The three angels charged with safeguarding newborn babies and their mothers
The Letter of Apostasy: Maimonides as a Refugee
A glimpse of the Letter of Apostasy (“Iggeret HaShmad”) sent by Maimonides as a message to Jews who were forced to convert to Islam and now wished to return to Judaism
The Strange Connection Between a Medieval Shopping List and a Divorce Contract
A shopping list found among the treasures of the Cairo Genizah was scrawled on the back of a rather important document.
Micrography: the Art of Drawing with Letters
Stories, symbols and the nature of God concealed among Hebrew letters
Spotting a Fake: The Flourishing Industry of Jewish Manuscript Forgeries
Hebrew letters jumbled together and Stars of David in every corner – The National Library is swamped with calls from “collectors” from Arab countries offering “historical manuscripts” that supposedly once belonged to Jewish communities in Islamic lands.
How a Handwritten 12th-Century Manuscript by Maimonides Ended Up at the National Library
The original manuscript of Maimonides’ “Commentary on the Mishnah”, including mistakes and corrections made by the master himself, can now be viewed by the public
Revealed: How Hanukkah Was Celebrated a Thousand Years Ago
We collected a few greetings and well-wishes for the holiday that were found in the famous Cairo Genizah
The Case of the Headless Man and Insufficient Repentance
Learn about a Kabbalistic tradition that will tell you if you have been sealed in the Book of Life or Death following the High Holy Days.
The 13th Century Manuscript That Was Saved From the Nazis
The Worms Mahzor, written in the late 13th century, was spared the destruction of the Holocaust after it was smuggled away from the Gestapo and hidden in one of the city’s cathedral towers.
The Rescue of One of the World’s Most Beautiful Haggadot
The journey of the “Rothschild Haggadah” began 550 years ago with the artist Yoel ben Shimon in Northern Italy and ended in Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish people
