A World-Class Collection

The JTS Library’s Special Collections are world-class. With the largest collection of Hebrew manuscripts on earth, the most complete collection of early Hebrew printed books (incunables), 43,000 fragments from the Cairo Genizah, and much more, there are few collections that offer students, scholars, and visitors material of such quality, depth, and breadth.

Our Outstanding Rare Materials Include:

• Hebrew Manuscripts: With 11,000 Hebrew manuscripts, JTS has the largest such collection in the world. Among outstanding sub-collections are those in rabbinics (over 2,500), Bible, Jewish philosophy and poetry, liturgy, and philology. Images of many manuscripts, including those digitized by the Polonsky Digitization Project, are available through the Library catalog.
• Genizah Fragments: From the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo, representing Jewish life in the eastern Mediterranean world and beyond from the 10th to the 19th centuries. Outstanding examples include a letter signed by Maimonides and a handwritten letter by the great Hebrew philosopher and poet Judah Halevi. Our collection of Genizah fragments may be viewed online at the Friedberg Genizah Project.
  
• Incunables: Hebrew books printed from the birth of movable-type print through 1500, illustrating the interests and commitment of Jews in the 15th century.
• Ketubbot: Over 500 Jewish marriage contracts, providing evidence of Jewish art and culture from the 17th through the 20th centuries. Digitized images are available through our special collections link.
• Broadsides: 4,000 rare and significant pieces spanning the 16th to the 20th centuries from communities in Europe, Israel, the Near East, and America. Broadsides are sheets printed on one side, including posters, handbills, or signs. The collection includes poems and prayers, Kabbalistic writings, genealogical charts, micrographs, maps, and legal documents. Some are available online; please consult a librarian.
• Scrolls: 430 scrolls, including Torah and Haftarah scrolls, Kabbalistic scrolls, and 300 Esther scrolls, some of them decorated.
• Archives: Our more than 400 archival collections date from the 19th century to the present and include material representing the history of Jews in the United States, Europe, North Africa, and Israel, with a focus on the Conservative Movement in the 20th century. We also hold significant Jewish music archives. Guides (finding aids) for specific archival collections can be accessed by clicking “Search the Archives” above.

Visiting the Rare Book Room