“On the eve of Rosh Hashana, in the year 430 (1669/70), early in the morning, Rephael the pious went to Metz on a white female horse…” So begins the tragic story of Raphael Levy of Boulay, who was accused of murdering a Christian boy on the eve of the Jewish New Year. Tomorrow, on […]
Places and Spaces, Sights and Sounds in the N.E. Alexander Library
Please join us at the 11th annual Norman E. Alexander Lecture in Jewish Studies! All are welcome to this virtual event, but registration is required. This year’s event focuses on researchers studying space and place using resources from the collections. Francesca Bregoli (Queen’s College) will discuss her research in the archive of a cross-Mediterranean family […]
Censorship gone wild: Painting over liturgical prayers
Many thanks to Lucia Raspe for sharing her work on censorship in early printed Selihot, which was very helpful in writing this post. The Jewish month of Elul, coming right before the High Holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, is a particularly solemn one in Jewish religious life. Special penitential prayers, called Selihot, are […]
Spinoza’s Death Mask, and Reflections on Working at the RBML
Guest post by Marianna Najman-Franks, Barnard ’22. Marianna has done incredible work in the last three years participating in various projects to provide important access to the Judaica collections. Over the past 3 years I’ve been a part of so many incredible projects at the RBML, but by far the most exciting moment I’ve been […]
Learning from the crowd: the CULHebrewmss Twitter bot
In 2018, we decided to partner with a developer named Russel Neiss to create an automated Twitter account that randomly selects and posts images from the Hebrew manuscript collection on the Internet Archive. In doing so, we have not only made the manuscripts available to an audience that includes people who could not or would […]
New Acquisition Roundup: Rare and Digital
Special Collections: Although many people have been away from campus over the last year, there has been a significant increase of books available in the Judaica collection at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Some books are newly arrived on campus, while others, like a work with a list of English cantillation marks and descriptions, […]
Salo Baron and Columbia’s Judaica Collections
This essay was initially published in the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies‘ Spring 2021 newsletter. It is copied here with permission. Salo Baron’s impact on Jewish Studies in America is widely known. Less well known, however, is the impact he made in building the Judaica collection at Columbia University. Soon after Baron’s arrival at […]
Chanting the Torah Through the Centuries
When the Torah is read in the synagogue, there is a distinct tune that is used for the traditional chanting. It is called cantillation in English, trop in Yiddish and te’amim in Hebrew, and is indicated in the Hebrew Bible by various symbols above and below the letters. Medieval manuscripts often included the masorah, a […]
Norman E. Alexander Celebration of Collections and Research
Please join us at the 10th annual Norman E. Alexander Lecture in Jewish Studies! All are welcome, but registration is required. […]
The Luzzatto family at Columbia
There were many notable Italian Jewish families throughout history. One of the more famous ones was the Luzzatto family, which included many important scholars and rabbis. According to family lore, the Luzzattos originated in the city of Lausitz in Germany before they migrated to Italy in the mid-15th century. Members of the family settled first […]