The Heidelberg University for Jewish Studies is a hotbed of academic debate on all aspects of Jewish religion, history, culture, and society. The proximity to the historical heritage of the landscape in which Ashkenaz was born provides scientific and religious impulses for university work. She is, however, always interested in Jewish cultures as a whole across geographic and temporal spaces: in the past and present, as self-assured Judaism, as a diaspora, and in the land of Israel.
The Heidelberg University for Jewish Studies welcomes all students and academics, regardless of nationality or religious beliefs. The scientific library Albert Einstein, with seminar rooms in between, is opposite the corresponding teaching house, the Beth Midrash; here is the place of religious learning of the basic texts of Judaism with the university rabbi and members of the academic faculty. The kosher canteen serves university students and provides a place for relaxation and socializing.
The university sharpens the view of religion, history, culture, and society through the interaction of internal and external perspectives. Teachers and graduates are still writing Jewish history and theology. As a one-of-a-kind European competence center, it enables various regulations and future perspectives both within and outside of Europe's Jewish communities.
As an academic teaching and learning facility for Jewish and non-Jewish students, she serves as a laboratory in a rapidly changing society, bridging the gap between science and society. In collaboration with the humanities and social sciences in Heidelberg and other cooperation partners, the institution is the largest European location for Jewish studies as a place of dialogue between Jews, Christians, and Muslims.