Old, Rare Passover Haggadot Housed at Israel’s National Library (with VIDEO)

The Haggadah is the text that recounts the story of the ancient Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt, as told in the Book of Exodus. The National Library of Israel in Jerusalem houses the largest collection of Haggadot [plural of Haggadah], in the world. There are 8,000 traditional Haggadot in the National Library’s collection, in addition to several thousand more non-traditional editions. They come in all languages, sizes and artistic styles.

The National Library is currently in the process of digitizing rare and out-of-print items including its Haggadot, in a bid to make them more accessible to the public. In fact, all of its most valuable Haggadot are available for online viewing in high resolution.

The Media Line visited the National Library ahead of Passover to get a look at some of the oldest and most rare Haggadot in the world.