This richly illustrated volume offers the most comprehensive and updated survey on about sixteen thousand Hebrew manuscript fragments reused as book-bindings and preserved in hundreds of libraries and archives in Italy. Contributions by the leading scholars in the field elucidate specific collections and genres no less than individual fragments, bringing to new life a forgotten library of medieval Jewish books, as almost 160 Talmudic codices, which include the Mishna, Tosefta, Palestinian Talmud and, for the most part, the Babylonian one, and several hitherto unknown texts. The contribution of these fragments to the ongoing research on the "European Genizah", as the Books within Books Project, and to Jewish Studies in general cannot be overestimated.

The Ancient Sefer Torah of Bologna: Features and History contains studies on the most ancient, complete Pentateuch scroll known to date. It was considered in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance as the archetypal autograph written by Ezra the Scribe. The scroll was rediscovered by Mauro Perani in 2013 at the University Library of Bologna. In this volume, leading specialists study the history, textual and material features, and different halakhot or norms to copy a Sefer Torah, as adopted in the pre-Maimonidean scrolls. The Hebrew text is very close to the Aleppo codex, and the scroll was probably copied in Northern Iberia in ca. 1200 CE. The scroll contains letters with special shapes and tagin linking its production with a Jewish milieu which associated the scribal tradition with mystical and esoteric meanings. Besides its codicological and palaeographical interest, the "Ezra scroll" has been preserved for centuries among the treasures of the Dominican convent of San Domenico in Bologna and, in the early modern period, it was the object of reverence and curiosity among the Christians, before being almost entirely forgotten after its confiscation by the French revolutionary troops. This volume presents a detailed overview of the fascinating history and the peculiar makings of this remarkable artefact.

In this volume of collected papers, acknowledged authorities in Jewish Studies mark the milestones in the development of the Jewish religion from ancient times up to the present. They also take full account of the interactions between Judaism and its ancient and Christian environment. The renowned Viennese scholar Gunter Stemberger is honoured with this festschrift on the occasion of his 65th birthday.

All twenty-two original articles in the current volume are based on lectures given at the conference "The Jews in Italy: Their Contribution to the Development and Diffusion of Jewish Heritage", which was convened in September 2011, at the University of Bologna, Department of Cultural Heritage. Geographically, the articles range from Italy to the Ottoman Empire (the Balkans and Aleppo), from France and Germany to the Middle East, including Israel, North and East Africa (Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, and Ethiopia). Chronologically, articles begin with the Roman period, through the Middle Ages and Renaissance until modern times. In this collection, the reader will find a wide range of subjects reflecting various scholarly perspectives such as history; Christian-Jewish relations; Kabbalah; commentary on the Bible and Talmud; language, grammar, and translation; literature; philosophy; gastronomy; art; culture; folklore; and education.