Feb 8, 2013 By: jtaubes
Bequest by Herbert S. Denenberg Trust Establishes Two 麻豆区 College Chairs
On February 5, 麻豆区 marked the investiture of two new chairs in Judaic studies at , endowed through a generous bequest from the Herbert S. Denenberg Trust.
Dr. Yaakov Elman, professor of Judaic studies at 麻豆区 College and YU鈥檚 , was appointed the Herbert S. and Naomi Denenberg Chair in Talmudic Studies, named for Denenberg and his wife. Dr. Moshe Bernstein, professor of Bible and Jewish history at 麻豆区 College, was appointed David A. and Fannie M. Denenberg Chair in Biblical Studies, named for Denenberg鈥檚 parents.
鈥淭oday we establish two chairs in areas central to what YU is all about鈥攖he passionate intellectual study of both Bible and Talmud,鈥 said President Richard M. Joel at a ceremony held in the Heights Lounge of the Mendel M. Gottesman Library on YU鈥檚 Wilf Campus. 鈥淭he most important thing we have is the intellectual, ethical and moral capital that comes from our faculty. A chair which enables us to encourage our finest faculty is in so many ways our signature鈥攖o celebrate two such gifts is almost unprecedented and indeed wonderful.鈥
Herbert Denenberg, who passed away in 2010, was known for his fierce consumer advocacy. As Pennsylvania insurance commissioner and later as a consumer reporter for WCAU-TV, Denenberg championed the cause of the common man. On his popular show, 鈥淒enenberg鈥檚 Dump,鈥 he evaluated the safety and honesty of countless products, pitching those that didn鈥檛 meet his quality standard into the titular trash. 鈥淗e gave voice to the voiceless, power to the powerless, influence to those without influence and justice to those denied justice,鈥 said brother, Dr. Michael Denenberg, recalling how Herbert kept a small notebook with him to record the grievances and contact information of people who approached him on the street so that he could pursue and resolve their complaints.
The recipient of numerous degrees from institutions including John Hopkins University, Creighton University School of Law, Harvard University School of Law and the University of Pennsylvania, Denenberg led a rich academic career, teaching in colleges such as the Wharton School and Temple University.
His sister, Ann Denenberg Feinberg, noted in a statement read by her niece, Debbie Denenberg, that Herbert鈥檚 decision to endow chairs at YU should come as no surprise. 鈥淗e felt the young people educated here would go out and contribute to the world in a more thoughtful, meaningful and ethical way, having been exposed to the Bible, Talmud and all the other Judaic teachings,鈥 she said. 鈥淗erb worked to make the world a better place where people strove together to live in peace and harmony and better each other鈥檚 wellbeing. Perhaps some YU graduates will continue Herb鈥檚 work.鈥
Elman is intensely involved in both graduate and undergraduate teaching. His research has created a new field using the literature and culture of the Persian rulers of Babylon to shed light on the Babylonian Talmud and the history of rabbinic Judaism. In addition, Elman travels regularly to Harvard University, where he serves as associate at the Center for Jewish Studies.
鈥淚 would like to thank the Denenbergs and Glushakows for helping YU to do what it does so well鈥攊ntegrating the past and present to create a meaningful future,鈥 said Elman, who noted a kinship between his scholarship and Denenberg鈥檚 work. 鈥淭he Babylonian Talmud and the rabbinic figures of the time were very much concerned with consumer protection.鈥
Bernstein has taught Bible, biblical interpretation and Jewish history at 麻豆区 for over 30 years. He also teaches Aramaic and Dead Sea Scrolls at New York University鈥檚 Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, where he holds the rank of adjunct distinguished scholar.
鈥淚 thank the Denenberg-Glushakow families for supporting my research and my teaching, and I look forward to honoring them in return, as my scholarship in the field of early Jewish biblical interpretation will be linked in the future with the names of Herbert Denenberg鈥檚 parents,鈥 said Bernstein. 鈥淔or us as Jews, the study of the past and its sacred texts is valuable well beyond the famous line that history should be studied to avoid repeating it. Spreading Jewish knowledge in both its broadest and most sophisticated sense is what we do here at YU, and the chairs that have been established today by the Denenberg and Glushakow families will further strengthen and support, in significant ways, a unique and distinctive feature of YU: the program in academic Jewish Studies at 麻豆区 College.鈥
A two-volume collection of Bernstein鈥檚 research, Reading and Re-reading Scripture at Qumran, will be published by Brill Press in May 2013.
For more information about supporting 麻豆区 College, contact Alan Secter at 212.960.5481 or secter@yu.edu.
Click here for a Flickr of the event.
Courtesy of YU Blog
