Some are mid-career professionals deepening the Jewish dimensions of their work. Some are educators bringing greater rigor to their teaching. Some are creative practitioners, writers, artists, musicians, grounding their work in serious Jewish learning. Some are communal lay leaders preparing for greater responsibility. All come for the same reason: a calling to study Judaism deeply, in the company of an exceptional faculty and a serious community of fellow learners.
MJS candidates study alongside rabbinical, cantorial, and chaplaincy students, drawing from the same exceptional faculty and the same trans-denominational breadth of Jewish thought. Students specialize in an area of focus their knowledge and apply their wisdom in the living conversation of Jewish text and tradition.
The Master of Jewish Studies Program is a low-residency master’s program with flexible pacing designed to accommodate busy professional and personal lives.
Length: Two years of full-time study; part-time students are permitted to complete the program in up to four years.
Format: Low-residency hybrid model, online coursework supplemented by three in-person residencies in Los Angeles.
Curriculum: A shared MJS core in Jewish text, history, and thought, complemented by specialization-specific coursework.
Hebrew Language: Hebrew study is encouraged, however, depending upon the specialization, may not be required.
Master’s Thesis: Original scholarly or applied work in the student’s area of specialization.
The MJS Program is designed to be specialized by combining a shared foundation in Jewish text, history, and thought with focused study in a chosen area. Students declare a specialization upon admission and complete coursework specific to that track alongside the core MJS curriculum.
Jewish Values & Ethics: For those drawn to the moral dimensions of Jewish life. Coursework explores the development of Jewish ethics across the textual tradition, from biblical and rabbinic sources through medieval and modern thought, and engages with applied ethics in contemporary contexts: business, medicine, family life, community.
Ideal for educators, community professionals, and lay leaders shaping ethical conversations in their institutions.
Communal Leadership: For those serving, or preparing to serve, in Jewish congregational or institutional life. Coursework grounds students in the texts, history, and practices of community-building, alongside the practical dimensions of organizational leadership, education, and engagement.
Ideal for synagogue executives, federation professionals, day school administrators, JCC leaders, camp directors, and emerging communal leaders.
Creativity in Jewish Life: For artists, writers, musicians, and ritual innovators. Coursework brings Jewish text and tradition into dialogue with creative practice, exploring how the arts have shaped Jewish life across history, and how contemporary creativity can deepen spiritual and communal experience.
Ideal for working artists, ritual designers, and cultural professionals seeking to root their work in serious Jewish learning.
Sephardic Judaism: For those drawn to the wisdom, history, and living tradition of the Sephardic world. Coursework engages Sephardic intellectual history, halakhic and liturgical traditions, Ladino culture, and the contemporary Sephardic experience, building textual and contextual fluency in a tradition that remains underrepresented in mainstream Jewish education.
Ideal for educators, communal leaders, and learners committed to a fuller representation of Jewish diversity.
Interfaith Relations: For those working at the boundaries and building bridges between Jewish and other religious communities. Coursework grounds students in Jewish thought on the religious other, the history of Jewish-Christian and Jewish-Muslim engagement, and the practical dimensions of contemporary interfaith work. AJRCA’s partnership with LMU offers students unique access to interfaith dialogue at the institutional level.
Ideal for chaplains, educators, communal leaders, and professionals in interfaith organizations and settings.
Meet the Master of Jewish Studies Faculty
View More Alumni
Given their unique transdenominational training, Rabbis, Cantors, and Chaplains who graduate from the Academy work in a variety of denominational and transdenominational synagogues, organizations, and institutions nationwide. The following is a representative list:
Conservative
B’nai Shalom, Vista, CA
Congregation B’nai Israel, Tustin, CA
Sinai Temple, Los Angeles, CA
Temple Ramat Zion, Northridge, CA
Valley Beth Shalom, Encino, CA
Congregation Agudas Achim, Austin, TX
Congregation Ner Tamid of South Bay, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Temple Beth Sholom, Temecula, CA
Temple Sholom, Greenwich, CT
Congregation Beth Shalom, Corona, CA
Fort Belvoir Congregation, Ft. Belvoir, VA
Temple Ner Tamid, San Francisco, CA
Valley Beth Israel, Sun Valley, CA
Conservative / Reform
Congregation Beth Shalom, Sioux City, IA
Congregation Kol Ami, Salt Lake City, UT
Temple Shalom, Colorado Springs, CO
Humanistic
Adat Chaverim, Encino, CA
Reconstructionist / Renewal
Congregation P’nai Tikvah, Las Vegas, NV
Makom Ohr Shalom, Encino, CA
Wholly Present, A Center for Embodied Spirituality, El Sobrante, CA
Reform
Beth Emet, Evanston, IL
Congregation Beth Israel, West Hartford, CT
Congregation Emeth, Morgan Hill, CA
Jewish Communities of the Desert, Desert Hot Springs, CA
Temple Beth David, Temple City, CA
Temple Beth Israel, Pomona, CA
Temple Emanuel, Beverly Hills, CA
Beit Knesset BaMidbar, Las Vegas, NV
Congregation B’nai Tikvah, Walnut Creek, CA
Congregation Ner Tamid, Henderson, NV
Temple Ahavat Shalom, Northridge, CA
Temple Beth El, Aptos, CA
Temple Beth Tikvah, Wayne, NJ
Temple Emanuel, Pueblo, CO
Congregation Beth Israel, Scottsdale, AZ
Congregation Emanu-El, San Francisco, CA
Congregation Ohr Tzafon, Atascadero, CA
Temple Akiba, Culver City, CA
Temple Beth Hillel, Richmond, CA
Temple B’rith Shalom, Prescott, AZ
Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Los Angeles, CA
Trans / Postdenominational / Unaffiliated / Other
Ahavat Torah Congregation, Los Angeles, CA
Congregation Beth Jacob, Redwood City, CA
Congregation Kehillah of Arizona, Scottsdale, AZ
Congregation N’vay Shalom, Los Angeles, CA
Jewish Community & Learning Center, Sunland, CA
Lev Chadash, Chino Valley, AZ
Oahu Jewish Ohana, Honolulu, HI
Temple Beth El, Santa Maria, CA
Valley Outreach Synagogue, Calabasas, CA
Beth Israel Congregation, Greeley, CO
Congregation B’nai Horin, Los Angeles, CA
Congregation Shir Chadash, Lakewood, CA
Desert Outreach Synagogue, Rancho Mirage, CA
Jewish Community of Ojai, Ojai, CA
Nachshon Minyan, Encino, CA
Open Temple, Venice, CA
Temple Beth Or, Reno, NV
Zimrat Yah, Santa Barbara, CA
Congregation Bet Shalom, Tuscon, AZ
Congregation B’nai Or, St. Croix, U.S.V.I
Congregation Shir Shalom, Sonoma, CA
Fountainview at Gonda, Los Angeles, CA
Jewish Community of Sedona & Verde Valley, Sedona, AZ
Nefesh, Los Angeles, CA
Or Echad, Agoura Hills, CA
Temple Ner Simcha, Agoura Hills, CA
Beit Kulam, Sherwood Forest, CA
Jewish Community High School of the Bay, San Francisco, CA
HomeShul, Agoura Hills, CA
Tarbut v’Torah, Irvine, CA
Congregation Tikvat Jacob, Manhattan Beach, CA
Jewish Day School of Metro. Seattle, Bellevue, WA
Shalom Hartman Institute, Los Angeles, CA
Temple Menorah, Redondo Beach, CA
Jewish Community Center, San Francisco, CA
Melton School of Adult Learning, Los Angeles, CA
Sinai Akiba Academy, Los Angeles, CA
California Lutheran Univ., Thousand Oaks, CA
Sandra Caplan Beit Din, Culver City, CA
Shutafi m, New Mexico Jewish Connections, Albuquerque, NM
Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
California Dept. of Corrections, San Quentin, CA
Covia, Oakland, CA
Jewish Federation & Family Services of O.C., Irvine, CA
L.A. Community Chaplaincy Services, Los Angeles, CA
Meridian Assisted Living, Cheviot Hills, CA
Providence St. John’s Med. Ctr., Santa Monica, CA
Seasons Hospice, Broward County, FL
The Sparta Project, Valencia, CA
Beit T’shuvah, Los Angeles, CA
Cedars Sinai Med. Ctr., Los Angeles, CA
Denver Hospice, Denver, CO
Jewish Healing Center of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Motion Picture & Television Fund, Woodland Hills, CA
Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center, Pasadena, CA
Providence St. Joseph Med. Ctr., Burbank, CA
Skirball Hospice, Encino, CA
Valley Outreach Synagogue, Calabasas, CA
Buena Vista Hospice, Thousand Oaks, CA
Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles, CA
Greater Miami Jewish Federation, Miami, FL
Jewish Home for the Aging, Los Angeles, CA
Madrona Hospice & Palliative Care, Scottsdale, AZ
P.E.C. Hospice, Garden Grove, CA
Providence Tarzana Med. Ctr., Tarzana, CA
St. Paul’s Towers, Oakland, CA
Walter Reed Nat’l. Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD
Academy for Jewish Religion, Los Angeles, CA
University of Arizona, College of Medicine
Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
Yavapai Community College, Prescott, AZ
L.A. Valley College, Los Angeles, CA
Camp JCA Shalom, Malibu, CA
Shalom Institute, Malibu, CA
Professionals, Scholars and mentors who share the journey with you
President
Chief Academic Officer and Dean of the Rabbinical School and Master of Jewish Studies Program
Academic Dean of the Cantorial School
Chaplaincy Program Director, ACPE Certified Educator
Chief Financial Officer
Director of Student Affairs
Director of Admissions and Marketing
Educating spiritual leaders to transform the Jewish world.
1 LMU Drive, Suite 3400
Los Angeles, CA 90045
(213) 884-4133
admissions@ajrca.edu
Programs
Rabbinical School
Cantorial School
Chaplaincy School
Master of Jewish Studies Program
CPE for Clergy & Professionals
Community Education
Information
Our Story
Faculty & Staff
Board of Directors
Alumni
Partnerships
Connect
Admissions
Events
Makom Magazine
Contact
Support AJRCA
Your support sustains accessible, courageous Jewish leadership for generations to come.
