Courses

Course Catalog

Spring 2026 Courses (PDF)

Summer 2026 (PDF)

HARRY FISCHEL SCHOOL FOR HIGHER JEWISH STUDIES AT BERNARD REVEL GRADUATE SCHOOL OF JEWISH STUDIES

Revel is offering an online summer program this year.

Apply online here: Online Application.

Course registration will be done online. Please go to: BR Student Resources. Scroll down and click: Instructions for Web Registration.

SUMMER SESSION 2026

Classes for credit are open to qualified graduate and advanced undergraduate students in Jewish Studies and related fields at Yeshiva University and other academic institutions. (Appropriate documents must be filed in the Office of the Dean, Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies). Students at Yeshiva University may take these courses toward fulfilling degree requirements. Students from other institutions may take the courses as transient students for possible transfer credit at their home institution. Qualified individuals who do not fit into these categories may register with permission of the Dean.

*All entries are subject to updates

SCHEDULE OF COURSES

Note: Courses are placed into one of the following categories to help guide your course choices:
a) No Hebrew required
b) Students are required to have the capacity to follow Hebrew texts in class
c) Students must be able to prepare Hebrew texts independently
The relevant category appears with the courses below. If you are unsure whether your level is appropriate for a course, please contact the professor in advance of registering.

9:00am-10:40am Dr. Joseph Angel
TAS 6854 Topics: Readings in Ancient Jewish Aramaic: From the Bible to Bar Kochba (c)
Counts also towards the Bible concentration
This course focuses on Jewish Aramaic language and literature of the Second Temple period. A wide variety of texts of different genres and origins will be covered, including portions of biblical works (Daniel and Ezra), Elephantine papyri, some of the major Aramaic works discovered at Qumran, and a sampling of some Targumic texts and Bar Kochba letters. While there will be an emphasis on linguistic and philological analysis, ample time will be devoted to discussion of larger literary and historical issues related to the texts.

11:00am-12:40pm Dr. Ronnie Perelis
JHI 6407 Marranos & Other Heretics: Varieties of Heresy in the Iberian World (a)
This course examines the interaction between the Spanish Inquisition and a wide range of its targets. Beginning with a brief history of the Inquisition in the Iberian world, the focus shifts to a series of individual testimonies presented before the Inquisition. These individuals were accused of a variety of religious crimes, from bigamy and witchcraft to adhering to varying manifestations of Jewish and Protestant heresies. The course is particularly interested in the ways that individual “heretics” present themselves to their inquisitors and how they transform their interrogations into acts of self-fashioning. In addition to inquisitorial records we will examine literary and visual interpretations of the Inquisition including contemporary cinema.

6:00pm-7:40pm Dr. Sam Fleischacker
JPH 6875 Topics: Philosophy and the Purpose(s) of Mitzvot (a)
This class will explore the idea that Jewish law is meant to wean us from idolatry — to be found in Maimonides, as well as such modern thinkers as Samson Raphael Hirsch, Yeshayahu Leibowitz, and Joseph Soloveitchik — and then critique and supplement that view with resources from Immanuel Kant, Søren Kierkegaard, and Martin Heidegger.  Readings from Maimonides, Plato, Hirsch, Leibowitz, and Soloveitchik as well as from a new book entitled From Idolatry to Holiness.

7:50pm-9:30pm Dr. Yitzhak Berger
BIB 6086 Rambam and Radak on Creation (c)
This course will analyze Radak’s Pentateuchal exegesis--especially its connections to and departures from the exegesis of Maimonides--with particular emphasis on creation, purpose, and the role, mandate, and destiny of human beings. Through readings in Radak's allegorical commentary, the course will analyze Radak's methods and his expansions on the philosophical exegesis of Maimonides while also drawing comparisons to Radak's exegesis on non-Pentateuchal books.

All classes will meet on Yeshiva University’s Zoom platform
For further information contact:
Office of the Dean
Bernard Revel Graduate School
of Jewish Studies
Yeshiva University
500 West 185th Street, Furst Hall Third Floor
New York, NY 10033-3201
Email:reveladmissions@yu.edu

*All entries are subject to updates

Fall 2025 Courses (PDF)