National Library of Israel

Yom Kippur through the centuries: The prayer books that preserve centuries of Jewish history

In an interview with The Jerusalem Post, NLI’s curator Dr. Chaim Neria explains how the NLI came to house thousands of prayer books, noting that “it fits into the overall mission of the library.”

|ByHOWARD BLAS
Dr. Chaim Meir Neria, curator of the Haim and Hanna Salomon Judaica Collection at the National Library of Israel, with one of the two volumes of the Lisbon Mahzor recently received by the Library.
New National Library of Israel building in Jerusalem, exterior.

National Library of Israel launches memorial book initiative ahead of Oct. 7 anniversary

The initiative will preserve memorial books and personal works created in memory of those killed in combat and those murdered, while making their stories accessible to future generations.

|ByYOAV ETIEL
Aharon Bar-Oz deposits Naomi Shemer’s leter of response with the National Library of Israel, August 31, 2026.

Author of postcard sent to Naomi Shemer praising 'Jerusalem of Gold' identified after 59 years

“Now the time has come for it to be at the National Library," Bar-Oz said to Ynet. "It must be there, especially for the grandchildren and for those who say, ‘We'd rather die than enlist.’”

|ByMIRIAM SELA-EITAM
‘THE SIXTEENTH SHEEP’ reunion shows (from left) Yoni Rechter, Gidi Gov, Yehudit Ravitz, and David Broza.

‘The Sixteenth Sheep’ documentary celebrates reunion of a musical supergroup

If I have one quibble with the documentary, it’s that it does not give a full sense of the album, that the songs are a journey through the mind of a child who can’t fall asleep.

|ByHANNAH BROWN

Grapevine, December 7, 2025: Multiple compositions

Movers and shakers in Israeli society.

DECEMBER 7, 2025ByGREER FAY CASHMAN
From left, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Ecuador Ambassador Maria Cristina Coralios Calero, and Prof. Tamir Shaefer, president of the Hebrew University.

What makes Jerusalem tick? Simon Sebag Montefiore, Matti Friedman talk past, present, future

Simon Sebag Montefiore and acclaimed journalist Matti Friedman delved into how Jerusalem – both city and symbol – functions as a stage for sweeping historical narratives.

NOVEMBER 23, 2025ByETHAN FREEDMAN
Historian Simon Sebag Montefiore in conversation with journalist Matti Friedman at the National Library of Israel, in Jerusalem on Sunday, November 16, 2025.

Grapevine October 5, 2025: When comparisons should not be made

Movers and shakers in Israeli society.

OCTOBER 5, 2025ByGREER FAY CASHMAN
PRESIDENT ISAAC HERZOG and his wife, Michal, look at the memorial wall in the National Library.

Jerusalem highlights: September 26 – October 2

What's new to do in Israel's capital?

SEPTEMBER 27, 2025ByHAGAY HACOHEN
Maureen Nehedar (see Sunday).

National Library reunites 15th-century Portuguese mahzor ahead of Rosh Hashanah

Known as the Lisbon mahzor, the manuscript was most likely written in the eponymous city of Lisbon, Portugal, during the second half of the 1400s.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2025ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
The Lisbon mahzor

David Blumberg built Israel’s greatest library, then politics destroyed him - opinion

MIDDLE ISRAEL: David Blumberg’s dream library stands tall in Jerusalem, but his life ended in tragedy, overshadowed by scandal and political strife.

SEPTEMBER 5, 2025ByAMOTZ ASA-EL
DAVID BLUMBERG – Short and bespectacled, but authoritative and full of energy, he turned the National Library into a cultural center.

From New York to the National Library of Israel: Naomi Schacter's journey

'The home of the book for the People of the Book.’

AUGUST 30, 2025ByLEAH HAKIMIAN
NAOMI SCHACHTER; from New York City to Jerusalem, 1983.

New documentary celebrates Yehoram Gaon's life at Docu.Text Festival

Yehoram Gaon, often seen as Israel's national singer, saw his life and accomplishments celebrated during an emotional screening of a new documentary which premiered at the National Library of Israel.

AUGUST 23, 2025ByHANNAH BROWN
YEHORAM GAON in a screenshot from the film ‘Tonight.’

National Library gets original lyrics of Naomi Shemer’s 'Al Kol Eleh'

For many years, the Shemer family’s attitude toward the song was very ambivalent as it reminded them of the loss of their father and uncle, and also because it had become politically charged.

AUGUST 20, 2025ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
NAOMI SHEMER’S handwritten lyrics to ‘Al Kol Aleh.’

Jerusalem highlights: August 15-21

What's new to do in Israel's capital?

AUGUST 15, 2025ByHAGAY HACOHEN
Donald and Abdul