Ancient manuscripts on display

In a daring clandestine operation some of the world's most ancient Bible manuscripts were rescued from Damascus in Syria. Details revealed by the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth on Wednesday said some 11 volumes dating back 1,000 years were brought to Israel. They went on display to the public for the first time on Wednesday for several hours at Israel's National Library. The Rabin government decided to bring the books to Israel in 1995 and the defense establishment and other governmental organizations and immigrants from Syria participated in the secret operation. Because of the security and conservation concerns, most of the collection has been on display just once before more than a decade ago. A Canadian Jewish woman Judy Feld Carr who successfully succeeded in smuggling thousands of Jews out of Syria said she learned of the ancient manuscripts from Jews who fled Syria and dispatched a Western Christian envoy to Damascus in 1993 to investigate. She orchestrated a meeting in Damascus between the envoy and the community's rabbi who slipped him the book and the envoy smuggled it out of the country. She received the book in Canada and the following year brought it to Israel.