HALIFAX — A chair in Jewish studies at Dalhousie University is being established with the support of Jim Spatz in honour of his parents, Simon and Riva, who survived World War II as freedom fighters in Poland.

Jim Spatz

Once fully funded, the endowed chair will be part of the university’s religious studies program within the department of classics and the faculty of arts and social sciences. The campaign goal is $3 million, of which about one-third has already been collected, either through direct donations or pledges, Dalhousie officials said.

Jim Spatz, chair of Dalhousie’s board of governors, made what he calls a “substantial contribution to start the program. It feels great to be able to do that. I feel privileged to be able help establish the chair and to honour my parents.”

Chris Steeves, the development officer for Dalhousie’s faculty of management who was initially involved with the Spatz donation as development officer of the school of arts and sciences, added: “The endowment will produce $150,000 in annual income to provide a salary and other costs. We hope to have the faculty person in the Spatz Chair by July 2011,” he said. “The chair in Jewish studies was a faculty-driven project… and we provided help getting it going.”

Jim Spatz said it was the university’s idea to create the chair. “As board chair, I heard about it and knew I wanted to support it. It was a great fit for me, personally, with my Jewish background.”

The number of Jewish students at Dalhousie has blossomed to more than 600, a large percentage of whom hail from Ontario, in the last half dozen years. Through the years, Dalhousie has had, or has, a Jewish president (currently Tom Traves), chancellor (Richard Goldbloom filled that role), members of the board of governors (currently Jim Spatz) and much more representation from the local community.

“Jim’s gift took the chair from the visionary to the reality stage,” said Ronald Mitton of the development office. “From there, we have approached his friends, colleagues and others in the community, in Halifax and from afar, to support the program. The response has been excellent.”

Jim Spatz, a Dalhousie medical graduate, heads a major housing and commercial development company in the Halifax area that was started by his father soon after he, Riva and their infant son, Jim, emigrated in 1950. He retired from medical practice in 1988 when he joined the company.

Simon Spatz, who lost most of his family in the Holocaust, was interned at a labour camp and fled to the forest with his younger brother just a day before the camp was liquidated and all its occupants murdered. Riva belonged to a partisan group in the Jewish resistance movement and lived out the war in the woods of Poland.

“When you see what my parents went through, it makes you more tolerant. The freedom and opportunity represented by Canada makes you want to give back,” Jim Spatz said. “They didn’t go to university but my sister and I both went to Dal. It’s a good story for me to be able to do this.”

The Simon and Riva Spatz Chair in Jewish Studies will have three areas of focus: teaching, research and outreach. The chair is envisioned to help students appreciate how centuries-old beliefs influence contemporary world events.

Current course offerings related to Jewish studies include Hebrew, Aramaic, Judaism, the history of ancient Israel, and Jewish philosophies and theologians.

The Spatz chair will support an intellectual community by exploring interconnected religious traditions and come to understand how they play out in contemporary society.

A significant portion of the chair’s efforts will focus on teaching and program development. The research goal will be to expand the knowledge of Judaism at the university and complement the current work in the faculty of arts and sciences. Sharing knowledge and findings will be the goal of the outreach program.

“Potential donors strongly recommended making the program relevant to today and what’s happening on the world front, as much as history,” Steeves said. “We expect the chair will expand the outreach portion of the program by bringing in speakers and authors, and engaging the entire local community.”

Jim Spatz agreed. “The existence of a chair in Jewish studies will hopefully foster one in Islamic studies in the future. A university is there for people to exchange ideas, not always friendly, but the ability to do that is at the heart of what a university does.”

Simon, who died in 2007, received an honorary degree from Saint Mary’s University in 2002 and, with Jim, was inducted into the Nova Scotia Business Hall of Fame in June 2007. Both Simon and Riva, who still lives in the family home, were active volunteers in the Jewish community.