Jewish libraries are storehouses of knowledge – places of teaching, meeting, thinking – mirrors of Jewish life unique spaces of insight into Jewish history, past and present

Jews are known as the “people of the book”. Books, collections, and libraries have always been highly valued in Jewish circles. Important manuscript collections by Jewish scholars, teachers, and communities are evidenced from the Middle Ages onward. Every Jewish school is at the same time a library, and many community libraries are known well beyond their borders. Even when their very existence was threatened, for example at the time of the Shoah, Jews still built up and cherished their book collections. 

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