Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Toto · 01-07-2011, 08:19 PM

Rabbi Mark Glickman "Sacred Treasure — The Cairo Genizah: The Amazing Discoveries of Forgotten Jewish History in an Egyptian Synagogue Attic" (or via: amazon.co.uk)

Article in Seattle Times

Quote:

Unlike the Dead Sea Scrolls, he explains, the books, laws, letters, music and manuscripts in Egypt were never secret. They were all intentionally kept because written or printed words containing Hebrew are considered sacred and Jewish law forbids their destruction. Sometimes damaged or outdated items were buried in a Jewish cemetery. But the other, more convenient option, Glickman explains, was "to designate a room, usually an attic or a cellar in the synagogue, as a genizah." Cairo locals had always known Ben Ezra Synagogue's genizah was full of old papers, but they were "largely ignored."

Ignored, that is, until the 18th and 19th centuries, when Western interest in "things Oriental" came into vogue. Cairo's genizah prompted first a trickle, then a flood of documents to collectors and libraries worldwide. Cambridge University, for example, now holds 198,000 documents, and New York's Jewish Theological Seminary 30,398, with a global total of at least 291,000 having been removed.

In engaging short segments, Glickman — who leads congregations in Woodinville and on Bainbridge Island — chronicles the adventures of travelers, dealers and scholars, crafting a tale of archaeological intrigue and academic competition. Most famous is Solomon Schechter, a Cambridge professor and rabbi who examined overwhelming stacks in the insect- infested, dark genizah in 1897. He found business and court records, spiritual texts, fragments of Talmud, poetry, Torah scrolls, magical incantations and more. Buying mostly manuscripts, he generally set aside printed matter, which also revealed much "of great significance" and left plenty for rivals from Oxford University and others later.

aeebee50 · 01-07-2011, 08:49 PM

Some where else to get research on the OT, without having to go over seas.

mountainman · 01-09-2011, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toto

Rabbi Mark Glickman "Sacred Treasure — The Cairo Genizah: The Amazing Discoveries of Forgotten Jewish History in an Egyptian Synagogue Attic" (or via: amazon.co.uk)

One review sets the manuscript cache as quite late - "from 1025 CE"....

Quote:

Rabbi Mark Glickman's well-written book that reads like a novel tells the history of the discovery of the contents of the Cairo Genizah and what many of the documents reveal. He reveals how in December 1896, Rabbi Solomon Schechter of Cambridge University entered the attic-like chamber of the Ben Ezra Synagogue to look at the texts and documents of every kind that the Cairo Jews had tossed into the chamber for more than eight hundred years, since the first papers fluttered to its floor in 1025.

Other older manuscripts are mentioned, eg: 5th century rabbinic scroll

Anonymous_ · 01-11-2011, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aeebee50

Some where else to get research on the OT, without having to go over seas.

What's generally ignored is the huge amount of historical documents, vastly more important than the religious ones.

Anonymous_ · 01-11-2011, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mountainman

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toto

Rabbi Mark Glickman "Sacred Treasure — The Cairo Genizah: The Amazing Discoveries of Forgotten Jewish History in an Egyptian Synagogue Attic" (or via: amazon.co.uk)

One review sets the manuscript cache as quite late - "from 1025 CE"....

Quote:

Rabbi Mark Glickman's well-written book that reads like a novel tells the history of the discovery of the contents of the Cairo Genizah and what many of the documents reveal. He reveals how in December 1896, Rabbi Solomon Schechter of Cambridge University entered the attic-like chamber of the Ben Ezra Synagogue to look at the texts and documents of every kind that the Cairo Jews had tossed into the chamber for more than eight hundred years, since the first papers fluttered to its floor in 1025.

Other older manuscripts are mentioned, eg: 5th century rabbinic scroll

Yes, many of them are extremely old, much older than 1025.

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01-07-2011, 08:49 PM	#2
aeebee50 Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Texas Posts: 5,810	Some where else to get research on the OT, without having to go over seas.

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