Exploring ‘The Archive’
Unorthodox visits the National Library of Israel and spotlights items in its collection


Unorthodox is exploring the collection of the National Library of Israel in a new segment called The Archive. On each installment, Liel Leibovitz visits the library and talks with curators about some of their most prized items, letters, and manuscripts. We’ll learn about Napoleon’s near conquests of the Middle East, Mahatma Gandhi’s correspondence with Hitler, and how Kafka’s manuscripts ended up in a Kafkaesque Israeli legal trial.
We’re kicking things off with a look at Sir Isaac Newton’s Hebrew-inflected writings on … the end of days.
Next, we take a look at Maimonides’ 12th-century manuscripts and learn about the Jewish thinker’s nomadic adventures.
In our third episode we learn about Gandhi’s surprising letter to Hitler, and his correspondence with the Jews of Bombay.
In our fourth installment, we learn about the manuscripts of Ahmed Ibn Taymiyya, one of the most influential thinkers in the history of Islam.
In our next installment we dive into the library’s music collection and sound archive.
In our sixth segment, we learn how Napoleon left his comfort zone and ended up in Israel.
You can check out the National Library of Israel’s collection here.
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