President of Russia: Vladimir Putin has visited the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Centre

Vladimir Putin visited the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Centre (Moscow) where Hebrew books and manuscripts from the Schneerson collection are housed.

The President got acquainted with the work of the new specialized library department, which operates as a branch of the Russian State Library.

The Schneerson Library is a collection of Hebrew books and manuscripts dating from the 18th century to the beginning of the 20th, and includes about 12,000 books and 50,000 rare documents.

Vladimir Putin first proposed housing the unique collection at the Tolerance Centre in February this year, during a meeting of the Presidential Council for Interethnic Relations.

“Any individual, regardless of whether he or she lives in Russia or abroad, can freely visit and view these rare books. People can view, study and hold these books in their hands; they can use them to draw knowledge that is highly necessary in today’s world, because these books set forth eternal moral and ethical values which serve as the basis for any civilized society existing today”, - noted President of Russia.

The collection will remain registered in the Russian State Library, but it will be in the book storage at the Tolerance center. The head of Board of Trustees of the Museum Victor Vekselberg told reporters that the digitization and distribution of books to the museum will last till the end of the year.