The Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies (OCHJS) is a

recognised independent centre A recognised independent centre (RIC) of Oxford University is a status awarded to acknowledge a special relationship with a small number of institutes and centres which are involved in teaching and research in their specialised areas in Oxford. ...

of the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Its research fellows teach on a variety of undergraduate and master's degrees in Oriental studies, and it publishes the ''

Journal of Jewish Studies A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

''.

History and case statement

The centre was founded in 1972 by Dr David Patterson to help restore Jewish Studies in Europe in the aftermath of the Holocaust. Currently it is based in the Clarendon Institute, Walton Street,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, OX1 2HG, having relocated from Yarnton Manor in 2014. It is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee incorporated in

, under English law. Today, it is the leading academic Jewish studies centre in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. Its Fellows and Lecturers provide courses in Hebrew and Jewish studies for undergraduates and postgraduates up to doctoral level in many faculties within the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. The centre also promotes Jewish studies based on the Bodleian Library's Hebrew and Jewish collections by supporting research, by development projects, and by shared staffing with the centre's Leopold Muller Memorial Library.

Leopold Muller Memorial Library

The centre's library is named the Leopold Muller Memorial Library. It is housed in the basement of the Clarendon Institute. It comprises one of the best collections of books and periodicals in Jewish Studies in Europe and serves as a resource for scholars, students and visiting fellows of the centre. The core of the Library consists of several rare collections and archives; among those one finds a large collection of materials donated by Rabbi Louis Jacobs, Loewe Pamphlets Collection from

Herbert Loewe Herbert Martin James Loewe (1882–1940) was a noted scholar of Semitic languages and Jewish culture. His grandfather, Louis Loewe (1809–1880), had been Sir Moses Montefiore's secretary and the first Principal of the Judith Lady Montefiore Col ...

and his elder son, the library of Jacob H. Coppenhagen (1913–1997), Kressel Archive, Foyle-Montefiore Collection (which incorporates the library of Leopold Zunz), Lipson-Shandel and

Moses Montefiore Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, (24 October 1784 – 28 July 1885) was a British financier and banker, activist, philanthropist and Sheriff of London. Born to an Italian Sephardic Jewish family based in London, aft ...

Archives of rare documentation regarding life and activities of Sir

, one of the largest collections of Yizkor Books in Europe – it counts over 800 memorial volumes for communities destroyed in the Holocaust, and the Archive of Rabbi

Hugo Gryn Hugo Gabriel Gryn (pronouned ''green'') (25 June 1930 – 18 August 1996) was a British Reform rabbi, a national broadcaster and a leading voice in interfaith dialogue. Hugo Gryn was born into a prosperous Jewish family in the market town of Be ...

. Among the Library's most recent enterprises are the Digital Haskalah Library project and the Raphael Loewe Archives Digital Exhibition.

Notable academics

Norman Solomon Norman Solomon (born July 7, 1951) is an American journalist, media critic, activist, and former U.S. congressional candidate. Solomon is a longtime associate of the media watch group Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR). In 1997 he founde ...

Géza Vermes Géza Vermes, (; 22 June 1924 – 8 May 2013) was a British academic, Biblical scholar, and Judaist of Hungarian Jewish descent—one who also served as a Catholic priest in his youth—and scholar specialized in the field of the history of re ...

List of presidents

* David Patterson (1972–1992) * Philip Alexander (1992–1995) *

Bernard Wasserstein Bernard Wasserstein (born 22 January 1948 in London) is a British historian. Early life Bernard Wasserstein was born in London on 22 January 1948. Wasserstein's father, Abraham Wasserstein (1921–1995), born in Frankfurt, was Professor of Class ...

(1996–2000 *

Peter Oppenheimer Peter Oppenheimer is the former senior vice president and Chief Financial Officer of Apple Inc and has been a member of the board of directors of Goldman Sachs since 2014. Oppenheimer spent 18 years at Apple, reporting directly to CEO Tim C ...

(2000–2008) * David Ariel (2008–2014) * Martin Goodman (2014–2018) *

Judith Olszowy-Schlanger Judith Olszowy-Schlanger, (' Olszowy; born 1967) is a French Jewish studies scholar who specialises in medieval Jewish documents. Since September 2018, she has been President of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies at the University ...

(2018–)

Emeritus governors

*Martin Blackman *Elizabeth Corob *Michael Garston OBE *Sir

Richard Greenbury Sir Richard Greenbury (31 July 1936 – 27 September 2017) was an English businessman, and chairman and chief executive of the British retailer Marks and Spencer from 1988 to 1999. During his tenure, the company continued to grow until its prof ...

*Professor Alan Jones *The Lord Marks of Broughton *

*Felix Posen *Sir

Maurice Shock Sir Maurice Shock (15 April 1926 – 7 July 2018) was a British university administrator and educationalist. Shock was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and later read philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) at Balliol College, Oxf ...

*Dennis Trevelyan, CB *The Rt Hon The

Lord Woolf Harry Kenneth Woolf, Baron Woolf, (born 2 May 1933) is a British life peer and retired barrister and judge. He was Master of the Rolls from 1996 until 2000 and Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 2000 until 2005. The Constitutional R ...

*The Rt Hon The Lord Young CH DL

References

External links

Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies website

''Journal of Jewish Studies'' website

* ttp://www.ochjs.ac.uk/mullerlibrary/digital_library/haskalah.html Digital Haskalah Library website
Raphael Loewe Archives Digital Exhibition
{{Authority control 1972 establishments in England Asian studies Departments of the University of Oxford Judaic studies Jewish studies research institutes Organisations associated with the University of Oxford Religious charities based in the United Kingdom ms:Pusat Oxford untuk Pengajian bahasa Ibrani dan agama Yahudi