It was written in Israel during a lull between wars, and it scorns official ceremonies and treaties with their “heavy stamps” and exalted promises. So how did Yehuda Amichai’s Hebrew poem “Wildpeace” become a rallying cry for world leaders, popes and rock stars?
From Nazi Germany to October 7: A Family’s Story of Survival, Resilience and Memory
The Heilbronners were a Jewish-German family who fled their home in Stuttgart following the Nazis’ rise to power. They arrived in the Land of Israel in the 1930s, with one of their sons later settling in Kibbutz Be’eri. A family diary, which documented the pre-war era in Germany, narrowly avoided destruction on October 7, 2023, as it was brought to the National Library shortly before.
Natan Sharansky’s Meal of Gratitude: 40 Years of Freedom
Sharansky was freed from Soviet captivity in February of 1986. Jewish unity helped to bring about his release — and he says it remains key today. In this interview, Sharansky reflects on his own family’s practice of marking the occasion, which may hold a lesson for many of us.
Captain Wingate Learns Hebrew: How a British Officer Shaped Israel’s Defense Forces
Captain Orde Wingate was an elite soldier and a non-Jewish Zionist visionary who, in Mandatory Palestine, established one of the world’s first modern counterterrorism units. Fighting shoulder to shoulder with Jewish comrades, he successfully confronted the violent riots that had shaken the country and developed a doctrine of warfare that has been adopted across the globe. It was even used to counter the Hamas attack on October 7. Now, Wingate’s personal collection of documents from his time in the Land of Israel has arrived at the National Library of Israel.
Zerach Warhaftig: A Name to Remember and a Resume That’s Hard to Beat
Born 120 years ago, Warhaftig signed Israel’s declaration of independence, brokered a key compromise in the document’s wording, spent nearly three decades in Knesset, wrote the Law of Return, was a longtime cabinet minister and knew the Talmud inside and out. Oh, and he helped to save thousands of Jews during the Shoah.
The Abu Ghosh Clan: Guardians of the Road to Jerusalem
On a courageous choice that shaped the fate of a family and a village just outside the Israeli capital
“The Holocaust taught us: Testimonies matter” – The Story of an October 7 Testimony Project
“It is a profound privilege to listen to someone tell their story. We live in a country where listening is not our strongest trait. But in the end, every one of us needs someone to listen.” – Just two days after the October 7 attacks, filmmaker and educator Itay Ken-Tor understood that the stories of the survivors needed to be documented. Together with friends, he founded Edut 710 (“Testimony 710”), an initiative that has already gathered more than 1,700 accounts. The team hopes to collect many more.
The Stories of Jerusalem’s Jewish Slum Neighborhoods During the Mandate Period
Jackals, mold, rot and cave-ins. Neighborhoods suffering from overcrowding, neglect, filth, poverty and a lack of basic sanitation. Moshe David Gaon, secretary of Jerusalem’s Sephardi Community Council, toured the city’s poorest Jewish neighborhoods during the British Mandate period. He documented his observations in reports that were recently discovered in his archive, now housed at the National Library.
“History is not written, but made”: Four Decisions by David Ben-Gurion That Shaped Israel
“The fate of Israel depends on two things,” David Ben-Gurion said, “its strength and its righteousness.” At times, it also depended on making a courageous decision at precisely the right moment. Using the National Library’s Historical Jewish Press Collection, we traced four bold and fateful decisions Ben-Gurion made on behalf of all Israelis.
John F. Kennedy and Israel: A Look Back
Recalling the 35th president’s impact on American-Israeli relations.
