Visu­al Arts

101 Trea­sures from the Nation­al Library of Israel

Raquel Uke­les
Hezi Ami­ur
Yoel Finkel­man
Ste­fan Litt
Samuel Thrope
February 20, 2023

This fas­ci­nat­ing new vol­ume pro­vides a the­mat­ic jour­ney through the rich and diverse col­lec­tions of the Nation­al Library of Israel and the Jew­ish peo­ple world­wide. ​“Pub­lished to cel­e­brate the autumn 2023 open­ing of the new NLI build­ing in Jerusalem, designed by world-renowned archi­tects Her­zog & de Meu­ron, the book is full of fas­ci­nat­ing insights and man­u­scripts. It is akin to a great­est-hits col­lec­tion from the Jew­ish world over the past 1,500 years.” ―Jew­ish Link

This fas­ci­nat­ing and inspi­ra­tional new vol­ume pro­vides a the­mat­ic jour­ney through the rich and diverse col­lec­tions of the Nation­al Library of Israel and the Jew­ish peo­ple world­wide. Select­ed by the Library’s cura­tors and col­lec­tions experts, this fine-art vol­ume presents 101 of the most pre­cious items in the Library’s col­lec­tions, from 5th cen­tu­ry Baby­lo­nia to mod­ern-day Tel Aviv, and shares illu­mi­nat­ing sto­ries and anec­dotes about these sig­nif­i­cant works and the intrigu­ing peo­ple behind them. High­lights include Mai­monides’ auto­graph copy of his Com­men­tary on the Mish­na; the Dam­as­cus Crowns includ­ing a vital­ly impor­tant 10th cen­tu­ry Hebrew Bible codex; the­o­log­i­cal rumi­na­tions of Isaac New­ton; love poet­ry by Sul­tan Suleiman the Mag­nif­i­cent; man­u­scripts from lead­ing Jew­ish and Israeli writ­ers, such as Mar­tin Buber, Ste­fan Zweig, Franz Kaf­ka, Nao­mi She­mer, and Shai Agnon; and rare mate­ri­als doc­u­ment­ing Israeli his­to­ry. High-qual­i­ty pho­tographs illus­trate the sto­ries, and the intro­duc­tion sets these col­lec­tions with­in their cul­tur­al and his­tor­i­cal context.

jerusalem
israel
pho­tog­ra­phy
franz kaf­ka
mai­monides

Discussion Questions

This remark­able vol­ume cel­e­brates the vast and diverse col­lec­tions of the Nation­al Library of Israel, one of the world’s most sig­nif­i­cant repos­i­to­ries of Jew­ish and Israeli her­itage. Pub­lished to coin­cide with the open­ing of the library’s stun­ning Her­zog & de Meu­ron – designed build­ing, 101 Trea­sures from the Nation­al Library of Israel presents a care­ful­ly curat­ed selec­tion of the library’s most pre­cious items, span­ning over 1,500 years of his­to­ry. Edit­ed by the library’s cura­tors — Raquel Uke­les, Hezi Ami­ur, Yoel Finkel­man, Ste­fan Litt, and Samuel Thrope — the book fea­tures man­u­scripts, pho­tographs, maps, musi­cal scores, and more paired with cap­ti­vat­ing sto­ries that illu­mi­nate their his­tor­i­cal and cul­tur­al sig­nif­i­cance. High­lights include a tenth-cen­tu­ry Hebrew Bible codex from the Dam­as­cus Crowns, rare doc­u­ments from the Afghan Geniza, Mai­monides’ auto­graphed Com­men­tary on the Mish­nah, poet­ry by Sul­tan Suleiman the Mag­nif­i­cent, the­o­log­i­cal rumi­na­tions by Isaac New­ton, the Orit, the sacred scrip­tures of Ethiopi­an Jews, the ledger of the Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ty of Frank­furt am Main, rare can­to­r­i­al man­u­scripts, and musi­cal scores.

Each arti­fact reflects the library’s ded­i­ca­tion to pre­serv­ing Jew­ish and Israeli her­itage while embrac­ing the con­tri­bu­tions of oth­er cul­tures. The book invites read­ers into a vivid tapes­try of his­to­ry, art, music, and cul­ture. Rich­ly illus­trat­ed and thought­ful­ly con­tex­tu­al­ized, 101 Trea­sures from the Nation­al Library of Israel is both an intel­lec­tu­al and visu­al feast — a must-have for lovers of his­to­ry, art, the writ­ten word, music, archives, and the endur­ing human story.

Related Reading