A rare 15th-century Portuguese manuscript of Jewish liturgy for the High Holy Days, having once been divided into three parts, has now been reunited at the National Library of Israel ahead of Rosh Hashanah.
Known as the Lisbon Mahzor, the manuscript was most likely written in the Portuguese city during the second half of the 15th century. It is considered one of the final masterpieces of the Lisbon school, made during the final years of open Jewish life in the Iberian Peninsula.
At this time, the Jews had already been forced to leave Spain, with Portugal allowing Jewish presence for another four years before expelling its Jewish population too.
At some unknown point, the mahzor was split into three parts. The first part, which contained prayers for Shabbat, was able to reach Jerusalem in 1957 as a gift to then-president Yitzhak Ben-Zvi from the Aleppo Jewish community, which also donated the Aleppo Codex.
The other two parts were thought lost until recently, when they were being put up for auction, with the National Library managing to acquire them.
Reuniting the Lisbon Mahzor
“Among the monumental works created during that period was the world-famous Lisbon Bible (now at the British Library) and other manuscripts, including the Mahzor Lisbon,” Dr. Chaim Neria, curator of the National Library of Israel’s Haim and Hanna Solomon Judaica Collection, said in a statement.
“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.”
Now, the National Library is digitizing the mahzor.
“The acquisition of this manuscript is an act of cultural preservation and historical rectification,” Neria said.
“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.”