BY LAWRENCE H. SCHIFFMAN
"The discovery of the Cairo Genizah, the storehouse
of medieval manuscripts and documents in the Ben
Ezra Synagogue in Fustat, Old Cairo, in the late nineteenth
century has led to a virtual rediscovery of
Jewish history during the Middle Ages. In fact, it has
provided us with an enormous amount of information
about our sacred literature, as well as illuminating the social
and political history of Jews in the Middle East and Mediterranean
basin. Some of the items found even related to Europe, such
as very early writings in Yiddish. But one of the most significant
gains was a deeper understanding of the history and literature of
the geonim of Babylonia, as well as the text of our siddur and the
Pesach Seder."
read more of How Did Our
Current Haggadah
Become the Standard?
No comments:
Post a Comment