In this episode of Hebrew Voices #162, Writing the Name of God in Torah Scrolls, Nehemia shows how blank spaces were left for Yehovah's holy name, which were then filled in during a second stage of writing. Nehemia presented this research last week to the world's top scholars at the European Association for Jewish Studies in Frankfurt, Germany.
In this Support Team Study, Looking Under the Hood of a Torah Scroll: Part 4, Nehemia and research assistant Nelson Calvillo continue a series on the oldest (nearly) complete surviving Torah. They unpack Nehemia’s lecture at the World Congress of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem presented to the top scholars in the field of Biblical Studies. In part 4, they discuss anomalies in the way scribes corrected this manuscript, the struggles scribes face when copying from one manuscript to another, and even an example of God’s name being erased!
In this Support Team Study, Looking Under the Hood of a Torah Scroll: Part 3, Nehemia and research assistant Nelson Calvillo continue a series on the oldest (nearly) complete surviving Torah. They unpack Nehemia’s lecture at the World Congress of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem presented to the top scholars in the field of Biblical Studies. In part 3, they discuss the beautiful traditional layout of the Song of the Sea, the tradition of dots dating back to second temple times, and a secret phrase encoded in most Torah scrolls by Jewish scribes.
In this episode of Hebrew Voices, Looking Under the Hood of a Torah Scroll: Part 2, Nehemia and research assistant Nelson Calvillo launch a series on the oldest (nearly) complete surviving Torah. They unpack Nehemia’s lecture at the World Congress of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem presented to the top scholars in the field of Biblical Studies. In part 2, they discuss the spaces dividing the text, their origins dating back to ancient times, and how the manuscript reflects two separate traditions regarding those divisions.
In this episode of Hebrew Voices, Looking Under the Hood of a Torah Scroll: Part 1, Nehemia and research assistant Nelson Calvillo launch a series on the oldest (nearly) complete surviving Torah. They unpack Nehemia’s lecture at the World Congress of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem presented to the top scholars in the field of Biblical Studies. In part 1, they discuss the background of the scroll and its significance, the ways in which it’s been damaged and preserved, and the marks and lines the scribes used to write it.
In this episode of Hebrew Voices, The Scribe's Toolbox, a Jewish scribe explains the ancient methods used since the time of Moses, to hand write a Torah scroll. We explore the different types of parchment, how a quill is turned into a precise writing implement, and the surprising ingredients in scribal ink. He also explains the ritual observance involved in writing the name of God and how to fix scribal errors. If you have been following my research of thousands of Hebrew manuscripts and have been wondering what exactly goes into writing one, you need to watch this episode! Continue reading
In this special Support Team Study, The Testimony of the Shema, Nehemia Gordon sits down with a modern-day scribe who reveals the hidden testimony encoded into the writing of Deuteronomy 6:4. This is a profound example of an ancient scribal practice and how Hebrew information can be completely lost in translation. Continue reading