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Remembering Clinton Bailey, Friend of Ben-Gurion and the Bedouin
The prolific researcher, who passed away on January 5, dedicated his life to building bridges between Jews and the Bedouin community
Franz Kafka
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Kafka’s Secrets: The Missing Page of “The Castle”
A page torn from the manuscript of Franz Kafka’s “The Castle” has been revealed for the first time. What is written on that missing page? Who tore it out? Why would anyone want to keep it hidden?
Who Was Franz Kafka of Prague?
What would have happened if Kafka had lived for many more years and died of old age? How did a seemingly nondescript clerk become one of the greatest writers of the 20th century? Was his death the best thing that ever happened to him? Kafka’s fascinating character is explored in a new exhibition at the National Library, showcasing the man whose life, work, and death became an inseparable part of the modern human experience.
Another Trial: A Kafkaesque Love Triangle
Despite his romantic and tortured image, Franz Kafka’s attitude towards women had its darker aspects. Who would have guessed that the tangled romantic triangle between Kafka, his fiancée Felice Bauer and her good friend Grete Bloch would produce one of the greatest literary classics of all time?
Franz Kafka on His Deathbed
On the author’s last days, and some of the last words that he was able to put in writing.
Lives Lost: The Works of the October 7 Fallen
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Remembering Yonatan Richter
Yonatan (Shafik) Richter was an exceptional person. He lived a life full of practical achievements as well as great spiritual awareness, the kind of life that can serve as an inspiration to us all. He was a family man with a thriving career who also sought greater meaning and hoped to share his insights with others. On October 7 2023, he volunteered as a mental health supporter at the Nova festival, where his life was cut short.
Hannah Kritzman: The Storyteller of Kibbutz Be’eri
At age 15, Hannah Kritzman ran away from home to Kibbutz Be’eri, where she became a beloved preschool teacher and founded the local children’s library. 73 years later, on October 7, after spending hours hiding with her caregiver in her safe room, Hannah was shot by a Hamas terrorist, just as the two were being rescued. The memoir she completed shortly before her death offers us a glimpse of what a wonderful woman she was.
Larger Than Life: Remembering Eden Ben Rubi
Ben Rubi had a natural artistic spark that enabled the Rishon Lezion resident to express her unique personality in her works. She dreamed of leaving her mark on the world. On October 7, 2023, she was among those murdered at the Nova music festival.
Upon a Pink Cloud: Remembering Inbar Haiman
Graffiti art was Inbar’s thing, but her creativity was boundless. She was among those abducted at the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, and was later murdered by Hamas terrorists.
Life on the Border: A Tribute to the Communities of the Gaza Border Region
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When the Farhud Came to Be’eri: October 7 and the Legacy of an Iraqi Pogrom
“We made Aliyah from Iraq to Israel so that Arabs wouldn’t be able to enter Jewish homes and murder us,” said Kibbutz Be’eri members who survived the pogrom known as the Farhud. In Be’eri, founded in part by Iraqi immigrants, there is a monument to the victims of the Farhud, suffered by the Jews of Iraq over 80 years ago. They couldn’t know that years later, their children and grandchildren would face a similar horror – but this time, in the Jewish state.
Nir Oz Will Blossom Again: The Story of a Legendary Kibbutz Gardener
In the early days, members of Kibbutz Nir Oz suffered from terrible sandstorms that made it difficult to move, see and even eat. Ran Pauker, the kibbutz’s legendary landscaper, was called to solve the problem, and along the way, Nir Oz became a green, ecological gem. When asked about the future of the kibbutz that suffered a fatal blow on October 7 – he says the vegetation will be restored within a year, as for the community: “We’ll have to wait and see”
We Shall Return: The Spirit of Kibbutz Nirim Will Prevail
“We shall return” – these were the words printed in Hebrew on t-shirts made by the survivors of Kibbutz Nirim. These words embody a history of heroism, pioneering, culture and Zionism which should serve as a model for all of us. Kibbutz Nirim, founded in 1946, faced a desperate battle for its very existence just two years afterwards. It survived then and survives now thanks to the unique spirit of its members.
The Man Who’s Been Documenting the People of Ofakim Since October 7
Nadav Mishali founded the cinematheque in the southern Israeli city of Ofakim. His personal story is bound up with that of the city itself and its brave and exceptional residents. Mishali has now taken on an even bigger mission – to document the stories of hardship and heroism that took place in Ofakim on Saturday, October 7, 2023
Refugees in Their Own Land: The Children of Yad Mordechai Leave Their Homes
After spending long hours hiding in their safe rooms, with the local civilian security team and members of the Border Guard bravely fighting armed terrorists seeking to break into the kibbutz, the residents of Yad Mordechai were evacuated from their homes until further notice. Many might describe this as a “once in a lifetime” experience – but for some kibbutz veterans, this was not the first time they left their home behind without knowing when, or if, they would ever return.
Jerusalem
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So What’s the Plan, Jerusalem?
Countless urban plans have been drawn up for Jerusalem over the years, but the Holy City, and history itself, always seemed to have plans of their own…
The Battle Over Jerusalem’s Main Synagogue
In the late 1920s, a fierce debate erupted between the Ashkenazim and Sephardim in Jerusalem over which synagogue should be considered the main Jewish house of worship in the city. This controversy escalated to an international legal battle that lasted many years.
The Hotel Where Theodor Herzl Couldn’t Get a Room
If you were visiting Jerusalem in the late 19th century, and were a person of means and stature, you might have enjoyed the accommodations of the city’s first modern Jewish hotel. Unless of course, your name was Theodor Herzl… We dug through the hotel’s guest book and went on a journey back in time.
The First Night of Captivity: Memories From the Fall of the Jewish Quarter
A text found at the National Library unearthed the story of Aharon Liron, a young soldier captured by the Arab Legion during the battle for Jerusalem’s Old City in 1948. Liron was able to document his experiences as he witnessed the fall of the Jewish Quarter.
Jewish Communities
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The Undercover Operation to Rescue the Crown of Damascus
The incredible story of how a priceless Hebrew manuscript written nearly 600 years ago was smuggled out of Syria and eventually brought to the National Library of Israel
October 7, Mariampol, and Me: Living in the Shadow of Trauma
When Sharon Taylor first heard the term “intergenerational trauma,” she was oddly filled with a sense of relief – finally, a phrase that could describe the familiar anxiety that had always been there. Here, she shares some of her own family history, the kind of history that is familiar to many of us.
Libyan Jewry: A Personal Perspective
In recent months, the archive of Rabbi Mordechai Ben Yehuda Ha-Cohen of Tripoli has been cataloged and made accessible at the National Library of Israel. He was a scholar, halakhic jurist, and significant chronicler of Libyan Jewry in the early 20th century. Professor Harvey E. Goldberg, a researcher of Libyan Jewry who edited Mordechai Ha-Cohen’s book, “Higgid Mordechai”, shares the story of an exceptional rabbi and Renaissance man.
In France, It’s The 14th of July. Elsewhere: Bastille Day
Whatever the holiday’s name, the French Revolution brought Jews equality. The National Library of Israel’s holdings help tell the story.
Hanukkah
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The Unlikely Origins of a Hanukkah Song
Foreign influences on modern Jewish culture are nothing new to us. We did, after all, spend millennia wandering the Earth. Still, sometimes the path of a piece of music can be extremely unpredictable. This is the story of a Hanukkah song which began as something entirely different, created in another world, before eventually developing into an Israeli children’s favorite.
Celebrating Hanukkah in Times of Danger
The light of the Hanukkah candles shining through our windows is one of the most important aspects of the holiday, symbolizing the triumph of light over darkness. Yet, there have been moments in Jewish history when even lighting candles posed a danger to Jewish communities around the world. Over the centuries, how have Jews coped when the simple act of lighting the menorah put them at risk?
A Jewish Game of Thrones: The Bloody Tragedy of the Hasmonean Dynasty
We think we know them from the story of Hannukah and its miracles, but the heroic victory of Judah the Maccabee was just the prologue to the broader story of the Hasmonean Kingdom – a story that begins with a single family’s dream of an independent Judea, continues with military and political glory papering over deep internal rot, and ends with destruction and the death of a beautiful queen at the hands of her husband
Hannah Senesh’s Hanukkah
In December of 1933, a 12-year-old Hannah Senesh composed a Hanukkah poem that concluded with the words: “These candles encourage us at every turn, fear not Israel, the time is yet to come.”
