Sacred Treasure - The Cairo Genizah: The Amazing Discoveries of Forgotten Jewish History in an Egyptian Synagogue Attic

by Mark Glickman

In 1896, Rabbi Solomon Schechter of Cambridge University stepped into the attic of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo and there found the largest treasure trove of mediaeval 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.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Jewish, Religion, Judaica, Judaism, Audiobook

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 22, 2010

Reviews

[Cyndi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this on the "new" display at the library. It looks like a dry read but it is anything but. The author is a fabulous writer and at times it reads like an adventure novel. You get a solid grounding in Jewish history along with an introduction to Jewish religious documents and a healthy dose of library science. Recommended to anyone with an interest in old books, Jewish history or liturgy.

[Einschrein · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title should really be "The Story of the Men Who Published Work on the Cairo Genizah," because there is very little about the actual Cairo Genizah "treasures" in this book - and the contents are the most interesting part of the story. Hopefully someone will publish that work at a non-scholarly level...we can dream.

[Marcus Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great writing, great story, fascinating insights about medieval Jewry and the documents that were saved over the course of time.

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd heard of the Genizah before, but didn't really know much about its history or its value. Some of what has come from the Genizah include:

*An early version of the works of Ben Sira (a Second Temple writer);
*Lots of information on variant versions of Jewish rituals such as the Haggadah, especially liturgy derived from post-Second Temple Israel (as opposed to liturgy reflecting Iraqi practice);
*Correspondence to and from Maimonides and other medieval sages, including a letter to the former from his brother;
*Medieval poems and musical works that had disappeared from the historical record.

I also learned about the sheer volume of the Genizah; although much of its comments were exported to England at the end of the 19th century, the first Western scholars to review it simply did not have time to read everything during their lifetimes. As a result, many Genizah documents went unread until recent decades.

[Maggie Anton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting that both this book and Sacred Trash: The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza were published almost simultaneously in 2011, so I decided to read them both back to back. Both detail [and I do mean detail] the history of the discovery of the Cairo Geniza, a repository for old Jewish manuscripts. But both books are more a history of the scholars who worked on the geniza manuscripts than on the geniza itself and the amazing things they found there.

One would never know from this book that the majority of geniza texts are spells, incantations, and instructions for performing these from myriads of ancient magic manuals. Still this was an engaging read, well written, and even funny at times.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting topic, but a bit dry. Nonfiction. There is a Jewish tradition that any writing with the word for God cannot be destroyed, it must be kept. This gradually changed to include any Bible texts, then anything in Hebrew. Everything was kept, totally disorganized, in a room of the temple, in this case in Cairo. In the late 1890s a scholar from England heard about the manuscripts and went to Egypt and bought the "collection". He returned to England with several hundred thousand fragments of writing, some of which dated back to the 10th century C.E. During the middle ages, there was a thriving Jewish community in Egypt, generally living in harmony with their Islamic neighbors. This community was basically composed of Palestinian Jews, as opposed to the Babylonian Jews who had a tradition related to the years spent in Babylon and later Iraq. Gradually deciphering the fragments of documents revealed much about religion, trade, and daily life in middle age Egypt.

[gary schreiber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This added a lot to my prior knowledge of the Cairo Genizah (CG). While I knew of Solomon Schecter's involvement I was unaware of the back story and had no idea about the more recent and ongoing scholarship. The author does a fine job of telling the story and does so in an engaging and entertaining as well as informative style. My only quibble is his assessment of why the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) have gotten a disproportionate amount of attention. He speculates that it is because the CG documents contrast with the common understanding of Jewish life in the diaspora. More likely it's because the DSS are shrouded in mystery and mystique of the Qumran community and speculation as to who were they, while the CG documents were left by "ordinary people " .

[Nicholas Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author does quite an incredible job not just bringing to life and arguing the importance of the Cario Genizah, but making interesting things that otherwise wouldn't be, which is the sign of a great teacher.

[Natan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very good book, worth even four stars, if it weren't for the author's extremely weak conclusion. More on that later.

The book tells the story of how the Cairo Genizah was discovered, and reviews the 100+ year history of its research. The author does a good job of introducing the various scholars and researchers as well as telling us about the various obstacles the needed to be overcome. He also has a slight humorous touch, which is always good in a book.

However, pages 226-227 in the conclusion leave a very bad aftertaste to a very good book. I bring here almost a whole page. Read it twice: once while omitting the italic words, which are my personal additions, and then again including them. The abbreviation ACR stands for American Conservative/Reform

"The Genizah also challenges the ways in which many modern Jews conceive of their religion. To the modern Jew - or at least to the modern ACR Jew who is NOT religiously observant - the central source of religious authority is not in God or Torah, as it was in the past. Instead, as Arnold Eisen, now president of the JTS [Jewish Theological Seminary, the Conservative rabbinic school] argued in 1997 "In contemporary American CR Judaism, the most pervasive ground of authority is not 'God' or 'faith', not 'revelation' or even 'the ancestry', but 'tradition.'"
Why do you keep kosher? Why do you attend holiday worship services? Why do you mark the anniversaries of your parents' deaths with a memorial prayer? The answer of most ACR Jews today will echo that of Fiddler on the Roof's Tevye - "Tradition!".
... Yes, God forged the first link of this chain when God spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, but to the tradition-oriented contemporary ACR Jew, God isn't what's really important. What's really important is the length of the chain."

It would seem the author has absolutely no knowledge of the Orthodox Jewish community. There is no other explanation for claiming that for a religiously observant Jew, God is no longer the "central source of religious authority". Has he never spoken to an Orthodox Jew, to say nothing of a Haredi (ultra-Orthodox)? Besides exposing ignorance, such a claim is borderline lashon hara (derogatory speech about another person, considered sinful in Judaism). While I am certainly not Orthodox, I know many of them, none of whom remotely fit this description.

While I am no expert on American Jewish sociology, it would seem to me that the second paragraph quoted above (beginning with "why", ending with "tradition") indeed fits the modern ACR Jew perfectly, which is probably who the author was attempting to describe, while forgetting that other Jews exist. I can only conclude that he extrapolated from his immediate surrounding to the entire Jewish world.
The quote of the JTS president is another example of exactly the same thing. In his case, my question is if his not acknowledging the existence of other Jews, even in America, is because he is ignorant or because, as a result of his position, his statements also have a intra-Jewish political aspect to them.
I would like to end by re-emphasizing my main point, if it is not clear. I am not judging ACR Jews, but merely expressing my disappointment that the author, a rabbi, is so ignorant of the Jewish world outside his immediate community.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was pretty interesting, but it's not quite what I expected. Glickman talks mainly about how the Cairo Genizah was rediscovered and who ended up with which pieces, which is certainly a good story; I think I was really just hoping for more on what impact the actual contents have had on the Jewish community and why they're important, which he does touch on, but not in much depth. I'm also torn on what to think of him as a narrator--when he's in good form, he reads very well, and for the most part I think his narration is a great fit. However, at times there are weird pauses when he is (I assume) turning the page or swallowing, and he seems to have a speech impediment of some sort and fairly frequently gets stuck on certain sounds. Those problems certainly didn't ruin the book for me by any means, but I wish he had taken the time to rerecord the parts that had issues, just because I'm a a bit of a perfectionist in that way. But anyway, as a non-Jew with a general interest in history, I enjoyed this and think it's definitely worth a look if the subject is something that intrigues you.

[Yoshi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating retelling of the history of the Cairo Genizah, the 19th century Hebrew manuscript market, the adventurous people who traveled far to buy and find rare manuscripts as well as the scholars who invested so many hours pouring over the treasures of the past. Mark Glickman gives a compelling historical overview bringing scholars like Solomon Schechter to life and paying due homage to the continued efforts of scholars to preserve and interpret the treasures of Jewish daily life and rabbinic scholarship found in the Cairo Genizah. For anyone who deeply values books and their careful preservation to connect us to the past, this book vividly connects the reader to a centuries old story of Jewish writings now being faithfully preserved in academic libraries, various collections, and innovative digital "genizahs".

[Melody Curtiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely readable and fascinating recount of the ancient documents stored away in a temple attic and how they relate to sacred writings and practices of monotheists in present times. The author provides historical context and connects the dots to enlighten the reader on how those writings evolved. Glickman's love for the intricacies and realities of religious development and sense of personal connection as he examines these ancient scrolls, notes and manuscripts is obvious.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting history of an important find of medieval Jewish documents. The book focuses more on the scholars who found and interpreted the documents, with tantalizing descriptions of the subject matter.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it, a true adventure story with so much new and interesting information. Very easy to read. Loved the personalities of the scientists involved.

[William Matthies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written by the Rabi son of a friend of mine who said there is a bit of Indiana Jones to it. He was right and you will enjoy reading it as much as what you learn.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating tale of discovery and scholarship.

[Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last chapter was by far the most interesting! The problem I had with most of the book was the retelling of information over and over again. I did learn a lot so I'm glad I read it.

[Ellen]

Fascinating.