The Hebrew University’s Jewish National and University Library gained access to a treasure trove of Hebrew manuscripts when it signed an agreement this week with the Lenin Library in Moscow, the national library of the Soviet Union.
The Jerusalem library will be permitted to microfilm the rare collection at the Lenin Library for the benefit of scholars in Israel and from abroad. The Hebrew University’s Givat Ram campus, where the microfilm is housed, will become the only place outside the Soviet Union where it cam be studied.
About 80 percent of the Lenin Library’s Hebrew collection consists of manuscripts that date to before 1500 C.E. Some are the only copies extant. Much of the collection is from the private library started by Yosef Yoel Ginzburg and expanded by his son, Baron David Ginzburg.
The collection has a wealth of material from rabbinical literature, biblical exegesis, prayers, Kabbalah and Jewish studies generally. The works include early versions of the book “Messilat Yesharim” by Rabbi Moshe Haim Luzzato and writings of the Vilna Gaon.
The library also contains manuscripts stolen by the Nazis from Jewish libraries in Europe, including the library of the rabbinical seminary in Breslau and the Jewish community libraries of Berlin and Vienna.
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