The Jewish Encyclopedia
of Western Pennsylvania
A project of the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center
The College of Jewish Studies was a Jewish educational facility for teenage students in Pittsburgh who wanted to pursue Jewish studies beyond the religious school curriculum.
Following the results of the Self-Study on Jewish Education, the United Jewish Federation hired Dr. Aharon Kessler of the American Association of Jewish Education to Pittsburgh in 1951 to oversee the new Council on Jewish Education, which was intended to unify and standardize Jewish education in the region. The Council on Jewish Education founded the independent College of Jewish Studies in December 1953.
The College of Jewish Studies offered a five-year program for students between 13 and 17. It met at Beth Shalom Congregation and initially maintained four departments: the Department of Advanced Jewish Studies, the Department of Advanced Hebrew Studies, the Department of In-Service Training, and the Department of Parent Education. It split the Hebrew department into two sections—preparatory and advanced—starting in 1954.
The University of Pittsburgh officially recognized the College of Jewish Studies in 1955, allowing university students receive as many as 24 credits for courses taken at the college in Hebrew language, Hebrew literature, and Jewish history. The College of Jewish Studies merged with the Secondary and Teacher Training Departments of the Hebrew Institute in 1969 to create the School of Advanced Jewish Studies.