Ets Haim

Ets Haim - Livraria Montezinos was founded in 1616, making it the oldest operating Jewish library in the world.

Impressive collection

Ets Haim (Tree of Life) has over 550 manuscripts from between 1282 and 1945. Since many are extremely fragile they have been posted online for those wishing to see them.

The library also has around 30,000 printed works dating from 1474 to the present day. This includes a wealth of books about Jewish subjects from the seventeenth and eighteenth century.

Many of these printed works are also available online.

View the manuscripts

Visit by appointment

Ets Haim is open from Monday to Friday from 10 am to 4 pm, and available for academics to visit by appointment.

To arrange a visit, please apply two weeks in advance by email.

Want to visit even though you're not doing research? We currently only offer guided tours in Dutch. Take a look at our agenda for the current activities.

Arrange a visit by email

We currently only offer guided tours in Dutch

More information?

Heide Warncke

Ets Haim Curator