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The Codex Sassoon, believed to date from the late 9th or early 10th century, was bought at Sotheby’s by the American Friends of the ANU — Museum of the Jewish People.The oldest near-complete Hebrew Bible sold at Sotheby’s for $38.1 million on Wednesday, one of the highest prices for a book or historical document ever sold at auction.The volume, known as the Codex Sassoon, includes all 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, minus about eight leaves, including the first 10 chapters of Genesis. Researchers have dated it to the late ninth or early 10th century, making it the oldest near-complete...

World’s Oldest Near-Complete Hebrew Bible Goes to Auction The Codex Sassoon could break auction records, becoming the most valuable historical document ever sold Sarah Kuta Daily Correspondent February 17, 2023 Bible open to a page in the middle, set against a black backdrop The Codex Sassoon, which measures 12 by 14 inches, dates to the late ninth or early tenth century. At more than 1,000 years old, the Codex Sassoon is the world’s earliest near-complete Hebrew Bible. Soon, it could also become the “most valuable historical document ever sold at auction,” according to a statement from Sotheby’s. The auction house...

Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik believes that "it's never going to be trendy to be observant or religious in Hollywood circles." The Jewish married mother of two told Fox News that she received a lot of negative attention after taking a trip to Israel. "I've gotten a lot of negative attention for visiting Israel," she said about her trip to visit a friend in the Israel Defense Forces. "That's what's amazing...simply by going to Israel this summer and saying nothing more than, 'I've gone to Israel,' I got the same amount of hatred and threats and anti-Semitism for actually...

Sir Paul McCartney and wife Nancy Shevell, who attended Yom Kippur services prior to their wedding in deference to Shevell’s Jewish faith, might well be bentsching gommel (a thanksgiving prayer for escaping a dangerous situation) on their next visit to the synagogue after the couple narrowly escaped a crash when two helicopter pilots missed danger signals, as reported by the Daily Mail. The terrifying ordeal occurred when the two were flying back from London, where they attended a celebration of the release of a vegetarian cookbook by McCartney’s daughter Mary, to their home in East Sussex. The pilots were attempting...

(edit) By now, the SS knew of Albert's work. From 1939, they kept a file documenting his 'acts of terrorism'. Albert was declared a 'public enemy' of the Third Reich. An arrest warrant was issued, but his brother Hermann quashed it. Hearing reports of the atrocities taking place at concentration camps, Albert confronted his brother, who brushed the claims aside. So Albert made his most audacious move of all - driving a convoy of trucks to Theresienstadt concentration camp, where 33,000 prisoners died. His friend Benbassat says: 'He said: "I am Albert Goering, Skoda Works. I need workers." 'He filled...

Iraq has created a special task force to investigate the theft of valuable ancient Judaic manuscripts that later turned up in Israel. The rare books, confiscated during the reign of Saddam Hussein, were rescued from US bombing at the start of the 2003 war and then sent to the US for restoration but later wound up in Israel instead. At a press briefing at the National Museum in Baghdad, Minister of Tourism and Archaeology Mohammad Abbas al-Uraibi said a working group "will investigate in the US to find out if this is true or not." Among some 300 precious works...

Israel’s defense ties with the United States have resulted in a large contract for American Jewish scribes, who are to supply the new Defense Ministry building with mezuzas. The military aid given to Israel by the U.S. requires Israel to spend that money on American goods, thereby boosting the American economy, which relies heavily on defense contracts. Until now, this has not only resulted in assault rifles with “property of the U.S. government” written on them, but canned corn and sucking candies in IDF combat rations still bearing the English labels from supermarket chains such as ShopRite and Stop n’...

Old Testament dispute continuesWas King David Judaism's King Arthur? By Richard N. Ostling AP Religion WriterAP Photo/Biblical Archaeology Review by Thomas E. Levy American archaeologist/educator Nelson Glueck's suggestions that a gate lay buried at the entrance to the Iron Age fortress of Khirbat en-Nahas were recently realized when archaeologists discovered a four-chamber gate (only two have been excavated). Radiocarbon dating fixed the date of its construction to the 10th century. Some scholars are busily debunking the Bible's account of the great King David, asking: Was he really all that great? Was he largely legendary, Judaism's version of Britain's legendary King...