The First World Congress Of Jewish Studies

“With pride and hesitation, in holy awe and happiness that a cornerstone was laid here for the building of the culture of our nation and our land, we hereby open the First World Congress of Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, as a foundation stone for a future tradition.”

Naftali Herz Torczyner (Tur-Sinai), Head of the Institute of Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, 1947

The First World Congress of Jewish Studies was held in July 1947 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on Mt. Scopus, organized by the University with the help of the Jewish Agency. Speakers at the opening session on July 6 included N. H. Torczyner (Tur-Sinai), Head of the Institute of Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University, Yehuda Leib Magnes, President of the University, Leon Simon, Executive Director of the Hebrew University, and David Ben-Gurion, Director of the Jewish Agency.

The papers presented at the Congress were published almost five years later, in 1952. In the intervening years, the State of Israel had been established; following the 1948 Arab–Israeli war, Mt. Scopus had become a demilitarized zone and no-man’s land, and was inaccessible to lecturers and students. Some of the scholars who had lectured at the first World Congress of Jewish Studies in 1947 had fallen victim to that “war of life or death,” as it was described by Ben Zion Dinur (Dinaburg) and Naftali Herz Tur-Sinai (Torczyner) in their foreword to the publication of the Congress proceedings.

Seventy-five papers presented at the Congress, in the fields of Hebrew Language, Bible, Hebrew Literature, and Hebrew History, were published in the volume of Congress proceedings.

The First World Congress Of Jewish Studies

“With pride and hesitation, in holy awe and happiness that a cornerstone was laid here for the building of the culture of our nation and our land, we hereby open the First World Congress of Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, as a foundation stone for a future tradition.”

Naftali Herz Torczyner (Tur-Sinai), Head of the Institute of Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, 1947

The First World Congress of Jewish Studies was held in July 1947 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on Mt. Scopus, organized by the University with the help of the Jewish Agency. Speakers at the opening session on July 6 included N. H. Torczyner (Tur-Sinai), Head of the Institute of Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University, Yehuda Leib Magnes, President of the University, Leon Simon, Executive Director of the Hebrew University, and David Ben-Gurion, Director of the Jewish Agency.

The papers presented at the Congress were published almost five years later, in 1952. In the intervening years, the State of Israel had been established; following the 1948 Arab–Israeli war, Mt. Scopus had become a demilitarized zone and no-man’s land, and was inaccessible to lecturers and students. Some of the scholars who had lectured at the first World Congress of Jewish Studies in 1947 had fallen victim to that “war of life or death,” as it was described by Ben Zion Dinur (Dinaburg) and Naftali Herz Tur-Sinai (Torczyner) in their foreword to the publication of the Congress proceedings.

Seventy-five papers presented at the Congress, in the fields of Hebrew Language, Bible, Hebrew Literature, and Hebrew History, were published in the volume of Congress proceedings.

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