Special Collections  Tags: history humanities primary_sources literature medieval middle_ages renaissance judaica special_collections brandeis_library_information  

This thank-you scroll (in the form of a Purim Megilah) was presented to Justice Louis D. Brandeis by the Jewish community of Jerusalem on July 11, 1919, in appreciation of his efforts on behalf of Zionism.

An integral component of Special Collections, the Judaica Collection comprises more than 200,000 works housed throughout the library. The collection documents all aspects of Jewish history, religion, and culture, with a particular focus on the Bible, rabbinics, Jewish philosophy and mysticism, Hebrew and Yiddish literature, and the Holocaust.

The microfilm, microfiche, and electronic collections include a wide array of English, German, Hebrew, and Yiddish newspapers; reproductions of Hebrew manuscripts; works on Israel, Zionism, and American Jewish history; the personal papers of Abba Hillel Silver and Chaim Weizmann; rabbinical texts; important bibliographic databases; and other relevant research tools and collections.

Many rare and unique Judaica materials are located in Special Collections. Examples include incunabula, rare books, and manuscripts; artifacts; collections documenting the Leo Frank case and the Dreyfus Affair; the personal papers of Louis D. Brandeis, E.M. Broner, Helmut Hirsch, Rose Jacobs, and Stephen S. Wise; and many others.

See the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies guide, created by Judaica Librarian Jim Rosenbloom, for more information.