{ object_type: 'Unknown',embed_type: 'image',embed_detail: 'http://myloc.gov/_assets/Exhibitions/words-like-sapphires/Assets/sapphires_125.Jpeg',embed_alt: 'Words Like Sapphires: 100 Years of Hebraica at the Library of Congress, 1912–2012',thumbnail: {url: 'http://myloc.gov/_assets/Exhibitions/words-like-sapphires/Assets/sapphires_125.Jpeg',alt: 'Words Like Sapphires: 100 Years of Hebraica at the Library of Congress, 1912–2012',height: '66',width: '125'} }

Words Like Sapphires: 100 Years of Hebraica at the Library of Congress, 1912–2012

October 25, 2012—March 16, 2013

The Hebraic Section of the Library of Congress is recognized as one of the world’s foremost centers for the study of Hebrew and Yiddish materials. Its beginnings can be traced to Jacob H. Schiff’s gift in 1912 of nearly 10,000 books and pamphlets. In the century since Schiff’s initial gift, the Library has expanded its Hebraic holdings to close to 200,000 works in Hebrew and related languages.

Read more about Words Like Sapphires: 100 Years of Hebraica at the Library of Congress, 1912–2012 »

The People of the Book עם הספר

The Jewish people have long been known as the “People of the Book.” The book in question being the Bible, and the term a deceptively simple—but ultimately profound—acknowledgement of the centrality of the Bible in the Jewish religion. Read more about The People of the Book עם הספר »


View all items from The People of the Book עם הספר »

Cornerstones of Jewish Religious Life אבני יסוד

The “People of the Book” were, in fact, a people with many books, and these served as cornerstones of Jewish life through the ages. The Bible contains the Written Law, but an Oral Law, handed down from generation to generation, existed alongside it, most noticeably in the set of books known collectively as the “Talmud.” Read more about Cornerstones of Jewish Religious Life אבני יסוד »


View all items from Cornerstones of Jewish Religious Life אבני יסוד »

Gates of Prayer שערי תפילה

Prayer is as central to Judaism as it is varied and multi-faceted, and through the ages the “Gates of Prayer” have opened to a tremendous surge of literary creativity. The earliest Hebrew prayers are found in the Bible, where they range from a few heart-felt words spoken by Moses (Exodus 12:13) or Hannah (Samuel 1:11) to the lyric outpourings in the Psalms. Read more about Gates of Prayer שערי תפילה »


View all items from Gates of Prayer שערי תפילה »

Holy Land/Holy Tongue לשון הקודש ארץ הקודש

Hebrew and the Land of Israel—the holy tongue and the holy land—have been intimately bound together in Jewish sources since the earliest times. The bond was forged in the Bible by prophets and lawgivers, kings and scribes, and it created a single, insoluble entity. Read more about Holy Land/Holy Tongue לשון הקודש ארץ הקודש »


View all items from Holy Land/Holy Tongue לשון הקודש ארץ הקודש »

Beauty in Holiness הדור מצוה

Hidur mitzvah, or the beautification of objects pertaining to Jewish religious observance, has a long and varied tradition harking back to the Bible. The Book of Exodus recounts that the artisan Bezalel ben Hur fashioned the Ark of the Covenant and its implements with lavish ornamentation and beauty. Read more about Beauty in Holiness הדור מצוה »


View all items from Beauty in Holiness הדור מצוה »

The Power of the Tongue ביד הלשון

Hebrew is often called the “holy tongue” because it is the language of the Hebrew Bible, most synagogue worship, and, according to ancient tradition, Creation itself. It is also the language of daily life in the modern State of Israel, largely because of the efforts of pioneering figures who led the revival of Hebrew as a spoken language in the early twentieth century. Read more about The Power of the Tongue ביד הלשון »


View all items from The Power of the Tongue ביד הלשון »

A New Song שירה חדשה

“By the rivers of Babylon,” as told in Psalm 137, the Jewish exiles from the Holy Land, led into captivity after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, hung their harps upon the willows, lamenting “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” Yet sing they did: the annals of subsequent Jewish history are studded with songs and poems regarded as classics of Hebrew literature. Read more about A New Song שירה חדשה »


View all items from A New Song שירה חדשה »