Synopses & Reviews
The Hebrew text of the Torah has never been finalized down to the last letter. This is important not least because Jewish law requires that Torah scrolls read publicly in the synagogue be error-free. Jewish scribes, scholars, and legal authorities have sought to overcome or narrow these differences, but to this day have not completely succeeded in doing so. This book offers an in-depth study of how rabbinic leaders of the past two millennia have dealt with questions about the text's accuracy, presenting numerous authoritative rabbinic sources, many translated here for the first time.
Table of Contents
Preface
1 Fixing God's Torah
2 Ibn Zimra's Responsum A: The Zohar, the Talmud, and Fixing the Torah Text
3 Ibn Zimra's Responsum B: The Masorah and Fixing the Torah Text
4 Ibn Zimra's Responsum C: The Talmud, the Torah Scrolls, and Fixing the Torah Text
5 Ibn Zimra's Responsum D: Logic and Vocalizing the Torah Text
6 The Literary Background of Ibn Zimra's Responsa: Rabbi Solomon Ben Adret and the Medieval Sefardi Halakhic Literature
7 Ibn Zimra, Ben Adret, Ibn Adoniyah, the Masorah, and Fixing the Torah Text in the Sixteenth Century
8 Fixing God's Torah Since the Sixteenth Century
Index