Judaic Studies Collection Growing

Nine years ago I was fortunate to be appointed Weinberg chair of Judaic Studies at the University. In order for me and my colleagues to be able to engage in productive Judaic scholarship, as well as for our students to have access to the volumes, journals and CD Roms they need when taking Judaic studies courses, I realized that it was crucial to build a first class collection of Judaica books.

 

In the time since then the Judaica collecton has grown immensely. We have amassed large holdings in all areas of Jewish history and thought, and are particularly strong in Holocaust studies and the history of anti-Semitism, buying virtually every book that appears in these fields.

 

We have also benefited from gifts that we received. In particular, we acquired many books from the library of the late Rabbi Simon Shoop, who served as rabbi of Temple Israel in Scranton and also taught the first Holocaust course at the University. I feel confident in saying that the Weinberg Memorial Library has the best collection of Judaica in Northeastern Pennsylvania.