Scholarship of and by Jews at Columbia dates back to the founding of the institution by Samuel Johnson. This exhibition attempts to document the long history of Jewish Studies at Columbia: from Hebraist and Kings' College founder Samuel Johnson, to the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, which celebrated its 75th anniversity in 2025. 

This is the online version of an exhibition that was mounted in Butler Library in late Fall 2025 and early Spring 2026. 

Credits:

Michelle Margolis, Research and Oversight

Samuel Scott Klein Roche, Text

Joseph Hedaya, Design and Layout (Physical Exhibit)

While the history of Jewish people at Columbia is not the same as the scholarship of Jewish Studies at the university, there are some similarities in the story - they followed similar trajectores.  For more on the Jews at Columbia, see the webinar below.  To begin the story of Jewish Studies at Columbia, click on the navigation button below the video.