|
The Judaic Studies
Collection
|
|
|
Illustration: Scenes from
the Book of Esther. Section of the wall paintings from the ancient
synagogue in Dura-Europos. Extended caption.
|
Judaica Collection, Sterling Memorial
Library, Room 335B
Yale has a long and rich tradition in the study of Jewish religion,
history, and thought dating back to Yale's founding, when Hebrew
language was a required course of study. Now, with an undergraduate
major in Judaic Studies, and a graduate program training future
academic leaders, the study of Jewish life and thought is thoroughly
integrated into the University's offerings in the Humanities.
The Yale Library Judaica holdings have grown slowly but steadily
since the University's founding in 1701. Following the receipt of
two major gifts in 1915, the Yale Library established a separate
Judaica collection which is recognized as one of the major collections
of Judaica in the country. The focus of the 95,000 volume collection,
which includes manuscripts and rare books, is biblical, classical,
medieval, and modern periods of Jewish literature and history, and
supports the research needs of the faculty and students of the University's
Judaic
Studies Program and those of the broader academic community.
The social, religious, and cultural lives of the Jewish people
are reflected in the Library's collections. Religious law, Sephardic
studies, rabbinics, Jewish philosophy and modern thought, talmudica,
and Hebrew, Yiddish, and Ladino languages and literatures are all
represented in the collection.
Rare materials are housed in the Manuscripts
and Archives Department of the Sterling Memorial Library and
in the Beinecke
Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Among the rare and unusual
Judaica at the Beinecke Library are some 150 manuscripts and 45
incunabula (books printed before 1501). Special features of this
impressive holding include the Selah Merrill Collection of Josephus,
the Goodhart Collection of Philo imprints, and the Sholem Asch Collection.
Materials of a political nature can be found in the Department of
Manuscripts and Archives. Items of interest include the papers of
the Palestine Statehood Committee. Yale's official records documenting
the history of Jews at Yale are also housed in Manuscripts and Archives.
|
|
 Curator
of the Collection
The Judaica Curator is responsible
for giving focus and direction to the Judaica Collection, for locating
rare and unusual items, and for assisting students, faculty, and visiting
scholars. The curator collects Judaica in many formats--printed, CD
ROMs, micro-film and micro-fiche, manuscripts, etc.--and from all
periods--biblical, post-biblical, medieval, and modern. The goal of
the Judaic Studies Program at the Yale Library is to provide the best
support possible to faculty, students, and scholars who use our collections.
The office of the Judaica
Curator, Nanette Stahl, is next door to the reading room in 335A.
To contact the Judaica Curator, please phone (203) 432-7207 during
business hours or email her at nanette.stahl@yale.edu.
|
|
|
|
Extended Caption for image
Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman Period by Erwin R. Goodenough.
New York, 1953-68
Illustration: Scenes from the Book of Esther. Section of the wall
paintings from the ancient synagogue in Dura-Europos
A unique and important element in Yale's collections, are the Dura-Europos
(Syria) wall paintings and artifacts. Between 1928 and 1937 Yale
participated in the excavation of the ancient Byzantine city. As
a result of its work there, Yale has a complete copy of the reconstructed
Dura-Europos fresco from the ancient synagogue that was uncovered
there during the expedition. Several are currently on display in
the History of Art Department.
|
|
