Prof. Aaron Demsky, Professor (emeritus) of Bible at Bar Ilan University and an expert in Jewish onomastics, is heading a working group to encourage the teaching Jewish genealogy at the university level.

As the Institute is not a teaching institution, the first question addressed was how to interest and encourage universities with strong Jewish Studies programs to offer courses in Jewish genealogy. As an alternative, the possibility was considered of offering advanced courses through the Internet, either by the Institute itself or by an institution of higher learning that specializes in distance teaching and is licensed to grant degrees.

The next question related to the level of the courses – with possible options ranging from a simple BA course and/or a BA major in Jewish genealogy, to an MA course within a Jewish Studies master’s program and/or a full, free-standing MA program, possibly leading to certification in Jewish genealogy as a career option. Complex issues arose concerning the structure of these courses and the pedagogical materials required for each of the options. These could range from little more than a syllabus and a course outline, to a complete package, consisting of textbooks, source books, bibliographies, pre-prepared tests and other teaching aids.

Prof. Demsky brought into his working group faculty members from Israel and abroad with a variety of skills and backgrounds, including curriculum building. Their interim recommendation was to strive for and produce a one-year MA course within a Jewish Studies program, which could serve as a basis for adaptation into an introductory course at the BA level (“Jewish Genealogy 101”) or, alternatively, for expansion into to a fully-developed MA program, leading to certification in Jewish genealogy. The prevailing view within the group was, and remains, that at the outset the MA course, or scaled down BA course, should be taught at two or three “pilot” universities in the traditional manner (lectures and seminars), rather than through the Internet, in the hope that the initiative will resonate in the academic world and that other universities will choose to follow suit.

Prof. Demsky has prepared the outline of a rich interdisciplinary MA course that inter alia would focus on:

1. Aspects of Jewish history, both familial and communal.
2. The structure and evolution of the Jewish family, up to and including the modern era.
3. Jewish onomastics: the development of given names and family names in different eras and communities.
4. Jewish demography, including migration and settlement patterns.
5. DNA studies, with special reference to genetic diseases.
6. Methodologies for genealogical research and analysis.
7. Genealogical sources and the ability to work with them.
8. The languages required for genealogical research into specific areas.

During 2008, Prof. Demsky and his group were in consultation with the heads of over 250 Jewish Studies programs at universities and institutes of higher learning across the world on how to translate this initiative into practice.

In the spring of 2009, a major university in the United States expressed interest in offering a 1-year (2-semester) BA course in Jewish Genealogy. Prof. Demsky and his group, together with a number of external consultants, are at present (summer and fall of 2009) engaged in preparing academic guidelines for that course which will hopefully be given in academic 2010-11.

Click here for the members of the working group and its consultants.