Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; ) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history (especially Jewish history), Middle Eastern studies, Asian studies, Oriental studies, religious studies, archeology, sociology, languages (Jewish languages), political science, area studies, women's studies, and ethnic studies. Jewish studies as a distinct field is mainly present at colleges and universities in North America. Related fields include Holocaust research and Israel studies, and in Israel, Jewish thought. Bar-Ilan University has the world's largest school of Jewish studies; while Harvard was the first American university, and perhaps the first in the world, to appoint a full-time scholar of Judaica to its faculty. History The Jewish tradition generally places a high value on learning and study, especially of religious texts. Torah study (study of the Torah and more broadly of the entire Hebrew Bible as well as Rabbinic literature such as the Talmud and Midrash) is considered a religious obligation. Since the Renaissance and the growth of higher education, many people, including people not of the Jewish faith, have chosen to study Jews and Judaism as a means of understanding the Jewish religion, heritage, and Jewish history. The term Wissenschaft des Judentums (Science of Judaism) first made its appearance among young Jewish intellectuals in Berlin during the 1810s and 1820s. The first organized attempt at developing and disseminating Wissenschaft des Judentums was the Verein für Kultur und Wissenschaft der Juden (Society for Jewish Culture and Science of the Jews), founded around 1819 by Eduard Gans, (a pupil of Hegel), and his associates, among them Leopold Zunz, Moses Moser, and later Heinrich Heine. Its principal objective, as it was then defined in the Zeitschrift für die Wissenschaft des Judentums (1822), was the study of Judaism by subjecting it to criticism and modern methods of research. With the development of the "Science of Judaism" throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and its ramification into many spheres and subjects (Bible criticism, Talmud, Jewish literature of all periods, history and archaeology, religious philosophy, and the like), "Science of Judaism" came to signify the totality of studies concerning the Jewish people and Judaism. In English speaking countries these studies came to be referred to by such terms as Judaistica, Judaica, and Jewish studies or Judaic studies. Religious instruction specifically for Jews, especially for those who wish to join the rabbinate, is taught