Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Algonquin Books (2013), Paperback, 320 pages
Description
This true-life detective story unveils the journey of a sacred text--the tenth-century annotated bible known as the Aleppo Codex--from its hiding place in a Syrian synagogue to the newly founded state of Israel.
Media reviews
Awards
Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature (Winner — 2014)
Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature (History — 2013)
Sophie Brody Medal (Winner — 2013)
Language
User reviews
LibraryThing member drneutron
Around the year 1000 CE, a codex of the Hebrew Scriptures was created to be *the* authoritative version from which all other copies could be based. Many years later, this codex found its way to The Jewish community in Aleppo, Syria, where it was used for study and worship by many - even the
Now, the Aleppo community lived in relative peace in Islamic Syria. There were perturbations over the centuries, and Jews were considered second class citizens, but for the most part, the relative peace of the community there meant this priceless book was safe and protected, and became the centerpiece of the community.
Then, after World War II, everything changed when the state of Israel was created. Arabic states went to war, and Jewish communities in the region suddenly became very unsafe places. Over the next decade or so, waves of immigration brought most of the Jews into Israel, or in far away places like the US or Argentina. In Aleppo, Islamic Syrians destroyed the synagogue where the Crown was kept, and in the process, burned or tore to pieces many manuscripts and books, including the Crown.
Except it wasn't destroyed. After the riot, members of the community gathered page, restored them to some order, and hid them away. As people snuck out of Syria over the next years, the rabbis formed a plan to sneak the Crown away to Israel. But when it got there, magically, to their surprise, the book was turned over to the state and large sections were missing. What happened to it is a mystery.
Matti Friedman spent years working his way into the rare book world and the Israeli intelligence community to track down the real story associated with the crown and its treatment. It's a fascinating look at a chaotic time and a group of people hidden in the shadows. Well done! I guarantee you'll get a bit angry over what happened to the Crown and how it was abused.
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renowned Moses Maimonides - and became known as the Crown of Aleppo. Now, the Aleppo community lived in relative peace in Islamic Syria. There were perturbations over the centuries, and Jews were considered second class citizens, but for the most part, the relative peace of the community there meant this priceless book was safe and protected, and became the centerpiece of the community.
Then, after World War II, everything changed when the state of Israel was created. Arabic states went to war, and Jewish communities in the region suddenly became very unsafe places. Over the next decade or so, waves of immigration brought most of the Jews into Israel, or in far away places like the US or Argentina. In Aleppo, Islamic Syrians destroyed the synagogue where the Crown was kept, and in the process, burned or tore to pieces many manuscripts and books, including the Crown.
Except it wasn't destroyed. After the riot, members of the community gathered page, restored them to some order, and hid them away. As people snuck out of Syria over the next years, the rabbis formed a plan to sneak the Crown away to Israel. But when it got there, magically, to their surprise, the book was turned over to the state and large sections were missing. What happened to it is a mystery.
Matti Friedman spent years working his way into the rare book world and the Israeli intelligence community to track down the real story associated with the crown and its treatment. It's a fascinating look at a chaotic time and a group of people hidden in the shadows. Well done! I guarantee you'll get a bit angry over what happened to the Crown and how it was abused.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Judiex
We read of at least three victims as we follow Matti Friedman’s quest to learn the facts behind the Crown of Aleppo, a version of the Hebrew Bible written before 1000 CE.
When Friedman first sees it displayed in a secluded room at Israel’s National Museum in Jerusalem, he learns that very few
The book, considered by Maimonides, who lived in the twelfth century and considered, even today, to be one of the most important Jewish scholars in history, to be the best Codex of the Hebrew Bible available, had been stored and guarded in a synagogue in Aleppo, Syria, for more than a thousand years. The day after the United Nations voted to grant statehood to Israel in 1947, the Arabs in many Arab countries, including Syria, attacked the Jewish people and institutions, some of whom were in those countries since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The synagogue where the Crown was protected was set afire and the Crown was thought to have been burnt.
The truth, as discovered by Friedman, was that much of it had been rescued and smuggled into Israel a few years later. What happened to it there made it the second victim.
The Syrian Jews, along with hundreds of thousands of the Jews in other Arab countries fled for their lives, taking only what they could wear or smuggle out with them. Jewelry and books were the main items. The Jews in charge of the Israeli government, as well as many of the residents, considered the Jews from the Arab countries to be inferior and treated them poorly. They took the Crown and many of the books, saying they would be returned later on or they could protect them better than the Arabic Jews (who had protected them just fine for more than a millennium) . Many of them were not returned to their original owners. Those Jews were the second victims.
The third victim was the public, including scholars, who was not given access to look at or study this important document for decades. By that time, it was not in the same condition it had been when it was brought into the country.
Matti Friedman used his journalistic training and skills to find out about the Crown and its journey. He traveled to several countries to speak to people who had direct knowledge and was told some truth but also a lot of lies and distortions. Many of them were contradictory. At the end the book, he presents his theory of the codex’s journey.
THE ALEPPO CODEX reads like a mystery with victims, history, red herrings, and the search for the truth. It tells the story of the history of the Syrian Jews, especially those from Aleppo, as well as that of the Codex. The reader feels his frustration as he tries to interview people who don’t want to talk to him, don’t want to tell him the truth, or no longer remember the truth. Despite that, he keeps looking until he is satisfied he has solved the mystery. He distinguishes between the quotes that were questionable and those that he knows were accurate by the judicious use of quotation marks. It’s very well-written and includes a list of the many of the people involved. Overall, an excellent, informative read.
When Friedman first sees it displayed in a secluded room at Israel’s National Museum in Jerusalem, he learns that very few
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of the pages are original. He sets off to learn more about it and finds much more than he anticipated.The book, considered by Maimonides, who lived in the twelfth century and considered, even today, to be one of the most important Jewish scholars in history, to be the best Codex of the Hebrew Bible available, had been stored and guarded in a synagogue in Aleppo, Syria, for more than a thousand years. The day after the United Nations voted to grant statehood to Israel in 1947, the Arabs in many Arab countries, including Syria, attacked the Jewish people and institutions, some of whom were in those countries since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The synagogue where the Crown was protected was set afire and the Crown was thought to have been burnt.
The truth, as discovered by Friedman, was that much of it had been rescued and smuggled into Israel a few years later. What happened to it there made it the second victim.
The Syrian Jews, along with hundreds of thousands of the Jews in other Arab countries fled for their lives, taking only what they could wear or smuggle out with them. Jewelry and books were the main items. The Jews in charge of the Israeli government, as well as many of the residents, considered the Jews from the Arab countries to be inferior and treated them poorly. They took the Crown and many of the books, saying they would be returned later on or they could protect them better than the Arabic Jews (who had protected them just fine for more than a millennium) . Many of them were not returned to their original owners. Those Jews were the second victims.
The third victim was the public, including scholars, who was not given access to look at or study this important document for decades. By that time, it was not in the same condition it had been when it was brought into the country.
Matti Friedman used his journalistic training and skills to find out about the Crown and its journey. He traveled to several countries to speak to people who had direct knowledge and was told some truth but also a lot of lies and distortions. Many of them were contradictory. At the end the book, he presents his theory of the codex’s journey.
THE ALEPPO CODEX reads like a mystery with victims, history, red herrings, and the search for the truth. It tells the story of the history of the Syrian Jews, especially those from Aleppo, as well as that of the Codex. The reader feels his frustration as he tries to interview people who don’t want to talk to him, don’t want to tell him the truth, or no longer remember the truth. Despite that, he keeps looking until he is satisfied he has solved the mystery. He distinguishes between the quotes that were questionable and those that he knows were accurate by the judicious use of quotation marks. It’s very well-written and includes a list of the many of the people involved. Overall, an excellent, informative read.
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LibraryThing member erinster
Incredibly interesting history of the Aleppo (Syrian) Torah and what lengths members of the Israeli government went to in order to secure it.
LibraryThing member vcg610
Journalist Matti Friedman has written a mesmerizing page turner featuring the most sacred text in Hebrew literature, The Aleppo Codex. Friedman hones his detecting skills as he researches this story, a tale which turns out far differently than he imagined in the beginning.
The Codex was laboriously
In 1947 civil unrest comes to a dramatic head in Jewish communities all over the Muslim world. The United Nations votes to create a country for the widely scattered Jewish people. Syrians in Syria react by burning and looting Jewish businesses and the synagogue which houses the Codex. Confusion reigns, and it serves the purposes of those who were its protectors to let others think the Codex has been destroyed by fire.
What actually happened to the Aleppo Codex is the subject of this riveting book. Ten years after the riots, it is eventually smuggled into Israel, but it took Matti Friedman years to discover that when it arrived in Israel, huge sections were mysteriously missing and unaccounted for. Or had that happened after it arrived?
The Aleppo Jews, the Zionist politicians and scholars, and merchants who dealt in Ancient Jewish documents were polite, for the most part, to the author, but apparently saw no advantage to having the real truth come out. Friedman's dogged pursuit of the truth resulted in some shocking "likely suspects" to choose from, and it is understandable, though disappointing that those closest to the situation would want the truth obscured. A book written in 1987 and authorized by the Institute in Israel now charged with protecting and preserving the Aleppo Codex, is quoted as saying, "Surprisingly, as we get closer to our own times, the fog grows, and there are more and more differing accounts of the Crown's journeys," referring to the Codex as the Crown.
As the author so eloquently summarizes the tale, he says, "A volume that survived 1000 years of turbulent history was betrayed in our times by the people charged with guarding it. It fell victim to the instincts it was created to temper and was devoured by the creature it was meant to save."
Another case of non-fiction being more powerful than fiction, this book is history well worth studying, and a morality play that will give the reader much to think about.
The Codex was laboriously
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and painstakingly created in the 10th century. A scribe described as swift, but known for his artistry in creating perfectly formed Hebrew characters, prints by hand 28 lines, 3 columns to a page, until he has drawn every character of every book in the Jewish Bible. The scribe Shlomo works under the direction of the scholar Aaron Ben-Asher to create a copy that future scholars would look to as authoritative. Ben-Asher carefully annotates to make pronunciation of the Hebrew words sure and certain. The book was revered and treasured for centuries. Meant to be a reference guide, it eventually took on relic status and was kept in the synagogue of Aleppo, Syria for centuries.In 1947 civil unrest comes to a dramatic head in Jewish communities all over the Muslim world. The United Nations votes to create a country for the widely scattered Jewish people. Syrians in Syria react by burning and looting Jewish businesses and the synagogue which houses the Codex. Confusion reigns, and it serves the purposes of those who were its protectors to let others think the Codex has been destroyed by fire.
What actually happened to the Aleppo Codex is the subject of this riveting book. Ten years after the riots, it is eventually smuggled into Israel, but it took Matti Friedman years to discover that when it arrived in Israel, huge sections were mysteriously missing and unaccounted for. Or had that happened after it arrived?
The Aleppo Jews, the Zionist politicians and scholars, and merchants who dealt in Ancient Jewish documents were polite, for the most part, to the author, but apparently saw no advantage to having the real truth come out. Friedman's dogged pursuit of the truth resulted in some shocking "likely suspects" to choose from, and it is understandable, though disappointing that those closest to the situation would want the truth obscured. A book written in 1987 and authorized by the Institute in Israel now charged with protecting and preserving the Aleppo Codex, is quoted as saying, "Surprisingly, as we get closer to our own times, the fog grows, and there are more and more differing accounts of the Crown's journeys," referring to the Codex as the Crown.
As the author so eloquently summarizes the tale, he says, "A volume that survived 1000 years of turbulent history was betrayed in our times by the people charged with guarding it. It fell victim to the instincts it was created to temper and was devoured by the creature it was meant to save."
Another case of non-fiction being more powerful than fiction, this book is history well worth studying, and a morality play that will give the reader much to think about.
Show Less
LibraryThing member JBD1
A thoroughly fascinating account of the Aleppo Codex, a very early manuscript Hebrew Bible with quite an amazing story of survival and deception attached to it. While there are parts of the book that drag slightly, overall it manages to be a very good read, and Friedman has certainly uncovered some
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very interesting new details about the codex's history, particularly in the years since it came into the hands of the Israeli government. Show Less
ISBN
1616200405 / 9781616200404