Past Exhibits
Lillian Goldman Reading Room
Mon-Thu: 9:30am-4:30pm
Fri: 10:00am-2:00pm by appointment only
Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute
Mon-Thu: 9:30am-4:30pm
Free Exhibit Spaces
Mon – Wed: 9:30am – 4:30pm
Thu: 9:30am – 8:00pm
Fri: 10:00am – 2:00pm
Sat: Closed
Sun: 11:00am – 5:00pm
Ruth's Bookstore
Mon – Wed: 9:30am – 4:30pm
Thu: 9:30am – 8:00pm
Fri: 10:00am – 2:00pm
Sat: Closed
Sun: 11am – 5pm
Make sure to check our holiday closures prior to visiting.
Last entry to the Center for Jewish History Exhibitions, Reading Room, and the Genealogy Institute is 1 hour before closing. The last call to page items in the Reading Room and Genealogy Institute is 3pm.
Today, academic Jewish Studies programs are firmly established in universities in many countries. They all reference the year 1818 as the founding date of their discipline. In this year, Leopold Zunz (1794-1886) published his essay Etwas über die rabbinische Litteratur (“Something about Rabbinical Literature”), which started the Wissenschaft movement. Zunz endeavored to embrace academic, secular methods of modern scholarship to investigate Jewish history, culture, in short - Jewish agency in all its forms, seemingly in contrast to traditional Jewish scholarship which was rooted in traditional studies of religious texts. The goal of his academic program was intrinsically linked to an appeal for political and religious reform. The exhibition will commemorate the origins of modern Jewish scholarship, told through the personal life of a key figure.
This exhibit closed on
Saturday, April 1, 2023