An initial-word panel with a head, and a hare marking the beginning of Torah portion Bo (בֹּא) #ParashahPictures BL Add MS 15423; Torah; Italy (Florence); 1441-1467 CE; f.41v

Sure looks like Hebrew characters on that binding label..

NBD, just pulling some ancient (actually ancient, for those who know how I feel about that word!) objects for the Jewish Books class that starts in a few weeks :) 📚📜😍 Not shown: the Aramaic Ostracon that probably dates to the 5th century BCE.

Big Monday energy 😅 #MedievalMonday Shelfmark: MS. Bodl. 264

The AJL Jewish Fiction Award Committee is seeking two new members. Immerse yourself in the vibrant field of contemporary Jewish fiction, connect with and learn from a group of wise and committed colleagues, and honor outstanding writers. Details at jewishlibraries.org/....

I can only ask, "Why are hearts so hardened?" Beth Israel Congregation, Mississippi’s largest synagogue was firebombed. The Ku Klux Klan bombed it in 1967 because the rabbi supported civil rights. It was a stop on the Freedom Trail.

AAJR Baron Book Prize. Deadline: 31 January, 2026. #jewishstudies mjsnow.hypotheses.org/20210

Anyone in my orbit specifically on Bluesky studying medieval Jewish illuminated mss?

CFP: Jewish Literature under Muslim Rule: Textual Transformations and Inter-Religious Encounters, 14–16 April 2026, Munich. #jewishstudies mjsnow.hypotheses.org/20136

Scholars affiliated with the Midrash Project embarked on a “transcribe-a-thon,” using eScriptorium, an AI platform tailored for use on historical manuscripts. religionnews.com/2025/12/17/a...

Every 15th-century book was printed on paper stock from one of a handful of fixed sizes. The largest of these measured about 50 x 70 cm. The sheets used to print this book, when manufactured, fell outside that range at a fairly colossal 56 x 70 cm and so thick as to almost feel like leather. 3/8

Love to see a prize celebrating both Steinschneider and good primary source publishing in Jewish Studies :) networks.h-net.org/group/announ... 📚📜🗃️

Shalom, friends! Serah bat Asher, beloved figure in Jewish lore, appears for the first time in this week’s parsha. Also for the first time, a Judeo-Persian prayer poem praising this Iranian Jewish folk hero is translated into English by Alan Niku! Be the first to hear it! youtube.com/watch?v=Bppy...

LLMs can only understand the first line. Humans can understand the infinite context below.

This volume of Lithuanian Historical Studies includes an article, "The Yiddish Nation as an Imagined Community," on use of LLMs on #YIVO archival materials for study of pre-war E European #Yiddish - based #Jewish identity. Looks fascinating @dhjewish.bsky.social @mmargolis.bsky.social

Between Theo Dunkelgrun's fantastic presentation and book on the topic, and the chapter in @skimmel.bsky.social's Librarian's Atlas, it was definitely time for me to get some photos of our copy of the Antwerp Polyglot. It's a regular for my Hebrew Bibles session for LitHum students! 📚📜

I know everyone is upset about Gmail’s AI thing right now, but why does nobody talk about the fact that it’s search is absolute pants

Well, I was looking for the source of the illustration of the family at the Seder (Corfu, 1887), but instead found an illustrated Livorno haggadah in Tunisian Judeo-Arabic, an Alexandria haggadah, and one printed in Calcutta (also JA, for Baghdadi Jews). 📜📚

We’re thrilled to launch our new Humans of AI podcast! Prof. @melissaterras.bsky.social of @transkribus.bsky.social — a cooperative AI platform transforming how libraries, archives, and museums bring history to life. 🎧 share.transistor.fm/s/ce0399b5 📺 youtu.be/qK5x4j7jiuQ #AI #CulturalHeritage

Soooo I finally went to the glorious JTS exhibit at the Groler Club. (Image below of the study for the painting of Aldus Manutius handing books to Jean Grolier, which appears in many formats throughout the building). Go check it out! In person or online: grolierclub.omeka.net/exhibits/sho...

There are 3 weeks left to apply to the Katz Center's 2026–27 fellowship, War and Peace in Jewish Thought and History. Click below to learn more! katz.sas.upenn.edu/scholarly-pr...

For #CoffeeWithACodex on October 23 (Noon ET, on Zoom), we'll bring out CAJS Rar Ms. 534, a manuscript written by Moses Gomez de Mesquita documenting his administration and institution of prayer customs for the Sephardim in England.. #medievalsky #cwac Register here: https://bit.ly/4oldipr

Thank you @hannahstohelit.bsky.social and @mmargolis.bsky.social for the excellent suggestion!

Honestly insane in mindblowingly cool documents per square foot, and also better for free than lots of other (perfectly good) exhibits I’ve paid for

The wonderful Javier del Barco will be presenting at Penn in November: The Sephardic Bible Bookcraft: Codicology, Layout and Contents in Two Manuscripts at the Library of @katzcenterupenn.bsky.social 📜📚 Tuesday, November 4, 2025, 5:15 - 7:00 pm EST www.library.upenn.edu/events/sepha...

Just FYI- whether for ch"m trip planning purposes or any others, know that the Grolier Club/JTS manuscript exhibit is one of the coolest things I have ever gotten to see, whether on my lunch break or at any other time. Thanks @mmargolis.bsky.social for the tip- everyone should go (& it's free)!

"Jewish women were increasingly active participants in their communities, managing homes & professions, leading institutions & sororities, & crafting objects & texts of exquisite beauty", forthcoming by D. Kaplan & E. Carlebach press.princeton.edu/books/hardco... h/t @mmargolis.bsky.social

Great news! JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month www.jstor.org/action/showL...

Yom Kippur starts at sunset on 1 October. Here is the initial -word, inhabited by dragons and hybrids, at the beginning of Kol Nidrei (All vows). #YomKippur BL Oriental 42; 'Dragon's Head Mahzor'; Germany; 14th century; Germany; f.44v

We have a date! This year's Norman E. Alexander Celebration of Collections will be on December 1. "Beyond the Text: Reading Jewish History Between the Words" with Prof. Edward Fram, Prof Elisheva Carlebach, and Dr. Eugene Matanky. Register here! 📚📜 columbiauniversity.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Lovely interview with my colleague @jeremiah-mercurio.bsky.social on Linguistics in Columbia Libraries; I see a shoutout to the #LCAAJ (an incredibly rich Yiddish linguistics project that began in the 1950s...)! blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/linguistics/...

Really excited to see this medieval Hebrew manuscript and talk at the Morgan Library: www.themorgan.org/programs/gal... 📜📚💕

some of my favorite former NEH employees have channeled their collective grant-making wisdom into an opportunity for funders. thrilled to see it! hire them. 💫

I mean, it really will be an exhibit for the ages: www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-n... 📚📜

The Portuguese Synagogue, Esnoga or ‘Snoge’ in Amsterdam is celebrating its 350th birthday this year!

I love this so much.

Cool #dhjewish event going on in Wrocław this November: Beyond Digital Awe. European Jewish Studies and the Challenge of Digital Humanities dhjewish.org/event/confer...

New exhibit up at the RBML explores books as media for art. It's very cool.

This is amazing and also made me sad. I miss the ODH and the people that made it amazing.

Working on Aaron of Lincoln's charters this evening gives me an excuse to revisit this delightful charter of Simon le Bret granting lands at Wrangle and Leake (Lincs.) to Aaron of Lincoln and Abraham son of Rabbi Josce. TNA DL 27/267

i created this thingy yesterday and now I cannot stop watching it. yoavg.github.io/eternal/

Also: this great inter-library loan (one of the world's treasures!) poster from my September visit to Macalester College

There is still joy in the beginning of the semester. Overheard a kid in the library on the phone "there are people here from all over the world!! Like from every country!"

What an undertaking: this memorial in Vienna lists the names of the 65,000 Viennese Jews killed in the Holocaust. The names of relatives of several of my colleagues are listed. #Holocaust #memorial #Vienna

This famous memorial in Judenplatz in Vienna represents a library with books of people’s lives that will never be read - all of those who died in the Holocaust. Around the memorial are the names of camps where Austrian Jews were murdered. #Holocaust #memorial #Vienna

Here I will present a close look at four case studies, of manuscripts in Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, and Latin, that show manuscripts as tools of the trade for practitioners as well as curious readers. Their tissue of marks of production and use can shed light on the social meaning of these practices 4/4

Information literacy 101

Found ANOTHER interleaved Hebrew Bible with wide margins for annotations (the facing page was blank, now filled with notes in the same hand as the margin). Going on the list for the LitHum Hebrew Bible session! 📜📚

Saw this binding on a shelf and thought, wait, a saint in a Jewish book? No, it was S(hmuel) T(e) - really de - Modena. B893.1 M46