Kafka: Metamorphosis of an Author – Exhibition

We invite you to join our guided tours in English for the general public.

Get to know the new home of Israel's greatest cultural treasures. Discover your story, and our story.

Tour duration: 1.5 hours

A ticket to "The Treasures" includes:

• Individual access to "A Treasury of Words" - a journey through space and time with our permanent exhibition
• Individual access to the rotating exhibitions
• Individual access to the National Library's special interactive video display

Audio-guide headsets in English are available.

Please note that entry to the National Library itself is free of charge. Purchasing a ticket to "The Treasures" grants access to the above exhibitions.

When to Come?

Sunday-Wednesday – 9am-6pm

Thursday – 2pm-10pm

Fridays and holiday eve – 9am-1pm

More on the Visit

Age: Visits and tours of the Library are suitable for children, adults, and everyone in between, particularly from reading age (7) and up.

Visit duration: The tour itself lasts about an hour and a half. You are invited to stay as long as you’d like when your tour is over :)

Would you like to visit us as a group? Contact us at [email protected] or by phone: 074-7336170

Map and Directions

"A Treasury of Words"  is on display in the William Davidson Permanent Exhibitions Gallery at the National Library of Israel.

Our rotating exhibitions are on display in the Helen Diller Family Rotating Exhibitions Gallery at the National Library of Israel.

Our interactive video display can be found in the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Experiential Center at the National Library of Israel.

***This event is now sold out – for the waiting list click here***

The members of the Sharghi Ensemble have selected a number of traditional Bedouin songs which accompany the circle of life – from birth to departure.

Using traditional musical instruments, they will bring the sounds of the desert to the National Library in Jerusalem.

Alongside the musicians, a group of dancers from the Alyamama Theater in Rahat and the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance will take part in a special performance revealing links to the past and present, while powerfully expressing humanity's connection with the Earth and the desert.

Musicians:
Dudi Yitzhaki – bass/oud | Mahisan Sriah – sumsumiyah and vocals | Halil Al-Awiwi – shabbabah and vocals | Ali Abu Ajaj – jurun | Sagi Biton – percussion | Omar Abu Ajaj – oud and vocals

This event is being held to mark the official reception of the Clinton Bailey Collection, the Orna Goren Collection, the Haim Blanc Collection, and the Lost Paradise Collection documenting Bedouin culture in the Negev, Sinai and Jordan.

Commemorating the 4th yahrzeit of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks and marking the dedication of the Rabbi Sacks Archive at the National Library of Israel

United States Ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew in conversation with Rachel Sharansky Danziger.

20:00 / 8pm Thursday 21 November 2024

Ticket price: 40 NIS 

With appreciation for the support of the Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe. The event will be held in English.

Doors: 8 pm

Show begins: 8:30 pm

Special discount available for senior citizens, students, schoolchildren, soldiers, disabled individuals, journalists and Jerusalem Card holders.

Doors: 8 pm

Show begins: 8:30 pm

Special discount available for senior citizens, students, schoolchildren, soldiers, disabled individuals, journalists and Jerusalem Card holders.

Doors: 8 pm

Show begins: 8:30 pm

Special discount available for senior citizens, students, schoolchildren, soldiers, disabled individuals, journalists and Jerusalem Card holders.

Sacred texts, scientific innovations, conveyors of tradition, literary masterpieces, mystical revelations, and works of art: in all these roles and more manuscripts are central to Islamic civilization.

The Islam and Middle East Collection of the National Library of Israel includes more than 2,500 Arabic, Persian, and Turkish manuscripts. These handwritten books date from the 9th to the 20th centuries and include manuscripts copied across the Islamic world, spanning all major Islamic disciplines and literary traditions, as well as Christian, Druze, and Baháʼí religious writings.

The collection also houses copies of important scientific, mathematical, and medical treatises; lavishly illustrated poems in Persian, Arabic, and Turkish; and legal and commercial documents. This gallery talk will reveal the surprising histories, intricate craftsmanship, and fascinating stories behind the Islamic manuscripts included in the Library's permanent exhibition. 

This Gallery Talk is sponsored by Rosalie and Richard Alter, in memory of their dear friend David Kolitz

Abraham Zvi Idelsohn gained renown for his documentation and comprehensive research of Jewish music of his time, in Central Europe and the Land of Israel. In addition, his original compositions laid the groundwork for what would become known as “Israeli music.” How does an Ashkenazi cantor from Latvia become a world expert on Jewish music of the Near and Middle East? Which of his songs are still remembered in Israeli anthologies? Even a casual examination of Idelsohn’s work confirms his reputation as the “father” of Jewish music research. 

This Gallery Talk is sponsored by Rosalie and Richard Alter, in memory of their dear friend David Kolitz