כתיב (Ktiv)
Item
Country
IL
Name of institution (English)
The National Library of Israel
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
heb
Contact information: postal address
Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram, POB 39105 Jerusalem
Contact information: phone number
00972 074 733 6400
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
reference@nli.org.il
Title (English)
Ktiv
Title (official language of the state)
כתיב (Ktiv)
Language of title
heb
Date note
c. 9th century/20th century
Language(s)
heb
lat
por
spa
Extent
487,955 storage units
Type of material
Textual Material
Physical condition
Good
Scope and content
The International Collection of Digitized Hebrew Manuscripts gathers an extensive amount of microfilmed manuscripts from 588 collections worldwide. It holds documents from a wide range of disciplines and subjects, both religious and secular, such as astrology, Hebrew language, history, literature, mathematics, medicine, mysticism, Jewish astronomy, Jewish ethics, Jewish law, Jewish magic, Jewish philosophy, and many others. Most manuscripts are written in Hebrew, but the collection also gathers documents in other languages, including, for instance, more than 500 manuscripts in Spanish and over 1,200 manuscripts in Ladino. The collection's vast amount of Sephardic documents from all over the world, available for online consultation, makes it a valuable source for the study of the Western Sephardic Diaspora.
Archival history
David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973), the prime minister of the newly established state of Israel, recognized the need to gather Hebrew manuscripts in Jerusalem. His aim was to form one unified collection which would serve academic, religious, and cultural research of the history of texts and the cultural context in which they were created.
Realising it would not be possible to collect all these physical manuscripts from across the globe, Ben-Gurion decided to establish the Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts, which would collect microfilm copies of Hebrew manuscripts around the world. The Institute was founded in 1950 as part of the Ministry of Education.
The Institute's first director, Nehemia Alloni (1906-1983), an expert in Hebrew manuscripts, embarked on several voyages to European libraries, in particular Italy (including the Vatican), Germany, Austria, Hungary, France and the Netherlands. The many challenges he faced – organizational obstacles in Israel, limited financial resources for the manuscripts' copies and the travels, problems in locating the manuscripts in different countries, and the unstable cooperation from the libraries' staff – did not discourage Alloni. Inspired by the vision to gather the treasures of Jewish culture, and under the harsh impression of the ruins of European Jewish life after World War II, Alloni succeeded in his task and obtained thousands of manuscripts' copies for the Institute.
In 1963, the Institute moved to the National Library of Israel, under the name of "The Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts", and continued to collect manuscripts copies over the years. The Institute, now a vital part of the National Library of Israel, has made Ben-Gurion's early vision a reality and succeeded in collecting microfilm copies of close to 95% of all known Hebrew manuscripts worldwide.
Realising it would not be possible to collect all these physical manuscripts from across the globe, Ben-Gurion decided to establish the Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts, which would collect microfilm copies of Hebrew manuscripts around the world. The Institute was founded in 1950 as part of the Ministry of Education.
The Institute's first director, Nehemia Alloni (1906-1983), an expert in Hebrew manuscripts, embarked on several voyages to European libraries, in particular Italy (including the Vatican), Germany, Austria, Hungary, France and the Netherlands. The many challenges he faced – organizational obstacles in Israel, limited financial resources for the manuscripts' copies and the travels, problems in locating the manuscripts in different countries, and the unstable cooperation from the libraries' staff – did not discourage Alloni. Inspired by the vision to gather the treasures of Jewish culture, and under the harsh impression of the ruins of European Jewish life after World War II, Alloni succeeded in his task and obtained thousands of manuscripts' copies for the Institute.
In 1963, the Institute moved to the National Library of Israel, under the name of "The Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts", and continued to collect manuscripts copies over the years. The Institute, now a vital part of the National Library of Israel, has made Ben-Gurion's early vision a reality and succeeded in collecting microfilm copies of close to 95% of all known Hebrew manuscripts worldwide.
Administrative / Biographical history
In 1892, B'nai B'rith opened the Midrash Abarbanel Library in Jerusalem with a mandate to collect "the treasures of Jewish literature." The city’s first free public library, it quickly became a cultural centre of the yishuv, and when Zionist physician Dr. Joseph Chasanowich (1844-1919) transferred his collection of 10,000 volumes from Bialystok to Jerusalem in 1895, Midrash Abarbanel became a sizeable library. With the establishment of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1925, the library was moved to the Mount Scopus campus, was officially renamed "The Jewish National and University Library" (JNUL), and the scope of its mission and collections was greatly expanded.
During Israel's War of Independence in 1947-48, when access to Mount Scopus was cut off from West Jerusalem, the JNUL collection was smuggled out and dispersed among several buildings in the city but retained its status as the central national collection. In 1953, the Knesset enacted the "Legal Deposit Law," mandating that two copies of every publication in Israel be deposited in the Jewish National and University Library for posterity.
In November 1960, the JNUL moved to the newly dedicated Lady Davis Building (Montreal Canada) on the Givat Ram Campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. This building served as the Library's home for over 60 years. During this period, the National Library of Israel filled three central roles: the national library of the State of Israel, the national library of the Jewish People, and the central research library of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the subject areas of Israel Studies, Jewish Studies, Islamic and Middle-Eastern Studies, and the General Humanities.
The National Library Law was adopted by the Knesset in 2007, officially establishing "the National Library of Israel" – a change in name and orientation - and defining its purpose: to collect, preserve, cultivate, and endow treasures of knowledge, heritage, and culture, with an emphasis on the Land of Israel, the State of Israel and the Jewish people in particular, giving vibrant and innovative expression to the concept of the Jewish people as the People of the Book.
During Israel's War of Independence in 1947-48, when access to Mount Scopus was cut off from West Jerusalem, the JNUL collection was smuggled out and dispersed among several buildings in the city but retained its status as the central national collection. In 1953, the Knesset enacted the "Legal Deposit Law," mandating that two copies of every publication in Israel be deposited in the Jewish National and University Library for posterity.
In November 1960, the JNUL moved to the newly dedicated Lady Davis Building (Montreal Canada) on the Givat Ram Campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. This building served as the Library's home for over 60 years. During this period, the National Library of Israel filled three central roles: the national library of the State of Israel, the national library of the Jewish People, and the central research library of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the subject areas of Israel Studies, Jewish Studies, Islamic and Middle-Eastern Studies, and the General Humanities.
The National Library Law was adopted by the Knesset in 2007, officially establishing "the National Library of Israel" – a change in name and orientation - and defining its purpose: to collect, preserve, cultivate, and endow treasures of knowledge, heritage, and culture, with an emphasis on the Land of Israel, the State of Israel and the Jewish people in particular, giving vibrant and innovative expression to the concept of the Jewish people as the People of the Book.
Access points: locations
Access points: persons, families
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
Access, restrictions
Digitized manuscripts are available at:
Existence and location of originals
Author of the description
Joana Rodrigues 2023
Linked resources
Filter by property
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Marshall Manuscripts | Existence and location of copies | |
| The Rabbi Prof. Meir Benayahu's Collection | Existence and location of copies | |
| כתובות (Ketubot) | Existence and location of copies | |
| כתבי יד (Manuscripts) | Existence and location of copies | |
| אוסף כתבי היד של יד בן־צבי (Yad Ben-Zvi Collection of Manuscripts) | Existence and location of copies | |
| The John Fell Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts | Existence and location of copies | |
| Manuscrits hébreux | Existence and location of copies | |
| Manuscritos Hebreos | Existence and location of copies | |
| אוסף כתבי היד של מוסיוף (The Moussaieff Manuscript Collection) | Existence and location of copies |