Israel-UK project makes Hebrew manuscripts available online

One of the oldest surviving Hebrew manuscripts, a bible dating back more than 1,000 years, will soon be available online in a joint project with the British Library in London, the National Library of Israel says.

Aviad Stollman, the library’s chief of collections, says the Gaster Bible will go online as part of a project to digitize all of the 3,200 rare Hebrew manuscripts at the British Library.

The National Library of Israel is partnering with the British Library in London to digitize its entire Hebrew manuscript collection, considered one of the largest and most significant in the world.

Most of the manuscripts date back to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance era and include rare texts of Hebrew literature, prayer books, bibles, Talmud or biblical commentary, as well as texts on the Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism.

— AP