Notable Alumni of Jewish Theological Seminary of America

Bella Abzug 1920–1998

Lawyer, politician and women's movement leader

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York, CUNY Hunter College

Henrietta Szold 1860–1945

Zionist leader and founder of Hadassah

Also attended: Johns Hopkins University

Abraham Foxman 1940–2026

Former national director of the Anti-Defamation League

Also attended: New York University

Miriam Glazer-Ta'asa 1929–

Former Knesset member and Deputy Minister of Education

Rose Halprin 1896–1978

Zionist leader and national president of Hadassah

Education · Attended until 1913

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York, CUNY Hunter College

Jacob Neusner 1932–2016

Scholar of Judaism and prolific author

Also attended: Harvard University, Columbia University in the City of New York

Gertrude Himmelfarb 1922–2019

Historian and leader of conservative historiography

Also attended: University of Chicago, CUNY Brooklyn College

Spouse: Irving Kristol (CUNY--City College)

Child: Bill Kristol (Harvard University)

David Weiss Halivni 1927–2022

Talmud scholar, rabbi and professor

Doctorate · Talmud · Class of 1958

Also attended: CUNY Brooklyn College, New York University, Rabbinical Academy Mesivta Rabbi Chaim Berlin

Richard Elliott Friedman 1946–

Biblical scholar and University of Georgia professor

Also attended: University of Miami, Harvard University

Michael Berenbaum 1945–

Holocaust scholar, rabbi and author

Also attended: Florida State University, Boston University, CUNY Queens College

Norman Podhoretz 1930–2025

Magazine editor, writer and conservative commentator

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Child: John Podhoretz (University of Chicago)

Chaim Potok 1929–2002

Rabbi and author of The Chosen

Also attended: Yeshiva University, University of Pennsylvania

Herman Berlinski 1910–2001

German-born American composer and organist

Child: David Berlinski (Princeton University, Columbia University in the City of New York)

Daniel Gordis 1959–

Historian, writer and rabbi

Also attended: University of Southern California, Columbia University in the City of New York

Dorothy K. Kripke 1912–2000

Author of Jewish educational books

Spouse: Myer S. Kripke (Columbia University in the City of New York, Jewish Theological Seminary of America)

Child: Saul Kripke (Harvard University)

Mordecai Kaplan 1881–1983

Rabbi who founded Reconstructionist Judaism

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York, CUNY--City College

Abraham Skorka 1950–

Argentine rabbi, biophysicist and author

Arthur Hertzberg 1921–2006

Conservative rabbi and Jewish-American scholar

Also attended: Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University in the City of New York

Harold Kushner 1935–2023

Rabbi and author

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Marshall Meyer 1930–1993

Rabbi and human rights activist in Argentina

Also attended: Dartmouth College

David Wolpe 1958–

Rabbi and author

Ira Eisenstein 1906–2001

Rabbi and co-founder of Reconstructionist Judaism

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Harold M. Schulweis 1925–2014

Rabbi, theologian and author

Also attended: Pacific School of Religion, New York University, Yeshiva University

Eugene Kohn 1887–1977

Reconstructionist rabbi, writer and editor

Also attended: New York University