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The world’s oldest Hebrew Bible will be publicly displayed in NYC
(New York Jewish Week) — After stops in London, Tel Aviv and other locales, the world’s oldest nearly complete Hebrew Bible will be on view in New York City beginning on Sunday.
Known as the Codex Sassoon, the book — which was written by a single Jewish scribe on 400 pages of parchment about 1,100 years ago — will be on view at Sotheby’s auction house (1334 York Ave.) by appointment through Tuesday, May 16. The following day, it will be sold at auction and is estimated to fetch between $30 million to $50 million — possibly making it the most expensive book or document ever sold.
“Codex Sassoon has long held a revered and fabled place in the pantheon of surviving historic documents and is undeniably one of the most important and singular texts in human history,” Richard Austin, Sotheby’s global head of books and manuscripts, said. “With such eminence, the Codex has an incomparable presence and gravitas that can only be borne from more than 1,000 years of history.”
The Codex Sassoon is named after the book collector David Solomon Sassoon — a member of the influential and Jewish Sassoon dynasty — who acquired it in 1929 when it resurfaced after 600 years. Sassoon paid 350 pounds sterling, the equivalent of about $28,000 today.
Sassoon added his bookplate to the binding’s inside cover, extending a centuries-long string of inscriptions detailing the book’s Jewish ownership, much of it throughout what is present-day Syria. The record does not show what happened between when the synagogue where it had been housed was destroyed and Sassoon’s acquisition.
Codex Sassoon’s most recent owner is Jacqui Safra, part of the storied Jewish banking family, who paid for carbon dating that put its age at about 1,100 years old. Only the Dead Sea Scrolls and some early medieval fragmentary texts are older, Yosef Ofer, a professor of Bible studies at Israel’s Bar Ilan University, told the Associated Press.
The book was briefly displayed at the British Museum in 1982; its viewing at Sotheby’s New York is a rare opportunity for the public to see the ancient book in person.
Codex Sassoon, according to a Sotheby’s press release, provides “critical insight into the development and spread of Abrahamic religions as well as the broader transition from oral to literary traditions, its centuries of annotations and inscriptions bear witness to the history of the Levant in the Middle Ages.” It contains all 24 books of the Hebrew Bible and is missing only 12 leaves. (The earliest entirely complete Hebrew Bible is the Leningrad Codex, which dates to about 1008 CE, a century after the Codex Sassoon.)
“In Codex Sassoon, a monumental transformation in the history of the Hebrew Bible is revealed,” said Sharon Mintz, Sotheby’s senior Judaica specialist for books and manuscripts. “The biblical text in book format marks a critical turning point in how we perceive the history of the Divine word across thousands of years and is a transformative witness to how the Hebrew Bible has influenced the pillars of civilization — art, culture, law, politics — for centuries.”
Sotheby’s New York galleries are free and open to the public; to book an appointment to view Codex Sassoon click here.
— with additional reporting by Jackie Hajdenburg
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The post The world’s oldest Hebrew Bible will be publicly displayed in NYC appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Some Tankers Cross Strait of Hormuz Before Shots Fired, Ship-Tracking Data Shows
A satellite image shows the ship movement at the Strait of Hormuz on April 17, 2026, in Space. EUROPEAN UNION/COPERNICUS SENTINEL-2/Handout via REUTERS
More than a dozen tankers, including three sanctioned vessels, passed through the Strait of Hormuz after a 50-day blockade was lifted on Friday, shipping data showed, before Iran reimposed restrictions on Saturday and fired at some vessels.
Reopening the strait is key for Gulf producers to resume full oil and gas supplies to the world, and end what the International Energy Agency has called the worst-ever supply disruption.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday Iran had agreed to open the strait, while Iranian officials said they wanted the US to fully lift its blockade of Iranian tankers.
Western shipping companies cautiously welcomed the announcements but said more clarity was needed, including on the presence of sea mines, before their vessels could transit.
IRAN RESUMES RESTRICTIONS
The ships that passed through the strait on Friday and Saturday via Iranian waters south of Larak island were mainly older, non-Western-owned vessels and included four sanctioned ships, according to ship-tracking data.
Iran arranged passage for a limited number of oil tankers and commercial ships following prior agreements in negotiations, a spokesperson for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said.
Other ships have been seen approaching the strait and turning back as Iran said it would maintain strict controls as long as the US continues its blockade of Iranian ports.
The UK Navy reported on Saturday that Iranian gunboats fired at some ships attempting to cross the strait.
Some merchant vessels received radio messages from Iran’s navy saying the strait was shut again and that no ships were allowed to pass, shipping sources said on Saturday.
Ship-tracking data showed five vessels loaded with liquefied natural gas from Ras Laffan in Qatar approaching the strait on Saturday morning.
No LNG cargoes have transited the waterway since the US-Israeli war with Iran began on February 28.
Hundreds of ships have been stuck in the Gulf since the conflict started and Tehran closed the strait, forcing Gulf oil and gas producers to sharply cut production.
Top producers such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq and Kuwait say they need steady tanker flows and unrestricted passage through the strait to resume normal export operations.
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Trump Greenlights Russian Oil to Ease Strain on Global Markets After War with Iran
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington, DC, US, March 27, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
i24 News – The Trump administration has authorized a 30-day emergency waiver allowing the maritime purchase of Russian oil, reversing a hardline stance in an effort to stabilize skyrocketing global energy prices.
The Treasury Department announced Friday that the license for crude and petroleum products will remain in effect until May 16, 2026, responding to intense pressure from international partners struggling with the fallout of the war with Iran.
This policy pivot comes as a surprise after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested earlier this week that no further exemptions would be granted:
“As negotiations with Iran accelerate, the administration seeks to ensure oil availability for those who need it most. We must prevent a total price collapse for consumers while the geopolitical situation remains volatile.”
Ensuring global oil availability is paramount for the US as over 80 energy facilities in the Middle East have been damaged by recent war with Iran. With the November midterm elections approaching, record-high fuel prices at the pump remain a primary vulnerability for the Republican party. By allowing Russian oil back into the maritime flow, the administration hopes to neutralize “pain at the pump” before voters head to the polls.
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UK: Islamist Group Claims to Attack Israeli Embassy with ‘Drones Carrying Radioactive, Carcinogenic Materials’
A UK man has been arrested for allegedly threatening a group of Jews while wielding an ax on Rosh Hashanah. Photo: Tony Webster / Wikimedia Commons.
i24 News – British police officers in protective clothing were seen investigating a “security incident” near the Israeli embassy in London on Friday, after a jihadist group put out a video showing it launching two drones allegedly carrying radioactive and carcinogenic materials toward the embassy.
“There is an increased police presence in Kensington Gardens and officers are assessing a number of discarded items. As a precaution, some of the officers who have been deployed are wearing protective clothing. We recognize this may concern local residents and the wider public,” police said in a statement.
“Counter Terrorism Policing London are aware of a video shared online overnight in which a group claims to have targeted the nearby embassy of Israel with drones carrying dangerous substances,” the statement further read. “While we can confirm that the embassy has not been attacked, we are carrying out urgent inquiries to determine the authenticity of the video and to identify any potential link between it and the items discarded in Kensington Gardens.”
The incident comes amid a steep hike in antisemitic attacks in Britain targeting Jewish and Israeli individuals and institutions.
The group that released the video was identified as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, a shadowy entity with suspected ties to Iran. It has already claimed seven attacks against Jewish institutions, including an arson attack in London where four ambulances owned by the Hatzolah charity were torched.