Does anyone know anything about Maimonides University in North Palm Beach, Florida? They offer DL BS, MS, and PhD's in counseling, religion (general and Judaic), and sexology, and also rabbinic ordination. Their web site is www.maimonidesuniversity.com
Degree mill. Next question? Well, as long as I woke up from my hibernation to answer this one, here are a few clues . . . Unlike a secular master's degree (which is one or two years) or an M.Div. in Christian theology (which is three years full time), a master's degree in Jewish studies leading to rabinical ordination is generally a five-year degree. And it is much heavier on the Hebrew than the courses at this joke of a school. (In other words, 40 credits for a master's degree leading to ordination is not even a good Jewish joke.) Keep in mind that schools in Florida that grant religious degrees are exempt from licensure (hence their pervasively religious degree titles). Also take a look (through their site map) at the list of textbooks they allegedly require. Way too many of them are from evangelical Christian publishers. Ditto some of the schools from which their faculty allegedly graduated. (Note also the reference to one faculty member having received his Ph.D. from the school itself, which does not purport to grant the Ph.D.) I'm not saying that the school is necessarily a front for evangelism, but no reputable Jewish agency would even consider them a legit source for a rent-a-rabbi. (There is, incidentally, quite a market for rent-a-rabbis, especially for unaffiliated Jewish families who need someone to conduct funerals. Most of them, however, are engaged through reputable Jewish funeral homes, which presumably do some level of credential checks.) Most of the religious degree mills I have investigated over the years purport to be evangelical; a few purport to be in the Catholic tradition. Maimonides has always been one of the most unique, being among few degree mills claiming to be Jewish. Chances are that you couldn't even learn what a matzoh bal is through them, let alone find out how to make a decent one.
I've got an even more sinister view than Steve does. If the faculty are truly credentialed by Christian schools (and the only Jewish institution I recognized was one faculty who got his BA and MHL from Yeshiva University) and with the books from evangelical presses, and with the one-week in residence per year, I wonder if it's even a jewish school. Sometimes these things are just Jews for Jesus fronts trying to snare unsuspecting unaffiliated Jews who are trying to learn about their heritage [hope I'm wrong about this one]. And while I don't necessarily agree with Steve's assessment of the credits/ordination equivalencies, this is largely because many ordination programs require significant previous learning and are not based upon the "credits and classes" models, rather on the "years of study to complete" model. But come on--Soncino Gemoras and Artscroll Halachah books in a Rabbinic ordination program-- weak weak weak.
