Feb 21, 2006 -- Imagine being able to study Torah using a rare, illuminated Bible written in 1489. Thanks to technology, today anyone can enjoy this privilege by visiting Yeshiva University’s Library Web site. Individuals can see every page of the nearly 2,000 images of the Bible, even enhance the images, and literally use the Bible as a textbook. To see photos of the Bible visit www.yu.edu/libraries and click on Prague Bible Online under What's New? One of the finest examples of a complete Hebrew manuscript Bible in existence, the three-volume manuscript includes 84 leaves with illuminated panels, gold calligraphy against foliate decorations and commentary by Rashi, the renowned medieval sage, in a version of interest to scholars due to textual variants. The Bible was recently on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City as part of its “Prague, The Crown of Bohemia, 1347-1437” exhibition. This feat was the outcome of the generosity of philanthropist and businessman, George Blumenthal. Mr. Blumenthal is founder and chairman of Cellular Communications Inc. and its related companies, as well as founder and chairman of NTL, the largest cable television company in the United Kingdom. Based on his experiences at NTL with regard to the deployment of cable modems in 2001, Mr. Blumenthal learned how transformative the Internet could be in bringing the knowledge of the world and the heritage of the Jewish people to everyone around the globe. Mr. Blumenthal partnered with Israeli photographer Ardon Bar Hama, personal photographer to world-renowned Israeli architects Moshe Safdie and Ada Karmi, to digitize the Dead Sea Scrolls for the Israel Museum and the oldest Christian Bible in the world, which is in the archives of the Vatican. As a result, Mr. Blumenthal founded the Center for Online Judaic Studies, which brings together scholars, educational technology specialists, and educators to share the treasures of rare Jewish documents and archaeological objects with the global community and advance the use of technology in Jewish scholarship and education through the Internet. As a participant in Digital Metro New York, a program of the Metropolitan New York Library Council, the Mendel Gottesman Library was awarded a grant that helped support preparation of Bar Hama’s Prague Bible images for publication on the Internet. Aliza Parver, a senior at Stern College for Women, examined the images and identified the contents of each page, applying her Jewish studies and computer skills to the project. Valued at $3 million, the Bible was written and dated in the city of Prague. The late Ludwig Jesselson, former chairman of the YU Board of Trustees, together with his wife, Erica, arranged for the Bible to be presented to Yeshiva University. Mrs. Jesselson is chair of Yeshiva University Museum Board of Directors. The Jesselson family is well known for its philanthropy and communal leadership, and family members are avid collectors of Judaica. The Prague Bible has been held at the Mendel Gottesman Library in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Collection since 1985. The Library’s rare collection contains more than 8,000 Hebrew books, some dating back to the earliest days of printing (15th century) and more than 1,100 manuscripts.