^{Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah (14th c.). Photo: Ardon Bar-Hama.}

Other never-before-displayed highlights include a Persian poetic manuscript recounting the legend of “the Romeo and Juliet of the East,” a newly discovered 13th-century liturgical poem, the world’s first printed Passover Haggadah from pre-expulsion Spain, and more.

For the first time, the National Library of Israel is presenting, as part of its permanent exhibition, a magnificent and richly illuminated 14th-century manuscript of Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah. Considered the pinnacle of Maimonides’ scholarship, this monumental text encompasses all areas of Jewish law.

Visitors to the permanent exhibition, A Treasury of Words, can now view this extraordinary manuscript. First copied in Provence between 1300 and 1350, it later reached Spain, where the Italian artist Matteo di Ser Cambio embellished it with vivid illustrations, gold ornamentation, and decorative motifs of figures, animals, and plants. The volume contains proofreading notes, corrections, and omissions that testify to centuries of study and transmission. It also bears signs of 16th-century Christian censorship, including erasures on the final page and a censor’s seal dated 1574.

Also making its public debut is a small 15th-century prayer book from Lisbon, one of the last witnesses to the liturgical traditions of Spanish and Portuguese Jewry before the expulsion. Written in block lettering and adorned with colorful and gold decorations, it offers a poignant glimpse into a vanished world.

^{Lisbon Mahzor (15th c.)}

The 13th-century Worms Machzor has been displayed before, but now, for the first time, the Library is presenting a newly discovered Or Yesha Meusharim piyyut (liturgical poem) found within its pages. Beautifully handwritten and illuminated, the poem is set between two columns topped by lions at their base.

Visitors can also view the world’s earliest printed Passover Haggadah, produced in Guadalajara, Spain, in 1482, ten years before the expulsion.

Another item going on display for the first time is the Benghazi Haggadah, a non-traditional Passover text composed by Jewish Brigade soldiers for a Seder held shortly after Libya’s liberation from the Nazis in 1943. Hastily printed on confiscated telegram forms, this Haggadah was used by the soldiers and hundreds of Libyan Jews who had survived persecution under both Fascist and Nazi rule.

The exhibition also unveils, for the first time, several Persian works of poetry from the Library’s Islam and Middle East Collection. Among them is the celebrated tale of Layla and Majnun, composed by the 12th-century poet Nizami Ganjawim, the tragic love story that later inspired countless artists, including Eric Clapton’s “Layla.”

^{Or Yesha Meusharim from Machzor Worms (13th c.)}

Another 15th-century poetic manuscript, adorned with striking gold illumination, recounts the story of Yusuf and Zulaikha, the biblical Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. Drawing on the Qur’anic narrative, these works reflect how Muslim tradition transformed Zulaikha from a scheming seductress into a penitent woman who ultimately confesses and repents.

All of these items and more are now on display at the National Library of Israel’s permanent exhibition A Treasury of Words, in the William Davidson Permanent Exhibition Gallery,

Due to popular demand, the closing dates of the rotating exhibitions, Flowers: Leafing Through the Pages of the National Library and the solo exhibition by Hadassa Goldvicht, To the Internal Libraries, have been extended to May 15, 2026.

Tickets for the permanent and rotating exhibitions are available at the National Library of Israel website. https://www.nli.org.il/en