Jewish texts to stimulate intellect
Alexia Lang
Issue date: 2/9/09 Section: News
Looking to establish and maintain intellectual curiosity among students and faculty, the Bloch Law Library is playing host throughout this semester to a traveling collection of Jewish law texts.
The Lillie Goldstein Collection contains approximately 700 volumes covering Judaism and Jewish Law and is on loan from Touro College in New York.
Paul Callister, director of the Law Library, said he first heard about the collection through a Listserv announcement.
"In part, my interest in the collection is to repurpose my library to being more of an intellectual stimulus for the community it serves, and in many ways helps to define," said Callister. "Law has been called a 'learned' profession."
The volumes cover a variety of subjects with a few printed in Hebrew and a majority printed in English.
Callister said the collection is relevant because some origins of our modern legal system can be traced back to ancient Jewish law and the study of other legal systems is helpful in gaining a better understanding of our own.
"We hope that some of our students and faculty who are interested in legal history and comparative law will make good use of the collection, which is primarily in English," he said.
Shira Megerman, student and research specialist at the library, said this collection should have appeal for a large number of people.
"It is such a vast collection and covers so many topics," she said. "We are very lucky to have it here."
Shipping is the only obligation UMKC has for hosting the collection. It must be back at the Touro Law Center at the end of June. The texts will be on display until June 30.
Although the library is open to the public, the collection is on limited circulation to students, staff and faculty.
"However we are always willing to consider exceptions on a case-by-case basis," said Callister.
Megerman said although traffic to see the volumes has been steady, she hopes more people will stop by the library to take a look.
"Don't be deterred by the fact that it is in the Law School," she said. "It's free and open to the public."
alang@unews.com
The Lillie Goldstein Collection contains approximately 700 volumes covering Judaism and Jewish Law and is on loan from Touro College in New York.
Paul Callister, director of the Law Library, said he first heard about the collection through a Listserv announcement.
"In part, my interest in the collection is to repurpose my library to being more of an intellectual stimulus for the community it serves, and in many ways helps to define," said Callister. "Law has been called a 'learned' profession."
The volumes cover a variety of subjects with a few printed in Hebrew and a majority printed in English.
Callister said the collection is relevant because some origins of our modern legal system can be traced back to ancient Jewish law and the study of other legal systems is helpful in gaining a better understanding of our own.
"We hope that some of our students and faculty who are interested in legal history and comparative law will make good use of the collection, which is primarily in English," he said.
Shira Megerman, student and research specialist at the library, said this collection should have appeal for a large number of people.
"It is such a vast collection and covers so many topics," she said. "We are very lucky to have it here."
Shipping is the only obligation UMKC has for hosting the collection. It must be back at the Touro Law Center at the end of June. The texts will be on display until June 30.
Although the library is open to the public, the collection is on limited circulation to students, staff and faculty.
"However we are always willing to consider exceptions on a case-by-case basis," said Callister.
Megerman said although traffic to see the volumes has been steady, she hopes more people will stop by the library to take a look.
"Don't be deterred by the fact that it is in the Law School," she said. "It's free and open to the public."
alang@unews.com
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