Ben-Zvi Institute calls for return of Aleppo Codex fragments
Scholars call on Jews around the world originally from Aleppo, Syria to hand over centuries-old fragments.
By Anshel Pfeffer Tags: SyriaScholars at Yad Ben-Zvi research institute in Jerusalem have called on Jews around the world who originally come from Aleppo, Syria and may possess fragments of the ancient Aleppo Codex to turn them over to Israel.
The call came Sunday at an event marking the 60th anniversary of riots against the Jews in Aleppo during which most of the codex, the authoritative copy of the Hebrew Bible written in the 10th century, was lost.
The head of Yad Ben-Zvi's Institute for the Study of Jewish Communities in the East, Prof. Yom Tov Asis, who witnessed the riots from the window of his Aleppo home when he was five years old, said Sunday: "We know for a fact that pages are being kept in various places in the world and we hope we can touch the hearts of those who are holding them."
The institute confirmed Sunday that talks are under way with former residents of Aleppo who are believed to be holding fragments of the texts, but declined to comment further so as not to jeopardize the negotiations. "This is the No. 1 asset of the Jewish people," Dr. Zvi Zameret, head of Yad Ben-Zvi said, "and I believe the Jewish people would do a great deal to have it back."
Zameret was speaking at a press conference at which was presented a fragment of the codex that was brought to Israel a few days ago. A report about the fragment was published a month ago in Haaretz. This is only the second such piece to come to Israel since the bulk of the codex arrived here mysteriously in 1958.
The Aleppo Codex was written in Tiberias almost 1,100 years ago, and is the most accepted version of the Hebrew Scriptures, also known as the Masoretic, or transmitted, text.
The codex was originally brought to Jerusalem in antiquity, then taken to Cairo, and eventually to Aleppo, where it remained for more than 600 years. When riots broke out in Aleppo in December 1947, following the declaration of the partition plan by the United Nations, Aleppo's synagogue was burned and the codex was thought to have been lost.
In 1958, about 60 percent of the pages of the codex were brought to Israel and brought to Yad Ben-Zvi. It is now on display at the Shrine of the Book in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
The fragment shown Sunday, containing a portion of Exodus, had been held by the late businessman Sam Sabbagh, who immigrated to the United States. Sabbagh saw it as an amulet and would not part with it; however, his family agreed to donate it after his death.
Prof. Yossi Ofer of Bar-Ilan University said it was once believed that the 192 missing pages were mostly burned, but now it is thought that some were hidden in various places in Aleppo and others were taken by Jews who left Syria. Israel's second president, historian Yizhak Ben-Zvi, who founded the eponymous institute in 1947 (coincidently, Zameret told reporters, during the same week as the riots), mentions in his notes the names of those known to be in possession of the fragments, but all have denied it.
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A picture depicting the 10th century Aleppo Codex on display Sunday at the Yad Ben-Zvi Institute. (Reuters) |
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The manuscript, was created in Tiberias (not Aleppo) by a qaraite scholar, not by any aleppoan rabbanite or otherwise. It arrived to Aleppo by default. Granted the community garded it for a few centuries, but when it faced difficulty doing so, the book was torn to shreds by the very gardian members, superstitious and grabby individuals who used the savaged shreds as amulets and stole them and transported them to the 4 corners of the world. I am amused and chagrined at the same time by Mr Izhaki's suggestion that a "secular" Ben Zvi institute "has no right" to ancient Torah documents?! Why? Ben Zvi's institute is well known for researching, documenting and preserving much of syrian jewry's patrimony among many others. Certainly more so than the petty thieves who took their loots to ?Aleppo on the Hudson? or the banks of the Rio de la Plata; only to trade the shreds like baseball cards for use as charms and to ward off demons and evil eye. What splendor? Mr Izhaki! What rights?
The Ben Zvi institute, as a secular organization, has no right to ancient Torah documents. The Jews of Aleppo have BH re-established their splendor in the US and Latin America, and it is to this community that the Codex (Keter Aram Soba) belongs, not to secular would be scholars who desecrate Torah with their so called scientific analysis. If anything, it belongs in the main yeshiva of the community, which is located in Brooklyn, NY.
I realize I am not a Jew and sometimes I drink too much, but never-the-less, I know a few things about holy scripts and the like. People who are holding back scraps of a holy book that could be used to better direct the affairs of future generations will bring forth a pox on the youth of the land if they don't fork over said material.
http://www.aleppocodex.org/homepage.html
I think of that most 'dog eared' of documents, the "Codex Sinaticus" and what great value it has to the understanding of the origins of Christianity. I would hope that ALL existing fragments of the Aleppo Codex could be made available for study.
I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU BOTHER WITH SUCH SCUM? Can't tou see that ,no matter what the issue is,it is posted only to annoy!. Stop arguing with them.Let them go to hell,& on the way to take along ,Ahmadinejad,and that criminal from Sudan Too.
If, as most Arab apologists say, they are not anti-semitic or anti-Jewish, why were there riots against the Jews of Aleppo when the State of Israel was declared? And number two: If, as you quote, "The Aleppo Codex was written in Tiberias almost 1,100 years ago, and is the most accepted version of the Hebrew Scriptures, also known as the Masoretic, or transmitted, text," who wrote it? As you know, according to Palestinians and Arab apologists, there were no Jews in Israel before the coming of European Jews in the 19th and 20th century. So am I to understand that this codex was written by Muslim scholars? Or isn't Tiberias in Israel? Perhaps an expert such as Clikfool or Indrajaya, who seem to know everything there is to know about Israel (and everything else), would kindly enlighten me.