Encyclopaedia Hebraica

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.

The position was held by Joseph Klausner, Benzion Netanyahu, Yeshayahu Leibowitz,[5] Nathan Rotenstreich, Yehoshua Gutman, and Joshua Prawer.

[4] More than 2,500 writers participated in the writing of the encyclopedia, among them the leading Israeli scientists and fifteen Nobel laureates.

This was demonstrated by the fact there were people that felt a driving need to be included in the encyclopedia as a sort of stamp of approval of their importance and position.

The newer volumes of the encyclopedia that were written in the 1990s and edited by David Shacham were criticized for allegedly containing a post-Zionist tone.

In the second supplementary volume, the entry "Jordan" appears, reflecting the change of political attitudes in Israeli society in the passing decades.

Next in size is "United States of America" (ארצות הברית של אמריקה), which spans 126 columns.

The collective size of the aleph articles does not stem from its relative weight in the Hebrew alphabet, but rather reflects the initial enthusiasm with which the editors tried to include the sum of human knowledge.

Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz, one of the encyclopedia's main editors, sharply disagreed with the interpretation given to Plato's ideas.