Bar Ilan Judaic Library – New Product Release

[COMMUNICATED CONTENT] The Bar Ilan Judaic Library is the brain child of the famed Weizmann Institute, one of the world’s leading Science and Technology Centers based in Israel.

The Project began in 1963 at the Weizmann Institute. Over the years it migrated to Bar Ilan University and had become known as the Bar Ilan Judaic Library. An early version of the system on mainframe IBM Computers was already running in 1967.

In the early stages of the project, Bar Ilan decided to focus on the Responsa literature (questions and answers – shut, in Hebrew).

Since Jews have traditionally asked their local Rabbis for advice on almost every subject. Many of the resulting questions and answers were collected in books. These Responsa accordingly contain numerous Halachic, historical, sociological and economic data reflecting thousands years of Jewish life.

Due to the quantity of this material, a special committee was established to set priorities about which texts to include in the database, in light of their relevance, scope and accessibility.

Data entry has been going on for more than forty years. Initially the system ran in batch mode on an IBM mainframe. Later, from 1979, it also became usable in a time-sharing mode from terminals on the Bar-Ilan campus, as well as from a growing number of terminals off-campus. At that time this was no small technological feat.

In 1990, following the development of the CD-ROM, the immense database was compressed into a single compact disk, and presently the system can be installed on almost any personal computer via USB.

The first version – called Version 1.0 of the new system was completed in late 1992, and new versions have been issued more-or-less annually, with the latest version, 21, issued in April 2013. Each version includes new titles, texts and improvements in the retrieval search software. Over the years Bar Ilan won numerous awards for their contribution to Torah Scholarship and is recognized today as the leader in harnessing Technology for Jewish Education.

The release of Version 2.0 in 1993 was accomplished through the Distributorship of Torah Education Software (TES).
They pioneered the Bar Ilan Sales through Jewish Bookstores and set up a network of tech-support and service, that
permitted the Bar Ilan to win acceptance in the USA and Jewish Markets outside of Israel.

Today through the efforts of TES www.jewishsoftware.com Bar Ilan is being used daily in Day Schools, Yeshivas, Colleges and Rabbinical Courts worldwide. It is also a favorite of Rabbis and Bible Scholars. Many say, “I can’t imagine what I would do without my Bar Ilan”, it’s truly an essential time saving, accurate study and research tool.

Bar Ilan University has invested millions of dollars in creating this wonderful Jewish Resource. And by all measures of
value this Digital Library should be costing the users 2-3 thousand dollars, similar to what is charged for Digital Law
and Medical Libraries. But Bar Ilan has chosen to absorb most of the costs and do whatever it takes to make this wonderful tool affordable to Rabbis and Benai Yeshiva who use it and depend on it.

In recent years Bar Ilan Judaic Library has become a favorite Wedding Gift and a most appreciated addition to
home Computer Libraries. Worldwide there are tens of thousands who benefit from this Torah Technology daily.

To learn more about this Amazing Technology for Torah click here

A massive $100,000 Judaic Library at your fingertips.