Israel’s National Library Obtains 90 Pages From One of Oldest Hebrew Texts Ever Printed

Shiryn Ghermezian

The National Library of Israel. Photo: © Herzog & de Meuron; Mann-Shinar Architects, Executive Architect.

The National Library of Israel in Jerusalem announced on Tuesday the acquisition of 90 singular pages from one of the very first religious Jewish texts ever printed.

The pages come from the only known copy of a late 15th century edition of Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher’s “Arba’ah Turim,” a leading code of Jewish law. The edition was published in Italy around 1492 by Yehoshua Soncino, who set up one of the world’s first Hebrew printing presses in 1484.

No complete copies of the edition remain, and the pages procured by the national library, which already had 59 pages from the book, are not in any other public or private collection.

“Arba’ah Turim” — or “Four Columns” in Hebrew — is divided into four sections, each covering a different area of Jewish law. The pages newly acquired by the national library come from the first two sections: “Orach Chayim,” which covers laws pertaining to prayers, Sabbath, and Jewish holidays; and “Yoreh De’ah,” which discusses ritualistic laws, such as ritual animal slaughter and the rules of keeping kosher.

Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher was a leading rabbinical authority who lived from about 1269 to 1343. His work in “Arba’ah Turim” served as a basis for Rabbi Joseph Caro’s 16th century “Shulchan Aruch,” widely considered to be the most influential legal code of Judaism.

“Even though the complete edition has not survived, it is exciting that these pages — part of an exceedingly important Jewish text — have come down to us and will now be preserved and made accessible to scholars and the general public by the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem,” said Dr. Yoel Finkelman, curator of the library’s Haim and Hanna Salomon Judaica Collection.

There were less than 200 Hebrew titles printed before the year 1500, during a period called the “incunabula.” Israel’s national library has copies of more than 80 of these works, out of approximately 150 that have survived to present day.