In the spirit of the High Holy Day season, the National Library of Israel has digitized the last known remnant of one of the world’s oldest Jewish prayer books and made it available to the public.
The original prayer book was composed no later than the 12th century CE in Egypt.
The digital copy is hosted by the NLI’s website and will be posted on its Facebook page.
“This partially torn piece of paper has Yom Kippur liturgical poems on both sides,” the head of the Collections Division at National Library of Israel, Dr. Aviad Stollman, told Israel Hayom.
“That is the only thing that remains of that prayer book, which may have been written in 1108 or earlier. It was originally composed by Elazar ben Killir, who lived in the sixth or seventh century, and who is considered one of the greatest Jewish poets of all times.”
The page features the Ein Aroch Lecha, which translates to “There is no Comparison to You (God).”
In September, the world’s oldest Jewish prayer book, dated to the ninth century, arrived in Israel for display at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem.
