DOCSLIB.ORG

Download Download

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Download Download Judaica Librarianship Volume 11 Issue 1–2 56-61 1-1-2003 One Hundred Years of Genizah Discovery & Research: The American Share Menachem Schmelzer Jewish Theological Seminary, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://ajlpublishing.org/jl Part of the Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Information Literacy Commons, Jewish Studies Commons, and the Reading and Language Commons Recommended Citation Schmelzer, Menachem. 2003. "One Hundred Years of Genizah Discovery & Research: The American Share." Judaica Librarianship 11: 56-61. doi:10.14263/2330-2976.1124. One Hundred Years of Genizah Discovery & Research: The American Share* Menahem Schmelzer Jewish Theological Seminary of America New York, NY Excerpts from the Introduction by appeared in a broad spectrum of journals, comprehensive command of bibliographic Michael W. Grunberger Festschriften, and conference proceed- sources and of the librarian who requires ings. Of special note is Professor this knowledge to provide the tools It is a special honor for me to introduce the Schmelzer’s Herculean re-working of the needed by his scholarly clientele. Before 1997 Myer and Rosaline Feinstein Foun- Union Catalog of Hebrew Manuscripts and his service of more than twenty years at dation Lecturer, Professor Menahem their Location - which he edited and for the helm of the JTS Library, Professor Schmelzer. The Feinstein Lecture is a pro- which he provided an index - rendering Schmelzer was assistant to the head of gram of the Council of Archives and Freimann’s catalog usable in the first the Manuscript Division in the Jewish Research Libraries in Jewish Studies and instance and available to all in the second. National and University Library in is sponsored by the National Foundation Jerusalem and was Librarian of the for Jewish Cultures Jewish Endowment for Menahem Schmelzer has, for many of us, Library of the Jewish Community in Basle. the Arts and Humanities.... defined the field of Judaica bibliography. In In the United States, he was a past presi- the early 1970’s, he designed a course of dent of the Council of Archives and It is especially appropriate that this second study on Judaica bibliography that became Research Libraries in Jewish Studies; Feinstein Foundation Lecture be given by the model for subsequent courses offered associate editor of the Jewish Book Annu- Professor Menahem Schmelzer of the elsewhere. This training course in Judaica al; and a past secretary of the Jewish Jewish Theological Seminary of America bibliography was supported by a grant Book Council. (JTS). Professor Schmelzer is after all from the National Endowment for the JTS’s Professor of Medieval Hebrew Liter- Humanities, and graduates of this course ature and Jewish Bibliography - no doubt a continue to refer to the materials used in Michael W Grunberger is Head of the unique combination and one that reflects the course. I can testify to the number of Hebraic Section of the Library of Congress Professor Schmelzer’s twin areas of “bootleg” copies of the curriculum hand- and serves as President of the Council of expertise. He has over the course of sev- outs and readings that circulated amongst Archives and Research Libraries in Jewish eral decades published numerous studies Judaica library professionals in the years Studies. that rely on these twin specialties: essays following the offering of the course. on the liturgy of assorted illuminated man- uscripts; Hebrew printing in Germany; arti- Professor Schmelzer’s expertise is rooted cles on a variety of paytanim and piyutim; in the experience of both the scholar and many other articles that have whose research requires him to develop a *Originally presented at the 32nd Annual Convention of the Association of Jewish Libraries, Cleveland, June 1997. Original- ly published as a pamphlet (New York: National Foundation for Jewish Culture/Council of Archives and Research Libraries in Jewish Studies), 1998. (NFJC Lecture Series no. 2). 56 Judaica Librarianship Vol. 11 No. 1-2 Winter 2002 - Spring 2003 Lecture by Solomon Schechter was the most influen- shammash told him: “Schechter carried it Menahem Schmelzer tial figure in Genizah discoveries, but he away”.7 But what did Adler carry away? was not the only one. Fortunately, we do have a catalogue of Not long ago Frank Rich wrote an inter- the Dropsie College Genizah fragments, esting column in The New York Times. It Cyrus Adler, an American scholar and now at the University of Pennsylvania. was called “Reverse Exodus” and was public leader, played an important role as This relatively small collection is a kind of subtitled “American Jews go back down- well in this endeavor. Grace Cohen a microcosm of the Genizah as a whole. town.” 1 The main thrust of the article Grossman recently painted an intricate By the way, in the Dropsie collection, in was that American Jews should not have portrait of Cyrus Adler, who, among his addition to the Cyrus Adler acquisition, to seek their roots or identity in the “old many public Jewish and non-Jewish roles, there were also manuscripts that several country” or Israel or the Holocaust, was instrumental in acquiring Judaica other American collectors, Mayer because there is pride to be derived from items for the Smithsonian Institution, Sulzberger, Herbert Friedenwald, David their rich American Jewish heritage. He where he served as secretary. In 1890 Werner Amram, and Camden M. Cobern pointed out that the past of American Adler became involved in the preparation obtained in Cairo. In the Dropsie Collec- Judaism could well serve as a source of of a large scale exposition to take place in tion there are fragments of Bible and Tal- Chicago to celebrate the four hundredth mud, liturgy and poetry, documents and inspiration of younger generations of 8 Jews. The story told here of a little known anniversary of the discovery of America. letters, amulets and philosophical texts. He was asked to travel to the Orient to The oldest known text of the Passover chapter of American Jewish scholarship, 5 is for sure glorious, rich of great achieve- secure objects for the Exposition. On Haggadah is the proud possession of the ment, and part of the proud American his way to the Middle East he stopped for collection, as is a 4,000 word letter from Jewish past. a few days in England where he met for Sicily, from the year 1064, in which vari- the first time two men who later became ous business matters and a civil war in Nineteen ninety-seven marked the cen- important in Genizah history, Solomon Tunisia where the writer faced death, are tennial of the removal of hundreds of Schechter and Elkan Nathan Adler. described. The Dropsie Haggadah is not thousands of old and worn Hebrew manu- Cyrus Adler, no relation to Elkan, pro- only old, but it is very different from the 9 script fragments from a chamber –the ceeded on his trip and spent the Spring of text that we are using today. The avail- Genizah—of the ancient Ben Ezra syna- 1891 in Cairo. In his memoirs, he record- ability of this collection in the United gogue in Old Cairo.2 This feat is forever ed his acquisition of Genizah fragments: States spurred great activity among schol- tied to Solomon Schechter,3 whose name ars in this country, who devoted them- has indeed become a household word, I was always looking out for Museum selves to studying the treasures hidden in mainly because of the success of the net- specimens that could be bought within these fragments. work of Schechter schools named after reason, and I wandered about the him. However, Solomon Schechter’s shops very often. I happened one day Solomon Schechter’s arrival in New York name is memorable for the reasons of his to find several trays full of parchment as president of the Jewish Theological own watershed achievements. Schechter, leaves written in Hebrew, which the Seminary in 1902 made New York into a a hundred years ago, was a teacher of merchant had labeled anticas. I saw at capital of Genizah research. Schechter Rabbinics at Cambridge University in a glance that these were very old. As I himself continued to publish his discover- England, enjoying fame as a scholar, wore a pith helmet and khaki suit, like ies, and others joined him. Many of these whose pioneering publications made a every other tourist, he thought I wanted discoveries were first published in the great impression on Jews and non-Jews one as a souvenir. But indicating an scholarly journal, The Jewish Quarterly alike. It is well-known how two Scottish interest in the whole lot I purchased Review, which was issued since 1910 tourist ladies, returning from a trip to them, big and little, some of the pieces under the auspices of Dropsie College in Egypt, showed Schechter some old only one sheet, some of them forty or Philadelphia, and was edited by Adler and Hebrew manuscript fragments that they fifty pages, at the enormous price of one Schechter. The transfer of the prestigious had acquired there, and how Schechter, shilling per unit and thus brought back journal from England, where it had been in great excitement, identified these frag- to Europe what was probably the sec- published from its inception in 1889 until ments as part of the long-lost original of ond largest collection from the Genizah, 1910, to the United States, was another the ancient Hebrew work, the Book of Ben certainly the first to America, out of important step in the development of Jew- 10 Sira. Schechter, with the full support of which has come at least one book and ish studies in this country. Schechter the authorities of Cambridge University several important articles.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Toolkit for Genizah Scholars: a Practical Guide for Neophytes
    EAJS SUMMER LABORATORY FOR YOUNG GENIZAH RESEARCHERS Institut für den Nahen und Mittleren Osten, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München, 6–7 September 2017 Toolkit for Genizah Scholars: A Practical Guide for Neophytes Compiled by Gregor Schwarb (SOAS, University of London) A) Introductory articles, general overviews, guides and basic reference works: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd edition, vol. 16, cols. 1333–42 [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/genizah- cairo]. Stefan REIF et al., “Cairo Geniza”, in The Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, vol. 1, ed . N. Stillman, Leiden: Brill, 2010, pp. 534–555. Nehemya ALLONY, The Jewish Library in the Middle Ages: Book Lists from the Cairo Genizah, ed. Miriam FRENKEL and Haggai BEN-SHAMMAI with the participation of Moshe SOKOLOW, Jerusalem: Ben-Zvi Institute, 2006 [Hebrew]. An update of JLMA, which will include additional book lists and inventories from the Cairo Genizah, is currently being prepared. Haggai BEN-SHAMMAI, “Is “The Cairo Genizah” a Proper Name or a Generic Noun? On the Relationship between the Genizot of the Ben Ezra and the Dār Simḥa Synagogues”, in “From a Sacred Source”: Genizah Studies in Honour of Professor Stefan C. Reif, ed. Ben Outhwaite and Siam Bhayro, Leiden: Brill, 2011, pp. 43–52. Rabbi Mark GLICKMAN, Sacred Treasure: The Cairo Genizah. The Amazing Discoveries of Forgotten Jewish History in an Egyptian Synagogue Attic, Woodstock: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2011. Adina HOFFMAN and Peter COLE, Sacred Trash: The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza, New York: Nextbook, Schocken, 2010. Simon HOPKINS, “The Discovery of the Cairo Geniza”, in Bibliophilia Africana IV (Cape Town 1981).
    [Show full text]
  • Shavuot 5780 Divrei Torah
    Shavuot 5780 Divrei Torah Sponsored by: Debbie and Orin Golubtchik in honor of: The yahrzeits of Orin's parents חביבה בת שמואל משה בן חיים ליב Barbara and Simcha Hochman & family in memory of: • Simcha’s father, Rabbi Jonas Hochman a"h and • Gedalya ben Avraham, Blima bat Yaakov, Eeta bat Noach and Chaya bat Gedalya, who were murdered upon arrival at Birkenau on the 2nd day Shavuot. Table of Contents Page 3 Forward by Rabbi Adler ”That which you can and cannot do on Yom Tov אכל נפש“ Page 5 Yaakov Blau “Shifting voices in the narrative of Tanach” Page 9 Leeber Cohen “The Importance of Teaching Torah to Grandchildren” Page 11 Elchanan Dulitz “Bezchus Rabbi Dr. Baruch Tzvi ben R. Reuven Nassan z”l Mai Chanukah” Page 15 Martin Fineberg “Shavuos 5780 D’var Torah” Page 19 Yehuda Halpert “Ruth and Orpah’s Wedding Album: Fake News or Biblical Commentary” Page 23 Terry Novetsky “The “Mitzva” of Shavuot” Page 31 Yitzchak Shulman “Parshat Behaalotcha “ Page 33 Bernard Stahl The Meaning of Humility Page 41 Murray Sragow “Jews and Booze—A look at Jewish responses to Prohibition” Page 49 Mark Teicher “Intertextuality/Numerology” Page 50 Mark Zitter ”קרבנות של חג השבועות“ 2 Forward by Rabbi Adler Chaveireinu HaYikarim, Every year on the first night of Shavuot many of us get together for the purpose of learning with one another. There are multiple shiurim and many hours of chavruta learning . Unfortunately, in today’s climate we cannot learn with one another but we can learn from one another. Enclosed are a variety of Torah articles on many different topics which you are invited to enjoy during the course of Zman Matan Torahteinu.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Between Egypt and Yemen in the Cairo Genizah Amir Ashur Center
    Between Egypt and Yemen in the Cairo Genizah Amir Ashur Center for the Study of Conversion and Inter-religious Encounters, Ben Gurion University, the Interdisciplinary Center for the Broader Application of Genizah Research, University of Haifa, and the Department of Hebrew Culture, Tel Aviv University [email protected] Ben Outhwaite University of Cambridge [email protected] Abstract A study of two documents from the Cairo Genizah, a vast repository of medieval Jewish writings recovered from a synagogue in Fusṭāṭ, Egypt, one hundred years ago, shows the importance of this archive for the history of medieval Yemen and, in particular, for the role that Yemen played in the Indian Ocean trade as both a commercial and administrative hub. The first document is a letter from Aden to Fusṭāṭ, dated 1133 CE, explaining the Aden Jewish community’s failure to raise funds to send to the heads of the Palestinian Gaonate in Egypt. It signals the decline of that venerable institution and the increasing independence of the Yemeni Jews. The second text is a legal document, produced by an Egyptian Jewish trader who intended to travel to Yemen, but who wished to ensure his wife was provided for in his absence. Both documents show the close ties between the Egyptian and Yemeni Jewish communities and the increasing commercial importance of Yemen to Egyptian traders. Keywords Cairo Genizah, history, India trade, al-Ǧuwwa, Hebrew, Judaeo- Arabic, marriage, Jewish leadership, legal contract, Aden, Fusṭāṭ. 1. Introduction The discovery of a vast store of manuscripts and early printed material in the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fusṭāṭ at the end of the nineteenth century revolutionised the academic study of Judaism and provided a wealth of primary sources for the scrutiny of the Mediterranean world at large in the High Middle Ages and Early Modern period.
    [Show full text]
  • Jews and Mormons: Two Houses of Israel Frank J. Johnson and Rabbi William J
    BYU Studies Quarterly Volume 41 Issue 4 Article 4 10-1-2002 Jews and Mormons: Two Houses of Israel Frank J. Johnson and Rabbi William J. Leffler David E. Bokovoy Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq Recommended Citation Bokovoy, David E. (2002) "Jews and Mormons: Two Houses of Israel Frank J. Johnson and Rabbi William J. Leffler," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 41 : Iss. 4 , Article 4. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol41/iss4/4 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in BYU Studies Quarterly by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Bokovoy: <em>Jews and Mormons: Two Houses of Israel</em> Frank J. Johnson frank J johnson and rabbi william J leffler ca 0 jews and Morcormonsmormonsmons two houses of israel 0 hoboken new york ktavkeav publishing 2000 X M M by E bokovoy reviewed david M C n addition to everything else they do words can be ambassadors of iingoodwill spreading the messages ofa culture 1 this statement by joseph lowin the director of cultural services at the national foundation for jewish culture coincides with the thesis of jews and Morcormonsmormonsmons two houses of israel jews need to know more about mormonism and cormonsmormons about judaism 131 the authors frank J johnson a mormon high priest and william J leffler a jewish rabbi undertake to explain the differences and similarities
    [Show full text]
  • Towards a Phenomenological Existentialism in the Rabbinic Law of Beit Hillel
    135 “If I am here, then all is here”: Towards a Phenomenological Existentialism in the Rabbinic Law of Beit Hillel By: HILLEL E. BRODER and MOSHE L. LAX “Subjective reflection turns in towards subjectivity, wanting in this inner absorption to be truth’s reflection, and in such a way that…where objectivity was brought forward and subjectivity disappeared, so here subjectivity itself is what is left and objectivity what vanishes.” —Soren Kierkegaard1 “If I am here, then all is here.” —Hillel 2 Perhaps the most central name in rabbinic antiquity, Hillel (c. 60 B.C.E. to c. 20 C.E.) and his affiliated mishnaic and talmudic school (“Beit Hil- lel”) of nearly four centuries figure predominantly in both aggadic ideals and normative legal decisions within the rabbinic textual tradition. Hillel’s school is principal in Mishnaic debates and enjoys victory as the dominant rabbinic voice in the majority of over 350 legal disputes.3 In traditional 1 Concluding Unscientific Postscript to the Philosophical Crumbs ed. Alastair Hannay (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2009), 165. 2 bSukka, 53a. 3 Standard readings of Beit Hillel initialize the house’s genealogy and extend it through 356 C.E. with the death of Hillel II; see most recently Binyamin Lau, The Sages, Vol. 1 (Maggid, 2010), 203–239; Alfred J. Kolatch, Masters of the Talmud: Their Lives and Views (JD Books, 2003), 220. Most significant scholarly opposi- tion to such a traditional theory can be found in Louis Ginzberg “Significance of the Halacha,” On Jewish Law and Lore (Atheneum, 1970). Ginzberg argues that Hillel and Shammai were, in fact, the final Pair (zug) or “preeminent figures” of legal liberalism and conservatism, respectively, who “figured as the last in the period that began with the first Pair, Jose ben Joezer and Jose ben Johanan” (90) referenced in mAbot 1:4–12.
    [Show full text]
  • The Talmud--A Gateway to the Common Law
    Case Western Reserve Law Review Volume 3 Issue 1 Article 4 1951 The Talmud--A Gateway to the Common Law Charles Auerbach Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/caselrev Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Charles Auerbach, The Talmud--A Gateway to the Common Law, 3 W. Rsrv. L. Rev. 5 (1951) Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/caselrev/vol3/iss1/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Journals at Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Case Western Reserve Law Review by an authorized administrator of Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons. 1951] The Talmud - A Gateway To The Common Law Charles Auerbach JEWISH LAW has its source in the Divine Commandments, precepts and ordinances given to the children of Israel through Moses at Mt. Sinai and called the Torah (Torah M'Sinai). In Hebrew, these five books of Moses are referred to as Torah Shebiktab (the written law). They constitute the bedrock of all Jewish law. These commandments, precepts and ordinances as set forth in the written law are enunciatory in nature and required much interpretation. There evolved, therefore, through the many generations, a great mass of oral teachings interpreting these laws, so multifarious as to require orderly arrange- ment. The work of assem- CHARLEs AUERBACH (A.B., 1920, LLB., bling this vast accumula- 1922, Western Reserve University) is a prac- tion of laws and traditions ricing attorney in Cleveland, a member of the faculty of Cleveland-Marshall Law School, and was begun by the great and chairman of the Court of Conciliation and noble expounder of the Arbitration of the Cleveland Jewish Comma- law, Hillel, about 200 B.C.
    [Show full text]
  • The Polis Yuhsb.Org Volume Three
    The Polis yuhsb.org Volume Three EDITORS Noam Putterman ’18 David Tanner ’18 FACULTY ADVISOR Dr. Seth Taylor Principal for General Studies The Polis The Centennial Series: Volume Three Editors: Noam Putterman (’18) and David Tanner (’18) Faculty Advisor: Dr. Seth Taylor Principal for General Studies, YUHSB CONTENTS Introduction: A Brief Thought on the Study of History 1 Rabbi Michael Taubes Ideological Indoctrination and the Social Media Solution 3 Noam Mayerfeld (’19) Israel’s History: A Catalyst for Innovation 11 Ariel Retter (’19) Jews and Booze: A Look at Jewish Responses to Prohibition 17 Mr. Murray Sragow The Flux of Values 26 Nadav Heller (’19) Welcome to Mars: The New Space Race 34 Eli Lichtenstein (’19) An Introduction to Solomon Ibn Gabirol 40 Rabbi Mordechai Brownstein The Legend of the Golem 51 Micha’el Shloush (’19) Introduction: A Brief Thought on the Study of History Rabbi Michael Taubes Towards the very end of the Chumash, in Parashas Ha’azinu, the pasuk states, “Zechor yemos olam, binu shenos dor va-dor”—Remember the bygone days, understand the years of generation after generation (Devarim 32:7). With these words, the Torah seems to be telling us that it is appropriate to be aware of what has transpired before us, to ponder what has happened in history, to consider the experiences of those who lived in generations gone by. While one might study history out of a sense of curiosity, out of an appreciation of an exciting story, or out of a quest for general knowledge, the Torah here indi- cates that there is a more profound goal, namely, to assimilate the message that the past is relevant to us in the present.
    [Show full text]
  • The Jewish Publication Society of America
    JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY 409 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA OFFICERS PRESIDENT SIMON MILLER, Philadelphia FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT ABRAM I. ELKUS, New York SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT HORACE STERN, Philadelphia TREASURER HENRY FERNBERGER, Philadelphia SECRETARY BENJAMIN ALEXANDER, Philadelphia ASSISTANT SECRETARY I. GEORGE DOBSEVAGE, Philadelphia EDITOR DR. B. HALPER, Philadelphia TRUSTEES DR. CYRUS ADLER 2 Philadelphia HART BLUMENTHAL * Philadelphia CHARLES EISENMAN 1 Cleveland ABRAM I. ELKUS 2 New York HENRY FERNBERGER 3 Philadelphia DANIEL GUGGENHEIM * New York JOSEPH HAGEDORN 3 Philadelphia S. CHARLES LAMPORT S New York EPHRAIM LEDERER1 Philadelphia SIMON MILLER1 Philadelphia JULIUS ROSENWALD ' Chicago 'Term expires in 1919. 2 Term expires in 1920. s Term expires in 1921. 410 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK SIGMUND B. SONNEBORN * Baltimore HOEACE STERN 3 Philadelphia SAMUEL STRAUSS 3 New York HON. SELIGMAN J. STRAUSS 3 Wilkes-Barre, Pa. CYRUS L. SULZBERGER " New York HON. MAYER SULZBERGER 2 Philadelphia A. LEO WEIL 2 Pittsburgh HARRIS WEINSTOOK ' Sacramento EDWIN WOLF 2 Philadelphia HONORARY VICE-PRESIDENTS ISAAC W. BERNHEIM * Louisville REV. DR. HENRY COHEN 2 Galveston Louis K. GUTMAN 2 Baltimore REV. DR. MAX HELLER * New Orleans S. W. JACOBS * Montreal Louis E. KIRSTEIN S Boston HON. JULIAN W. MACK S Chicago REV. DR. MARTIN A. MEYER 1 San Francisco HON. SIMON W. ROSENDALE1 Albany, N. Y. MURRAY SEASONGOOD 3 Cincinnati HON. M. C. SLOSS 2 San Francisco REV. DR. JOSEPH STOLZ * Chicago HON. SIMON WOLF " Washington, D. C. PUBLICATION COMMITTEE HON. MAYER SULZBERGER, Chairman Philadelphia DR. CYRUS ADLER Philadelphia REV. DR. HENRY BERKOWITZ Philadelphia DR. S. SOLIS COHEN Philadelphia REV. DR. HYMAN G. ENELOW New York DR.
    [Show full text]
  • NEH Application Cover Sheet Humanities Collections and Reference Resources
    NEH Application Cover Sheet Humanities Collections and Reference Resources PROJECT DIRECTOR Naomi Steinberger E-mail:[email protected] Director of Library Services Phone(W): 212-678-8982 3080 Broadway Phone(H): New York, NY 10027-4649 Fax: UNITED STATES Field of Expertise: Technical: Library Science INSTITUTION Jewish Theological Seminary of America New York, NY UNITED STATES APPLICATION INFORMATION Title: Conservation and Digitization of the Cairo Genizah Grant Period: From 5/2014 to 4/2016 Field of Project: Interdisciplinary: Jewish Studies; History: Near and Middle Eastern History; History: Medieval History Description of Project: The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary proposes to conserve, catalog, and re-house material from its Cairo Genizah collection and, in partnership with The Friedberg Genizah Project, digitize and provide online access to this material for scholars and the public. The Cairo Genizah is a valuable source of information about Jewish and non-Jewish religious, economic, social, and personal life in North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean from the 9th to the 19th century. The Library's Genizah collection is comprised of 43,000 fragments ??? the second-largest in the world. This project will make approximately 6,000 of these fragments that are currently unreadable or too fragile to be handled and digitized widely available for research for the first time, and complete The Library???s part in an ongoing international collaboration. BUDGET Outright Request $272,429.00 Cost Sharing $222,469.00 Matching Request $68,120.00 Total Budget $563,018.00 Total NEH $340,549.00 GRANT ADMINISTRATOR Josie Gray E-mail:[email protected] Director of Institutional Grants Phone(W): 212-678-8048 3080 Broadway Fax: New York, NY 10027-4649 UNITED STATES The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary Application to NEH Division of Preservation and Access, HCRR Program, July 2013 Implementation Grant for Conservation and Digitization of the Cairo Genizah 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Resources to Begin the Study of Jewish Law in Conservative Judaism*
    LAW LIBRARY JOURNAL Vol. 105:3 [2013-15] Resources to Begin the Study of Jewish Law in Conservative Judaism* David Hollander** Conservative Judaism stands at the center of the Jewish ideological spectrum. In that position it strives, sometimes with difficulty, to apply a flexible, modern out- look to an ancient system of binding laws. This bibliography provides law scholars with annotated citations to a selection of important sources related to Jewish law in Conservative Judaism, supplemented by brief explanations of the larger context of the resources. Introduction . 305 Historical Development of Conservative Judaism. 307 Primary Sources of Jewish Law in Conservative Judaism. 310 Secondary Sources of Jewish Law in Conservative Judaism. 316 Jewish Law and Conservative Judaism in Israel. 319 Conclusion . 320 Introduction ¶1 Conservative Judaism is an unfortunately named branch of liberal Judaism.1 If Orthodox Judaism stands on one side of the left-right divide of the Jewish com- munity (the right side), Conservative Judaism is firmly on the opposite (left) side. However, if the Jewish community is divided into those who view Jewish law as binding and those who do not, Conservative Judaism (in theory, at least) is firmly on the side of binding law, the same side as Orthodox Judaism. So Conservative Judaism occupies an uncomfortable position, firmly modern and liberal, while still adhering to a binding legal framework, which is a space largely occupied by the nonliberal camp of Orthodox Judaism. ¶2 This middle space is accompanied by many problems, but despite these problems, the conception of Jewish law offered by the Conservative movement represents an important and comprehensive vision that claims for itself a historical authenticity,2 and that is ideally suited to ensure that the exploration of Jewish law * © David Hollander, 2013.
    [Show full text]
  • Martinez, Florentino Garcia. the Dead Sea Scrolls Translated: the Qumran Texts in English
    Prof. Scott B. Noegel Chair, Dept. of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization University of Washington Book review: Martinez, Florentino Garcia. The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated: The Qumran Texts in English. Wilfred G. E. Watson, trans. Leiden: E.}. Brill, 1994. First Published in: Digest of Middle Eastern Studies 4/4 (1995), 78-85. ~ ) j"a{{1995 ~ ~ 'Roo(~aT/{{%anllscn'pts the more cumbersome scholarly sigla of the officinl publicntion. While the author admits that the lack of notes potentinlly could prevent the student from grasping "the literary, historical, and theological problems" (p. xxviii) which the scrolls present, the benefits ofthis volume to the interested reader will outweigh by far he Dead Sea Scrolls Translated: any drawbacks. Other English versions ofthe seroUspale in compar- The Qumran Texts in English ison (cf. the now out.of-date Gaster [1956] and the incomplete T Vermes [1995J,the latter ofwhich translates only 70 manuscripts). This book has many positive attributes. The line numbering Florentino Garcia Martinez informs the reader exactly where words appear in the texts. In addition, we may thank Martinez for keeping restorations to a Translated by Wilfred G. E. Watson minimum, despite the fragmentary nature of many of the scrolls. Excessive restoration of any ancient text almost always leads to a Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1994,lxvii, 513 pages. $80 cloth misunderstanding of that text. Compare, for example, the recent (ISBN 90-04-10088-1), $30 paperback (ISBN 90- edition ofsome ofthe seroUsby Eisenman and Wise(1992),wherein 04-100482), LCCN 94-017429. restorations appear far toofrequently and carry too much interpre- tive import.
    [Show full text]
  • The Making of the Encyclopaedia Judaica and the Jewish Encyclopedia
    THE MAKING OF THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA AND THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA David B. Levy, Ph. D., M.L.S. Description: The Jewish Encyclopedia and Encyclopaedia Judaica form a key place in most collections of Judaica. Both works state that they were brought into being to combat anti-Semitism. This presentation treats the reception history of both the JE and EJ by looking at the comments of their admirers and critics. It also assesses how both encyclopedias mark the application of social sciences and emphasis on Jewish history, as well as anthropology, archeology, and statistics. We will consider the differences between the JE and EJ, some of the controversies surrounding the making of the encyclopedias, and the particular political, ideological, and cultural perspectives of their contributing scholars. Introduction: David B. Levy (M.A., ’92; M.L.S., ’94; Ph. D., 2002) received a Ph. D. in Jewish studies with concentrations in Jewish philosophy, biblical The 1901-1906 Jewish Encyclopedia and archeology, and rabbinics on May 23, 2002, from the 1972 Encyclopaedia Judaica form an Baltimore Hebrew University. David has worked in important place in collections of Judaica. the Humanities Department of the Enoch Pratt Public Library since 1994. He authored the Enoch Both works were brought into being to Pratt Library Humanities annotated subject guide combat anti-Semitism, to enlighten the web pages in philosophy (24 categories), ancient and public of new discoveries, and to modern languages (Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, German), and religion. He is widely disseminate Jewish scholarship. Both published. encyclopedias seek to counter-act the lack of knowledge of their generations and wide spread assimilation.
    [Show full text]