Sacred Treasure-The Cairo Genizah

Mark S. Glickman

Description

Indiana Jones meets The Da Vinci Code in an old Egyptian synagogue—
the amazing story of one of the most important discoveries in modern religious scholarship.

In 1896, Rabbi Solomon Schechter of Cambridge University stepped into the attic of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo, Egypt, and there found the largest treasure trove of medieval and early manuscripts ever discovered. He had entered the synagogue's genizah—its repository for damaged and destroyed Jewish texts—which held nearly 300,000 individual documents, many of which were over 1,000 years old.

Considered among the most important discoveries in modern religious history, its contents contained early copies of some of the Dead Sea Scrolls, early manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, and other sacred literature. The importance of the genizah’s contents rivals that of the Rosetta Stone, and by virtue of its sheer mass alone, it will continue to command our attention indefinitely.

This is the first accessible, comprehensive account of this astounding discovery. It will delight you with its fascinating adventure story—why this enormous collection was amassed, how it was discovered and the many lessons to be found in its contents. And it will show you how Schechter’s find, though still being "unpacked" today, forever transformed our knowledge of the Jewish past, Muslim history and much more.

Prologue xi
Introduction: Treasures in the Synagogue Attic 1
1. The Genizah Moment 13
2. Solomon Schechter: The Rabbi of Christ's College 31
3. "The Giblews": The Sisters, Their Adventures, and the
Documents That Opened the Genizah 42
4. May 13, 1896 53
5. A Battlefield of Books 64
6. Unpacking the Boxes 92
7. More Treasures Come to Light: The Genizah after
Schechter, 1902–50 115
8. Professor Genizah: Shelomo Dov Goitein and the
Mediterranean Society He Uncovered 133
9. Sheet Music, Long-Lost Talmud, and a Lame and
Decrepit Female Hyena: The Second Half-Century of
Genizah Research 157
10. The Genizah Today 179
11. The Friedberg Genizah Project 201
Conclusion: Sacred Treasure 221
Acknowledgments 231
Notes 235
Photo Credits 247
Index 249

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Ben Ezra Synagogue
• Jewish history
• Hebrew Bible
• Dead Sea Scrolls
• Judaism
• History of Egypt
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 23 novembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781580235655
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Praise for
Sacred Treasure-The Cairo Genizah
How ironic-and fascinating-that one of the greatest discoveries of Jewish texts in history would unfold in a dusty old attic in Egypt! Mark Glickman has written a gripping tale of how the genizah of the Cairo synagogue was uncovered, what the 300,000 documents reveal about Jewish history, and the role of twin sisters from Scotland who made it possible. Writing with descriptive flair, Glickman s book is a pageturner, a fast-paced archaeological mystery, a globe-trotting adventure, and a wonderful story. Highly recommended!
- Dr. Ron Wolfson , Fingerhut Professor of Education, American Jewish University; president, Synagogue 3000; author, The Seven Questions You re Asked in Heaven: Reviewing and Renewing Your Life on Earth
An upbeat, fast-paced adventurer s tale of how the hunt for Jewish documents, one hundred and ten years ago in a corner of Egypt, has shaped our thinking about who we are as Jews. Its quick presentation of what my great-grandfather found is well matched with Glickman s accessible explanations of what the discoveries mean for our world today.
- Rabbi John S. Schechter , Congregation B nai Israel, Basking Ridge, New Jersey
Shows clearly how genizah documents are very important for Jewish and non-Jewish scholars and researchers in different areas: Jewish history, Islamic history, religions, medicine, languages, biblical and Talmudic studies, etc . [A] very important book.
- Dr. Mohamed Hawary , professor of religious Jewish thought and comparative religions, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
Equal to the excitement of Belzoni s adventures along the Nile or Carter s forays into the Valley of Kings is Solomon Schechter s discovery of over a quarter of a million manuscripts hidden in an attic room of an ancient synagogue in Cairo at the turn of the twentieth century. Mark Glickman brings this adventure vibrantly to life, taking the reader on a fascinating journey with him from the bazaars of Cairo to the cloisters of Cambridge, up rickety ladders and through locked vaults, as he tells the story of how these manuscripts were found, where they ended up, and what their enormous significance is today. Glickman s narrative is accessible and engaging, and a great introduction to a complex story of scheming, scholarship, and sensation.
- Dr. Rebecca J. W. Jefferson , head of the Price Library of Judaica, University of Florida; former researcher, Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit, Cambridge University
A fascinating book that treats us to the story of a remarkable collection of medieval Jewish documents and the explorers and scholars who have retrieved and studied them. Well researched and enthusiastic, Glickman offers a wonderfully enjoyable introduction to a subject which deserves far more attention than it has received thus far.
- Donald P. Ryan, PhD , division of humanities, Pacific Lutheran University
There is a treasure-trove in North Africa, like the Cave of Aladdin, that glows not by the light of a genie s brass lamp but with the ineffable names of God. The Cairo Genizah was rediscovered (though never truly lost) at the end of the nineteenth century when a few European scholars found their way to a synagogue storeroom in Old Cairo. The slips and wisps and scraps of paper they found there-more than a quarter-million fragments-dated back more than a thousand years, a unique and stunning time capsule of medieval Jewish thought and belief. If there were a religious wonders of the world list, the Cairo Genizah would be near the top of it; and Rabbi Mark Glickman its indispensable-eloquent, wry, and knowledgeable-guide.
- Melissa Fay Greene , author, The Temple Bombing
Traces with page-turning enthusiasm the discovery, study, and significance of the Cairo Genizah. Recommended for Jewish studies classes, book groups, and synagogue adult study classes. A joy to read!
- Rabbi Burton L. Visotzky , professor of rabbinic literature, The Jewish Theological Seminary; author, A Delightful Compendium of Consolation
With an exhilarating enthusiasm and an eye for curious detail, Mark Glickman relates the tale of the recovery of this momentous archive and examines its impact on our interpretation of the Jewish past.
- Ben Outhwaite , director, Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit, Cambridge University

Sacred Treasure-The Cairo Genizah : The Amazing Discoveries of Forgotten Jewish History in an Egyptian Synagogue Attic
2011 Hardcover Edition, First Printing 2011 by Mark Glickman
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Pages 247-248 constitute a continuation of this copyright page.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Glickman, Mark. Sacred treasure-the Cairo genizah : the amazing discoveries of forgotten Jewish history in an Egyptian synagogue attic / Mark Glickman. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-58023-431-3 (hardcover) 1. Judaism-History-Medieval and early modern period, 425-1789-Sources. 2. Cairo Genizah-History. I. Title. BM180.G56 2010 296.09'02-dc22
2010034260
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Manufactured in the United States of America Jacket Design: Jenny Buono Jacket Art: A fragment of a schoolhouse primer, copyright University of Cambridge, reproduced by kind permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library. Interior Design: Tim Holtz
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For Caron

He who has looked into her face has seen the stars.
Joseph Ibn Tzaddik, d. 1149
Contents
Prologue
Introduction: Treasures in the Synagogue Attic
1. The Genizah Moment
2. Solomon Schechter: The Rabbi of Christ s College
3. The Giblews : The Sisters, Their Adventures, and the Documents That Opened the Genizah
4. May 13, 1896
5. A Battlefield of Books
6. Unpacking the Boxes
7. More Treasures Come to Light: The Genizah after Schechter, 1902-50
8. Professor Genizah: Shelomo Dov Goitein and the Mediterranean Society He Uncovered
9. Sheet Music, Long-Lost Talmud, and a Lame and Decrepit Female Hyena: The Second Half-Century of Genizah Research
10. The Genizah Today
11. The Friedberg Genizah Project
Conclusion: Sacred Treasure
Acknowledgments
Notes
Photo Credits
Index

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You shall not [destroy the sacred sites, altars, and the name of] Adonai your God.
-D EUTERONOMY 12:4
The unbroken tablets and the broken tablets were placed in the Ark of the Covenant.
-B ABYLONIAN T ALMUD , B ERAKHOT 8B
Every discovery of an ancient document giving evidence of a bygone world is, if undertaken in the right spirit an act of resurrection in miniature.
-R ABBI S OLOMON S CHECHTER , N OVEMBER 20, 1902


Solomon Schechter studying Cairo Genizah manuscripts in the Cambridge University Library, summer, 1897.
Prologue
I n late December 1896, on a balcony overlooking the main floor of Cairo s Ben Ezra Synagogue, Rabbi Solomon Schechter of Cambridge University climbed a crudely built ladder set against a limestone wall, his eyes fixed on a dark opening above. The opening led to the synagogue s genizah, an attic-like chamber where Cairo s Jews had been depositing texts and documents of every kind for more than eight hundred years.
Schechter had good reason to hope that the Genizah contained a sizable mass of Jewish writings, but as he scaled the ladder, he had no way of knowing that this repository, packed with nearly three hundred thousand documents, represented the largest trove of early and medieval Jewish manuscripts ever discovered. It would transform the world s understanding of medieval Jewry, biblical and Rabbinic literature, medieval Islamic history, and much more. So vast was the collection that nearly a century after Schechter s death in 1915, scholars would still be poring over the contents of the Cairo Genizah and still making discoveries.
Reaching the portal, Schechter held his lantern in the dusty, silo-like space, still unsure as to what riches it contained. In Cambridge, Schechter had recently identified a Genizah manuscript as a page of a long-lost book from biblical times. Would he discover more of its pages in the Genizah? (He would.) Schechter knew that the great twelfth- century rabbi-philosopher Moses Maimonides lived within walking distance of this synagogue. Might the Genizah contain documents from the hand of Maimonides himself? (It did.) Schechter also knew that Cairo was an important cultural and economic hub during the Middle Ages. Did the Genizah hold important information documenting the lives of Jews and non-Jews who lived in and traveled through that great Egyptian metropolis? (More than Schechter could ever imagine.)
Peering into the illuminated chamber, the bearded, red-haired rabbi beheld an astonishing jumble of texts piled yards high, the sheer quantity of which must have left him breathless. Schechter immediately realized that one person-one Cambridge scholar-would never be able to sift through all this material in ten lifetimes. It would fall to others, including generations of Cambridge researchers, to uncover many of the Cairo Genizah s most spectacular documents.
Buried in the Genizah was the last letter to Maimonides from his brother David, a merchant who was lost at sea on a voyage to India; the oldest-known Passover Haggadot in the world; the earliest fragme