A fragment of Talmudic literature, possibly dating back to the fifth century or even the Talmudic period itself (which began in the third century), has recently been published here. The fragment was discovered in 1980 among the more than 140,000 pieces of Hebrew writings recovered from the Cairo Geniza. A geniza is a traditional Jewish burial place for holy writings.
The significance of the discovery, which was made by Marc Bergman, Lecturer in Rabbinic Literature and coordinator of classical Hebrew studies at the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, is that it is one of the only existing manuscripts of Talmudic literature from before the ninth century.
“The fragment demonstrates the way in which this literature, which is the foundation of all later Judaism, was set down in writing,” Bergman said. “This fragment is for Talmudic research, what the Dead Sea Scrolls were for Biblical and Second Temple period studies,” he added.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
