The National Library of Israel: A cultural beacon amid national crisis

Located in the heart of Jerusalem, the recently opened National Library of Israel (NLI) offers more than just books – it serves as a witness to resilience and unity, even during this challenging time in Israel’s history.

Speaking with Christian journalist Paul Calvert, Raquel Ukeles, the library’s curator, explained how the NLI has adapted to a nation in crisis.

In October 2023, the library was planning a grand opening to celebrate its move to a new state-of-the-art building. But everything changed on Oct. 7, when the library was forced to redirect its focus to meet the nation’s urgent needs and become both a cultural guardian and a real-time chronicler of history.

"We were scheduled to open on October 17, 2023," Ukeles explained. "Then, on October 7, the whole world changed here. We realized we had to shut all the parties down and cancel events planned for literally years."

This decision marked the beginning of a new mission: opening the library’s doors to a society grappling with profound trauma and unprecedented upheaval.

The NLI's original mission, dating back decades, has been to collect, preserve, and make accessible the vast richness of Jewish and Israeli heritage. With 4.5 million volumes and more than 30 terabytes of digitized material, it is home to a unique collection of rare books, periodicals, archives, and music. Rare print materials are stored in underground vaults especially built to withstand attacks.

"Our goals are to be the most comprehensive collection of Israeli and Jewish heritage, as broadly defined as possible," Ukeles noted. This vision includes digital collections of global Jewish manuscripts and even newspapers like Al-Ittihad, the only Arabic publication still in existence from pre-state Israel to today. 

The library’s endeavors have been vital in the face of the Oct. 7 attacks and the ongoing war against the Hamas terrorist regime. From the first days of the war, the library began amassing the "Bearing Witness Archive" to document the events that took place on that day and afterward.

"We're collecting a tremendous amount of oral testimonies...We got 200,000 videos from October 7th that were collected or were downloaded, actually from Hamas accounts. So we have the videos [of the] GoPro cameras from Hamas," Ukeles revealed. 

The library has also expanded its efforts to collect materials from digital spaces to capture ephemeral social media posts, WhatsApp messages and videos from the tragic Nova Music Festival attack.

"We’ve collected over 34 terabytes of material," Ukeles said, adding that artificial intelligence helps catalog and analyze the overwhelming influx of data. The project also considers how to maneuver through ethical issues, especially concerning children’s testimonies and deeply personal accounts.

As Ukeles pointed out the goal is not just to collect but to ensure that future generations understand the seriousness of these events.

"Things that are intuitive for you and me right now because we’re living through it...but in 50 or 100 years, they won’t understand many dimensions of this. So we’re all the time thinking, how can we create enough of a record so that coming generations will be able to understand?"

Ukeles acknowledged the emotional impact of curating such a record.

"From the beginning of this project, we put into place access to therapists for our team because, especially those people who have to really sit day by day and go through this material, that's excruciating."

Nevertheless, she emphasized the importance of creating a comprehensive archive for generations to come.

Despite the current turmoil in the nation, the NLI continues to welcome local and foreign visitors from all walks of life, from middle schoolers to research scholars, establishing its identity as a bastion of intellectual curiosity, learning and inclusivity.

The library hopes to represent Israel’s diverse cultural mosaic with its Hebrew, Arabic, and English exhibitions.

"The library is one of the few places in the country that belongs to everyone," Ukeles said proudly.

Programs such as Bedouin cultural symposia, Israeli/Hebrew music performances, children’s festivals, conferences, and educational workshops display the library’s commitment to diversity, and its initiatives engage thousands of students and teachers annually.

The National Library of Israel’s mission remains clear: To serve as a custodian of Israel’s cultural and historical legacy while functioning as a source of knowledge and symbol of Israel’s resilience and unity in the face of adversity. 

To explore its treasures and learn more about its mission, visit the library's website at www.nli.org.il.

Click below to listen to the full interview.