Institute of Jewish Studies at University College London

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The Institute of Jewish Studies at University College London, originally simply the Institute of Jewish Studies, is an academic institution founded by Alexander Altmann in 1954 in Manchester, England. In 1959, coincident with the departure of Altmann as director, the Institute was brought under the auspices of University College London.

Altmann's justification for the activities of the Institute was given in a 1957 lecture to the Hillel Foundation of London (Ivry, Wolfson & Arkush 1998):

Being connected with our past, at home in our literature, and in sympathy with ourselves as it were, we shall find it easier to approach the ultimate questions.

[edit] References

Ivry, Alfred L. (1998), "Preface", written at Australia, in Alfred L. Ivry, Elliot R. Wolfson & Allan Arkush, Perspectives on Jewish Thought and Mysticism: Proceedings of the International Conference held by The Institute of Jewish Studies, University College London, 1994, in Celebration of its Fortieth Anniversary, Harwood Academic Publishers.

Ivry, Alfred L.; Elliot R. Wolfson & Allan Arkush (1998), "History of the Institute of Jewish Studies, London, during its first 40 years, 1954–1994: Its contribution to the history of Jewish scholarship", written at Australia, in Alfred L. Ivry, Elliot R. Wolfson & Allan Arkush, Perspectives on Jewish Thought and Mysticism: Proceedings of the International Conference held by The Institute of Jewish Studies, University College London, 1994, in Celebration of its Fortieth Anniversary, Harwood Academic Publishers.