While the ancient Greeks feared the invention of writing, an early Jewish mystical work viewed it as the foundation of everything that exists.
From Portugal, to Aleppo, to Jerusalem: The Remarkable Journey of the Lisbon Mahzor
Created on the eve of a community’s destruction, the Lisbon Mahzor survived the horrors of persecution and expulsion, and then wandered the world as one of the few surviving treasures of a rare religious and artistic tradition. At some point along the war, its three volumes were separated. Only recently, thanks to the efforts of the National Library of Israel, have all three been reunited in Jerusalem, and now they have even been joyfully rejoined in digital form.
Maimonides’ Halakhic Revolution (and Why It Almost Worked)
Back in the Middle Ages, Maimonides set out on an extraordinary mission. His goal? To take all of Jewish law and tradition and condense it into one clear, orderly handbook that would finally get Jews to stop arguing. Spoiler alert: that didn’t quite happen.
A New Plea: When Women Wrote Prayers About and for Women
Finding religious Jewish books written by women is not easy. It’s even harder to find halachic discussions in Jewish legal literature where the woman’s perspective is decisive, determining halacha for future generations. Nevertheless, there are dozens of books of “Techinot” – entreaties or pleas – written by and for women. Who were the women who wrote such books, and how common were they? Who was the woman who determined the accepted form of prayer—and what did she pray for? Let us hear their voices.
Did It Exist or Not? The Missing Order of the Jerusalem Talmud
Discoveries and disappointments, rumors and accusations, fraudsters and conspiracies—along with an adventurous journey across the dusty roads of Turkey. This is the story of a controversy that shook the world of Torah study and academic research 120 years ago.
From Hitler’s Beer Hall to the National Library in Jerusalem
In the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust, a large number of Jewish books were discovered by the Jewish Brigade in a famous Munich beer hall considered to be the cradle of Nazism. How did the books end up there? And after they were discovered, where did some of them disappear to?
The Search for a Jewish Book That Was Ordered to Be Destroyed 470 Years Ago
This incredible story begins with a quarrel among printers in 16th century Venice, which soon escalated to the point of burning Hebrew books on the orders of the Inquisition. The story continues with a globe-spanning search for a particular book saved from that fire. How does it end? With a twist of course…
The Jerusalem Talmud: The Beta Version of the Gemara
The Babylonian Talmud and Jerusalem Talmud had roughly the same starting point, so why did only one of them become a canonical book?
The Bible of the Conversos
Years after being forced to leave Judaism behind, many of the conversos of Spain and Portugal sought to return to their suppressed roots. The Ferrara Bible, which was printed in the 16th century and revised countless times, helped them rediscover their religion. Dozens of copies of this Bible are still scattered around the world today.
When the Nazis Stole Lea Goldberg’s Doctoral Thesis
What did the famous Israeli poet Lea Goldberg have to do with medieval translations of the Torah? Why did her doctoral thesis focus on this subject? And how did it fall into Nazi hands before eventually ending up at the National Library of Israel?
