The Budapest University of Jewish Studies ( hu, Országos Rabbiképző – Zsidó Egyetem, or Országos Rabbiképző Intézet / ''Jewish Theological Seminary – University of Jewish Studies'' / german:

Landesrabbiner (; he, רב מדינה, Rav Medinah) are spiritual heads of the Jewish communities of a country, province, or district, particularly in Germany and Austria. The office is a result of the legal condition of the Jews in medieval times when the J ...

schule in Budapest) is a university in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. It was opened in 1877, a few decades after the first European

rabbinical seminaries A Jewish seminary is a Jewish educational institution. See Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (Reform), Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative), Yeshiva University (Orthodox), Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Academy for ...

had been built in Padua, Metz, Paris and Breslau. Still, it remains the oldest existing institution in the world where

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

s are graduated.

History

19th century

The growing liberal segment in Hungarian Jewish society, known as Neologs, were interested in secularly-educated clergy and their leaders strove to have a modern seminary. Orthodox Hungarian rabbis were very much against a rabbinical seminary. In order to prevent its establishment in Budapest, they sent a delegation to Emperor

Francis Joseph of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

in Vienna. However, the Emperor was favorable to the rabbinical school and even financed its construction, giving back to the

Hungarian Jews The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived i ...

the money they had had to pay 30 years before as a war tax after the

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 or fully Hungarian Civic Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas. Although th ...

. On October 4, 1877, the seminary was opened in József körút. Its first principal was Moses Löb Bloch, who was assisted by

David Kaufmann David Kaufmann (7 June 1852 – 6 July 1899) (Hebrew: דוד קויפמן) was a Jewish-Austrian scholar born at Kojetín, Moravia (now in the Czech Republic). From 1861 to 1867 he attended the gymnasium at Kroměříž, Moravia, where he studie ...

and

Wilhelm Bacher Wilhelm Bacher ( hu, Bacher Vilmos; yi, בִּנְיָמִין־זְאֵב בּאַככֿר, he, בִּנְיָמִין־זְאֵב בכר ''Benjamin Ze'ev Bacher''; 12 January 1850 – 25 December 1913)Operation Margarethe Operation Margarethe (''Unternehmen Margarethe'') was the occupation of Hungary by German Nazi troops during World War II that was ordered by Adolf Hitler. Course of events Hungarian Prime Minister Miklós Kállay, who had been in office from ...

). The next day, the rabbinical seminary was confiscated by the

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe d ...

(SS) and turned into a prison. From there,

Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ,"Eichmann"
''

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

s, mainly to

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. Just in time before the German invasion, the most valuable manuscripts had been brought into an underground safe. Still, an important part of the library was seized by the Nazis. 3000 books were dispatched to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, where Eichmann planned the construction of a "Museum of an extinct race" in the former Jewish quarter. Only in the 1980s were the books discovered in the cellar of the

Jewish Museum of Prague The Jewish Museum in Prague (Czech: Židovské muzeum v Praze) is a museum of Jewish heritage in the Czech Republic and one of the most visited museums in Prague. Its collection of Judaica is one of the largest in the world, about 40,000 objects ...

and brought back to Budapest in 1989. The library remains a source of pride for the university. It is considered one of the most important collection of Jewish theological literature outside Israel.

After the war, Communist era

Immediately after the defeat of the Nazis, the Rabbinical seminary resumed its activity and was reopened two months before the

surrender of Germany The German Instrument of Surrender (german: Bedingungslose Kapitulation der Wehrmacht, lit=Unconditional Capitulation of the "Wehrmacht"; russian: Акт о капитуляции Германии, Akt o kapitulyatsii Germanii, lit=Act of capit ...

. However, the number of students was not sufficient for keeping the gymnasium department. Instead, a pedagogical college was arranged for religion and Hebrew teachers to be graduated. Despite the anti-religious policy of the

Communist government A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

, the rabbinical seminary in Budapest remained alive. It was the only one of its kind in Eastern Europe, but strongly dependent on national authorities. Religious life was regulated by the Ministry of Religion which was responsible for filling vacant rabbinical posts in Hungary. Being the only place of its kind in the

Eastern bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

, the Budapest seminary had a special mission. Students came from all countries of Eastern Europe, from the Soviet Union and even from Israel, to be graduated as a rabbi or

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

. They lived, partly with their families, in small simply furnished boarding rooms. From 1950 until his death in 1985,

Sándor Scheiber Sándor Scheiber (also Alexander Scheiber; 9 July 1913 – 3 March 1985) was a Hungarian rabbi and an eminent Jewish scholar. From 1950 until his death he was director of the Rabbinical Seminary in Budapest. Biography Scheiber was born in Bud ...

was director of the seminary who edited important publications on

Jewish studies Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; he, מדעי היהדות, madey ha-yahadut, sciences of Judaism) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history (esp ...

from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.

After 1989

After the end of communism, thanks to donations from abroad, the seminary building was renovated, the library modernized and some of the valuable old books were being restored.

Organization

The institute was under the supervision of the ministry of religion, which appointed the teachers upon nomination by the council (consisting of twelve clerical and twelve lay members), of which M. Schweiger was president and Dr. J. Simon secretary, ever since 1877. The course of study extended over ten years and was divided into two equal periods; one being devoted to the lower department, the other to the upper. The former corresponded to an "''Obergymnasium''"; and the requirement for admission was the possession of a diploma from an "''Untergymnasium''", or the passing of an entrance examination covering a certain amount of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

ics in addition to secular studies. The diplomas from this department were recognized by the state, and commanded admittance into any department of the universities or schools of technology. After the completion of the courses offered by the upper department, including attendance under the faculty of philosophy at the university, a year of probation followed. This was concluded in February by an oral examination after the candidate had presented three written

theses A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

Biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

rabbinic Rabbinic Judaism ( he, יהדות רבנית, Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Judaism espoused by the Rabbanites, has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian ...

-Talmudic, and

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

religious Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...

philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

subjects respectively. At graduation he received a rabbinical diploma, which was recognized by the state. To supplement the regular course of training there were students' societies in both departments. The library of the institute contained about 25,000 volumes of manuscripts and printed works, which were accessible to all in the reading-room.

References

* * Moshe Carmilly-Weinberger: ''The Rabbinical Seminary of Budapest, 1877-1977'': A centennial volume. Sepher-Hermon Press, New York 1986.

Bibliography (Jewish Encyclopedia)

* József Bánóczi, ''Gesch. des Ersten Jahrzehnts der Landes-Rabbinerschule'' (Supplement to the Annual Report for 1887-88); * Ludwig Blau, '' Brill, Sámuel Löw'', pp. 27–32, Budapest, 1902; * S. Schill, ''A Budapesti Országos Rabbiképzöintézet Története'', Budapest, 1896; * ''Annual Reports'' (with literary supplements) {{DEFAULTSORT:Budapest University Of Jewish Studies Jews and Judaism in Budapest Jewish seminaries Pest, Hungary Universities in Budapest Jewish Hungarian history Jewish universities and colleges Educational institutions established in 1877 Neolog Judaism synagogues 1877 establishments in Austria-Hungary