Sometimes, just reaching the farthest corners of the known world and spending nearly twenty years journeying through lands that almost no one back home has ever seen is not enough. In order to have your name remembered centuries later, something more is needed… Someone has to tell the world your story.
Grandfather Mehdi’s Camera: A Rare Glimpse Into Jewish Life in Iran
When the Frarouy family set out on their perilous journey to Israel, they packed a single item in their suitcase, one that, nearly forty years later, offers a rare and intimate glimpse into the everyday life of a family and a community whose world was overturned overnight.
“We Were on Very Good Terms”: A Look Back at Iran-Israel Relations
Retired Israeli diplomat Aryeh Levin has many fond memories from his years serving in Iran more than a half-century ago. As to the ongoing war between the countries, he says: “This is a crazy time we’re living in.”
Cyrus the Great: The Persian King Who Captivated Philosophers, Rulers and Jews
He is mentioned in the Bible as God’s chosen agent, celebrated by Greek philosophers as the ideal king, and became an obsession of the last Shah of Iran. Why does Cyrus the Great continue to shape our world, even though he died some 2,500 years ago, and what does he have to do with the Islamic Revolution?
The Abu Ghosh Clan: Guardians of the Road to Jerusalem
On a courageous choice that shaped the fate of a family and a village just outside the Israeli capital
Leaving Lebanon: Memories of a Jewish Childhood in Beirut
Edy Cohen grew up in Beirut, and witnessed first-hand the disintegration of Lebanese society, during a period of civil war and terrorist attacks. His family paid a heavy price and was left with no choice but to leave the country. Cohen’s personal testimony is part of the Sephardi Voices Collection, now housed at the National Library of Israel.
A 900-Year-Old Jewish-Iranian Manuscript and the Story It Tells
They were small, remote communities that preserved and passed on ancient Jewish traditions, while adding a distinctive local flavor. What were the unique features of Jewish manuscripts produced in Iran a thousand years ago, and how did one of them make its way to the National Library of Israel?
Your Travel Guide to Iran
Using a rare 1945 map preserved in the collections of the National Library of Israel, we have created a guide to Iran from another era, a journey through picturesque cities, sacred sites, and a geopolitical landscape seasoned with a dash of Iranian grandiosity.
Seven Torah Scrolls in the Mosque Wall
Forced conversions of Jews are often associated with the Middle Ages, yet the case of the “Anusim” (forced converts) of Mashhad in northern Iran occured in the 19th century. Some of them even made their way later to the Land of Israel. This is a story of secret identities put to the test and a community that defied the odds to survive.
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
