ASSOCIATION FOR JEWISH STUDIES NEWSLETTER No. 10 January 1974 Editor: A. J. Band IN THIS ISSUE EDITORIAL Editorial 1 I AJS Regional Conference Program (Series II) 3 Viewed from the other side of the October War, the Sixth World Congress of Jewish Studies held in Jerusalem last summer New AJS Members 3 seems coldly remote and its concerns, dimly trivial. The serenity and confidence of August have been dissipated by the shock and despair of November and December — as anyone who reads the New Appointments 4 Israeli press or corresponds with Israeli colleagues knows only too well. And yet, just as the war has forced us to put the Congress in AJS FIFTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE its perspective, the Congress and the cultural achievement it implies can help us put the war in its proper perspective. After Conference Resolutions 4 two centuries of cultural erosion in open societies, after the Russian Revolution and the Holocaust, after successive agonies of Abstracts of Papers the new community in Israel, Zunz' predictions concerning the future of Judaism and its study have not come true. For all its The Structure of the Commandments of the Torah natural shortcomings, the Sixth Congress emerged as a bold in Maimonides' Mishneh Torah and his Guide of affirmation of cultural vigor. No matter how the future borders the Perplexed (Lawrence V. Berman) 5 of Israel shall be drawn, there shall be in the future many congresses of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. The Siddur of R. Jacob Emden (David Shapiro) 5 An adequate assessment of a scholarly congress of such Non-Jewish Sources for Jewish History dimensions is the task of a broad committee of experts in various disciplines. Confronted with sue hundred papers, often twelve (Joseph Shatzmiller) (Hebrew) 7 being read simultaneously, an individual can only hope to follow sessions in his own area. The blind man feeling the elephant is Sherrow Prize Essay (Abstract) probably a better judge of reality since the elephant, we assume, stands still. A few subjective observations, nevertheless, are in Conceptions of History in Zionist Thought order. The inevitable change of the guard was more apparent in this than in previous congresses perhaps because of the absence of (Steven Bayme) . 8 some of the great scholars who have dominated the scene by their very presence since the 1930's. Though nineteenth-century Sherrow Memorial Prize Competition for 1974 8 philological scholarship is still the dominant mode, the impressive representation of linguistics, folklore, archaeology, and more Graduate Association for Jewish History 9 structural handling of traditional materials indicates that new vistas have been opened. Perhaps this is why so many looked forward to the opening address by Prof. Urbach who had replaced BIBLIOGRAPHIA JUDAIC A the late Prof. Dinur as president of the congress. With the historical perspective highlighted by the twenty-fifth anniversary Book Reviews (Nahum M. Sarna, Arnold J. Band) 10 of the State of Israel, one expected an exhortation to explore new areas or to review well-studied fields with new methodol- More on EJ ogical tools as a continuation of the great progress made over the past two generations. Instead one heard praise of the past masters The Study of the Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages: Some Brief Observations and advice to check bibliographies thoroughly. A discussion of the function of critical methodology in Judaic scholarship is long (Frank Talmage) 13 overdue; we must examine what we mean by "scientific scholar- ship." EJ on Jews of Latin America (Judith Elkin) 15 continued on p. 2 Summer Programs in Jewish Studies 3,15 Election of AJS Officers and Board of Directors 16 2 EDITORIAL (continued from p. I) an increased program of publications we are opening and facilitating means of communication without which no scholarly The participation of American scholars was widely noticed, discipline oan flourish. but not accurately described. The approximately one hundred and fifty Americans constituted the largest group of non-Israeli m scholars (there were less than fifty other non-Israeli scholars), but The lengthy list of new appointments published in both the only half of them are ordinarily recognized as Judaic scholars in last and the present Newsletter is concrete evidence of the this country, and less than half are members of the Association encouraging growth of Jewish Studies on the American campus for Jewish Studies. Paradoxically, the Israelis, who usually even in a period marked by stringent budgets in most areas. specialize narrowly in their academic work, consider as Judaic Obviously, university administrators are convinced of both the scholars a large group of Americans for whom this area is demonstrable need and the solidity of this academic discipline. tangential to their other intellectual concerns. Unfortunately, the How long this favorable situation will obtain is difficult to youngest group of American specialists who received their degrees predict. By the middle of the 1960's, unheeded predictions were in the past five years was not well represented. From correspond- published warning against the overproduction of university ence and conversations we have learned that some were not professors who would find no employment in a period of invited and others could not afford the trip. We hope that both diminished student enrollment and support for higher education. obstacles will be eliminated by the next congress in 1977. Four sobering Decembers have proven the wisdom of the demographers. In Jewish studies, however, the opposite is true: n the number of budgeted positions has tripled or quadrupled since Size and its problems are clearly the dominant theme in 1966. Though the simple facts of the past seven years bode well, discussions of the state of the field of Jewish studies in America the example of other disciplines counsels caution. Ihe time has today. This was apparent in the sessions of the Fifth Annual perhaps come for a careful study of the situation, particularly by Conference of our association held at the Harvard Faculty Gub directors of graduate studies. With about one hundred and twenty on October 21 and 22. Gone is the intimacy of past meetings, of graduate students in various stages of their professional training the days not so distant when everyone knew everyone else. The and many scholars, who find their progess in other areas blocked, one hundred and fifty scholars attending (slightly more than one declaring themselves as Jewish Studies specialists — at times, quarter of our membership) can no longer be accomodated in specialists in all the many areas of Jewish Studies — responsibility plenary sessions. Only yesterday we were a small learned society; dictates concerted action. One step must be avoided: we must today we are middle sized. As in all scholarly conferences, the never adopt the attitude of the 1930's which resulted in the level of papers read was uneven — but certainly compared drastic curtailment of the training of Judaics scholars. Jewish studies are broadly-based in American universities today; all favorably with the level of those read in Jerusalem. comparisons with the 1930's are therefore pointless. A slow-down Though a relatively new association, we are ever cognizant of in the rate of growth would not take us back to 1935; it would, our predecessors whose contribution to the field was manifest in however, allow the universities to demand higher academic every session and, especially, in Prof. Nuham Glatzer's banquet qualifications as they always do when supply exceeds demand. address. The obvious comparisons one could draw between the state of the art in Germany in the 1920's and that fifty years later SOS (Of SOS SOS X3S **** SOS SOS SOS SOS SOS SOS SOS SOS in this country or in Israel inspire admiration for the achievement AJS SIXTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE of our predecessors and hope for the future. Prof. Harry Wolfson, who attended most of the sessions of the conference, murmured 27-28 October 1974 to me: "If I believed in miracles, I would place this conference in HARVARD UNIVERSITY that category. When I began my career sixty years ago, there was Harvard Faculty Club no evidence that this could have happened, particularly in this 20 Quincy Street country." Cambridge, Massachusetts The success of the conference was largely due to the devoted Conference Program Chairman: efforts of Prof. Michael Meyer, the conference chairman, and Dr. Charles Berlin, our executive secretary. Both are already working Prof. Michael A. Meyer on next year's national conference which will attempt to Hebrew Union College - incorporate suggestions offered during and after the conference: Jewish Institute of Religion parallel sessions, a more leisurely schedule, a broader spread in Cincinnati, Ohio areas represented. By these national conferences, the regional conferences, the interchange with our colleagues in Israel, and by Program details and registration information will be announced in the next issue of the Newsletter. 3 Second Series of AJS Regional Conferences New AJS Members Series II of the AJS Regional Conference Program has been Curtis M. Arnson Hebrew Union College, Jerusalem scheduled for the Spring of 1974. The four conferences of this Roberta M. Balkan SUNY College at Purchase Series will take place as follows: Conference 1 at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, on 27-28 March 1974; Kalman 0. Bland Duke University Conference 2 at Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Ohio, on 31 Bernhard Bhimenkranz Centre National de la Recherche March -1 April 1974; Conference 3 at University of Pennsylvania, Scientifique, Paris Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 3-4 March 1974; and Conference 4 at University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, on 28-29 April 1974. Daniel Carpi Tel Aviv University Edna A. Coffin University of Michigan Conferences 1-2 deal with "Ancient Hebrew Prayer" and are under the direction of Moshe Greenberg (Hebrew University, Sol Cohen Reconstructionist Rabbinical College Jerusalem).