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Preface
It is a pleasure to introduce this catalogue
presenting an exhibit of Hebrew manuscripts and printed
books located in the marvelous library collection of the
University of Pennsylvania Center for Judaic Studies. The
exhibit, which opens in the spring of 1996 at the
University's Van Pelt Library, focuses on the
transmission of knowledge from medieval to modern times
in Jewish culture, especially the remarkable changes in
the process engendered by the technology of the printing
press. The exhibit visually highlights some of the
critical themes studied by a remarkable group of scholars
in Bible, rabbinics, medieval and modern Jewish history,
Hebrew paleography, Jewish and Islamic philosophy,
Islamic history, ancient Christianity and more, assembled
in this year's fellowship at the Center for Judaic
Studies. The exhibit coincides as well with the
year-ending colloquium of the Center on the theme:
"Learning and Literacy in the Judaic Tradition: A
Comparative and Interdisciplinary Inquiry."
This exhibit constitutes a remarkable collaboration
between the Center and its fellowship and staff and the
Van Pelt library and its staff who have worked diligently
to present the results of the learning experience of a
group of scholars to a wider public audience at the
University and beyond. I am pleased to thank publicly Dr.
Paul Mosher and Dr. Michael Ryan and their staff for
their support of the exhibit and for their general
support and interest in the activities of the Center for
Judaic Studies. I would also like to offer my
appreciation to Aviva Astrinsky, Dr. Sol Cohen, and
Howell E. Dell, of the Center for Judaic Studies, who
also contributed their time and energy to this important
project.
This exhibit also represents a different and very
special kind of collaboration between the Center, an
institute for post-doctoral study in Jewish civilization,
and the graduate program in History and Jewish Studies at
the University. The two curators of the exhibit, who
assumed full responsibility for its conception and
implementation, are Rebecca Kobrin and Adam Shear, both
graduate students in Jewish history at Penn. Both
participated in a seminar on the impact of printing on
Jewish cultural formation offered by a Fellow of the
Center for Judaic Studies, Dr. Elhanan Reiner of Tel Aviv
University, and they also consulted widely with other
fellows at the Center in organizing the exhibit and
writing the catalogue. They deserve our special thanks
for their intelligence and dedication in leading this
project to its successful conclusion.
Finally, I would like to offer my gratitude to the
friends of Van Pelt Library, and especially to Mrs.
Rochelle Feldman Levy, a member of the Board of Overseers
of the Center for Judaic Studies, and to her husband,
Robert Levy, for their generous support of the exhibit
and of this valuable catalogue.
David Ruderman
Joseph Meyerhoff Professor of Modern Jewish History
Director, Center for Judaic Studies
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