 |
 |
.gif)
The Judaica holdings of the University of Michigan's Hatcher Graduate Library are rich and extensive. The collection originated in the library's support of research and instruction in ancient Near Eastern and Hebrew bible studies. Over the years, the Judaica and Hebraica components developed into a more broadly defined and independent collection that supports a highly regarded Jewish studies center. The Library's Judaica collection has grown into one that can be favorably compared in depth and title count with the larger collections in other major North American universities and research institutions.
The Judaica-Hebraica Unit is headed by the Irving M. Hermelin Curator of Judaica in the Near East Division of the Library's Area Programs who oversees the Judaica collections in the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library, the primary research library on campus. At present, this collection, which is distributed throughout the Library by subject classification and corresponding call number, includes some 53,600 titles in Hebrew and Yiddish, while Western language Judaica holdings number approximately 43,000. The collection is particularly strong in modern Hebrew literature, Jewish history, the history of Israel, Judaism, and Hebrew bible studies. Annually, the library adds about 1,000 Hebrew and Yiddish titles to the collection and 1,500 Jewish studies titles in Western languages.
In addition to the Curator of Judaica, the unit's permanent staff consists of one professional cataloger and one information resources specialist. Temporary hourly assistants complement the permanent staff. The Judaica and Hebraica unit along with the Near East Division mainly serve faculty and graduate students on the Ann Arbor campus and members of the local community as well as visiting scholars in reference and research assistance in such areas as dissertation research; term paper writing; courses, workshops, and sessions in Judaica and Middle Eastern bibliography; locating primary research materials at other institutions; soliciting book purchase suggestions; etc. In addition, staff selects and acquires materials in all languages in Jewish studies for the Library and catalogs all materials that it acquires in Hebrew, Yiddish, Aramaic, Ladino, and other Jewish languages.
Notable recent acquisitions include the 5,000 title microfiche collection, Hebrew Books from the Harvard College Library; the ten-volume set Catalog of the Hebrew Collection: Harvard College Library, the Poalei Zion and Bund Archives microfiche collections; the 550 item Leo W. Schwarz Collection, which is rich in rare material on Jewish mysticism, hasidut, and publications by and for residents of post-World War II displaced persons camps in Germany; the entire runs in microformat of the Jewish Daily Forward and the Jerusalem Post and its predecessors as well as the Morgen-zshurnal from 1906 until it merged in 1953 with another Yiddish daily, Der Tog.
In addition to the Graduate Library's collections of books and periodicals, the Special Collections Library holds a growing number of rare Hebraica books and manuscripts including a tenth century Pentateuch; eighteenth century miniature Torah scroll; high quality facsimile reproductions of the Leningrad Codex, The Rothschild Miscellany, and Damascus Pentateuch, among many others; the Joseph T. and Marie Adler Collection of Holocaust Materials, which consists of correspondence, documents, posters, stamps, currency, and other Holocaust memorabilia and realia assembled by Mr. Adler over the course of more than fifty years; the papers of Yehudah Leyb Levin, a prominent rabbi in Detroit during the first quarter of the twentieth century; the Jewish Heritage Collection Dedicated to Mark and Dave Harris consisting of art work, objects, books, and ephemera on all aspects of the Jewish experience, a collection that continues to grow; and about forty percent of the Schwarz Collection is also located in the Special Collections Library.
The Judaica-Hebraica Unit also provides access to a number of electronic Web resources, notably Index to Jewish Periodicals, RAMBI: The Index of Articles on Jewish Studies, and Shoah Foundation's Visual History Archive, along with the following full-text journals and other serial publications: AJS Review; Israel Studies; The Jerusalem Report; Jewish History; The Jewish Quarterly Review; Jewish Social Studies; The Journal of Israeli History; Judaism; Lilith; Modern Judaism; Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies & Gender Issues; Prooftexts: A Journal of Jewish Literary History; and Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies; among many others.
In a continuing effort to enrich the collection, staff also cultivates contacts with the local community for the purpose of soliciting gift material acquisitions and fund development for the Library. Over the years, the Library's book acquisitions funds have been supplemented by several Judaica trust funds, including those endowed by Beverly Baker; Martha and Stuart Bindeman; Frances and Hubert J. Brandt; the S. H. and Helen R. Scheuer Family Foundation; the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation; Dr. Arnold Heyman; Jerold Solovy; and Bruce and Ileane Thal; and gifts from Bruce and Lois Zenkel; the Bindeman Family; and Frances and Kathryn Brandt and Lilith Magazine, especially the Brandt and Lilith Magazine Women's Holocaust Memoir Collection, an ongoing, open-ended gift.
Judaica can also be found in virtually all of the other campus libraries, e.g., Art, Architecture, and Engineering; Askwith Media Library; Bentley Historical Library; Clements; Fine Arts; Kresge Business Library; Law; Taubman Medical Library; Social Work; and Shapiro Undergraduate and Science Libraries.
Judaic Studies Program at the University of Michigan
The Frankel Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan offers students an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Jewish civilization and thought. The program explores the rich culture and historical experience of the Jewish people, their unique traditions, interactions with other cultures, and impact on world civilization. It draws on the academic excellence and expertise of faculty in many disciplines, including comparative literature, history, political science, Near Eastern studies, sociology and studies in religion.
Hebrew and biblical studies have been taught at the University of Michigan since the late nineteenth century. Judaic Studies was established in 1971 and was made an independent program in 1976. In 1988, it was renamed the Jean and Samuel Frankel Center for Judaic Studies in honor of the Frankels, whose generous support, along with that of the Jewish Welfare Federation of Detroit, allowed the Center to expand its program and widen its range of activities.
