The Jewish Music Research Centre (JMRC) is dedicated to the documentation, research and publication of scholarly materials about music conceived, performed and consumed by Jewish societies in the past and present. Founded in 1964 by Prof. Israel Adler, the JMRC is one of the oldest research centers of the Faculty of Humanities at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Located at the Itzhak Rabin Building for the Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies in the Mount Scopus campus, the staff of the JMRC works in close cooperation with the Hebrew University’s Department of Musicology and the Institute of Jewish Studies as well as with the Music Department and Sound Archives of the National Library of Israel that curate all recorded and written documents gathered by the JMRC researchers past and present..
JMRC scholars investigate the musical cultures of Jewish communities from wide contextual perspectives. Research encompasses ethnographies of extant oral traditions as well as historically-oriented research focusing on the interpretation of musical documents in their widest possible social, cultural and historical context. “Music” encompasses in this context all expressions, genres and contexts of performance, from synagogue liturgy to contemporary popular music. A full appreciation of Jewish musical traditions must also refer to the musical cultures of the non-Jewish societies with whom Jews shared spaces in close contact as well as to the wide reception of Jewish musical repertoires on a global scale. Many projects are carried out in conjunction with colleagues and institutions from around the world, expanding the vistas to co-territorial musical cultures.
The results of the JMRC Projects are published in diverse series of publications: Yuval - Studies of the JMRC (articles and book reviews appearing now on digital format); Yuval Monograph Series; Yuval Music Series (consisting of musical scores and source materials); and the Anthology of Music Traditions in Israel (CDs accompanied by booklets, since 2022 published as playlists in this website). The JMRC also produces the innovative recording series Contemporary Jewish Music. Since 2023 all JMRC publications (printed and sound files) are available for free downloading in this website and can be also read through the website of the National Library of Israel.
In addition, the JMRC continues to develop the digital humanities application Jewish Music Mapped, a development of Jewish Cultures Mapped (founded by the ICORE research center Da’at Hamakom, 2013-2019) embedded in this website.
