The most significant profit in recent times for the Safra family banking aristocracy comes from an unexpected source: A Sotheby's auction held last week in New York, where a 700-year-old copy of the ancient Hebrew Bible owned by the family was sold for $6.9 million.
The Bible, known as "Tanach Shem Tov" was written in the Kingdom of Castile (in present-day Spain) around the year 1312, and is considered one of the most accurate versions of the Hebrew Bible written by hand. It was purchased nearly two decades ago by banker Jacob (Jacqui) Safra for $825,000, earning the family a particularly significant profit.
The Bible, written by Rabbi Shem Tov ben Avraham Ibn Gaon, went on a world journey that began in the Kingdom of Castile and continued in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Safed, where it was bought by a wealthy man from Baghdad. No matter where it landed, it was always kept by noble families in the local Jewish community and served as a source of religion and religious writings. One of its owners in the past was the famous collector s David Solomon Sassoon, who purchased the manuscript in 1909. After his death, the Bible was sold for the first time at Sotheby's in New York. The Safra family purchased the book in 1994, thereby adding it to their collection of historical Jewish manuscripts, which also includes the Sassoon Codex that was sold in May 2023 for $38.1 million, the most expensive Jewish manuscript ever sold.
During the last auction there was a fierce competition, in which at least three buyers participated via telephone. Finally, the Bible sold for a total of $6.9 million, including commissions, to an anonymous buyer.
The Safra family, one of the most important banking families in the world, is originally from Syria, but it owes its real success to Lebanon, with the opening of the first bank by Jacob Safra in 1920 in Beirut. The family is known today for its global investments, and in particular for banking business in the American and European markets. The brothers Joseph and Moise Safra controlled the First International Bank of Israel and also purchased parts of Cellcom and the Carmelton Group that built the Carmel Tunnels. In 2003 they sold the bank to Israelei businessman Zadik Bino, and in 2005 they sold their shares in Cellcom to Israeli businessman Nochi Dankner.
Although its ties with Israel and Judaism have been preserved, the Safra family was careful not to highlight them in the past in order to maintain neutrality and protect business ties in the Arab world. The sale of the Shem Tov Bible highlights the change the family has undergone in recent years.
Experts agree that the Shem Tov Bible is not only a financial asset, but also a cultural and historical item of tremendous importance. It was written during the Golden Age of Spain, when Jews, Muslims and Christians lived side by side in a relatively unusual cultural cooperation, and this fact is evident in his complex design work, which combines Jewish, Christian and Islamic artistic styles.
The manuscript of the book was written by Rabbi Shem Tov ben Avraham Ibn Gaon, who was not only a writer of Jewish manuscripts, mezuzzahs and tefilin, but also a real artist. Its pages are full of illustrations and symbols from the world of flora and fauna, architectural motifs such as horseshoe arches (which reveal a clear Muslim influence), and even mystical images Mystics such as the Ouroboros snake (the snake eating its tail) which corresponds with the text. The experts explain that this is a rare artistic work, as the illustrations are directly related to the written text, which indicates that Ibn Gaon himself may have been the illustrator.
Beyond its beauty and artistic importance, this Bible is an important connection to a lost source known as the Codex Hilleli - an early and particularly accurate version of the Bible written in the 7th century and considered one of the significant influences on the traditional wording. Rabbi Shem Tov carefully referred to this codex, which increases the scientific and historical value of his Bible. Over the years, the document passed through important collections until it came into the hands of Safra. It has previously been exhibited at prestigious exhibitions around the world, including Amsterdam, Berlin and New York.