Yale University Library’s Jewish studies collection supports research and teaching in the intrinsically interdisciplinary and intersectional field of Jewish Studies, which comprises, among others, the study of Jewish histories, cultures as well as cultural productions, languages, thought, religion, law, and politics around the globe from antiquity to the present. The Yale University Library strives to include the full diversity of Jewish voices and experiences in its collection. The Jewish Studies collection also seeks to support all research and teaching in anti-Judaism and antisemitism, discrimination against and persecution of Jews, as well as the Holocaust.
Yale’s Jewish studies collection is one of the oldest in the country. Its beginnings date back to the first half of the eighteenth century but its history as a Judaica collection proper commenced in 1915 when George Alexander Kohut gifted the precious library of his father Alexander Kohut to Yale together with a generous endowment. This endowment was subsequently increased by his stepmother Rebekah Bettelheim Kohut. Currently, the collection encompasses over 300,000 items, thousands of which are designated as special collections. Among the rare materials are more than five hundred Hebraic manuscripts, thousands of premodern as well as modern printings, ephemera, periodicals, scores, and around one hundred sixty archival collections.
Konstanze H. Kunst, the Joseph and Ceil Mazer Librarian for Jewish Studies, is responsible for the development of Yale’s Jewish studies collection. Ms. Kunst supports teaching and research of Yale students and faculty as well as affiliated researchers in the field of Jewish studies. She serves as library liaison to the Jewish Studies Program, to select members of the Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, and to the Council on Middle East Studies. Ms. Kunst provides reference and research consultations in Jewish studies on all levels, maintains online research guides, fosters information literacy and the understanding of the history of Jewish material texts through teaching, and promotes the Jewish studies collection through activities such as exhibitions and instruction.
The Jewish Studies Reading and Reference Room on the third floor of Sterling Memorial Library (SML 335b) is open during library hours to all Yale affiliates and—by appointment—to non-Yale-affiliated visiting scholars.
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Read about the Collection
Incunabula and rare printed books, Josephus and Philo collections, global Yiddish, marriage contracts, tekhines, film & TV, and official records of the history of Jews at Yale
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North African Manuscripts Collection
Hebrew, Judeo-Arabic, Judeo-Spanish, Arabic, French, Spanish and Italian manuscripts from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya
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Yehuda Amichai Papers
Correspondence, manuscripts, journals, photographs, audio-visual material, printed material, and personal papers documenting the life and work of Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai
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Sholem Asch Papers
Writings, correspondence, printed material, photographs, and artwork that document the life and work of the Yiddish writer and activist Sholem Asch
