The Jewish Institute of Religion was an educational establishment created by Rabbi Stephen S. Wise in 1922 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. While generally incorporating

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous sear ...

, it was separate from the previously established Hebrew Union College. It sought to train

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 "for the Jewish ministry, research, and community service." Students were to serve either Reform or traditional pulpits.HEBREW UNION COLLEGE-JEWISH INSTITUTE OF RELIGION
/ref> Wise's early support for Zionism, and his dispute with Reform hierarchy over the "question whether the pulpit shall be free or whether the pulpit shall not be free, and, by reason of its loss of freedom, reft of its power for good",Staff

''

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'', January 7, 1906. Accessed October 18, 2008. led to the establishment of his Free Synagogue in 1907. Wise remained president until 1948, and housed JIR next to his Free Synagogue on West 68th Street. He hoped that its graduates would generate other Free Synagogues "animated by the same spirit of free inquiry, of warm Jewish feeling, and of devotion to the cause of social regeneration." JIR from the start inclined to Zionism, in contrast to HUC, which at the time did not favor Jewish nationalism. Motivated largely by budgetary difficulties, Wise accepted the prospect of JIR's merger with HUC once the biblical archaeologist

Nelson Glueck Nelson Glueck (June 4, 1900 – February 12, 1971) was an American rabbi, academic and archaeologist. He served as president of Hebrew Union College from 1947 until his death, and his pioneering work in biblical archaeology resulted in the disco ...

assumed the presidency. Negotiations were completed in 1948 and in 1950 the two schools merged. In 1954 a school in Los Angeles was chartered and, in 1963, primarily as a result of Glueck's efforts, a Jerusalem campus, initially devoted to archaeology, was opened.

References

Defunct private universities and colleges in New York City Reform Judaism in the United States Universities and colleges in New York City Embedded educational institutions Educational institutions established in 1922 Educational institutions disestablished in 1950 Hebrew Union College Seminaries and theological colleges in New York City 1922 establishments in New York City Reform Zionism {{Jewish-org-stub