Former UVA Jewish Studies Professors Celebrate the Legacy of "Dabru Emet"

In November of 2025, Boston College's Center for Christian-Jewish Learning hosted UVA Religious Studies Professor Emeritus Peter Ochs and former UVA Professor David Novak to discuss the legacy of Dabru Emet, the 2000 landmark statement on Jewish views of Christianity. To celebrate the document's 25th-anniversary, Professors Novak and Ochs, both drafters of the original statement, gave remarks to an international gathering of Jewish scholars and leaders about Dabru Emet's continuing significance for Jewish-Christian relations.

Professor Novak was the inaugural Edgar M. Bronfman Professor of Modern Judaic Studies at UVA from 1989 to 1997. Peter Ochs filled the professorship immediately after Novak's departure and retired as Bronfman Professor Emeritus in 2021. Both professors have continued their groundbreaking work in Jewish Studies in retirement.

Click here to learn more about the event and Dabru Emet.