Israeli “Atrocities” and the 1948 War
One new book debunks the nakba myth; another perpetuates it.
November 29, 2017
Was a Celebrated Manuscript of the Bible Written for a Karaite?
Hints from the Cairo Genizah.
The Leningrad Codex is the oldest complete extant manuscript of the Hebrew Bible, produced in 1008 or 1009 CE by professional scribes in Cairo; in the 19th-century, it made its way to Russia’s then-capital. Based on letters found in the Cairo Genizah from Mevorakh ben Joseph ibn Yazdad—the Egyptian Jew who commissioned the manuscript—Ben Outhwaite finds some hints about its origins. In particular, the evidence suggests that Mevorakh was a member of the Karaite sect, who dismissed talmudic (or “Rabbanite”) interpretations of the Torah in favor of their own, more literalist, interpretive standards:
November 29, 2017
Saudi Arabia Has Signaled Its Intention to Contain Iran, but Does It Have the Capability?
Its track record is unimpressive.
A Chance to Make Life Better for Eastern Jerusalem’s Arabs
Opinion surveys give reason for hope.
A Hebrew Novel in Which a Mésalliance Serves as a Metaphor for the Jewish Condition in 20th-Century Europe
A tale of coffee and sadomasochism.
Was a Celebrated Manuscript of the Bible Written for a Karaite?
Hints from the Cairo Genizah.