f THE JEWISH r a n . 1,18*8.

1
11
te

WORK IN THE CAMBRipaE-CAIRO

verbal criticism of the Bible, and made them the subject of soin# apt remarks in
a recent essay (A*sU<*m m*r Jtoferttift, eta* Munich, 1806). The Cambridge
collections indode wn smamples iu tig JEtfnumber, and many more may
mm QENIZAH. still be found. They wiB probably be edited in a volume by themselves, and

ft
BSF BY DR. SCHBCHTER.
will, I have no doubt, after a careful study, throw fresh light on many an obscure
passage in the different versions.
While the Trellis-written Bible was undoubtedly intended for the use of
the grown-up scholar, in whose case a fair acquaintance with the sacred volume

1 [Publication unavoidably delayed.}

oould be assumed, we have another species of bibHoal fragments, representing
the -Reader without Tears" of the Old World. They are written in larg*1
distinct letters, and contain, as a rule, the first verses of the Book of Leviticus

ill Tfle examination of the contenta of the Genuah 1

is not yet con.
eluded* "The day is short and the work is great, * and the workman, if not
actually " lazy," as the Fathers of the synagogue put it, ii subject to all sorts of
accompanied or preceded by various combinations of the letters of the alphabet
which the child had to practise upon. The modern educationalist, with Us low
notions of the "priestly legislation Mharsh, unsympathetic words indeedwould
-diversions and avocations, such as lecturing, manuscript-copying, proof correct- _probably regard this part of the Scriptures as the last thing in the worldfitto be
ing, andnovel reading. The numberless volumes of fresh divinity which an put into the hands of children. We must not forget, however, that the Jew of
i^'%':...' ancient times was not given to analysis. Seising upon its bold features, he saw
indefatigable press throws on the market daily, take up also a good deal of one's
time, if one would be "up to date," though many of them, I am sorry to my, in the Book of Leviticus only the good message of God's roootwiliation with
n prove, at best, very bad novels. The rest of the quotation, by the wiy, "and the
rewird is great," does not apply to Jewish scholarship, so far, at Itsst, as the
man, by means of sacrifice and of purity in soulMand body. Perceiving, on the
other hand, in every babe, the budding minister without taint of sin and false-
hood," the Rabbi could certainly render no higher homage to childhood than
goods of this world are concerned.
There is not a single department of Jewish literatureBiblo, Liturgy, when he said, "Let the pore oome and busy themselves with purity." Every
Apologetke; or Hit<)ry--which i not illuB- schooHhur assumed in his eyes the aspect of a holy temple, in whkh the child
trated by the Genixah discoveries. Naturally, not all the discoveries are of by his reading performed the service of an officiating priest
equal importance, but there are very few that will not yield essential oontribu* Sometimes it is the fragments forming the conclusions of books, or,, more
tions to the department to which they belong. How a Weiss or a Friedinann correctly, of whole groups of books, such as the end of the Pentateuch, the end
would rejoice in his heart at the sight of thcse-Talmudioal fragments! And -of- the Prophets, and the end- of the Hsgiographa, that yield us important
what raptures of delight are there in store for the student when gifting and information; for in some esses they possess appendices or colophons that give
reducing to order the historical documents which the Genisah has furnished in the date of the manuscripts, as well as the names of the owner and of the scribe.
abundance, including even the remains of the sacred writings of strange Jewish Occasionally we come upon a good scolding, as when the colophon runs: "This
sects that have long since vanished. Considerations of space, however, forbid Pentateuch for Psalter] was dedicated by N. Kn in the year , to the syna-
me to enter into detailed descriptions; these would require a whola series of gogue . It shall not be sold, it shall not be removed, it shall not be pawned;
essays. I shall confine my remarks to the fragments rekting to tbe Bible and curved be be who sells it, cursed be he that removes it," etc Bo far " the pious
the Liturgy, the trials and the surprises founder." It is rather disconcerting to
awaiting one in the course of their read these cones when yon happen to
examination, and some of the results know something about the person who
they have yielded up to the present. removed the manuscript, bat yon have
The process of examining such a col- to make the best of such kind wishes if
lection is necessarily a very slow one. you want to get at its history. Perhaps
In the ordinary course of cataloguing my researches may, after all, prove help-
manuscripts, you have to deal with entire ful to the feeble efforts made by the
volumes, where the study of a single leaf pious donor to aohieve immortality,
tells you at once the tale of hundreds and much as hk name will again be given to
hundreds of its neighbours **fl kindred. world in the catalogue which will
The collections from the Genuah, how- one day be prepared. His chances in the
dust-heap of the Genisah were oertsinly
ChrmieU will remember, not of volumes, much poorer.
but of separate loose sheets, each of The-foregoing remarks will suffice to
them with a history of its own which show that even the Biblical fragments.
joanoniy^ learn
J?rJ4ieif^JChe_i that is fresh in mattert are
tion of Biblical fragments gives the least not without their points of interest, and
trouble, as they are mostly written in most by no means be lightly esteemed.
large, square characters, whilst their But this is not all. Ancient manuscripts
matter is so familiar that you can take in are not to be judged by mere outward
their contents at a glance. Still, a glance appearances; they have depths and
will not always suffice, for these frag- under-cuirents of their pwn^Andi after
meats are not only written in different you have taken in the text,marginalnote^
hands, testifying to various peleographio versions, curses, and all, there flashes
ages, but many of them are also pro- upon you*from between the lines or the
vided with Masaoretio notes, or with an words a faint yellow .mark differently
unfamiliar system of punctuation. Others shaped from those in the rest of the
are interspersed with portions of the rat. AT WORK ON FROM CABto osra; fragment, sad yon discover that it is a
Ohaldaic or Arabic versions. They all have to be arranged M after 1beir kind," palimpsest you have in hand., Your purely Hebrew studies are then at an end,
I?. whilst as specimens of writing they have to be sorted into some kind of chrono- and you find yourself drifting suddenly into Greek, Palestinian Byriao, Coptic,
logioal order. To judge by the writingwhich is, I admit, not a very trust- or Georgian, just as the case may be. Only in two eases have the pillimssts
worthy testthe Genisah furnishes us with the oldest known manuscripts of any turned out to be Hebrew upon Hebrew. A new examination then begins, sod
part of the Bible, older even than the Pentateuch manuscript of tie British to this you have to apply yourself the more strenuously, inasmuch as the under
MtMwun (Oriental 4446), described as dating "probably" from the nintocentury. writing is usually of more importance than the laier snrtaoe writing.
On one Bibbcal fragment I found some gilt letters. Gold ink was well known This has proved to be especially the osse with the liturgical fragments,
to the Jews jof antiquity,ttBorne scholars even claimlt it as ax invention of the among which the earliest,- and perhaps the most important, palimpsests have
People of the Book (L5w, GrmphischeBequisiten, etc^p. Ul% B*t its use in been found. Personally, I am quite satisfied with their appearance* If they
the writing of the Scriptures was early forbidden by the Rabbis, The prohibi- restore to us the older forms of the * original prayers," as some of them indeed
tion was meant only to apply to copies intended for pnbbo reading in the syna-
gogue, But* ssi^ fact, aU insnnsoripts of the Bible tre singularly free from such do, they need, of coarse, no further fwto* fHr* for the Jewish student, this

M *.. _ The fragment in question forms a rare exception, and most being the only means of supplying us with that history of oar ancient liturgy
which is still i&ttitormt**. Bat even if they represent only some hymn of tht
therefore data an age when simplicity and uniformity in the materials later Psalmists of the synagogue (*<*#<), I am not, on a closer aoqusintance,
wed for writing Bible had not?** become the rule. particularly anxious to see them improved upon. One Bices lib think of the old
Of great s W are the fragments in which ill the words (except days when devotion wss not yet procurable ready mao^ fiom hymn-books run
those at the ago* the verses) are represented by initials only, as, for bj theological syndkatss; and many a fngment in the Genlsah,headed "Inthy
J f ^ * ^ * U * O ( t e l i . f t That such name, merdful One," and followed by some artlem reHgioos lyric or sinplt
MtgfsttUm regardn^^lwsebygooe times. Yeu cansee by their
in an tge when the chisel s^d the pen were the only means of matte thought abruptaess and their unnnished state t l ^ they were not the product of elaJwrsts
visible. On the strength of the few abbreviations they met witli in Eu literary art,,bat were penned down in the excitement of the moment, in a "fit
manusoripts, Kennioott and otter schokrs tried to aooount for certain mis- of love,* so to speak, to express the rel%ioas aspirations of UM writer. Their
readings of the Beptaagint. JoattaksyourWcfaetit'sDi^^ metre may be faulty, tbeir dtetion croaa, and their grassmar questionshls, bst
Unrouuiy hundreds of words begin, for instance, w^h the letter J5P and think, love letters, as Cborge Bliot rsmarksd somswbsrs, are not, m a rale, disiui-
guisbed by perfection of style. They are sotMme stsmmiring at bes^thoofs,
^headed word; and yon will form some idea what a dsasferons rftiki] kv 4 they are intelligible enough to two soak absorbed in each otbert I am
^v7 fadtodfor t b . OrMk inadator, o r w r n for tfa. Jwad> Krib*. ^ T h . larly food of lookingrat the remnant of aRyntlm
v
r :;*

fe *Z*&^ $** ^ ^ ; * H * * ? ^
IBSiF

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Arait 1, 18*8,
THE JEWISH. CHRONICLE. S7

ftriyhyiniK)logi^towlK>mweowetheweU-knoiro vmtn, which, in its

iconoclastic victory of monotheism over all kinds of idolatries! ancient as well Dramatic and Musical Notes.
as modem, might be beat described as the Marseillaise of the people of the Lord
of Hosts. Bnt a Marseillaise, which is not followed by a reign of terror, bat
by the Kingdom of God on earth, when the uptight shall exult, and the pious Mr. Frederic Gowen's recital, which takes place this afternoon (April 1st),
triumphantly rejoice. promises to be a very notable event, as his melodies will be interpreted by
the most distinguished artists. Thirty-one of his songs will be heard, indudin*
These are, however, merely my personal sentiments. The majority of three new ones, "The Nanten Gill's Bong," " Peace be Around Thee M and M O
Skylark, for Thy Wings," the very titles of which suggest extreme diversity.
students would look rather askance upon the contents of that Sabbatical hymn
under which the remains of Aqnila were buried for nearly nine oenturics. The .The long expected concert of Herr Moris Boeenthal came off at last, at St.
James's
story of Aquila (or Akylas) is a very familiar one. Heflourishedin the first thusiastooally Hall, last Monday afternoon. The eminent pianist was greeted en-
decades of the second century after Christ, was a Grooo-Roman by birth, and a master of his by a very large audience. I t were marvellous if so consummate
art didnot attract the maric-loring public, for they rarely have
was brought up in the Pagan religion of his native place (Sinope in Asia Minor). occasion to revel in a display of such power as that with which Herr Boeenthal *1
Sent by Hadrian to Jerusalem to superintend the rebuilding of the city which ii endowed Mosart, Chopin, Schumann, were alike handled, not only with skill,
the Emperor purposed at that time, he there made (according to a Church but with a perfection which gave unalloyed pleasure. Loud applause followed
-tradition) the acquaintance of the disciples of the Apostles, and was converted each
Herr
number, and at the finish, there were such
Bosenthal played in addition Schubert's/ 4
repeated deafening calls that
Lindenbaum." HerrBosenthal's
to the Christian faith ; this, however, he soon left to join the synagogue* next recital takes place on Monday next, 4th of April, at S t James's HalL
Finding the text of the fieptuagint greatly disfigured both by wilful interpola.
Dr. Loewe is doing everything in St Petersburg to give satisfaction with
tions and by blundering ignorance, he undertook the preparation of a new Greek his German
version of the Old Testament, which was executed with the approval of certain Cricket on the Opera season. He gave, on Thursday, Goldmark's new Opera "The
Hearth," but the piece itself did not seem to find much apprecia-
famous Rabbis, Its main characteristic is its literalness. It is such'awkward tion* The artists, however, met with m a t applause, and none more so than Mile.
Greek that, as somebody has said, it is almost good Hebrew. With the decay of Olitska, who wongolden opinions with her interpretation u
x>t the pert ofthe
the Jewish Hellenifitio colonies, for whose use chiefly it WM prepared, Aquila's Grielwt-^nrthenHearthT" OnTriday, Wagner's Tristan and Isolde," was
produced, and an excellent performance it was
Greek version also disappeared. In the synagogues of Palestine and Babylon, Tristan and King Mark, and Mile. Litirime as Isolde, and Mile.with the two De Besskes, as
where the people were more or less acquainted with the Hebrew language, there Brangane. The Tsar was again present at the perform! Olitska as
was little room for Aquila's Version, though the Babbinic literature has pre-
served a few citations from i t ; while the Church had-little inclination to Florence The. Concert Symphonique given on-Saturday week at Nice with Miss
perpetuate the work of a man whom she accused of apostasy. For most of our soloist, was Monkmeyer, the distinguished Australian pianist and composer; as
a brilliant success. Miss Monkmeyer gave a superb performance of
knowledge of Aquila we areindebted to Origen. We know his amiable weak- Beethoven's Concerto in E fiat, and her rendering of Liss?s Bhapeodie roused
ness for universal salvation, thinking that even the devil was not beyond the the audience to enthusiasm. She was to appear again last Friday at a concert
possibility of repentance. Accordingly, he saved " this Jewish proselyte " from at which several members of the English and Russian Courts staying at Nice
oblivion by inserting several of his renderings in his famous Beweplm. The and Cannes signified their intention, to be. present.
fragments discovered in the Genuah are written in Greek uncials, stated by Miss Julie Peterson, a Danish flautist, save a concert at Steinway Hall, on
specialists to date from the beginning of the sixth century. They are the first Tuesday evening, under the direction of the Berner's Concert Manage. She
played a number of pieces admirably, and her efforts met with well-deserved
continuous pieces coming, not through the medium of quotations, but directly applause.
from Aquila's work, and must once have formed a portion of a Bible used in mirers of the With beautiful tone she combines excellent technique, and the ad-
flute as an instrument for solo performances could not but be
some Hellenistic Jewish synagogue for the purpose of public reading. The gratified by the concert Various artists, both vocal and instrumental ably
Tetragrammaton is given in the archaic Hebrew characters found in the Siloam assisted Miss Petersen.
inscription. Considering that Aquila's version is so literal that the original is The second recital of Mr. and Mrs. Hensehelf at St. James's Hall, on
always transparently visible through it, these fragments will prove an important Wednesday, was again very well attended, and both artists met with a hearty
contribution to our knowledge of the state of the Hebrew text during the first reception and warm applause. It is hardly necessary to say that they did full
centuries of our era, and of the mode of its interpretation. A part of these justice to the songs and duets sang by them.
fragments 4ve been already edited, as the readers of the Jewish Chronicle will Miss Gertrude Kingston is now appearing in the role of.MnL Crespin, in
remember, in various publications, by Drr U. Taylor, the Master of 81 John's u- x: M .* iw. QriterioirTheatre. ~ ~
College, and Mr. Burkitt, the fortunate discoverer of the first Aquila leaf. -But
more leaves have since come to light which will be edited in course of time.
remarka clever, are all Germans, but have studied English, in which language
Under the head of liturgy we might also include the didactic poetry of the they give performances. \
synagogue. It is a peculiar mixture of devotional passages and short epigram-_ The new drams by Mr. E. E. Col
matfc^sentenceyrepresantingrto^ literature of th fully pr^uo^"iB~th^^t QeorgeV at that town yesterday week. As
synagogue in the Middle Ages, ^dmetjmes they are written/ not nalike the produotionof a ne rare event,, thelocal press
p s gave
g consider-
onsider
Book of Proverbs, in the oid Bible manusonpts^in two columns, each column able prominence to the performance, and d spoke
k in i the
th highest
h i h t terms
t off the
th
giving a hemistich of the verse. The examination of this class of fragments oomeav, the scene of which is laid amid French pastoral surroundings. '* The
requires great caution and close attention, not so much on account of their own book
14 is epigrammatic and generally of a high standard of literary excellence."
An honest and meritorious piece of work, " the author of this little gemhas
merits as because of their strong resemblance to Eoclesiasticas both in form and a future before'him in the world of playwrights,**these are some of the
in matter. You dare not neglect the former lest some piece of the latter might favourable expressions used with regard to the piece. The ladies and gentlemen,
escape you. The identification of the Kcojesjasticns fragments ia indeed a-very -who, by their able indering^>f^he respective itiJejsinateriaUy contributed, to the
arduous task, since our knowledge of this apoorypbon has been till now only very favourable reception of
attainable through its Greek or Syriac disguise, which amounts sometimes to a Mrs. L. G. Harris, Miss Jf
Mabels, 8. Iiichtenstein and
mere defaced earieature of tbe real work of Birach. But I hardly need to point the honours of the evening. In response to calls, the author spoke a few words
out that the recovery of even the smallest scrap of the original Hebrew com- of acknowledgment of the cordial hearing given to bis venture.
pensates richly for all the labour spent on i t Apart from its semi-sacred Miss Fanny Darling Jacobs was distinctly unlucky In ha fixed her
4
character, these Sirach discoveries restore to us the only genuine docu- evening concert at the West Hampstead Town Ball on. such an incl ment night
ment dating from the Persian-Greek period (from about 450 till about 160 B.C.> as last Thursday, the weather fiaving doubtless kept many friends away from
the most obscure in the whole of Jewish history. t
the halL Miss Jacobs, with her gifted young sister and brother, is quite
A tAM
~* ~ A i i outside aid, and t h e
I am not unaware that modem learning, with its characteristic horror vacui, nighvs amuse-
to peopled these very centuries with lawgivers, prophets, psalmists, and _ was ably assisted
by Madam Graham Coles and Miss fcettioe Searle, vocalists, the latter lady
pocalpyse writers; batvay student will, I think, readily admit that there is takuos: the place of Miss Annie Mallows, who was indisposed, and Mr. George
till many an obscure point to be cleared up. For instance, the eiaot number of Aspinall, who, by way of an encore, sooompanied himself to a pathetic
the Maocabean Psalms, which is constantly shifting; the exact data of the com- crooning nigger melod/. .Miss Jacobs, who played entirely from memory, is a
position of the Book of Bcclesiastes, which is still a mere guess; the causes moitcspable young violinist, and was hearo in dsshing
M Hnngarian danoes, a
hading to the conclusion of the soHsalled second canon; the precise'nature of Cavatma," a composition of Harass tit, anid other; sesect&oiis calculated to
show her versatiUtyi whilst the oonoert opened with a trio, in which Master Boy
the work of creating new canons and some clear definition of the authority of Jacobs took the 'oello perts, and Mr.'J.X Xyer. who accompanied throughout
the men who presumed to execute this delicate task. Again, most of the theories the evening, the piano. Miss Elsie Hamilton (Brineta Jacobs) was quite at her
advanced as to the date and the authorship of the group of psalms' assigned best in the well-known
w e l l o recitation
a o byyBe Henry. ut Abigail's Adventure."
y, * Aunt
to the third century, of the SongM of Songs, and of the Book of Both, Here her imitation of tbenervoua, harassed old id left g to be desired,
we, to use a Talmudio expression, mountains suspended on a hair," and axe but in Miss Procter's HFaithful SoL" given to was a tendency io
over
w emphasise the word^ Her recitations iacluded site
W no way better than those they are meant to replace. On the other hand, the Pc<ir tittle Joe," ai^^bf^tHttleenoocepoeniu
Period looks,* me rather orer-poiKilated, and r begin to get anxious about
fee accommodation of the synagogue, or, rather, the " House of Interpretation f
(B*h E*mwtidnuh\ whioh was) notftmere Bsmmsh, but a tiling of momenVin
life of those tiin~ In its^ervioe were enKsie^
* n whom neither the m^rpm of a Wellbausen, nor tbe really learned
******ohs of a Kuenen, can argue oat of existence, and whose humble activity, AND SCHOOL OF PUBLIC PERFORMANCE,
insisted in interpreting the law, raising up many disriples, and making "fencesv
u& the Torali, -But there is scarcely breathing-space left for such men as 12, Princes Street, Hanover Square, London, W
these in an ambitious age that was absolutely bent on smuggling iti own pro-
ductions into tile Scriptures, More light is thus to be desired in many * r * Mr. A* K. YTROSU
~" of this period. Stade somewhere aptly described Sirach as on* of tbe
the Jewish Hagadah* and W one wlu> was helpful in creating tbe of the Hnnoifnrtt l a e SMeialitjr
tt|i* means that he was a Babbi or a worker in the synagogue.
as he did, about 200 *c* if *>t earlier, Sirach is therefore the fittest
to eootalt t i m t i l h i s * ^ The desired light on
his a strawy ooovinced, eocne partly, at least, from the Siraofc
within the last tsro years* V - ' rum