The earliest known printed edition of the “Zohar,” classical Cabalistic book on Jewish mysticism, has been given to Brandeis University’s Goldfarb Library by Mr, and Mrs, Maurice Spertus of Highland Park, III. The Morocco bound volume, printed in Mantua, Italy, is of considerable value,
Mr. and Mrs. Spertus also included several other manuscripts of exceptional value dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. These include Hebrew manuscripts, prayers written in Palestine in 1790, scrolls written about 1700, a Talmud printed in Amsterdam about 1724, occasional prayers printed in Venice about 1795, and a Hebrew manuscript, “Yashir Moshe, ” copied in 1671. Mr. Spertus, who is a member of the Council of Bibliophiles of Brandeis, has given the university more than 1,400 volumes from his personal collection of standard Judaica and Hebraica.
Among the Spertus gifts to Brandeis is a Cabalisic “tree, ” which will be mounted as a permanent display here at the university’s Golding Judaic Center. The “tree” is made up of seven sections, mounted in oak-framed panels, expounding the various principles of Cabalistic theory and their inter-relationships.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
