Academics Plan for Future of Jewish Studies in Russia

About 100 academics from the former Soviet Union, Israel and the United States came together last week to share their scholarship and strategize for the future of Jewish studies in Russia.

The meeting was held at The Moscow Center for University Teaching of Jewish Civilization.

“The idea is to encourage the teaching of Jewish civilization in universities,” said Ralph Goldman of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, which sponsored the event.

The conference covered myriad topics, such as the Israeli economy, the history of Russia’s first Jewish intellectual movement and questions on faith and science.

Practical seminars were also held on how the newly formed professors who are teaching Jewish subjects in other institutions within the former Soviet Union could work with the Moscow center.

Participants said Jewish teaching material and textbooks were badly need. AT the conference were academics from cities across Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus, as well as the new Israeli ambassador to Russia, Aliza Shenhar.

Also present was Nehemia Levtzion, the academic head of the Israel-based International Center for University Teaching of Jewish Civilization, the parent organization of the Moscow university teaching center.

During a tea break, graduate students, professors, community leaders, business people and visiting dignitaries exchange greetings, ideas and phone numbers in a boisterous melange of Russian, Hebrew and English.

The conference, however was about much more than making personal contacts.

“What is called Jewish studies in the United States doesn’t really exist here yet,” said Lawrence Schiffman, a professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at a New York University. “What we are really here to discuss is what we can do to develop this.”