September 7 , 2007        

Touro Law Center's Traveling Judaica Collection is a National Resource
Law schools around the country borrow Touro's unique traveling collection of Jewish legal and scholarly books

Central Islip, N.Y. – Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center’s Gould Law Library is home to the Lillie Goldstein Collection, although this collection spends little time at home. This Judaica collection was established to make available to law schools the resources necessary to offer courses in Jewish law, and that is just what it is doing. The collection, which includes important Jewish legal and scholarly texts, has grown in the past several years, as has its popularity among law schools around the country.

“The Lillie Goldstein Collection is unique,” said Beth Mobley, Associate Director and Head of Special Collections at Touro’s Gould Law Library. “We are the only law library in the country to offer a traveling collection to other law schools, and it is quite an extensive set of materials. The collection has been met with enthusiasm at every law school, which is an indication of its true value. This unique resource gives students the opportunity to fully explore Jewish legal traditions and scholarship.”

The collection, which consists of more than 420 titles in over 700 volumes in English and Hebrew, includes duplicates of the core halakah (Jewish law) materials found in the Gould Law Library’s Judaica Collection, as well as other materials chosen to enrich the study of Jewish law. To date, it has been loaned to ITT-Chicago Kent College of Law, University of Utah School of law, Boston College Law School, Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center, University of Colorado School of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law, University of Tulsa College of Law and, its current location, American University Washington College of Law.

“Law schools around the country are expanding their course offerings to provide a more diverse curriculum for students,” said Dean Lawrence Raful. “This traveling library is a great way for law schools to invest in a rich collection of legal and academic Jewish books for their school community at no cost and a great way for Touro Law to showcase the Judaica collection. The entire Touro community is proud that our Lillie Goldstein Collection has provided and continues to provide resources and knowledge for so many law schools and students.”

Each year, the collection is evaluated and enriched by Touro Law Center’s Gould Library staff before being sent to a new location. Any law school offering a course in Jewish law is eligible to borrow the collection, which is loaned at no cost for one semester or for an academic year. The collection was started with the help of Dr. Chaim Povarsky, Director of the Institute of Jewish Law and Professor of law at Touro Law Center. He worked with the former director of the law library and two Judaica librarians to make the initial selections. Today, Dr. Povarsky serves as the collection’s primary advisor.

The Lillie Goldstein Judaica Collection was realized through the support of The Lillie Goldstein Charitable Trust and The Abraham Goldstein and Lillie Goldstein Foundation to further Touro’s goal of presenting Jewish thought and learning, particularly the Jewish legal tradition, within a scholarly framework.

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Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center has a cutting-edge academic plan and a new 185,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art law campus adjacent to and working with a state and a federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York. Touro’s new campus provides a one-of-a kind learning model for law students, combining a rigorous curriculum taught by expert faculty with a practical courtroom experience. Touro, which has a student body of approximately 750 and an alumni base of more than 5,000, offers full- and part-time J.D. programs as well as graduate law programs.

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