Holy Land Studies

The publication of a 72-volume reprint series called “America and the Holy Land,” consisting mainly of 19th Century and early 20th Century writings on Palestine by Americans, was announced here at a meeting of the International Committee of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute of Contemporary Jewry.

The announcement Monday night at the officer of the American Friends of the Hebrew University was made jointly by Daniel G. Ross, chairman of the international committee, and Dr. Maurice Jacobs of the American Jewish Historical Society. The series will be published by Arno Press, a New York Times company.

The series will include one new work, “With Eyes Toward Zion,” an expanded version of a “Scholars Colloquium on America-Holy Land Studies” held at the National Archives in Washington in September, 1975. It is edited by Prof. Moshe Davis, head of the Institute of Contemporary Jewry and advisory editor for the entire series.

PURPOSE OF COLLECTION

“The purpose of the collection is to engage the contemporary reader in the wonder of the rediscovery of the Holy Land by the Western world in the past century,” Davis told the meeting. “Out of many hundreds of books and pamphlets, we have chosen a sample of writings of archaeologists, historians, scientists, biblical scholars, novelists, American consuls, missionaries, tourists, and above all, settlers and builders of the land.” Davis noted that the work falls into four categories: diplomatic policy, Christian devotion, Jewish attachment and cultural interest.

The editorial board for the series includes Dr. Robert T. Handy, academic dean and professor of church history at Union Theological Seminary; Dr. Jules Davids, professor of American history and diplomacy at Georgetown University and Dr. Nathan M. Kaganoff, librarian and editor of the American Jewish Historical Society.

In another report at the meeting, Prof, Yehuda Bauer, deputy head of the institute and director of the Department of Holocaust Studies, said two publications are expected to appear in 1978: “To Save Our Soul,” which deals with the American Joint Distribution Committee’s rescue attempts during the Holocaust, and “The Jewish Emergence from Powerlessness.”