The goal is to provide students within the department a broad foundation in the history of Jewish thought, as well as more profound knowledge in one or two areas of concentration, based upon the choice of the students and the guidance of the faculty of the department.  The program aims to to prepare students for academic research and high-school instruction.  The method of study combines philosophical analysis, philological research and historical evaluation.  It aspires to highlight the distinctive perspectives that single out Jewish thought, on the one hand, and its intersection with general philosophy throughout the ages, on the other.

Areas of Concentration:

1. Jewish thought during the Second Temple period (Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, Qumran literature, ancient mysticism, and rabbinic literature).
2. Jewish medieval and Renaissance philosophy from Saadya Gaon until Spinoza.
3. Kabbalah from the medieval period until the Renaissance (Safed Kabbalah).
4. Modern Jewish thought (Jewish philosophy, Kabbalah and mysticism, the Mussar movement, and Orthodox Jewish thought).

Prerequisites for Admission:

In addition to the prerequisites for admission into the university, graduates of Israeli high schools who studied in an institution where the language of instruction was not Hebrew, must pass a Hebrew literacy exam with a grade of at least 130.