Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning or Dropsie University, at 2321–2335 N Broad St.,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, was America's first degree-granting institution for post-doctoral Jewish studies. Funded by the will of
Moses Aaron Dropsie (1821–1905), it was chartered in 1907, and its first building was completed in 1912. It ceased to grant degrees in 1986.
The Dropsie University Complex's buildings were placed on Philadelphia's roster of historic buildings as of November 30, 1971.
The Dropsie University Complex was named a national historic landmark (
NRHP
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
) on January 17, 1975.
After a brief period as the Annenberg Research Institute (1986–1993) Dropsie ceased to be an independent organization, and became part of the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
. Its name changed several times and it was relocated, becoming the
Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
The Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania—commonly called the Katz Center—is a postdoctoral research center devoted to the study of Jewish history and civilization.
History
The Katz Center is t ...
.
History
Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning was founded in 1788. Its main benefactor was Moses Aaron Dropsie (1821–1905), a wealthy man whose father was Jewish and mother was Christian but who self-identified as Jewish from the age of 14. In 1905, Dropsie left his entire fortune for the establishment of a Jewish college along broad lines, offering instruction "in the Hebrew and cognate languages and their respective literatures, and in the rabbinical learning and literature." Estimated at about $800,000, the amount of this bequest was the largest sum that had been made available for the promotion of Jewish studies.
Dropsie College may have been designed by
Lewis Pilcher
Lewis F. Pilcher, AIA (1871–1941), was an American academic and architect active in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century New York City. With William G. Tachau, he was a partner of Pilcher and Tachau, the predecessor firm of ...
or by Abraham Levy.
It was built at Broad and York Streets. It was near the historic Spanish and Portuguese
Congregation Mikveh Israel
Congregation Mikveh Israel ( he, קהל קדוש מקוה ישראל), "Holy Community Hope of Israel", is a synagogue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that traces its history to 1740. Mikveh Israel is a Spanish and Portuguese synagogue that follows ...
, Philadelphia's first Jewish congregation, then at 2321 N Broad Street.
The first three presidents of Dropsie (
Mayer Sulzberger
Mayer Sulzberger (June 22, 1843 – April 20, 1923) was an American judge and Jewish communal leader.
Biography
Mayer Sulzberger was born at Heidelsheim, Bruchsal, Baden on June 22, 1843. He went to Philadelphia with his parents in 1848, and wa ...
,
Cyrus Adler
Cyrus Adler (September 13, 1863 – April 7, 1940) was an American educator, Jewish religious leader and scholar.
Early years
Adler was born to merchant and planter Samuel Adler and Sarah Sulzberger in Van Buren, Arkansas on September 13, 186 ...
and
Abraham Neuman) were worshipers there.
They were instrumental in establishing the college and its library.
Dropsie College sought to be grounded in the values, history, and "
Science of Judaism
"''Wissenschaft des Judentums''" (Literally in German the expression means "Science of Judaism"; more recently in the US it started to be rendered as "Jewish Studies" or "Judaic Studies," a wide academic field of inquiry in American Universities) ...
."
On November 9, 1981, a fire ravaged the school's building at Broad and York Streets. In December 1983, the school moved to
Temple Adath Israel of the Main Line
, image = 20191229ADATHISRAEL_MERION_Exterior.jpg
, image_upright = 1.4
, caption = Temple Adath Israel, in 2019
, map_type = Pennsylvania
, map_size = 250
, map_relief ...
in Merion where it was welcomed rent-free.
Dropsie granted more than 200
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...
s between its inception and its closing as a degree-granting institution in 1986. Dropsie was also the publisher of the ''
Jewish Quarterly Review
''The Jewish Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering Jewish studies. It is published by the University of Pennsylvania Press on behalf of the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies (University of Pen ...
'', which was at the time the most respected journal on the subject.
The faculty at Dropsie included scholars from outside the United States, including
Benzion Netanyahu
Benzion Netanyahu ( he, בֶּנְצִיּוֹן נְתַנְיָהוּ, ; born Benzion Mileikowsky; March 25, 1910 – April 30, 2012)''Contemporary Authors Online'', Gale, 2009. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Michiga ...
, who came from
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
with his young sons,
Yonatan (Yoni) and
Benjamin (Bibi), who there had their first true exposures to American culture, which would become a touchstone for later interactions with the American public for Bibi.
Notable people
Dropsie students
*
Barry J. Beitzel (1942--), American biblical and geographical scholar, professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, and Bible translator.
*
Larry L. Walker (1932-2021), American biblical scholar, professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, and Bible translator
*
Kenneth L. Barker (1931–), American biblical scholar, professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, and Bible translator
*
Philip Birnbaum
Philip Birnbaum (; March 30, 1904 – March 19, 1988) was an American religious author and translator. He is best known for his work ''Ha-Siddur ha-Shalem'', a translation and annotation of the Siddur first published in 1949.
Biography
Birnbaum ...
(1904–1988), Polish-American author and translator, best known for his translation of the
siddur
A siddur ( he, סִדּוּר ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.'
Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, ' ...
*
Joshua Bloch
Joshua J. Bloch (born August 28, 1961) is an American software engineer and a technology author, formerly employed at Sun Microsystems and Google. He led the design and implementation of numerous Java platform features, including the Java Collec ...
(1890–1957), Lithuanian-American rabbi and librarian
*
Raymond B. Dillard (1944–1993), American Old Testament scholar
*
Iris Habib Elmasry
Iris Habib Elmasry (إيريس حبيب المصري) was a prominent Coptic Historian (1910–1994).
Biography
Iris Habib Elmasry was born into a Coptic family in 1910. Her family name ''Elmasry'' in the Arabic language means The Egyptian.
Her f ...
(1910–1994), Coptic historian and scholar
*
Ronald F. Youngblood (1931–2014), American biblical scholar and Professor of Old Testament
*
Cyrus H. Gordon (1908–2001),
Near East
The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...
scholar – did not graduate
*
R. Laird Harris
Robert Laird Harris (March 10, 1911 – April 25, 2008) was a Presbyterian minister, church leader, and Old Testament scholar.
Biography
Harris was born near Upper Makefield Township, Pennsylvania. He was son of Rev. Walter B.Harris, a Presbyt ...
(1911–2008), American Presbyterian minister and Old Testament scholar
*
Louis L. Kaplan (1902–2001), President of
Baltimore Hebrew University
Baltimore Hebrew University was founded as Baltimore Hebrew College and Teachers Training School in 1919 to promote Jewish scholarship and academic excellence. It was the only institution of higher learning in Maryland devoted solely to all aspec ...
1930–1970, Acting Chancellor of the
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...
1976–1977
*
Meredith G. Kline
Meredith George Kline (December 15, 1922 – April 14, 2007) was an American theologian and Old Testament scholar. He also had degrees in Assyriology and Egyptology.
Academic career
Kline received his AB from Gordon College, Th.B. and Th.M ...
(1922–2007), American
theologian
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
and Old Testament scholar – Ph.D. in
Assyriology
Assyriology (from Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , '' -logia'') is the archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic study of Assyria and the rest of ancient Mesopotamia (a region that encompassed what is now modern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southea ...
and
Egyptology
Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...
*
Samuel Noah Kramer
Samuel Noah Kramer (September 28, 1897 – November 26, 1990) was one of the world's leading Assyriologists, an expert in Sumerian history and Sumerian language. After high school, he attended Temple University, before Dropsie and Penn, both in ...
(1897–1990), Ukrainian-American
Assyriologist
Assyriology (from Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , '' -logia'') is the archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic study of Assyria and the rest of ancient Mesopotamia (a region that encompassed what is now modern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southea ...
and
Sumer
Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of c ...
iologist – did not graduate; transferred to Penn
*
Albert L. Lewis (1917–2008), Congregational rabbi and professor of homiletics at the
Jewish Theological Seminary of America
The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studie ...
*
Benzion Netanyahu
Benzion Netanyahu ( he, בֶּנְצִיּוֹן נְתַנְיָהוּ, ; born Benzion Mileikowsky; March 25, 1910 – April 30, 2012)''Contemporary Authors Online'', Gale, 2009. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Michiga ...
(1910–2012), Zionist, scholar of Jewish history, and father of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
*
Bernard Revel
Bernard (Dov) Revel ( he, ברנרד רבל; September 17, 1885 – December 2, 1940) was an Orthodox rabbi and scholar. He served as the first President of Yeshiva College from 1915 until his death in 1940. The Bernard Revel Graduate School of ...
(1885–1940), future head of
RIETS
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS ) is the rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University (YU). It is located along Amsterdam Avenue in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.
Named after Yitzchak Elchanan S ...
yeshiva and founder/President of
Yeshiva College. 1911 doctoral thesis on Karaite Judaism
*
Ephraim Speiser (1902–1965)
Near East
The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...
scholar and archaeologist, excavator of
Tepe Gawra
Tepe Gawra (Kurdish for "Great Mound") is an ancient Mesopotamian settlement 15 miles NNE of Mosul in northwest Iraq that was occupied between 5000 and 1500 BC. It is roughly a mile from the site of Nineveh and 2 miles E of the site of Khors ...
*
Edward J. Young (1907–1968), American Old Testament scholar and commentator
*
Terry L. Eves (1952–2019), American biblical theology scholar and Professor of Old Testament
Dropsie faculty
*
Cyrus Adler
Cyrus Adler (September 13, 1863 – April 7, 1940) was an American educator, Jewish religious leader and scholar.
Early years
Adler was born to merchant and planter Samuel Adler and Sarah Sulzberger in Van Buren, Arkansas on September 13, 186 ...
, Jewish religious leader and scholar – president
*
William Chomsky
Zeev "William" Chomsky ( yi, זאב כאמסקי, January 15, 1896 – July 19, 1977) was an American scholar of the Hebrew language. He was born in the Russian Empire (now Ukraine) and settled in the United States in 1913.
From 1924, he was a m ...
, noted Hebrew scholar and father of
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...
*
Benzion Halper Benzion Halper (April 15, 1884 – March 21, 1924) was a Lithuanian-born Jewish-American Hebraist and Arabist.
Life
Halper was born on April 15, 1884, in Žasliai, the Vilna Governorate, Russia, the son of Abel Solomon Halper and Miriam Rosenblo ...
, Hebraist and Arabist
*
Benzion Netanyahu
Benzion Netanyahu ( he, בֶּנְצִיּוֹן נְתַנְיָהוּ, ; born Benzion Mileikowsky; March 25, 1910 – April 30, 2012)''Contemporary Authors Online'', Gale, 2009. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Michiga ...
, historian of Jews in medieval
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
and father of
Binyamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
and
Yonatan Netanyahu
Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu ( he, יונתן נתניהו; March 13, 1946 – July 4, 1976) was an American-born Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer who commanded the elite commando unit Sayeret Matkal during Operation Entebbe, an operation to rescu ...
*
Raphael Patai
Raphael Patai (Hebrew רפאל פטאי; November 22, 1910 − July 20, 1996), born Ervin György Patai, was a Hungarian-Jewish ethnographer, historian, Orientalist and anthropologist.
Family background
Patai was born in Budapest, Austria-Hu ...
,
ethnographer
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
and
anthropologist
An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
– professor of anthropology, 1948–1957
*
Stefan Reif
Stefan Clive Reif (born 21 January 1944) is professor emeritus at the University of Cambridge. He was born in Edinburgh. He has a PhD from University College London and a Doctor of Literature from Cambridge.
Education
Stefan Reif graduated a ...
, Jewish researcher – assistant professor of Hebrew, 1972–1973
*
Solomon Zeitlin
Solomon Zeitlin, שְׁניאור זלמן צײטלין, Шломо Цейтлин ''Shlomo Cejtlin'' (''Tseitlin, Tseytlin'') (28 May 1886 or 31 May 1892, in Chashniki, Vitebsk Governorate (now in Vitebsk Region) in Russia – 28 December 1976, in ...
, historian of the second Jewish commonwealth and early Christianity.
*
Solomon Gandz, research professor of the history of Semitic Civilization
Reformation
By 1980, Dropsie College was near failing, its building in need of repairs and many of its books missing. On November 9, 1981, newly elected president
David M. Goldenberg was notified of an
arson
Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...
attack, taking place on the forty-third anniversary of
Kristallnacht
() or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...
. Attempts to put out the fire irreparably damaged the library and its contents, including rare books and ancient cuneiform tablets.
Goldenberg launched an extensive campaign to recover and restore the library, while board member
Albert J. Wood worked to transform the College into a post-graduate research center. Wood attracted the support of philanthropist
Walter Annenberg
Walter Hubert Annenberg (March 13, 1908 – October 1, 2002) was an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, and diplomat. Annenberg owned and operated Triangle Publications, which included ownership of ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' ...
. Wood became the founding chairman of the board of the briefly renamed Moses Aaron Dropsie Research Institute, followed by Walter Annenberg as of September 13, 1985.
As of September 1986, Dropsie College ceased to be a degree-granting college.
Also in 1986, Dropsie was renamed the Annenberg Research Institute.
Annenberg funded the construction of a new building, to which the institution moved in 1988. The new location was just three blocks south of the new location of congregation Mikveh Israel, as well as the
National Museum of American Jewish History
The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History (The Weitzman) is a Smithsonian-affiliated museum at 101 South Independence Mall East (S. 5th Street) at Market Street in Center City Philadelphia. It was founded in 1976.
History
With ...
. The proposed goal of the new institution was to support dialogue among the mono-theistic faiths of
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
,
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
and
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. Its directors were
Bernard Lewis
Bernard Lewis, (31 May 1916 – 19 May 2018) was a British American historian specialized in Oriental studies. He was also known as a public intellectual and political commentator. Lewis was the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near E ...
(1986–1990),
Eric M. Meyers (1991–1992), and as acting director, David M. Goldenberg (1992–1993).
In 1993, the Annenberg Research Institute ceased to be an independent organization. It became part of the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, as the Center for Judaic Studies. In 1998, it was renamed the
Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
The Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania—commonly called the Katz Center—is a postdoctoral research center devoted to the study of Jewish history and civilization.
History
The Katz Center is t ...
, and in 2008, the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies.
It is part of the Penn library system.
Archives
The institutional records and library collections of Dropsie College are now part of the collections of the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, which is part of the University of Pennsylvania's library system.
References
See also
*
{{authority control
Judaic studies
Jewish studies research institutes
National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia
Educational institutions established in 1907
Beaux-Arts architecture in Pennsylvania
Renaissance Revival architecture in Pennsylvania
Historic districts in Philadelphia
1907 establishments in Pennsylvania
Old City, Philadelphia
1986 disestablishments in Pennsylvania
Jewish universities and colleges in the United States