Online Exhibition: Jewish Studies at Columbia. From Samuel Johnson to the IIJS
Nov. 15, 2026
Columbia University Libraries present an online exhibition on the history of Jewish Studies at Columbia University, produced in connection with the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies. The exhibition traces the field from the first Hebrew instruction in the mid-18th century to Richard J.H. Gottheil, who in 1887 became the first professor of Rabbinical Literature, and to the donation of the Temple Emanu-El library, which became one of the richest Jewish library collections in the United States. Across several sections it presents manuscripts from the collection, among them prayer books and a Haggadah. The exhibition is freely accessible online and requires no registration or on-site visit.
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