BY JESSICA SMITH
Staff Writer
Ten years ago, when the Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life was just getting started at Rutgers University, Yael Zerubavel was not given much to work with.
There was no stationery, no office supplies, not even an office. But there was a definite need, and Zerubavel set out to fill it.
“She articulated the vision of the center, and a draw for the faculty and community. Then she brought in faculty and staff to fulfill the mission,” said Karen Small, associate director of the center.
Today, the center is thriving. This year marks its 10th anniversary, with an inaugural event taking place on Sunday. The event features a lecture by J.J. Goldberg, editor of The Forward, a Jewish weekly newspaper. The topic of the lecture is “Jews in the Media: A View From the Editor’s Desk.”
Other symposia and lectures will take place throughout the year as part of the celebration.
“When a center like the Bildner Center is established, it really can play an important role in the lives of the faculty and students. It really opens up the perspective,” Zerubavel said.
Credited in large part to Zerubavel’s work, there is also now a bachelor’s degree program in Jewish studies at the university, including over 60 interdisciplinary courses. The degree program started with only Zerubavel, whose major areas of research and expertise include collective memory, Zionism and Hebrew national culture, along with modern Hebrew and Jewish immigrant literature.
“Our focus [in the courses] is academic. It’s not religious,” Zerubavel said.
The East Brunswick resident came to the U.S. from Israel as a graduate student after earning her bachelor’s degree at Tel-Aviv University. Her husband, Eviatar, also teaches at Rutgers and serves as director of the doctoral program in the sociology department. Their son, Noam, is a senior at Columbia University, and their daughter, Noga, is a Rutgers graduate who now lives in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
“We feel fortunate we can both teach at the same university, and we’re very devoted to Rutgers,” Zerubavel said.
Zerubavel has written two books on topics of Jewish culture. “Recovered Roots: Collective Memory and the Making of Israeli National Tradition” was published in 1995, and “Desert Images: Visions of the Counter-Place in Israeli Culture” is currently under contract to be published.
Sunday’s lecture is open to the public and will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Rutgers Student Center, College Avenue campus. Other events in the yearlong celebration will include a symposium on translating the Bible, and the seventh annual Jewish Film Festival. For more information, visit the center’s Web site at jewishstudies.rutgers.edu.