Day 605 - Ancient Bibles receive new homes for Torah holiday

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

Religions reporter Rossella Tercatin joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Nearly two years after the ancient, nearly complete Codex Sassoon bible was first introduced at the Anu Museum, days before the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, the book of Torah is inaugurated at the museum, in the presence of released hostage Agam Berger, in a moving, bittersweet ceremony, tells Tercatin. Another ancient bible, the Shem Tov bible, this one only 700 years old, was also inaugurated permanently at the National Library of Israel, both in time for the Shavuot holiday.

Tercatin also looks at the ongoing issues of conversion in Israel, following a meeting last week of the Knesset Aliyah Committee devoted to the topic of conversions on Tuesday, ahead of the Shavuot festival. Only about half of those who start the process to convert manage to complete the journey, and the Conversion Authority is currently formally without a director, leaving nobody can sign the official conversion certificates, complex matters that Tercatin discusses.

Steinberg talks about an art exhibit currently at Kibbutz Ramat Yohanan, marking the 80th anniversary of the kibbutz's Shavuot ceremony, created by two pioneering kibbutz members in the 1940s to mark the agricultural and harvest aspects of the festival.

Finally, Tercatin discusses the Messianic community in Israel, and its connection to Yaron Lischinsky, the Israel Embassy staffer who was killed alongside his soon-to-be-fiance, Sarah Milgrim, on May 21 in an antisemitic attack at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Codex Sassoon, oldest near-complete Hebrew Bible, displayed in Israel after Oct. 7 delay

Ahead of Shavuot, thousands of converts remain unrecognized by state, stuck in limbo

Kibbutz marks 80 years of Shavuot song and dance with pioneering artworks

For Messianic Jews in Jerusalem, Yaron Lischinsky’s murder was a personal loss 

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves and video edited by Thomas Girsch.

IMAGE: The 'Codex Sassoon' bible is displayed at Sotheby's in New York on February 15, 2023. (Ed Jones/AFP)

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