Articles – secrets of Hebrew manuscripts

Discover the stories behind the oldest manuscripts of the Jewish tradition. In-depth articles on Kabbalah, mysticism, halacha and Jewish folklore.

• The Left Emanation and evil

  Long before the Zohar took the Jewish world by storm, R. Isaac ha-Kohen drew an alternative and terrifying map of the universe. A glimpse into the 'Treatise on the Left Emanation' – the work that changed how we understand evil

• The Mystical Diary of Maran, Author of the Beit Yosef

  A glimpse into 'Maggid Meisharim' – the mystical diary written by one of the greatest authorities on Jewish law, documenting the revelations of the maggid who spoke through his throat

• Mysteries in Maimonides' Manuscripts

  The story of a rare and impressive copy of Maimonides' 'Mishneh Torah', which traveled from Cairo through Provence, Spain, Italy and Germany to Jerusalem – one of the most important manuscripts in the Jewish literary heritage

• The Creation of the World Through Letters

  While the ancient Greeks feared the invention of writing, an ancient Jewish mystical work saw it as the foundation of everything in the world

• The Hidden Stanza of 'Ma’oz Tzur'

  When we sing the beloved Hanukkah hymn, most of us do not sing it in full. Censorship? Politics? Or simply the survival instinct of Jews in exile?

• Ramchal's Zohar: The Zohar That Is Not the Zohar

  The story of 'Zohar Tinyana' – the mystical work written by Ramchal in the language of the Zohar following a heavenly revelation

• Gershom Scholem Library

  The collection of books and studies of Prof. Gershom Scholem, the father of modern Kabbalah research, including tens of thousands of items on Kabbalah, Hasidism, and Sabbateanism

• Rothschild Haggadah

  One of the most beautiful illustrated Haggadot ever created, with magnificent colorful illustrations from 15th-century Italy

• Worms Machzor

  A 13th-century festival prayer book used by the cantors of the ancient synagogue in Worms, containing the oldest known Yiddish text

• Maimonides’ handwriting

  Original manuscripts by Maimonides in Judeo-Arabic, including drafts of 'Mishneh Torah' and 'Commentary on the Mishnah' in his own handwriting

• Valmadonna Trust Library

  An extensive private collection of approximately 13,000 rare Hebrew books acquired in 2017, including the Lisbon Pentateuch and early Passover Haggadot

• Early Printed Books (Incunabula)

  Approximately 200 Hebrew books printed before 1500, representing the beginnings of Hebrew printing in Italy, Spain and Portugal

• Rabbi Chaim Vital's Manuscript

  A page in cursive Oriental script, containing Torah insights in the sacred handwriting of the divine Kabbalist Rabbi Chaim Vital, the foremost disciple of the Arizal

• Rabbi Kaduri's Booklet of Lots

  A booklet of divinatory lots in the holy handwriting of the elder Kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri, may his merit protect us, with the petitioners' names and details of the deliverances

• Siddur of the Rashash's Kavanot

  Manuscript, a fine copy of the Rashash prayer book, the concluding section of the morning service, with Hallel and the Blessing of the Moon, according to Kabbalah

• The Holy Shoemaker

  Esoteric teachings in the holy handwriting of the Holy Shoemaker, Rabbi Moshe Yaakov Rabikov of Tel Aviv

• Ben Ish Chai

  A discourse on the acceptance of repentance through the Pardes approach, in the holy handwriting of Rabbeinu Yosef Chaim of Baghdad