The Schocken Institute for Jewish Research
The Schocken Institute, located at Rechov Balfour 6, just across the street from the Prime Minister’s residence, contains a rare book and research library serving scholars in Israel and throughout the world. Its nucleus contains the private collection of the late Zalman Schocken whose dedication to public affairs was immeasurable. Unlike other collectors, Zalman Schocken neither collected books for collection's sake alone nor for the sheer purpose of exhibiting them. He was guided by a deep sense of respect and awe towards the books in the “Wandering Jew's” travelling sack. Those books became the portable homeland of the people in exile - setting it apart, as well as uniting it.
The Schocken collection is unique among private collections, both in its immense size, as well as its importance. The collection consists of several hundred manuscripts, a Hebrew incunabula collection (housed in The Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem), and more than fifty thousand volumes including numerous first editions, and unique research material.
The Schocken library represents the only complete collection of Jewish books which escaped the hands of the Nazis. In 1935 the collection was smuggled out of Germany in a complex operation. During the Holocaust the library in Jerusalem served as a hideaway for Jewish writers and researchers on the run from Hitler.
When Zalman Schocken chose to build a home for the library in Jerusalem he contacted the renowned architect Eric Mendelsohn. The building was planned to include a research institute whose purpose was to publish material based on the Schocken collection. The library also includes a spacious exhibition and conference hall.
Zalman Schocken died in 1959. In March 1961 his immense Judaica library was entrusted by the Schocken family to The Jewish Theological Seminary of America. The family's wish was for the preservation and continuation of the library in a manner which would serve as a basis for the Schocken Institute for Jewish Research.
To learn more about the library and the architecture, read this excerpt from Till We Have Built Jerusalem: Architects of a New City by Adina Hoffman who wrote that “the library had been conceived by patron (Schocken) and planner (Mendelsohn) alike as nothing less than one of the spiritual cornerstones of the Jewish national home that both were intent on constructing.”
Professor Shmuel Glick is the Director of The Schocken Institute. He is an accomplished scholar of rabbinic literature who has invested serious time and effort in his research of the Cairo Geniza.
The Schocken Institute is a short walk from Keren HaYesod and Agron streets. It is accessible by all major bus lines running through the city center including the 4, 7, 9, 13, 21, 71, 72, 74, 31, 32 and others.
Rabbi Matthew L. Berkowitz is the Director of Israel Programs for The Jewish Theological Seminary of America and co-founder of Kol Ha-Ot, a new Jerusalem-based venture devoted to exploring the arts and Jewish learning. For ten years (1999-2009), Matt served as the JTS Senior Rabbinic Fellow, organizing substantive adult learning throughout Florida and beyond. He is a member of The Wexner Heritage Program Faculty and has taught the Atlanta, Houston, and Phoenix groups.
He completed his undergraduate work in International Relations and Middle East Studies, summa cum laude, at Colgate University. While in Israel, he studied at Pardes and The Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies. He was ordained from JTS in 1999 and is a Wexner Graduate Fellow alumnus.
An accomplished artist, Matt was formally trained in Jewish scribal art in Jerusalem and completed the writing of Megillat Esther, the illumination of several ketubbot, and a limited edition artist portfolio entitled Passover Landscapes: Illuminations on the Exodus which was acquired by Yale University, exhibited at Yeshiva University Museum (April, 2006) and is on permanent exhibit at The Jewish Theological Seminary. The Lovell Haggadah (jointly published in 2008 by Schechter Institute and Nirtzah Editions) is based on this work. In 2008-2009, he studied illustration and oil painting at The Jerusalem Studio School.
Rabbi Berkowitz resides in Jerusalem with his three children, Adir, Rachel, and Shira, and became an oleh (new Israeli citizen) on August 27, 2009.
He completed his undergraduate work in International Relations and Middle East Studies, summa cum laude, at Colgate University. While in Israel, he studied at Pardes and The Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies. He was ordained from JTS in 1999 and is a Wexner Graduate Fellow alumnus.
An accomplished artist, Matt was formally trained in Jewish scribal art in Jerusalem and completed the writing of Megillat Esther, the illumination of several ketubbot, and a limited edition artist portfolio entitled Passover Landscapes: Illuminations on the Exodus which was acquired by Yale University, exhibited at Yeshiva University Museum (April, 2006) and is on permanent exhibit at The Jewish Theological Seminary. The Lovell Haggadah (jointly published in 2008 by Schechter Institute and Nirtzah Editions) is based on this work. In 2008-2009, he studied illustration and oil painting at The Jerusalem Studio School.
Rabbi Berkowitz resides in Jerusalem with his three children, Adir, Rachel, and Shira, and became an oleh (new Israeli citizen) on August 27, 2009.