The Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at 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 ...

—commonly called the Katz Center—is a postdoctoral research center devoted to the study of Jewish history and civilization.

History

The Katz Center is the continuation of two pioneering institutions devoted to advanced research: Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning and the Annenberg Research Institute. Dropsie College was the first accredited doctoral program in Judaic studies in the world. The Annenberg Research Institute was a center for advanced study in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam founded in 1986 with staff and collections carried over from Dropsie College. The founding director of the Katz Center was David B. Ruderman. The current Ella Darivoff Director is Steven Weitzman. The Katz Center was established in 1993 as a part of the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. It was first named the Center for Judaic Studies (CJS); later, the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies (CAJS)—and in 2008, the Katz family endowed the center in memory of former board chair and philanthropist Herbert D. Katz. It is located in an award-winning building across from

Independence National Historical Park Independence National Historical Park is a federally protected historic district in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that preserves several sites associated with the American Revolution and the nation's founding history. Administered by the National P ...

Center City Philadelphia Center City includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of Philadelphia. It comprises the area that made up the City of Philadelphia prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854, which extended the city borders to be coterminous wi ...

. The Katz Center houses offices for scholars who are in residence throughout the academic year for postdoctoral research, as well as an extensive library of Judaica, a reading room, and seminar and meeting spaces.

Fellowship program

The Katz Center's primary activity is an academic fellowship program, which brings scholars from around the world to Philadelphia for a semester or a year. The program supports approximately 20 fellows each year; scholars apply if their current research fits the annual theme. Weekly seminars allow fellows to share their findings with each other and with invited scholarly guests; annual conferences are open to the wider academic community. WTP2 Mike Reali 06b

In addition, the Katz Center offers public programs and a summer intensive course for graduate students.

Library at the Katz Center

The combination of the Dropsie/Annenberg library with the Judaica holdings of the

Penn Libraries 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 ...

resulted in a 350,000-volume collection of Judaica, including more than 8,000 rare books and an assortment of cuneiform tablets. There are also 451 codices in eleven alphabets and 24 languages and dialects. Some of the languages and dialects represented include Hebrew, English, German, Yiddish, Ladino, Arabic, Latin, Judeo-Arabic, Armenia, Telugu, and Syriac. Fragments from the

Cairo Geniza The Cairo Geniza, alternatively spelled Genizah, is a collection of some 400,000 Jewish manuscript fragments and Fatimid administrative documents that were kept in the ''genizah'' or storeroom of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat or Old Cairo, ...

and others written in Coptic and Demotic on papyrus round out the collection. The library also holds the personal letters of more than 50 Jewish-American leaders from the 1800s and 1900s, including

Isaac Leeser Isaac Leeser (December 12, 1806 – February 1, 1868) was an American Orthodox Jewish religious leader, teacher, scholar and publisher. He helped found the Jewish press of America, produced the first Jewish translation of the Bible into English, ...

, Sabato Morais, and Abraham Neuman (three ministers of Congregation Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia),

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 ...

(president, Dropsie College, Mikveh Israel, American Jewish Committee, Jewish Theological Seminary of America; librarian,

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

), Charles Cohen (president, Mikveh Israel, Fairmount Park Commission), his journalist sister Mary M. Cohen, Yiddish journalis
Ben Zion Goldberg
and the benefactor Moses Dropsie.

Publications

The Katz Center houses 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 Pe ...

,'' the oldest continuously published journal of Judaic Studies in English. Founded in England in 1888 under the editorship of

Claude Montefiore Claude Joseph Goldsmid Montefiore, also Goldsmid–Montefiore or just Goldsmid Montefiore (1858–1938) was the intellectual founder of Anglo- Liberal Judaism and the founding president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, a schola ...

and Israel Abrahams, ''JQR'' first came to the U.S. in 1911 under the editorship of

Solomon Schechter Solomon Schechter ( he, שניאור זלמן הכהן שכטר‎; 7 December 1847 – 19 November 1915) was a Moldavian-born British-American rabbi, academic scholar and educator, most famous for his roles as founder and President of the ...

and

. It is currently published by Penn Press. Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania Libraries Halper 317 f 1r

The Katz Center partners with the University of Pennsylvania Press to publish the book serie
Jewish Cultures and Contexts
The series is edited by Shaul Magid,

Francesca Trivellato Francesca Trivellato (born 1970) is an Italian historian, focusing on cultural, economic and social history in the early modern period. Her publications have covered Italian history, Jewish history and trade and cultural networks. She is currently ...

, and Steven Weitzman.

Notable fellows

Israel Bartal Israel Bartal ( he, ישראל ברטל), is Avraham Harman Professor of Jewish History, member of Israel Academy of Sciences (2016), and the former Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at Hebrew University (2006–2010). Since 2006 he is the chair of ...

: winner of the Landau Prize for the research of the history of the Land of Israel (2009) *

Menachem Ben-Sasson Menahem Ben-Sasson ( he, מנחם בן-ששון, born 7 July 1951) is an Israeli politician and a former member of the Knesset for Kadima. Between 2009 and 2017 he was the president of Hebrew University of Jerusalem, succeeding Menachem Magidor ...

: former member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

for

Kadima Kadima ( he, קדימה, lit=''Forward'') was a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely following the implementation of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement pl ...

; former president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2009-2017) * Amnon Ben-Tor: winner of the Israel Prize for archaeology (2019) * Yoram Bilu: winner of the Israel Prize for Sociology and Anthropology (2013) * Richard I. Cohen: winner of the Arnold Wischnitzer Prize (1998) * Natalie Zemon Davis: winner of the Holberg International Memorial Prize (2010); Companion of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

; recipient of the

National Humanities Medal The National Humanities Medal is an American award that annually recognizes several individuals, groups, or institutions for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the human ...

(2012) * Daniel J. Elazar: founder and former president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs * Yaakov Elman: founder of the field now known as Irano-Talmudica *

Seymour Gitin Seymour Gitin (born 1936) is an American archaeologist specializing in ancient Israel, known for his excavations at Tel Miqne-Ekron. He was the director of the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research (AIAR) in Jerusalem from 1980 to 2014. E ...

: winner of the Israel Museum's Percia Schimmel Prize (2004) *

Nurith Gertz Nurith Gertz ( he, נורית גרץ, born 1940) is an Israeli Professor Emerita of Hebrew literature and film at The Open University of Israel. She served as head of the theoretical track at the Department of Film and Television, at Tel Aviv Unive ...

: winner of the

Brenner Prize The Brenner Prize is an Israeli literary prize awarded annually by the Hebrew Writers Association in Israel and the Haft Family Foundation. It was founded in the name of the author Yosef Haim Brenner Yosef Haim Brenner ( he, יוֹסֵף חַ ...

for Literature (2009); recipient of the Israeli Book Publishers' Association Gold Award (2010) * Moshe Greenberg: winner of the Israel Prize in Bible (1994) * Bonnie Honig: winner of the Foundations of Political Thought Book Prize (1994) * Gershon Hundert: winner of the Judaica Reference Award from the Association of Jewish Libraries (2008) * Moshe Idel: winner of the Israel Prize for Jewish thought (1999) *

Sara Japhet Sara Japhet (sometimes Sarah Yefet, ; born November 18, 1934) is an Israeli biblical scholar. She is the Yehezkel Kaufmann Professor Emerita of Bible Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is considered a leading authority on the book ...

: former president of the World Union of Jewish Studies (2005-2009); winner of the Israel Prize for Biblical studies (2004) * Yosef Kaplan: winner of the Israel Prize for the history of the Jewish people (2013) * Ruth Mazo Karras: co-winner of the American Historical Association's Joan Kelly Memorial Prize (2012) * Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett: Chief Curator of the Core Exhibition at the

POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews ( pl, Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich) is a museum on the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto. The Hebrew word ''Polin'' in the museum's English name means either "Poland" or "rest here" and relates to a ...

; recipient of the Foundation for Jewish Culture award for lifetime achievement (2008) *

Norman Kleeblatt Norman L. Kleeblatt is a curator, critic, and consultant based in New York City. A long-term curator at the Jewish Museum in New York, he served as the Susan and Elihu Rose Chief Curator from 2005 to 2017. Kleeblatt has published in ''Art in Amer ...

: winner of the National Jewish Book Award (2009); former chief curator at the

Jewish Museum A Jewish museum is a museum which focuses upon Jews and may refer seek to explore and share the Jewish experience in a given area. List of Jewish museums Notable Jewish museums include: *Albania ** Solomon Museum, Berat *Australia ** Jewish Mu ...

(1982-2017) * David C. Kraemer: director of the Joseph J. and Dora Abbell Library at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * Shaul Magid: winner of the American Academy of Religion Award (2008) * Michael A. Meyer: winner of the National Jewish Book Award (1968, 1989, 1997); co-founder of the

Association for Jewish Studies The Association for Jewish Studies (AJS) is a scholarly organization in the United States that promotes academic Jewish Studies. The AJS was founded in 1969 and held its first annual conference that year at Brandeis University. In 1976, the AJS ...

* David Nirenberg: dean of the

University of Chicago Divinity School The University of Chicago Divinity School is a private graduate institution at the University of Chicago dedicated to the training of academics and clergy across religious boundaries. Formed under Baptist auspices, the school today lacks any s ...

; founding Roman Family Director of the Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society * David B. Ruderman: founding director of the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies; winner of the National Jewish Book Award (2010) * Maurice Samuels: director of the

Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism The Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism (YPSA) is an interdisciplinary center at Yale University in New Haven, CT devoted to the study of both historical and contemporary forms of antisemitism. Housed at the Whitney Humanities Center, YPSA ...

; winner of the Gaddis Smith International Book Prize (2004) * Edwin Seroussi: winner of the Israel Prize for the study of culture, art, and musicology (2018) * Stephanie B. Siegmund: winner of the American Historical Association's Herbert Baxter Adams Prize (2006) * Gershon Shaked: winner of the Israel Prize for Hebrew literature (1993) *

Anita Shapira Anita Shapira ( he, אניטה שפירא, born 1940) is an Israeli historian. She is the founder of the Yitzhak Rabin Center, professor emerita of Jewish history at Tel Aviv University, and former head of the Weizmann Institute for the Study of ...

: winner of the Israel Prize for History (2008) *

Anna Shternshis Anna Shternshis is an Al and Malka Green Professor of Yiddish studies and the director of the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto.

: co-creator and co-director of the 61st Annual Grammy Awards nominated album '' Yiddish Glory'' * Reuven Snir: winner of the

Tchernichovsky Prize Tchernichovsky Prize is an Israeli prize awarded to individuals for exemplary works of translation into Hebrew. History The Tchernichovsky Prize is awarded by the municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo.

for Translation (2014) * Michael C. Steinlauf: director of Poland's branch of the

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust hi ...

Guy Stroumsa Guy Gedalyah Stroumsa (born 27 July 1948) is an Israeli scholar of religion. He is Martin Buber Professor Emeritus of Comparative Religion at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Emeritus Professor of the Study of the Abrahamic Religions at the ...

: winner of the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award (2008); Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite * Susan Rubin Suleiman: recipient of France's Legion of Honor merit (2008) * S. Ilan Troen: founding director of the journal ''

Israel Studies ''Israel Studies'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering the history, politics, society, and culture of the modern state of Israel. It was established in 1996 S. Ilan Troen as founding editor(Brandeis University). It is publishe ...

'' * Yaron Tsur: co-founder of the

Open University of Israel The Open University of Israel ( he, האוניברסיטה הפתוחה, ''Ha-Universita ha-Ptuha'') is a distance-education university in Israel. It is one of ten public universities in Israel recognized by the Council of Higher Education (C ...

* Chava Turniansky: winner of the Israel Prize for Jewish language and literature (2013) * Elliot R. Wolfson: winner of the American Academy of Religion Award (1995, 2012); winner of the National Jewish Book Award (1995, 2005) * Joseph Yahalom: winner of the

Bialik Prize The Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel, for significant accomplishments in Hebrew literature. The prize is named in memory of Israel's national poet Hayyim Nahman Bialik Hayim Nahman Bialik ...

(2012); winner of the Ben-Zvi Prize for Lifetime Achievement (2003)

References

External links

* *
Library at the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
{{coord, 39.947312, -75.148493, type:edu_globe:earth_region:US-PA, display=title Judaic studies Jewish studies research institutes University of Pennsylvania Old City, Philadelphia 1993 establishments in Pennsylvania Educational institutions established in 1993