Judaica Librarianship

Volume 8 Vol. 8 no. 1-2 142-144

9-1-1994 Microfilming the Baron Guenzburg Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts in the Russian State Library in Moscow Benjamin Richler Jewish National and University Library, Jerusalem, Israel

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Recommended Citation Richler, Benjamin. 1994. "Microfilming the Baron Guenzburg Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts in the Russian State Library in Moscow." Judaica Librarianship 8: 142-144. doi:10.14263/2330-2976.1258. , . :J RARE BOOKS Microfilming the Baron Guenzburg Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts in the Russian State Library in Moscow*

Benjamin Rich/er Jewish National and University Library Jerusalem, Israel

Abstract: After the fall of the Com­ Until recently, there remained one great poetry, taught Hebrew literature and pub­ munist regimes in Eastern Europe, lacuna in the collection of microfilmed lished many papers on Judaic studies. large depositories of Hebraic manu­ manuscripts. Since the First World War, Baron David followed his father as head scripts in the former Soviet Union were libraries in Russia had in effect closed of the Society for the Promotion of Culture opened to Western scholars. In this their gates to scholars from the West. among the Jews in Russia and was active paper, the major collections are sur-­ Only a select few managed to visit some in other Jewish organizations, among veyed, with special emphasis on the of these libraries and occasionally obtain them the Mekize Nirdamim Society, which Baron Guenzburg collection in the photocopies of manuscripts from the for­ was dedicated to the publication of He­ Russian State Library in Moscow and mer Soviet Union. brew texts from manuscripts. the microfilming activities of the Jew­ ish National and University Library in Major collections of Hebrew manuscripts The Guenzburgs purchased manuscripts Russia and Ukraine in general and in exist in four libraries in the former Soviet from many sources, among them the Moscow in particular. Union: the Russian State Library in Mos­ estates of deceased scholars such as cow houses the Guenzburg collection of Seligmann Baer, Eliakim Carmoly and Introduction 1900 manuscripts, and more than 350 Nathan Coronel, as well as private book­ manuscripts are housed in other collec­ sellers. The collection excels in medieval In many areas of Jewish studies it is im­ tions; the Russian National Library in St. Hebrew manuscripts, but also includes possible to undertake comprehensive re­ Petersburg is home to the Firkovich col­ many books of more recent date. Most search without consulting manuscript lections, which include over 17,000 items were copied during the years 1250-1650. sources. As recently as three decades (several thousand manuscript books and The subject matter is varied:. biblical texts ago, a scholar doing research had to visit several thousand fragments or parts of and commentaries, works of Jewish ritual libraries all over the world in order to read manuscripts) as well as the Antonin col­ law (Halakhah) and Talmud, prayerbooks, manuscripts, or spend a large part of his lection of over 1000 Geniza fragments mystical works of Kabbalah alongside budget acquiring expensive photocopies and other, smaller collections numbering books of Jewish and Aristotelian philoso­ from dozens of libraries. The lot of the a few dozen manuscripts; the library of phy, and texts on astronomy, medicine, Judaica researcher improved enormously the Oriental Institute of the St. Petersburg and magic. Several Karaite works, mainly with the establishment in 1951 of the In­ branch of the Russian Academy of Sci­ for use in the synagogue, including Bibli­ stitute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts ences, which houses over 1100 Hebrew cal translations in the Judeo-Tatar dialect, (IMHM), which began to systematically manuscripts; and the Vernadsky Library are among the later acquisitions. collect microfilms of all the Hebrew manu­ of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in scripts extant in public and private librar­ Kiev, which also holds several hundred Many of the manuscripts are unicums. A ies throughout the world. Over the past manuscripts, Geniza fragments, and com­ few examples serve to illustrate the wide forty-three years, the IMHM has built up a munal pinkasim. variety of rare or unique works: R. Isaiah collection of 50,000 Hebraic manuscripts de Trani's Nimuke /-jumash, which con­ (i.e., manuscript books written in Hebrew, History of the Guenzburg Collection tains more material than the printed ver­ Yiddish, Judaeo-Arabic, and other lan­ sion, is an example of an important work guages in Hebrew characters). Together Three generations of the Guenzburg fam­ of Biblical exegesis. Talmudic commen­ with the 10,000 original manuscripts in ily amassed one of the largest private col­ taries abound, some of which-such as a the adjacent Manuscript Department at lections of Hebrew books and manuscripts collection of ancient Tosafot on the trac­ the Jewish National and University Library in Europe at the beginning of the twenti­ tate Shabbat, completely different from (JNUL), the scholar visiting Jerusalem eth century. Begun by Joseph Guenzburg the published Tosafot-have never been has access to approximately 80% of all (1812-1878), the library grew under the published. A large collection of responsa the Hebrew manuscript sources extant in patronage of his son Horace (1833-1909) by Geonim and Rishonim will interest stu­ the world. and especially his grandson Baron David dents of Halakhah. Historians of science Guenzburg (1857-1910), who, it seems, may find unknown commentaries on acquired over half of the 2000 manuscripts Ptolemy's Almagest and an Arabic work in which the collection numbered at its peak. Hebrew letters by the early Jewish astrologer Sahl ben Bishr. In other fields * Revised and updated version of a paper David Guenzburg was a Judaic scholar of study, mention may be made of a ver­ originally published in the periodical of the and Orientalist who resided both in Paris sion of the dispute between Jehiel of Jewish National and University Library, and St. Petersburg. He specialized in the Paris and the apostate Donin in Paris in On Books and People. study of philology and medieval Arabic 1240, different from the published edition,

142 Judaica Librarianship Vol. 8 No. 1-2 Spring 1993-Winter 1994 , and the original version of R. Moses Haim been filmed on microfilm of inferior quality. Catalogs of the Collection Luzzatto's Sefer Mesi/at Yesharim, per­ Shortly after the agreement was signed, a haps the best-known book of Jewish new director was named to head the There is no printed catalog of the Guenz­ ethics, first written in the form of a dia­ Lenin Library: Prof. Igor Filipov, a profes­ burg collection. Senior Sachs prepared a logue between a Righteous Man and a sor of history at the Moscow University. brief handwritten list of MSS 1-830, called Wise Man. This last work was recently Even though he was very busy trying to Bet Yosef, which appeared in a very lim­ published from this manuscript (Jerusa­ solve the serious problems of the Russian ited lithographic edition sometime be­ lem: Ofeq Institute, 1994). State Library (RSL)-as it is now called­ tween 1866 and 1878. A later catalog in a Prof. Filipov was very cooperative and did different handwriting (perhaps that of In his will, Baron David Guenzburg re­ all he could to ensure that the microfilm Samuel Wiener), describing the remaining quested that his library be sold to a Jew­ project would be implemented and com­ MSS (831-1913), was compiled in the ish academic institution. After his death in pleted on schedule. early 1900s and is extant in the Stein­ 1910, the Jewish Theological Seminary schneider collection in the Library of the (JTS) of America in New York began In February 1992, Israel Weiser, deputy Jewish Theological Seminary of America. negotiations to purchase the collection director of the Reprographic Department Copies of both catalogs are found in the from Guenzburg's widow; but when of the JNUL went to Moscow in order to IMHM. Both catalogs are very brief, and Alexander Marx, the librarian at JTS, assess the manuscript collection and to inaccuracies or false identifications are, finally set out for St. Petersburg in 1914, prepare the logistics of the project. Mr. understandably, not rare. Aron Freimann the War broke out and all roads to Russia Weiser flew from Russia to the U.S., used the catalogs in compiling his Union were blocked. A few years later in 1917, a where he purchased some of the photo­ Catalog of Hebrew Manuscripts and their group of Russian Zionists signed an graphic equipment. Other pieces of equip­ Location (New York, 1964-73). Frei­ agreement to purchase the library and ment were constructed in the Reprographic mann's catalog can serve as an index to send it to the Jewish public library in Jeru­ Department and shipped to Moscow. In the Guenzburg collection, even though it salem (which later became the Jewish April 1992, Mr. Weiser and I traveled to cannot be more reliable than the handlists National Library), but the outbreak of the Moscow in order to begin the microfilming. it is based on. In his Catalog, Freimann Russian Revolution prevented the re­ refers to the Guenzburg collection as GI moval of the books to the Holy Land. Filming the Collection (= Sach's catalog) and GIi (= the serial Eventually the Guenzburg library was numbers in the second catalog. Adding appropriated by the Soviet government During the first days of our stay in Mos­ 830 to the serial number yields the and sent for safekeeping to the Lenin cow, we encountered innumerable bureau­ Guenzburg numbers). State Library in Moscow. cratic and logistical problems, but could rest assured that Prof. Filipov was sin­ Cataloging at the IMHM has begun, using Access to the Collection cerely interested in carrying out the the ALEPH program. Anyone with access agreement. Within two weeks, the cam­ to the Hebrew ALEPH catalog in the From 1917 until the recent perestroika, eras were set up and our staff began film­ JNUL can enter the catalog of the IMHM hardly any Western scholars were per­ ing. With the aid of two local camera and review the entries to date. It will take mitted to examine the collection. The few operators and two librarians from the at least two or three years· to complete the who were allowed access to the Guenz­ Department of Manuscripts in the Russian description of such a huge and varied col- burg library had to work under dismal State Library, the filming proceeded ef­ 1 ection of manuscripts. Copies of the conditions. The lack of Jewish reference ficiently and ahead of schedule. Photog­ entire set of microfilms (235 reels) are sources in the Lenin State Library made raphers from the staff in Jerusalem came now available for purchase. Individual serious study impossible. During the for stints of several weeks to operate one reels containing 8-10 manuscripts may 1950s, the Lenin Library sent the IMHM of the cameras. After working from dawn also be purchased. Libraries or insti­ microfilms of 200 manuscripts and pre­ to dusk in a small, cramped room without tutions interested in acquiring the Guenz­ pared copies of several hundred for Prof. air-conditioning in the heat of summer, the burg collection are invited to apply to the Abraham Katsh of New York University. Israeli staff continued to work during the IMHM for further details. Altogether, about 400 manuscripts were evenings, developing the films in the labo­ filmed, and over the past three decades ratory they had set up in their rented The filming of the Guenzburg collection they served as an important source for apartment. Within four-and-a-half months, paved the way for similar projects in the dozens of scholarly papers and publica­ almost 1900 manuscripts were filmed. Russian State Library and other Russian tions. An additional 1500 manuscripts The collection had originally included libraries. The so-called Schneerson col­ remained unavailable for scholarly 1,913 manuscripts; only a few dozen are lection of close to 300 manuscripts in the research, however. missing. Some of the missing items are RSL was recently filmed; a collection of printed volumes with manuscript glosses, close to a hundred manuscripts confis­ At the dawn of perestroika in Russia, vari­ and it is possible that they are kept cated by the Nazis from Jewish libraries in ous organizations approached the Lenin among the printed books in the Guenz­ Germany and Eastern Europe and recov­ Library and attempted to gain access to bu rg collection. Two or three volumes ered by the Red Army during World War the Guenzburg collection. A few scholars were in restoration, and the others may Two is now being microfilmed. The were allowed to examine the manuscripts have been lost or misplaced before the Schneerson collection consists mainly of in the library, but no progress was made collection reached the library or during the copies made in the nineteenth century of in acquiring microfilms of the collection. In 75 years that they were stored in the writings by the Lubavitcher Rebbes, but the summer of 1991 the Jewish National library. also includes manuscripts of different and University Library succeeded in es­ provenances, among them a few from the tablishing contact with the library in Mos­ Back in Jerusalem, the Reprographic De­ Strashun collection in Vilna and the Karaite cow, and in October an agreement was partment prepared copies of the films, National Library in Eupatoria. The vast col­ signed, allowing the JNUL to microfilm all and they were immediately made avail­ lections of the Russian National Library in the manuscripts in the Guenzburg collec­ ab I e for examination by readers and St. Petersburg and the Oriental Institute of tion, including those that had already scholars in the IMHM. the Russian Academy of Sciences in that

Judaica Librarianship Vol. 8 No. 1-2 Spring 1993-Winter 1994 143 , city are currently being microfilmed, a pro­ HILL ject that will probably not be completed until the end of 1995. The JNUL and the (Continued from p. 141) Ukrainian Academy of Sciences have signed an agreement to film the Hebrew manuscripts and other material in the Ver­ 2. Cf. Isac Moscona, "The Books in the Library (Soncino, 1489) [inventory nos. 6309, sig. nadsky Library in Kiev. Upon the comple­ of the Central Synagogue in Sofia. " In: Annual 2267, and 8140, sig. 2351]. These are to be tion of these projects, the IMHM will be [of the Social, Cultural and Educational Organi­ identified correctly as the Pentateuch with close to achieving its objective of bringing zation of the Jews in the People's Republic of Rashi, Nahmanides, and lbn Ezra (Salonika, together the entire legacy of Hebrew Bulgaria], vol. 9 (1974), pp. 167-200. The orig­ 1522) and Moses of Couey (Venice, 1522), inal Bulgarian text of this survey, "Knizhniyat respectively. manuscript writings scattered throughout fond na Sofiiskata tsentralna sinagoga," the world. appeared in the Organization's Godishnik 19 6. As a tragic consequence of war and revo­ (1974), pp. 181-200. lution over the last three-and-a-half years, the Acknowledgments national libraries of Sarajevo and Bucharest 3. lnventarna kniga za spets. fond na Sektsya were destroyed by fire. Both institutions were Without the assistance extended by the ebraistika pri lnstituta po Ba/kanistika pri BAN. known to contain rare Hebraica. Research Institute for Soviet Judaica es­ Unpublished manuscript, 2 vols. tablished by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz and 7. Among the local guides are Bulgarski knigi Yeshivat Mekor Hayyim that Rabbi Stein­ 4. A. Yaari, Reshimat Sifre Ladino [ Catalogue 1878-1944: bibliografski ukazatel. Tom VI: of Judaeo-Spanish Books in the Jewish lzdaniya na chuzhdi ezitsi saltz established in Moscow, the project . (Sofia, 1983), pp. National and University Library, Jerusalem] 345-348 ('evreiski ezik' [i.e., mostly could never have been realized. The lnsU­ (Jeru-salem, 1934 = Special Supplement to Judeo-Spanish]), and also the compilation by tute handled all the administrative details Kirjath Sepher, Vol. X). Cf. J. Zedner, Cata­ M. Donkova, Anotiran spisok na evreiski peri­ I as well as the technical procedures, and logue of the Hebrew Books in the Library of the odichni izdaniya i edinichni listove, publiko­ also helped finance the project. The British Museum (London, 1867; reprinted vanna Bulgarski ezik, 1878-1992 godina: Mekor Hayyim Yeshiva supplied us with 1964), p. 566; M. Kayserling, Biblioteca bib/iografska spravka (Sofia, 1992), 1 O pp. storage facilities in Moscow, housing, Espanola-Portugueza-Judaica: Dictionnaire food, and other necessities, but most Bibliogra-phique des Auteurs juifs, de leurs 8. Cf. Bulgarski periodichen pechat, important, an address that we could con­ ouvrages espagnols et portugais, et des oeu­ 1844-1944: anotiran bibliografski ukazatel vres sur et contre /es juifs et le judaisme tact and rely upon for assistance any time (Sofia). Tom 3, p. 324. I am grateful to Dr. (Strasbourg, 1890), reprinted in Biblioteca Boreana Hristova, specialist in Church we enountered unexpected problems. Espanola-Portugueza-Judaica, and other stud­ Slavonic manuscripts and bibliography, for ies in Ibero-Jewish Bibliography ... , selected bringing this and other bibliographic guides to Most of all we are grateful to Mr. Hayyim by Y. H. Yerushalmi (New York: Ktav Publishing my attention, as well as for showing me two Aaron Feigenbaum, the administrative House, 1971 ), p. 11; and M. Marx, History and Scrolls of Esther acquired recently by the director of the Yeshiva, and to Dr. Saul Annals of Hebrew Printing in the Fifteenth and National Library. Stampfer of the Hebrew University, who Sixteenth Centuries (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union served as coordinator of the activities of College, 1982, on microfilm), reel 8 (The Bal­ the Institute for two-and-a-half years. Dr. kans, Asia, Africa), entry under Salonica 1564. Stampfer was our liaison with the Russian 5. There are two volumes incorrectly identified Brad Sabin Hill is Head of the Hebrew State Library. Whenever problems arose, in the inventory as incunable editions: Nah­ Section, Oriental and India Office Collec­ he was always ready to leave his other manides (Lisbon, 1489), and Moses of Couey tions, The British Library, London. duties and rush to the library to resolve misunderstandings. We extend our grati­ tude as well to the Institutes founded by Rabbi Steinsaltz, and the staffs of the libraries and the reprographic depart­ ments in Moscow and Jersualem, whose devotion to duty allowed us to complete this important undertakingso efficiently.

Benjamin Rich/er is a librarian and re­ searcher of Hebrew manuscripts. He is Assistant Director of the Institute of Micro­ filmed Hebrew Manuscripts in the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusa­ lem, where he has worked for over twenty­ five years. Mr. Rich/er is the compiler of Guide to Hebrew Manuscript Collections (Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1994).

144 Judaica Librarianship Vol. 8 No. 1-2 Spring 1993-Winter 1994