Encyclopaedia Hebraica

The Encyclopaedia Hebraica (Hebrew: האנציקלופדיה העברית‎‎) is a comprehensive encyclopedia in the Hebrew language that was published in the latter half of the 20th century.

The General Encyclopedia had been successfully printed by Bracha Peli's printing business under the editorship of Prof. Joseph Klausner. Bracha Peli's son, Alexander was keen to start a more ambitious encyclopedia in Hebrew.

The idea of the Encyclopaedia Hebraica began to take material form in the summer of 1944. An advisory committee was established to determine the goals of the encyclopedia. Printing of the first volume began in the summer of 1948 with the founding of the State of Israel. The honorary president of the project was the President of Israel, Professor Chaim Weizmann.

The first volume covered the entries Aleph (א) through Australia (אוסטרליה). The first photograph that appears in the volume is a picture of Israel's Declaration of Independence. The entry concluding the encyclopedia, in volume 32, is Tishrei (תשרי).

In the publisher's introduction was written:

We have strong faith that we will realize our aspiration to provide exceptional content in a magnificent vessel and to add and enhance from volume to volume, and that we will finish publishing all 16 volumes within five or six years and that the whole project will achieve its purpose.

As it turned out, the writing of the encyclopedia continued for more than thirty years, and only in 1980—a quarter century after the original target date—was the publication completed. In total, the encyclopedia numbered thirty-two volumes when it was completed. During the writing stage, an additional Addendum I volume came out, which updated and supplemented volumes 1 through 16, and after volume 32 was completed an Addendum II volume was published. In 1985, five years after completion of the volumes of the encyclopedia, an index volume was printed, and in 1995 Addendum III came out, which updated data in Addendum II. With it also appeared two volumes containing extensive updates of entries dealing with the State of Israel and land of Israel.

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