Center for Judaic Studies Records

Judaic studies at University of Denver began in 1922 with Rabbi Charles E.H. Kauvar of B.M.H. Synagogue initiating a class in Jewish religious literature. His work was continued through a joint appointment by the Departments of History and Religion of Benzion Ntanyahu, a world authority on the Jews of Spain. Netanyahu later left for Cornell, then Israel, where his son Benjamin later became prime minister. His successor was Rabbi Stanley M. Wagner, who came to the University of Denver in 1972 after serving as national executive vice president of the Religous Zionists of America.

Rabbi Wagner founded the Center for Judaic studies on campus in 1975. From then on, he gathered like-minded people to found a host of related projects, among them the Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society and the Ira M. Beck Memorial Archives. Later came the Israeli Scholar-in-Residence program and the Institute of Interfaith studies, through which Judaic courses are offered at the Iliff School of Theology, St. Thomas Seminary (now defunct) and the University of Denver. In 1981 came the Center for Publications, which produced more than two dozen volumes by 1988. It was followed by the Maimonides Institute and the Holocaust Awareness Institute. On November 7, 1984, Rabbi Wagner became the first holder of the Eva and Emil Hecht Chair in Judaic Studies, endowed by and named for two survivors of the Nazi Holocaust.