Launched just ahead of the High Holy Days, the National Library of Israel (NLI) has announced a collaboration with the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies to showcase the first three installments of a new series providing insights into the Jewish calendar and holidays through the lens of collections of Jewish manuscripts, books, printed material and more.
Called "A Look at the Jewish Year," the rare items showcased in the 15-minute clips include a nearly thousand-year-old Jewish calendar found in the famed Cairo Geniza; the 13th century Worms Mahzor (holiday prayer book), which includes the first written example of Yiddish and survived the Holocaust; and an 18th-century manuscript known as Sefer Evronot (Book of Intercalations) featuring an array of stunning illustrations.
More modern items, such as an early 20th century poster of a traditional Sukkot holiday meal, and flags waved by children on Simchat Torah are also presented.
The films, which focus on the Jewish holidays, feature a conversation between Dr. Yoel Finkelman, curator of the Haim and Hanna Salomon Judaica Collection at NLI, and Rabbanit Nechama Barash of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, as they take a look at some of the rare items in the National Library's collections and discuss the texts and questions surrounding them.
The NLI collection includes Maimonides' commentary on the Mishnah in his own handwriting; some of the earliest Talmudic manuscripts and fragments; the world's largest collections of ketubot (marriage contracts) and haggadot (Passover story and Seder guides); Hebrew books dating to the advent of the printing press; archival collections of leading rabbinic figures; and the Gershom Scholem Library – the world's foremost resource for the study of Kabbalah, Jewish Mysticism and Hasidism.