a full-time scholar of Judaica to its faculty; Bar-Ilan University has the largest school of Jewish studies. Learning and study, especially sacred books, are highly regarded in Jewish tradition. There is a religious mandate to study the Torah (and, by extension, the rest of the Hebrew Bible and Rabbinic literature like the Talmud and Midrash).