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The National Library of Israel
From the "Survivors' Haggadah" written for the 1947 Survivors' Seder in Munich, Germany (Courtesy National Library of Israel)
March 27, 2018, 9:21 pm
Post-Holocaust Haggadahs reflect altered versions of slavery and freedom
An exhibit at Israel's National Library highlights themes of nontraditional Passover Seders in post-war Europe and pre-state Palestine
By Jessica Steinberg
Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai at the mobile library. (photo credit: Malovani Israel)
March 13, 2018, 6:36 pm
UK’s Independent ranks Tel Aviv as top literary town
Known for its collection of poets, streets named for literary lights, and beaches with lending libraries, the city by the sea ranks high for readers
By Jessica Steinberg
Milgroym was a Yiddish arts and culture journal published in Berlin between 1922 and 1924. (Courtesy of The Milgroym Project via JTA)
March 8, 2018, 7:55 am
Yiddish journals given a new life online
Milgroym project to post full-color scans of Jewish interwar periodicals and translations of selected writings
By JTA
The Beheading of Vashti, from the Esther Scroll of Ferrera, inscribed in 1617. (courtesy, National Library of Israel)
February 26, 2018, 2:01 pm
The illuminated gore of the Book of Esther
A 400-year-old scroll plays up the scroll's violence, illustrating Vashti's decapitation and Haman's hanging
By Yoel Finkelman
A miniature bible dedicated to George Washington, acquired by the National Library of Israel and published online on February 18, 2018. (From the National Library of Israel Collections)
February 19, 2018, 8:55 am
Now in Jerusalem, rare George Washington thumb Bible goes online
National Library acquires 200-year-old miniature sacred writ dedicated to first US president, makes it accessible to the public for first time
By Michael Bachner
'De materia medica' by Dioscorides. Physician preparing an elixir. (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund)
February 14, 2018, 11:31 pm
National Library of Israel shares interfaith love with Islamic art exhibit in NY
In 'Romance and Reason,' 24 Islamic pieces join those from other leading institutions to highlight the intellectual cooperation between Muslims and Greeks
By Cathryn J. Prince
In this Wednesday, September 20, 2017 file photo, Blackstone Group chairman and CEO Stephen Schwarzman speaks at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
February 8, 2018, 7:44 pm
Billionaire Trump adviser gives $10m to Israel’s National Library
New education center to foster inclusiveness and 'cross-cultural relationships' between Jews, Christians, and Muslims, says donor Stephen Schwarzman
By Agencies and TOI staff
Talmud Bavli. With commentary of Rashi, Tosaphoth, Piskei Tosaphoth, compendium by Asher b. Jehiel, commentary on the Mishnah by Moses Maimonides, plus index of decisions “Ein Mishpat.” 12 Volumes, entirely complete. Printed in Amsterdam by Immanuel Benveniste, 1644-47 (Kestenbaum & Company)
November 10, 2017, 3:38 pm
Valmadonna Trust Library auction in NY brings record sales. But who benefits?
Private sale of Jewish books sees lots reaching far beyond their estimated values, including the trust's complete reference and bibliographic library for $190,000
By TOI staff
Seder Tephiloth mikol HaShanah [prayers for the whole year], according to the Ashkenazic rite with instructions in Yiddish. Printed entirely on vellum in Mantua by Venturino Roffi nello for Meir b. Ephraim and Yaakov b. Naphtali, 1558. (Kestenbaum & Company)
November 7, 2017, 10:12 pm
Who’s selling treasures from the Valmadonna Trust Library? Depends who you ask
Months after the finest and largest private collection of Jewish books was acquired for the National Library of Israel, some of its most valuable selections are up for auction
By Renee Ghert-Zand
August 23, 2017, 2:49 pm
Jerusalem: A library-poor city
Why does the capital city of the People of the Book have few options for kids to take summer refuge in the stacks?
By Julie Rosenzweig
Screen capture of the National Library of Israel's online manuscript archive, August 2, 2017. (National Library of Israel)
August 2, 2017, 4:54 pm
Israel National Library launches digital manuscript archive
45,000 texts spanning the centuries and geography of the Jewish world, captured in over 4.2 million images, are available online
By AP
A mother and her daughters pray at the Western Wall, while the youngest girl yawns, June 17, 1967. (From the collection of Dan Hadani, National Library of Israel).
May 23, 2017, 10:25 am
In unseen snaps from ’67, soldiers, worshipers and a very bored girl
David Ben Gurion, Zalman Shazar among those photographed celebrating Israel's Six Day War capture of Western Wall
By Sue Surkes
A telegram from senior Nazi Heinrich Himmler to the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, probably dating to 1943, found in the archives of the National Library, March 29, 2017.
March 30, 2017, 3:53 am
In rediscovered telegram, Himmler offers Jerusalem’s mufti help against ‘Jewish intruders’
Hitler's deputy assures pro-Nazi Haj Amin al-Husseini of Nazis‘ ‘particular sympathy‘ for struggle of 'freedom-loving Arabs' of Palestine and beyond
By Sue Surkes
A Passover Haggadah printed in Prague in 1556. (National Library)
January 18, 2017, 11:56 pm
National Library makes ‘historic’ acquisition of rare Hebrew texts
Valmadonna Trust Library's manuscripts span the globe and a millenium, including a 1491 Bible; will be on display at institution's new Jerusalem home
By Ilan Ben Zion
Austrian writer Stefan Zweig (public domain)
November 29, 2016, 9:47 am
Letters show paternal side of literary giant Zweig
A trove of previously unseen correspondence highlights Austrian Jewish author's concern with the fate of Jews, admiration for Zionist visionary Herzl
By Jonah Mandel
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