Initiatives

“We have always been deeply committed to Jewish education, and to supporting projects that help promote effective learning and teaching.” – Aryeh Rubin

From 2006 through 2015, Targum Shlishi awarded grants for dissertations on Jewish Studies topics. Grant amounts and quantities ranged each year, but generally grants were awarded to between six and ten doctoral students, primarily from the U.S. and Israel. Grants typically ranged from $1,000 to $2,500 per student and were to support dissertation research. The wide range of topics represented by the grant recipients is indicative of the great diversity of Jewish experience and the range of vital themes that Jewish Studies, as an academic field, has the potential to address.

Targum Shlishi’s commitment to nurturing young scholars and to Jewish Studies grew out of a deep conviction that it is essential to support this work. While Targum Shlishi has discontinued its dissertation research grants initiative, it continues to support scholarship in Jewish Studies in myriad ways, from supporting conferences to college courses to academic publications.

“It is vitally important that our body of knowledge continues to expand, to be challenged, and to evolve. Our self-generated initiative to award grants for dissertation research grew from our conviction that original scholarship has a central role in the health of Jewish education, and should be nurtured,” says Aryeh Rubin, Targum Shlishi’s founder and director.