15th-century Lisbon Mahzor reunited at Israel’s National Library
Portuguese manuscript containing Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur prayers had been split into three parts
A rare prayer book created in Portugal in the years leading up to the expulsion of Jews in 1496 has been reunited at the National Library of Israel, which hailed the acquisition as “an act of cultural preservation and historical rectification”.
The Lisbon Mahzor, a richly decorated parchment manuscript produced by the Lisbon School in the late 15th century, is adorned with geometric and floral motifs typical of Portuguese illumination.
At some point in its history, the book was split into three volumes. The first, containing Sabbath prayers, reached Jerusalem in 1957 when the Aleppo Jewish community presented it to Israel’s second president, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, alongside the famed Aleppo Codex.
The whereabouts of the other two volumes remained unknown until they recently surfaced at auction. They were withdrawn and purchased for the National Library due to their historical importance.
Dr. Chaim Neria, curator of the Library’s Haim and Hanna Solomon Judaica Collection, said: “It appears that even in their most difficult moments the Portuguese Jewish community did not give up its books – they took these cultural treasures along to their next destination.”
He added: “Through electronic means, the Library will be able to reunite the digital versions of the three volumes for study and research. The acquisition of this manuscript is an act of cultural preservation and historical rectification. That this treasure has ‘come home’ just at the time of Rosh Hashanah is especially meaningful, as the Jewish New Year is one of the most important liturgical moments in the Jewish calendar, a time of prayer, reflection, and renewal.”
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