University
Rabbi Zecharias Frankel (1801-1875) at one time was in the traditional wing of the nascent Reform Judaism movement. After the second Reform rabbinic conference (1845, Frankfurt, Germany) he resigned after coming to believe that their positions were exceedingly radical. In 1854 he became the head of a new rabbinical school, the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau. In his magnum opus Darkhei HaMishnah (Ways of the Mishnah) Rabbi Frankel amassed scholarly support which showed that Jewish law was not static, but rather had always developed in response to changing conditions. He called his approach towards Judaism 'Positive-Historical', which meant that one should accept Jewish law and tradition as normative, yet one must be open to changing and developing the law in the same historical fashion that Judaism has always historically developed.

The Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau
About this time in America, Rabbi Sabato Morais championed the reaction to American Reform. At one time Rabbi Morais had been a voice for moderation within the coalition of Reformers. He had opposed the more radical changes, but was open to moderate changes that would not offend traditional sensibilities. After the Reform movement published the Pittsburgh Platform, Rabbi Morais recognized the futility of his efforts and began the creation of a new rabbinical school in New York City. He was soon joined by Rabbi Alexander Kohut and Rabbi Bernard Drachman, both of whom had received semicha (rabbinic ordination) at Rabbi Frankel's Breslau seminary. They shaped the curriculum and philosophy of the new school after Rabbi Frankel's seminary.
In 1902, Professor Solomon Schechter assumed presidency of JTS. In a series of papers he articulated an ideology for the nascent movement. In 1913 he presided over the creation of the United Synagogue of America. (The name was changed in 1991 to the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.)
Prominent professors at the Seminary were such luminaries as Saul Lieberman, Alexander Marx, Louis Ginzberg and Louis Finkelstein and others as well.
Between 1940 and 1985, The Jewish Theological Seminary produced a radio and television show called "The Eternal Light." The show aired on Sunday afternoons, featuring well-known Jewish personalities like Chaim Potok and Elie Wiesel. Broadcasts did not involve preaching or prayer, but drew on history, literature and social issues to explore Judaism and Jewish holidays in a manner that was accessible to persons of any faith.

Positive-Historical Judaism in America
Effective March 26, 2007, The Jewish Theological Seminary accepts openly gay students into their rabbinical and cantorial programs. An announcement in the press, first posted on the school's website and typified by Haaretz.com has been made about the admission of and ordination of homosexual students for the rabbinate and for cantorship.
A Conservative Jewish seminary in New York has agreed to admit gays and lesbians who want to become rabbis and cantors, but declined to take a stand on whether rabbis should officiate at same-sex unions. The Jewish Theological Seminary announced its decision yesterday, more than three months after the Rabbinical Assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards authorized the ordination of gays and lesbians.

Admission of GLBT students

Cyrus Adler
Gerson Cohen
Miles Cohen
Arnie Eisen
José Faur
Louis Finkelstein
Israel Francus
Shamma Friedman
Stephen Geller
Neil Gillman
Louis Ginsberg
H. L. Ginzberg
David Weiss Halivni
Abraham Joshua Heschel
Carol K. Ingall
Mordechai Kaplan
Saul Lieberman
Dov Mandelbaum
Barbara Mann
David Marcus
Alexander Marx
Alan Mintz
Yochanan Muffs
David G. Roskies
Joel Roth
Solomon Schechter
Raymond Scheindlin
Ismar Schorsch
Gordon Tucker
Burton Visotzky
Jack Wertheimer
Dov Zlotnick Notable alumni

Conservative Judaism
Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau
JTS library fire
Jüdisch-Theologisches Seminar
Rabbinical Assembly
Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano [1]
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism