Academy for Jewish Religion (California)
Jewish seminary in Los Angeles, CA, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Academy for Jewish Religion California (AJRCA), is a Jewish seminary in Los Angeles. It trains rabbis, cantors and chaplains to serve congregations and organizations of any Jewish denomination.[1]
| Type | Seminary |
|---|---|
| Established | 2000 |
| Affiliations | Jewish (nondenominational) |
| Location | , , 34.0702°N 118.4384°W |
| Website | ajrca |
 | |
History
The school was conceived as a transdenominational alternative to the more established rabbinical schools by two Los Angeles rabbis, Stanley Levy and Stephen Robbins, later joined by a third, Mordecai Finley, who became president of the school soon after its establishment in 2001. Initially conceived as a branch of the New York City-based Academy for Jewish Religion, it soon became independent.[1]
In its first years the school was housed in a small temple in West Los Angeles,[2] later moving to the Yitzchak Rabin Hillel Center for Jewish Life at UCLA. It ordained its first three rabbis in 2003, and provided a means for students to pursue rabbinical studies while still working in other jobs.[1]
In 2010 the school partnered with Claremont School of Theology (CST) to provide a Jewish component for CST's interfaith curriculum.[3] In January 2013 Tamar Frankiel became the president of the Academy for Jewish Religion, making her the first Orthodox woman to lead an American rabbinical school.[4][5] The school itself is transdenominational, not Orthodox.[5] Later in 2013, the Academy relocated from UCLA to a building in Koreatown shared with two other Jewish organizations.[6] The Academy returned "home", to UCLA Hillel in the fall of 2017, and in 2021 it moved to the campus of Loyola Marymount University.[7] In 2022 Rabbi Joshua Hoffman was named as the president and CEO of the Academy.[8]
In 2025 the school ordained Jenni Asher, making her the first Black American woman ever ordained as a cantor.[9]
Building
The Yitzchak Rabin Hillel Center for Jewish Life is a center for Jewish cultural, religious and spiritual education at the University of California, Los Angeles.[10][11][12] The Hillel has been home to the Academy since the new building was dedicated in 2002.[13]