The Montefiore College
Training a new generation of rabbis for the Anglo-Jewish community
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Timetable & curriculum
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TimetableThe Course's academic year comprises 38 weeks, divided into three terms. Students are expected to attend between 12 hours and 16 hours of taught sessions a week and to devote a roughly equivalent time to preparation and private study. Taught sessions take place usually between 2.30 pm and 9.00 pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays as well as very occasionally on Sunday mornings. Shabbatons, for which accommodation is arranged, are held from time to time. During the course and depending on circumstances at the time, students may spend a short period studying in Jerusalem. The course is planned to last for between three-and-a-half and four years for those with good preliminary knowledge. It will extend for a longer period for students who need more time. Curriculum1.1 General Introduction to the Course Halacha2.1 Melicha & Dam 3.1 Kiddushin and Edut 4.1 Shabbat (A) - Cooking etc. 5.1 Avelut 6.1 Niddah 7.1 Minor Topics (Optional: either A.1 and A.2 or B.1 and B.2) Tanach8.1 Judges and Kings Tefillah9.1 History and Analysis of Prayer Midrash10.1 Analysis of the significance of Midrash Practical Rabbinics11.1 Counselling (A) - Introduction to Counselling. Marriage 12.1 Ta'amim 13.1 Public Speaking (A) 14.1 Hazanut (Sephardi or Ashkenazi) - optional 15.1 Voice Training - optional 16.1 Time Management and Leadership - optional (if requested by a sufficient number of students) General Topics17.1 Ethics 18.1 History 19.1 Interfaith and Inter-Communal Relations 20.1 Development of the Anglo-Jewish Community General NotesTo qualify for semicha, a student must pass all the compulsory modules. Modules marked as 'optional' are not essential for the awarding of semicha but will be taken into account in overall assessments. The semicha awarded, whether yoreh yoreh or veyikare rav, will be at the sole discretion of the examiners. To pass a module, a student must have attended at least 70% of the sessions, fulfilled the practical work requirement (if any) and have attained a mark of 55% in the examination: a mark of at least 75% is required for the award of a distinction. A student will be allowed to re-take an examination if he fails to pass the first time - subject to his attendance record and to the Director's approval. Some optional modules may not be taught if an insufficient numbers of students apply to study them. Modules with the same initial number (e.g. 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc.) are inter-dependent, with each to some extent depending on knowledge of the preceding module. Modules with different initial numbers (e.g. 7.1, 8.1, 9.1, etc.) are stand-alone modules. Elements of practical rabbinics that do not qualify for a separate module of their own and/or do not fit into other modules are also included in the course but will not be subject to separate examination. Course Details1.1 General introduction to the course (60-80 hours)2.1 Melicha and Dam (Dam 15 hours, Melicha 30 hours)Simanim 66 - 68 2.2 Basar Bechalab (A). Theory. 135 hours total using Bet Yossef and Shulhan Aruch; Ma'arechet HaShulhan by KornfeldComprising: 2.3 Basar Bechalab (B). Refresher and Practical Applications (50 hours)Details to follow 2.4 Ta'aruvot (50 hours)Simanim: 98 - 111 3.1 Kiddushin (Marriage) and Edut (Testimony). 20 hours plus practicals, using Huppa VeKiddushin and Nissuin KehilchatamKiddushin Simanim: 26 - 65 excluding shlichut. also Seder HaGet Siman 154 4.1 Shabbat uMoadim (A) - Cooking etc (50 hours)Simanim 253-254, 257, 262 and 318 4.2 Shabbat uMoadim (B) - Building etc (50 hours)Simanim 308-311, 313-314 4.3 Shabbat uMoadim (C) - Carrying etc (50 hours)Simanim 345-349, 358, 362 and 382 5.1 Avelut (20 hours)Simanim: 340-401 6.1 Nidda / Mikvaot (20 hours)Simanim: 183-202.. Simanim: 340-401 7.1 Minor Topics - Partly optional. Students may choose to study either A.1 and A.2 or B.1 and B.2 (30 hours each for two of the four sections)A.1 Fish and Worms. Simanim: 83-85 B.1 Tefillah (Prayer). Simanim: 1-32; 37-149; 151-154; 157-158; 161-165 8 Tanach (40 hours)8.1 Judges and Kings 9 Tefillah (15 hours)9.1 History and Analysis of Prayer 10 Midrash (15 hours)10.1 Analysis of the significance of Midrash 11.1 Counselling (A) - Introduction to counselling & Marriage (15 hours plus practical work)11.2 Counselling (B) - Bereavement (15 hours plus practical work)Practical work includes assisting at three funerals and in three houses of mourning 12.1 Ta'amim (10 hours plus individual coaching and practice in synagogue)Keriat Ha Torah 13.1 Public Speaking (A) (15 hours)13.2 Public Speaking (B) - Refresher and Practicals (15 hours plus practical experience in delivering at least two public addresses)14.1 Hazanut (Sephardi or Ashkenazi) - optional (10 hours plus practical experience in reading statutory services)15.1 Voice Training - optional (10 hours of individual or small-group tuition)16.1 Time Management and Leadership - optionalThis part of the course has not yet been designed - though some of Rabbi Abraham Levy's and Chief Rabbi Sack's lectures are relevant to the leadership aspect. 17.2 Ethics (15 hours)Introduction 18.1 History (15 hours)Zahor - the rabbinical view of history 19.1 Other Religions and Inter-Communal Relations (12 hours)Origins and rise of Christianity 20.1 Development of the Anglo-Jewish Community (12 hours plus visits)Expulsion to readmission Note: Modules 18.1, 19.1 and parts of 20.1 may be merged. |