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Frequently Asked Questions
This FAQ is composed of answers to actual emailed questions. There may be small inconsistencies according to the period and circumstances that each question was answered.
Books On Topics Other Than Judaism
Book Searches are for members
Bound Copies From MKP and AP
Can’t I order through the mail?
Can’t See Hebrew Fonts
Complete Pricelist for Reproductions and Services
Delays in Shipping
Do you have a catalog of the books you sell, with prices included?
English Judaica
Finding books Out of Print
For what will my credit card be used
Getting Quotes
High Prices of Copies
How can I reach you by phone?
How can I sell books on your Portal?
How do I buy on your Site?
I am looking for a Book...
I want to make an order – what next?
How to Register
Membership Priveliges:
Microfiche Catalog
Missing text in Rare Books
Payment procedure
Rare books – Which format?
Shas and Shulkan Aruch Prices
Shipping prices
Text of Registration and Order Form
What should I do if the book is out of print?
What happens If I don’t have the name of the book or publisher?
What is involved in a copy order?
What is the difference between VirtualGeula.net and VirtualGeula.com?
Will there be a search charge even if the book is not found?
Who are we?
Why am I being asked for a Service Charge for Finding the Book?
Why can’t you send me a Catalog?
Why is our email address not on the Web Page?
Why did two charges appear on my credit card?
Why was there no response to the form I filled out?

Payment procedure
Please return to our Website and click on: Orders> New Customers> Registration (at bottom) and follow the instructions in filling out the two forms.
We work with credit cards. This allows us to charge you separately for shipping according to the exact packed weight.
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Book Searches are for members
We can proceed with your request after you register as a member i.e. with a credit card and a commitment to pay for the first year. We work as a search service and in 90% of the cases we find a copy or make a photocopy of the book if it was printed.
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Delays in Shipping
Amazon and many other large suppliers work mostly on a warehouse approach – their confirmation means - we have the book in the warehouse and will be shipping it in 2 days. [Humour] Our vg.com confirmation means that supplier says or hopes that publisher still has a copy in his Boidem (Intersol) and when his daughter-in-law finishes typing his manuscript and changing the baby she may go down to the post office to mail the Sefer if someone remembered to buy packing tape [end Humour]. We love our suppliers - they are all Zaddikim (and Zidkaniot) - but VirtualGeula has to work very much within the framework of the Geula (Levantine) way of doing things. Vg.net orders are actually in stock in a bookstore and will be shipped within a week.
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How to Register
As a visitor to our site we try to help you and give you preliminary information for your search. After that you have to register with a credit card and order a book search and or copies. Until then nothing will happen.
Go to home page> orders>new members>Read the text and then click on registration button at bottom> fill out form and Submit > Go to order Page > Fill out and Submit.
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For what will my credit card be used?
Until we do something... nothing - but after we find or send a book these are the obligations: If you order a book and quote the online catalog URL you will be charged the regular book price + shipping and no search charges.
If you don't become a member there may be a $1 test charge on your card the first time we use it.
If you ask us to find a book, or give us incomplete information, or do not quote the URL and book title from one of our online catalogs you will be charged $5 for books in print search (< 3 years) and $15 for books out of print (> 3 years).
If you become a member you will be charged for membership annually and your first 3 searches are included. If you become a subscriber the first 7 searches are included.
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Question - If I ask you to find a Sefer and you can't find it, what charge do I incur?
Answer - The search charge will be incurred even if we can't find it.
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Why was there no response to the form I filled out?
We thank you for registering with the VirtualGeula website of the Judaica Archival Project and may add you to our mail list. However we cannot process your order because a credit card wasn't included in your form.
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Who are we?
Machon Mekorot is not a store or a distributor. We are a non-profit Institute for preservation and proliferation of Jewish literature founded in Jerusalem in 1987 to copy and proliferate Sifrei Kodesh.
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Getting Quotes
Advance quotes are a service we undertake on a one time basis for new correspondents who register and make a substantial order. Since the Shekel/Dollar rate changes daily and since our many suppliers have no uniform price policy we must call call around each time for quotes. We regret we cannot continue to give this service if you do not become a member.
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What should I do if the book is out of print?
If the book you requested is out of print and will not be found in any bookstores then your options are either to look for a used copy - although a certain amount of pure "Mazal" is needed to find the exact Sefer you are looking for on a used book shop's shelf - or to make a photocopy if you can’t wait.
We are a search service (not a store) so if you want us to find a used copy or to make a photocopy please register on our website (link below) including your credit card so we can help you.
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Why did two charges appear on my credit card?
The first is the books which we must charge for as soon as the package is ready (almost 10% of the credit cards we are sent are invalid) then after we see that your card is valid - we send the books and charge the exact price for shipping which is the second sum. If this is your first order and you didn't become a member there may also be a $1 test charge before we process you order.
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Do you have a catalog of the books you sell, with prices included?
We are not a store - we are a search service - we find books and order them direct from the publishers in Israel.
Our only catalogs are the ones on our site price are often not there because of currency fluctuations, distributor price changes, and changes in availability. All the Seforim on VirtualGeula.net have prices and are immediately available.
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Shipping prices:
Shipping varies according to: weight, destination and means.
We ship either via seamail (3 months in general to the USA non-insured about $3.50/kilo) and EMS mail (3 day delivery an average of $8.50 kilo). A normal quarto-size 400 pp. volume of Sifrei Kodesh usually weighs in the realm of 1 kilo. All the books on VirtualGeula.net have been weighed so their shipping cost can be estimated using the Israeli post office postage calculator. Since most of our orders are shipped directly from the Publisher to you – no one knows the exact shipping weight until he is at the post office. We estimate the weight in advance.
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Membership Priveliges:
If you wish to become a paying member you can receive the following benefits:
* Next day response to your requests and immediate delivery
* Includes 3 book searches for members and 7 book searches for subscribers
* Long term subscribers (more than 2 years) can send free-form emails if they prefer
* A discount of 5% on most purchases
* Minimum orders of $10 only
* You will receive new book news as an attached .pdf file when it become available.
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Rare books – Which format?
Do you need a reprint of the Sefer, a used copy of the first edition, a photocopy or a copy of the manuscript? We provide a search and copy service for rare books in Israel using the major research and private libraries. We can make you photocopies or iy"h perhaps find used copies of these Seforim for sale.
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Shas and Shulkan Aruch Prices
Because the Shekel to Dollar rates are often very unstable the prices we quote could be out of date by the end of the month. Let it suffice that we'll get them delivered to you in Israel for 5-10% less than the street price.
If you want them shipped to the USA via sea-mail uninsured it will cost as little as $2.50 per Kilo (each volume is about 1.5 kilo) - but it can take 3.5 months. Via EMS express airmail it takes 3 days but the shipping costs double.
If you want them shipped to you within the USA and quickly we can have them forwarded to you from the New York Area via UPS at local USA prices.
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What is involved in a copy order?
* Search fee for "out of print" books - $15, in print - $5 (for members searches are included)
* Photocopying .35 per daf
* CD-ROM (optional where available) .05 per Daf (opening) minimum 300 Daf
* Binding Soft $3 hard $25 (optional)
* Delivery i.e. postage + $5 packing and handling
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Why is our email address not on the Web Page?
We recently removed our email since we have already more than 500 members and we cannot take the time to correspond with casual inquiries plus enormous quantities of spam that plague the Internet. After you register we will be happy to reply via email and answer any short inquiries you may have.
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Finding books Out of Print
You have two options:
1. We can conduct a search for you among book dealers and antiquariariats. The chances are middling that we will find an original copy for sale. If you wish a book search please register on the order form (at the top of the page) and commit yourself to a rare book search. Complicated searches will be charged by the hourly rate.
2. We can make you a bound facsimile copy from the photocopy found at the National Library for .35 per page (or on a CD for $50). Please allow two months for the finding, copying, scanning and binding.
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Books On Topics Other Than Judaism
The subject area is beyond the scope of the Judaica Archival Project. If you wish us to survey sellers of used Israeli books to find a copy or you would like us to photostat the copy in the National Library please resend your application with your full credit card information and a commitment of one research hour at $35 to find this title.
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High Prices of Copies
The prices of quality facsimiles are indeed high because of the nature of their labor-intensive nature. Each order is a custom order which involves procuring, copying, printing and binding. We are seeking to reduce this price by finding private/public funding for preservation and access of Rabbinic literature but so far we have not found a committed foundation.
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Can’t See Hebrew Fonts
Each catalog uses the Windows Explorer encoding that the catalog owner built-in: Hebrew Windows, Hebrew ISO Visual, or Hebrew ISO logical.
Got to View>Encoding>Hebrew and try all three. You need to have installed Hebrew fonts
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Why am I being asked for a Service Charge for Finding the Book ?
We act as a non-profit center for the preservation and acquisition of Jewish books. Although we usually request membership before undertaking a book-search, sometimes if the correspondent needs a single title - we look first on the assumption that the effort will be followed by an order. Otherwise, we charge for the book search. Sifrei Kodesh by nature are printed in small runs and are often hard to find. Therefore we prefer to verify the availability of the Sefer you ordered before quoting you a price. Although our prices are based on the street price in Jerusalem they also include our door to door service - Direct from the publisher/distributor to you.
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How can I reach you by phone
Telephone (between 2 and 7 PM daily) and Fax 972-2-5710306
Cell phone and Voicemail (members only) 972-54-990379
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Can’t I order through the mail
As a growing adjunct of the Judaica Archival Project we had to make some decisions about VG in order to streamline and facilitate orders. The store is an electronic store - all orders have to be done electonically. The orderform which you may have had a problem with (if so please tell us) gives us the info to relate to your order seriously and not as another "unknown person on the Web".
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Text of Registration and Order Form
Your Contact Information: (Name, Title, Institution, Street and No., City, State, Zip, Telephone, Fax and when to call)
Name
Address
Telephone and Fax
E-mail
I am an AP Member from (d/m/y)
Please Register/Renew my AP Membership:
Book or item I wish to order from on-site catalogs: (Please mention the specific catalog and catalog page where you found it)
Title
Description
Catalog
Book or item I wish to order which is not found on-site:(Please list the title, author, place and year of printing if known)
Title
Author
Edition
Description
Payment Information:
Visa/Diner's/MasterCard/American Express
Credit card number: Valid Until:
Delivery Information:
EMS or Airmail (registered)
Surface Mail (registered)
Fedex or UPS My Fedex or UPS number
Other Please Specify
* Please complete this form fully and accurately so we can expedite your order
* For your security you may fax it to 805-9263137 (U.S.A.) or 9722-5710306 (Israel)
* There will be a "search charge" for incomplete or incorrect orders
* Separate forms must be submitted for each item, only your name needb not be repeated.
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Will there be a search charge even if the book is not found?
Yes! We also can't determine if a book is available until we call around to the distributors and the publisher to check if they have a copy left. In your case we thought that the book was still available and were surprised to find that it wasn't. No matter what, we charge $5 for any book where the catalog and page number are not quoted in the order notwithstanding if we find the book or not. The offer to photocopy is an option which I offer everyone when the book is not found.
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I want to make an order – what next?
Please fill out the on-site orderform. When you send us your credit card the first time we collect a $1 charge to test your card and submit your order directly to the publisher. He quotes us a price and we email the quote to you. We wait for your approval. When you confirm we ship by airmail (up to 2 kilo) or EMS (over 2 kilo) or surface mail (over 10 kilo) unless you have special shipping instructions. You pay book cost + shipping cost + $5 handling only.
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What happens if I don’t have the name of the book or publisher?
The way our site works is that you either give us a specific name of a book or if you don't know it you can ask us to search for a book - we then ask you to register as a library member. Click here to register.
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Why can’t you send me a Catalog?
We carry a huge number of books and many catalogs on site which are not feasible to send. Please browse our site by category and publisher and print the lists that are appropriate from your computer.
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The Microfiche Catalog:
The fiche catalog dates back to 10 years ago when people still ordered fiche copies. A number called pages appears in the catalog which in reality is the number of fiche. There are generally 30 Daf (openings) in each fiche. Each fiche costs between $2.00-$7.00 to copy according to the quantities you are ordering.
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Bound Copies From MKP and JAP
The Photostats are hand-bound with the Hebrew title gold-stamped on the sky-vertex binding. The paper is crème colored and the text is on both sides. Please allow an extra week for binding.
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How do I buy on your VirtualGeula.com:
1. Browse through the catalogs. Write in your notebook: the title, catalog and page number where you saw the book, and the price
2. Fill out the registration and order forms at the orders option at the top or bottom of each page
3. We will acknowledge your order, send you a price and delivery quote (where possible) and an estimate how long it should take according to the shipping method you chose
4. If you cannot give us a specific name of a book or if you don't know it and ask us to look for a Sefer then we ask you to register as a library member so we can do a book search for you.
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Missing text in Rare Books
When we microfilm we take care to get the best copy of the Sefer we can. When the book being filmed is 300 or more years old there is a good chance that a copy will have a defect somewhere or other. Then we choose the most complete copy we can find. We cannot guarantee that any copy of a rare or antique book will be complete.
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English Judaica
Our specialty is Hebrew Sifrei Kodesh. However we do have links to most of the major English Judaica publishers. In any case we would be happy to do a dedicated search for a copy among the various book dealers if you become a member.
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If it is out of print what do I do next?
We would be happy to do a dedicated search for a copy among the various rare book dealers but unfortunately from experience often we find the book but the buyer has changed his mind or has bought another copy. For this reason we recommend that our users pay a yearly members subscription and then their searches are included in their membership.
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How Can I sell books on your Portal?
VirtualGeula is a central place on ShmaYisrael (and on the Internet) for Sifrei Kodesh similar to "Amazon". Over 20,000 titles are already listed. We handle website and web-commerce for publishers at no cost. We will handle all correspondence with customers, including collecting from their credit cards, and will email you the shipping instructions when the sale is made. You will "drop-ship" to our customer and charge us your wholesale price plus your shipping costs.
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I am looking for a book...
We suggest that your question is worthy of a researched answer provided by a qualified scholar. Unfortunately, we do not have received any budgetary support for independent historical or bibliographic research. Therefore we recommend that you submit a prepaid research request and register as an AP library member. By registering you will not only help us to answer your question (and many others like it) but also help us to save part of our Jewish printed heritage.
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The complete Pricelist for Reproductions and Services:
* Becoming an AP Library Member:
Please fill out the on-site registration form and submit your registration fee. Becoming a library member enables us to quickly process your inquiry without requiring prepayment, and helps support our continuing preservation program. If you are not a registered AP Library Member your order must be prepayed.
* Annual Memberships:
AP Library Membership Package.
If you can't find a Sefer on our site or you're not quite sure where to look please become a member so we can give you our personal service and help you find exactly what you need. Benefits include: next day response, minimum orders of $10, discounts and 3 free search requests annually. If you plan to order books or reproductions even twice a year it pays to become a member. Please fill out the registration questionnaire and include your credit card information to receive full member benefits. You will be notified by email when your membership is due for renewal.
AP Membership costs only $27/ yr or for 3 book searches (whichever comes first).
AP Subscription Package: a priority service for readers who need books and facsimiles frequently.
*Subscribers may make contact with our bibliographic staff directly to personally direct their research project.
*Subscribers can make up to 7 book-searches annually for free.
*Subscribers may send free form email instead of an order form.
AP Subscription costs: $ 50/yr or for 7 book searches (whichever comes first).
Books on Demand: If you are an occasional user.
The program is our service for all occasional users. There is a search charge for price quotes on books which were not identified in our on-line catalogs. A minimum order fee of $20 will apply to every order.
There are no membership fees
* Media and Prices
* Microfiche editions:
$2.00-7.00 per Diazzo fiche as in site catalog and depending on quantity.
* Photocopies of consecutive pages on A4 paper or Scans in Tiff files:
Less than 10 pages - $1.00 per page
Less than 25 pages - $.60 per page
Less than 50 pages - $.45 per page
More than 100 pages - $ .35 per page
* Binding of Photocopies:
Softcover: Up to 120 pages - $3.00
Hardcover: Generally included. Where custom binding is requested the costs will be as follows:
Under 100 pages- $25, 100-300 pages-$30, Over 300 pages-$35
* Book Seaches are usually a member-only service according to the member package you have chosen. If a book search is undertaken for a non-member the price will be $15 for books out of print (i.e. printed more than 3 years ago) and $5 for books in print (Sivan 5754).
* Research Requests:
We will assign an expert Judaica researcher to research your topic and create a personal bibliography for you. Generally this is a members only option. If by special arrangement we undertake a bibliographic research project the first research hour is $40 and every additional hour $35, more than 10 hours - $30.
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What is the difference between VirtualGeula.net and VirtualGeula.com
VirtualGeula.net is a shopping-cart style internet bookstore where you can search or "browse the shelves" for new titles in the Jewish bookstores, choose and buy on the spot. All prices and shipping weights are known and the purchase is completed when you submit your order form. There are no membership requirements or priveliges.
VirtualGeula.com is a publishers showcase and book search service where non-members can choose books from the various catalogs and order books after they have registered. Members have the extra option of asking the AP to find a Sefer for them.
Since these two sites (VG.com and VG.net) function differently and operate entirely independently - you must register separately for each.
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