A Memorandum on Biblical Studies at the Hebrew University, 1926

By the early twentieth century, biblical criticism had come to dominate the academic study of Scripture in most European universities. Jewish writers and scholars articulated a wide spectrum of responses to this historical-literary approach to the Hebrew Bible, especially in light of what they perceived to be its noxious Protestant presuppositions. In this regard, the establishment of the Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, an early and central part of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, brought the issue to the fore in a particularly vexing manner. While the organizers would not conceive of a Jewish Studies faculty without courses on the Bible, it was far from clear who could, or should, be hired for this field. There was a general sense that the new Institute could not afford to engage a scholar who lacked broad familiarity with the contemporary state of the field, but there was also hesitation—and outright objection in some quarters—to a Jewish scholar who fully embraced the critical approach to the Bible. The archival document published here for the first time addressed this very dilemma. Written by Moshe Zvi Segal, it attempted to protect the notion of unfettered academic freedom while still privileging traditional sensitivities.