ABOUT

The Hebrew Union College Library possesses more than 3,000 Hebrew manuscripts, divided between its campuses in Cincinnati and New York. The manuscripts in these collections span more than a millennium, from the tenth to the twentieth centuries, and cover a wide range of topics, including liturgy, Jewish law, Rabbinic texts and commentaries, poetry, philosophy, kabbalah and mysticism, the Bible and its exegesis, responsa, letters from individuals and communities, historical documents, and other general literature. Among these manuscripts are significant collections of Samaritan and Chinese Jewish manuscripts, Haggadot, music, and Esther scrolls.

The Klau Library at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is one of the most comprehensive Jewish libraries in the world. With over half a million volumes, the Library has the largest collection of printed Judaica in North America. The Library’s mission is to collect, preserve, and provide access to the total record of Jewish thought and experience. Its rare book holdings include important collections of incunabula and 16 th century Hebrew imprints, as well as archival and literary manuscripts, including the unique Chinese-Hebrew collection. It has preeminent collections of Jewish music, early Jewish Americana, Spinozana, and Christian Hebraica. It also houses the Lucille Klau Carothers American Jewish Periodical Center, which preserves on microfilm some 900 newspaper and journal titles.

Founded in 1875, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is the nation’s oldest institution of higher Jewish education and the academic, spiritual, and professional leadership development center of Reform Judaism. HUC-JIR educates men and women for service to American and world Jewry as rabbis, cantors, educators, and communal service professionals, and offers graduate and post-graduate programs to scholars of all faiths. With center of learning in Cincinnati, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, and New York, HUC-JIR’s scholarly resources comprise renowned library and museum collections, the American Jewish Archives, biblical archaeology excavations, research institutes and centers, and academic publications. HUC-JIR invites the community to an array of cultural and educational programs which illuminate Jewish history, identity, and contemporary creativity and which foster interfaith and multi-ethnic understanding.


The images on this website are for research purposes. For copies of scans, and for publication requests, please contact Dr. Jordan Finkin at jfinkin@huc.edu



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