In 1824, a mohel and doctor named Yeḥezḳel Trish living in Lipník nad Bečvo (in the Czech Republic) received a gift from a man named Yonah Ḳaṿo. It was a small manuscript book, which contained prayers and exquisitely detailed illustrations relating to his craft, that of circumcision. Two of the spreads are shown here. The […]
The Jewish Book: Past, Present, Future (Symposium at CJH)
What makes a Jewish book? Who are the People of the Book? How have Jewish books changed with changes in technology? The "history of the book" is a lively field of historical scholarship that looks at authorship, publication, and dissemination of texts of all kinds as windows onto culture and society in different […]
Nuremberg Trials Project
"The Harvard Law School Library has approximately one million pages of documents relating to the trial of military and political leaders of Nazi Germany before the International Military Tribunal (IMT) and to the twelve trials of other accused war criminals before the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals (NMT)." The Law Library has undertaken a tremendous […]
New Database: Bibliography of the Hebrew Book
I am very pleased to announce the addition of a new database to Columbia's Jewish Studies collection, the Bibliography of the Hebrew Book. This exceptional resource is a detailed database of approximately 90% of the books printed in Hebrew letters between 1470 and 1960 (Ladino and Judeo-Arabic books are all included; Yiddish books are not […]
New Database: Jewish Life in America, c1654-1954
I am very pleased to announce a new database available at Columbia, Jewish Life in America, c1654-1954. According to their own description: "Jewish Life in America will enable you to explore the history of Jewish communities in America from the arrival of the first Jews in the 17th century right through to the mid-20th century. […]
Corfu Ketubah
On Wednesday, February 23, 1820 (8 Adar 5580), Abraham son of Hayyim Shaptai and Esther, daughter of Jacob were married in Corfu. This Ketubah (MS X893 K51991) is one of about 50 ketubot in the Columbia collection, of which about 20 are from Corfu. According to the Encyclopedia Judaica, Jews have been known to live […]
Historical Jewish Press
In studying historical events, one of the most interesting primary sources (aside from manuscripts from those involved) is newspapers from the time detailing this event. Often fatalistic or extreme (as newspapers can tend to be), these articles can give the researcher a good idea of how the general public reacted to an event, and can […]
Sefer ‘Evronot
This manuscript is one of many Hebrew calendar books that we hold in Columbia’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library. This particular copy (call number: MS X893 Se36), was most likely produced in the 17th century, probably somewhere in Germany. From the CLIO Record: "The Ms. is done in magnificent fashion and contains a large number […]
New “Series”: Hebrew Manuscripts at CUL
In recognition of the amazing work being done by Yoram Bitton, our Hebrew manuscript cataloger, and to let our users know about the wonderful treasures that we have hidden in our collection, Jewish Studies at CUL will be periodically posting an image and/or some information about a manuscript or rare book that we have in […]
Mordecai Kaplan Diaries Digitized and Online
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary is pleased to make available the digitized diaries of Mordecai Kaplan. These diaries, written between 1913 and 1972, are a window into the thoughts of this towering figure over the course of most of the twentieth century. Kaplan’s diary reflects, often in intimate detail, on his work, the […]