Schocken Institute for Jewish Research

The Schocken Institute for Jewish Research of The Jewish Theological Seminary, a research institute dedicated to academic excellence and research in all branches of Jewish studies, is housed in Jerusalem at the Schocken Library, a historic landmark and architectural masterpiece.

In 1961, JTS became the custodian of the Schocken library and its unique collection of rare and beautiful manuscripts once owned by publishing magnate Salman Schocken; in 1977, JTS became its owner. The collection includes 60,000 volumes, among them several thousand first and early editions and incunabula (books printed before 1501).

Scope of Collections

Today, the Schocken Library specializes in rabbinic literature, Jewish liturgy, and medieval Hebrew poetry. Among the library's holdings are thousands of photo reproductions of genizah fragments of Jewish poetry and an extensive collection of books and manuscripts on Jewish mysticism and Hasidism, early Yiddish books, halakhic literature, and Karaite literature. The personal library of Dr. Saul Lieberman, known as the Strook/Lieberman Collection, is also housed in the Schocken Library.

The library's collections, indispensable resources for research, are open to the public and to scholars. Lectures and seminars arranged by the Schocken Institute are often accompanied by exhibitions of material from the collections.

Special Archive of Eastern European Rabbinic Correspondences

The Schocken Institute is also home of the Rabbi Moses Nahum Yerushalimsky archive. This collection consists of more than 25,000 archival items of announcements, petitions, invitations, and approbations from a leading late 19th-century rabbi, author, and communal leader of Polish and Russian Jewry. The archive contains a wealth of literary raw material on public issues, Jewish education, Jewish law and customs, and fascinating communal problems. With more than 6,000 letters and 4,000 postcards, the Yerushalimsky archive is now being scanned and cataloged for easy access.

The Institute for the Study of Medieval Liturgical Poetry, also located at the Schocken Institute, was established in 1930 and remains the first institute dedicated to researching medieval Hebrew poetry (piyyutim). The institute has published critical editions of piyyutim as well as the critical research of noted scholars

Research

Over the past few years, the Schocken Institute has been engaged in several new and exciting projects:

  • The Saul Lieberman Glosses to the Talmud Yerushalmi: Professor Saul Lieberman left thousands of handwritten emendations, glosses, and cross-references in the margins of his personal copies of the Krototschin and Venice editions of the Talmud Yerushalmi. A full-length volume titled Gilyonot Talmud Ha-Yerushalmi shel R' Shaul Liebermann is being prepared.
  • Responsa Bibliography: A bibliography and database of the vast sea of rabbinic responsa. This is an ongoing project in conjunction with the Schechter Institute for Jewish Studies in Jerusalem.
  • Educational Database Program: A database on the history of Jewish education, from the period of the Gaonim until modern times, is being developed in conjunction with the Center of Jewish Education of Haifa University and the Lifshitz College of Education in Jerusalem.
  • The History of Jewish Consolation Practices: A project dealing with the historical development of Jewish consolation practices, with special emphasis on the community's obligation and role to comfort mourners and the various strategies, formulas, and cultural mores related to Jewish comfort and consolation.
  • Boh'ie y Kallah Project: Two research projects focusing on Jewish wedding customs throughout the ages.
  • JTS Hebrew Publications: The offices of the Schocken Institute include JTS's Hebrew publication program, which offers editions of talmudic and rabbinic texts, studies in Hebrew literature, and critical editions of medieval Hebrew poetry.

Please visit the Schocken Institute for Jewish Research.