Center of Jewish Studies

History of the center

The need to set up a Center for Jewish Studies in Arad has become a priority for the academic community of Arad – especially for the one gravitating around the “Vasile Goldiș” Western University, as a result of the important changes that are taking place in the collective mentalities in the strictly contemporary era. In line with the most recent philosophical and historical conceptions, a new junction between Judaism and Christianity has been produced; contemporary history has been forced, through new knowledge and orientations, to abandon some millennia-old prejudices, moving on to recognise the extent of the history of the Jewish people. The Jews took Jesus as the one who came out of their ranks with a message for the Jews. The great Churches of the contemporary world (Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant) take up Jesus the Jew, the expression of the great culture of Israel. Sustained historical investigation of the Bible is necessary for a deeper understanding of it. It is a clear signal of the shift from interculturality to multiculturality.

The initiative to set up this Center also meets the trends evident in the Ministry of Education, which supports research focusing on some crucial issues of contemporary history, such as the study of the Holocaust.

The opening of the Center for Jewish Studies in Arad, the first in a private educational institution, was attended by Her Excellency RODICA RADIAN GORDON, Ambassador of the State of Israel to Romania, the Rector of the “Vasile Goldiș” University of West Romania, Professor AUREL ARDELEAN, and representatives of the local authorities. The ceremony was honoured by the presidents of the Jewish communities in the Western part of the country, led by Eng. Ionel Schlesinger, President of the Community of Arad, Prof. Liviu Rotman (Tel Aviv University), leading representatives of the University management, teachers and students.

The opening of the Center for Jewish Studies is a first step towards the re-evaluation of Jewish culture. Even though the number of Jews in Romania today has drastically decreased (according to the last census the Jewish population represents only 0.04% of the country’s population), the cultural value of the activities of the communities in Romania is indisputable; if we add to this the troubled multi-millennial history of the Jewish people, the exceptional value of the individual achievements of some outstanding members of the ethnic group in the scientific field, the “hot zone” that is still the Near East, we have a relatively complete but still pale picture of what Judaism represents in contemporary society.

Head of the Center,

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Marius Grec