דונה גרציה

The Jewish Mother Who Defeated Emperor Charles V

A Jewish mother will do everything for her children, but in this case – “everything” included taking on the Holy Roman Emperor himself and building a web of intrigue that spanned continents and several royal and noble houses. This is the story of Gracia Mendes Nasi, otherwise known as Dona Gracia.

The Strange, Dark Journey of a Book of the Zohar

An old, crumbling binding of a 16th-century book of the Zohar was nearly lost to oblivion in the National Library’s archives. A few faint pencil markings on the cover caught the eye of a librarian, revealing surprising secrets about the book it once encased. Join us on a fascinating, almost detective-like journey through the pages and bindings of this remarkable book, uncovering its perilous, winding path before it reached the National Library.

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.

Things You Never Knew About the Printed Bible

When was the first Jewish Bible printed? How did the annotated Bible we are familiar with today first come about? What competition took Bible publishers by storm in the 19th century? How does one handle a Bible that is over a foot and a half tall? Here’s a deep dive into the history behind the printed Bible.

The Mysterious Case of Joseph G. Weiss’s Hasidic Library

Prof. Joseph G. Weiss was one of the 20th century’s leading scholars of Hasidism. Following Weiss’s tragic death in 1969, his mentor Gershom Scholem selected 250 books from his former student’s personal collection to be brought to the National Library in Jerusalem. Yet something happened along the way. To this day it’s not clear what became of many of these books…