56 | MAY 25 • 2023 

ERETZ

I 

was certainly aware of 
the National Library of 
Israel (NLI) prior to my 
trip to Jerusalem with the 
Jewish Federation of Detroit’s 
“Motor City Mission” this 
past March. I 
had read about 
it in the JN, as 
well as other 
articles about 
it, so I knew 
the NLI held 
a spectacular 
collection of 
Jewish books 
and archives, or just about 
anything Jewish printed, 
recorded and/or digital from 
around the world. However, 
seeing is believing and the 
experience of visiting the NLI 
on the Jerusalem campus of 
Hebrew University was out-
standing. 
The NLI has a massive col-
lection of books, photographs 
and recorded materials. 
Think of the NLI as Israel’s 
equivalent of our Library 
of Congress. Founded in 
Jerusalem in 1892, it serves 
as Israel’s “institution of 
national memory for the 
Jewish people worldwide and 
Israelis of all backgrounds 

and faiths.” 
The NLI has also exten-
sive archival collections. 
The Library’s Archives 
Department holds more 
than 1,000 personal archives 
that document “outstanding 
Jewish personalities from 
a wide variety of spheres: 
writers and poets, humanists, 
rabbis, Zionist leaders, scien-
tists, journalists, critics and 
others.” 
For example, the archival 
department preserves doc-
uments from Maimonides 
and Sir Isaac Newton; exqui-
site Hebrew and Islamic 
manuscripts dating back to 
the ninth century; and the 
personal archives of lead-
ing cultural and intellec-
tual figures Martin Buber, 
Natan Sharansky and Naomi 
Shemer. 

In addition, the NLI holds 
institutional or organizational 
archives, along with spe-
cial collections that include 
photographs, portraits, 
music, posters and many 
other mixed media archival 
records in a variety of lan-
guages, including Hebrew, 
Yiddish, German, English, 
Russian and French. As the 

archivist for the historical 
records of the Detroit Jewish 
Chronicle and the Detroit 
Jewish News, one collection at 
the NLI really intrigued me 
— the Historical Jewish Press 
Collection or Jpress. 

I had written to the NLI 
before traveling with the 
Motor City Mission and 
planned an extra day in 
Jerusalem just to meet with 
the NLI’s archivists (by the 
way, many thanks to the 
Federation people who were 
extremely kind and helped 
with my extended stay). I 
hoped to get a brief tour of 
the NLI. Instead, I spent an 
entire morning meeting with 

various archivists and spe-
cialists. 

A DAY TO REMEMBER
Rachel Neiman, the NLI’s 
International Media & Public 
Relations specialist, extended 
a warm invite. And, when I 
say “warm,” that is a bit of 
an understatement about the 
gracious Rachel. She not only 
personally welcomed me to 
the library but made arrange-
ments for five other meetings 
and introductions.

I was also gratified to meet 
Dr. Yochai Ben-Ghedalia, 
director of the Central 
Archives for the History 
of the Jewish People. Shai 

My visit to the National Library of Israel.
Gem of a Library

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

Albert Einstein cut-out statue on the Edmond J. Safra campus of 
Hebrew University in Jerusalem. 

