Jerusalem, Israel - Apr. 5, 2016 - A ceremony for laying the cornerstone for the new Israel National Library was held Tuesday afternoon in Jerusalem, Israel. The piece of land, located between the Knesset Building and three major museums, has been cleared and waiting for construction of the new complex for over a year.

President Reuven Rivlin spoke at the event, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Lord Rothschild, David Gottesman, and David Blumberg, Chairman of the National Library Council.

President Rivlin stated that the laying of the cornerstone for the new National Library in Jerusalem was a celebration for all book lovers, and for the People of the Book. He said, "The inspiring historic process of our return to the land of Israel is not just the story of a physical return, but a process of a spiritual and ideological return to the wealth of culture created by the Jewish people. A return to freedom and liberty which are for us oxygen, a return to the Hebrew language, and to the story of the Jewish people as a whole. Zionism's founding fathers saw as a part of its goals, the thriving of Hebrew culture, the Hebrew arts." He continued on to say, "Zionism's leaders understood the need to honor and cherish Hebrew, and to set it at the center of the national project. But they failed to understand, that after all the tribulations it had endured there was a need to find a respectable and appropriate place, a place which would not seek to define which Hebrew was more or less important, but would instead appreciate its very existence. The place they had dreamed of was the National Library, a place to preserve, remember, sustain, make accessible, and develop the spiritual treasure of the Jewish people."

During the ceremony, the President presented to David Blumberg for safekeeping in the National Library a handwritten book which had belonged to the President's father, and contained a number of poems and passages written by Rabbi Israel Najara (1555-1625). "This handwritten book was purchased by my father," said the President, "it contains the poems of Rabbi Israel Najara, as well as poems in Persian. I am certain that your department for handwritten texts will best be able to understand all that is written in it. I want to take this opportunity to entrust this text for preservation in the National Library."

In attendance were Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, Minister for Jerusalem MK Zev Elkin, Opposition Leader Yitzhak Herzog, and Jewish Agency head Natan Sharansky. Included in the photo essay are: Museum directors Amanda Weiss and James Snyder, Rabbis Sabato, Ben Dahan, Melchior and Cherlow, former DC resident Jay Pomerenze and former Maryland resident, and Dr Carl Posy, a former academic director of the Israel National Library. The library has over 300 employees, only a few were invited to this event. Streets were blocked and lined with security personal, and as with all major events, emergency medical personnel on site.