EDUCATION

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for a
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158 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1991

World's Interest Is Up
In Jewish Studies

ROSE KLEINER

Special to The Jewish News

I

nterest in Jewish studies,
once confined mostly to
Jewish students and
scholars, is now so widespread
that it spans the continents of
Europe, Asia and Africa. A re-
cent report from the Interna-
tional Center for University
Teaching of Jewish Civiliza-
tion states that in many
places largely non-Jewish
scholars are now teaching
Jewish studies to groups of
students who are also
predominantly not Jewish.
According to the Interna-
tional Center for University
Teaching of Jewish Civiliza-
tion in Jerusalem, countries
such as Belgium, Holland,
East Germany, Poland and
the Ukraine, as well as
Russia, are witnessing a
growing interest in the study
of Jewish culture.
In Holland, Judaic studies
focus mainly on Hebrew
language, literature and
classical rabbinical texts. A
society • called Philosophia
Judaica promotes an interest
in Jewish philosophy in
Holland. Last year it spon-
sored a series of lectures by
Israeli professor Natan
Rotenstreich at four univer-
sities in the Netherlands. An
example of the program of
graduate studies is the doc-
toral dissertation undertaken
by Reiner Mark, of the
department of theology at the
Free University of Amster-
dam. His work is supervised
by both a local professor, and
a professor from the Hebrew
University in Jerusalem, and
his topic is "Rabbi Joseph
Soloveichik's Philosophy of
Halachah."
According to Professor Marc
Vervenne, of the Flemish
Katholieke Universitet in
Leuven, Belgium, Jewish
civilization is part of the cur-
riculum and research pro-
gram of both the Faculty of
Arts and the Faculty of
Theology at his university.
They also sponsor a collo-
quium on Jewish studies,
which is held biennially.
Totally wiped out during
the Holocaust, the long tradi-
tion of Jewish studies was
revived at the University of
Berlin (East) in 1945, within
the framework of theological
research. In 1960 Hebrew
studies were reinstated again
along scholarly lines.
In the Ukraine, according to
Research Associate Rudolph
Mirsky, the surviving Jewish
community of Lvov is ex-

periencing a renewed interest
in its heritage. Hebrew
courses and lectures on
Jewish literature are again
being offered at the Lvov
Center. Jewish studies
research, at the University of
Lvov, is taking several direc-
tions, focusing on Ukrainian
Jewish relations and on the
Holocaust. An interest in im-
proving Ukrainian-Israeli re-
lations also is on the agenda.
For many Polish intellec-
tuals, according to Professor
Nicholas Ivanov of Wroclaw
State University, Jewish
culture and tradition are very
much alive in the Polish na-
tional consciousness. In his
view it is impossible to
understand the evolution of
the Polish nation without
knowing the history of the
Jewish people in Poland.
Jewish civilization is
taught almost exclusively by

Countries are
witnessing a
growing interest in
the study of
Jewish culture.

non-Jews to non-Jews, in
Poland today. Since the coun-
try is experiencing a
resurgence of anti-Semitism,
Professor Ivanov feels that
there is the danger of some
courses being presented with
an anti-Jewish bias. He bases
his conjecture on his own ex-
periences while teaching
Jewish civilization.
In Zaire, at the Protestant
Faculty of Theology (in Kin-
shasa) all five departments of-
fer courses in Hebrew Bible,
the history of ancient Israel,
rabbinical exegesis and
hermeneutics, and Near
Eastern history and culture.
The University of Kon-Kuk,
in Seoul, South Korea, is
scheduled to open a depart-
ment of Jewish studies this
year. The courses offered will
include Jewish history and
culture, Middle East studies,
and the Hebrew language.
The university has sent one of
its students, Park Me Young,
to the Hebrew University in
Jerusalem, where she- is
working toward a Ph.D. and
preparing for a career in
teaching the language at
Kon-Kuk University. There
are 20,000 students at this
university.
Professor Li Hu, from Beij-
ing University, in China,
teaches and does research in
Jewish history and Jewish
culture. She has studied in
the U.S. and in Israel. ❑