The institutional home of Jewish studies profoundly shapes its scholarly character and intellectual contributions. North American Jewish studies programs have evolved along two divergent paths: traditional Jewish-sponsored institutions and secular university settings. Jewish-sponsored institutions, while claiming the mantle of the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement's scientific objectivity, frequently operate within closed intellectual ecosystems marked by academic inbreeding and methodological insularity. Their faculty, predominantly trained within the same institutional networks, often perpetuate theological assumptions as historical facts through fundamentalist methodological approaches. In contrast, university-based programs offer richer resources, competitive academic environments, and vital connections to diverse disciplines, though they tend to subordinate particular Jewish concerns to broader humanistic inquiry. A comparative analysis reveals that while university scholars emphasize structural understanding and comparative methods, parochial institutions focus on exegetical engagement and community-oriented education. The growing legitimacy of universities as centers for Jewish scholarship represents a transformative shift that challenges traditional institutional monopolies, promising methodological innovation and intellectual freedom—though the full implications of this transformation remain to be seen.