Kafka: Metamorphosis of an Author – Exhibition

We invite you to join our guided tours in English for the general public.

Get to know the new home of Israel's greatest cultural treasures. Discover your story, and our story.

Tour duration: 1.5 hours

Looking to book a tour for your group? Contact us via telephone at *5049 or via email at [email protected]

A ticket to "The Treasures" includes:

• Individual access to "A Treasury of Words" - a journey through space and time with our permanent exhibition
• Individual access to "Kafka: Metamorphosis of an Author"
• Individual access to the National Library's special interactive video display

Audio-guide headsets in English are available.

Please note that entry to the National Library itself is free of charge. Purchasing a ticket to "The Treasures" grants access to the above exhibitions.

When to Come?

Sunday-Wednesday – 9am-6pm

Thursday – 2pm-10pm

Fridays and holiday eve – 9am-1pm

More on the Visit

Age: Visits and tours of the Library are suitable for children, adults, and everyone in between, particularly from reading age (7) and up.

Visit duration: The tour itself lasts about an hour and a half. You are invited to stay as long as you’d like when your tour is over :)

Would you like to visit us as a group? Contact us at [email protected] or by phone: 074-7336170

Map and Directions

"A Treasury of Words"  is on display in the William Davidson Permanent Exhibitions Gallery at the National Library of Israel.

Our rotating exhibitions are on display in the Helen Diller Family Rotating Exhibitions Gallery at the National Library of Israel.

Our interactive video display can be found in the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Experiential Center at the National Library of Israel.

Abraham Zvi Idelsohn gained renown for his documentation and comprehensive research of Jewish music of his time, in Central Europe and the Land of Israel. In addition, his original compositions laid the groundwork for what would become known as “Israeli music.” How does an Ashkenazi cantor from Latvia become a world expert on Jewish music of the Near and Middle East? Which of his songs are still remembered in Israeli anthologies? Even a casual examination of Idelsohn’s work confirms his reputation as the “father” of Jewish music research. 

This event will be held in English.

This Gallery Talk is sponsored by Rosalie and Richard Alter, in memory of their dear friend David Kolitz 

In honor of Arabic Language Day, the National Library invites you and yours to a performance of the great love songs – in Hebrew and Arabic – as they have never been heard before. The Hebrew songs will be sung for the first time in Arabic, and the Arabic songs – in Hebrew. Through translation into the other language, we come closer and farther away, move between the familiar and the unfamiliar, hear our love songs differently, and encounter a new listening experience for ourselves and others.

The show was produced by the Revolution Orchestra and Beit HaGefen – an Arab-Jewish cultural center – with the assistance of the The Israel Lottery Council for Culture & Arts.

Beit HaGefen initiative and production team: Assaf Ron, Limor Shein, Hila Goshen

Curators: Nizar Elkhater, Zohar Sharon, Dr. Roy Oppenheim

Translations: Dr. Shadia Hamed, Dr. Yotam Benshalom, Dr. Jawdat Eid

Adaptations: Naama Tamir Kaplan, Tomer Einat, Hai Meirzadh, Dr. Sivan Shenhav-Shev, Nizar Elkhater, Guy Mintus, Inbal Rosenhouse, Nadav Vikinsky, Amir Lekner.

Video Art: Oren Gabay | Design: Lia Shaked | Photographers: Sabine Sharon, Simcha Barbiro, Eli Katz

Conductor: Dr. Roy Oppenheim

Singers: Tamar Shawki, Nour Darwish, Akram Odeh, Bar Tzabari

Violin: Tomer Einat, Adi Hlavin, Naama Serfaty, Etienne Maneri, Leah Reichlin, Tamar Greenstein, Hagar Maoz

Viola: Miri Menashrov, Daniel Tanchelson, Avital Nosimovich

Cello: Yael Sheizaf, Romi Kopelman, Ben Shibolet

Bass: Alon Azizi | Flute: Rachel Eilat | Clarinet: Keren Goldenzweig | French Horn: Shahar Ziv | Trumpet: Itamar Ben Yakir | Trombone: Kesem Ninio | Harp: Ada Ragimov | Oud: Yaniv Teichman | Qanun: Ariel Qassis

Ney Flute: Lilly-Ann Bezalel | Percussion: Tom Mashelnik, Amit Menachem | Drums: Giora Politi | Harp: Ada Ragimov | Piano: Zohar Sharon

Sound Design: Val Kotler | Lighting Design: Ofir Ben Haim | Video Content Operation: Daniel Ring | Technical Operation: Magenta - Sound Amplification and Lighting Technical Management: Danny Fishof - Magenta | PR: Adi Feldman - Lapidot Communications | Marketing, Advertising and Sales: Bimot Global | Digital Marketing: Bimot Digital | Content Design: Studio Ben Zakai | Producer - Revolution Orchestra: Daniel Ring | Marketing and Business Development Manager - Revolution Orchestra: Liav Hertsman | Revolution Orchestra Director: Omer Lackner Reichental | Photos: Sabine Sharon, Simcha Barbiro, Eli Katz

The Revolution Orchestra thanks Diti and Alex Landsberg – Sano | and Michal and Yuval Rakavy for their support of the show, the Anatta Foundation for support of the video clip “I’ll Talk to You” and to Sally Frank for support of the subtitles. Thanks also to Rotem Atar, “Poetry Place” Director.

Price: 169 NIS

Franz Kafka is regarded as one of the outstanding writers of 20th-century literature. Over a period of two decades, he wrote several works that influenced and continue to influence writing styles and artistic activity in the broadest sense. Kafka derived his inspiration from the circumstances of his own life, and the cultural and professional environment in which he lived. The gallery talk will focus on Kafka’s literary legacy, connecting it to his life in Prague, his friends, and Jewish subjects that increasingly engaged his attention.

Special Gallery Talk in the new exhibition Kafka: Metamorphosis of an Author

This Gallery Talk is sponsored by Rosalie and Richard Alter, in memory of their dear friend David Kolitz