Did Jew Know That - People of the Book (Continued)

by Rabbi Peg Kershenbaum, Temple Judea Scholar-in-Residence

Last time, I mentioned our moniker “People of the Book” coined by the author of the Quran. Well, it seems that’s rather an anachronism, except, perhaps, for Christians! The Arabic phrase al-Kitab really refers to [sacred] writings, not the form that they took. For, in the 7th century C.E., when the sobriquet appeared, only Christians were using what we could call an early form of “book”: the codex. We Jews were still using scrolls for our sacred writing. As for the Quran itself, the words were originally written on anything that came to hand (stone, palm leaves, even bone!). They were not transcribed into book form until almost two decades after Mohammed’s death.

(The Arabic word Kitab is related to the Hebrew word Ketubah, a written document. There are many similarities between these languages. My favorite is the connection between Iftar, the meal that marks the completion of the Ramadan fast, and Haftarah, the passage that marks the completion of the weekly Torah service.)

For centuries, we wrote scrolls even when the much more convenient codex came into use. We write them—by hand—today as well. That is, a special scribe called a sofer will copy a sefer Torah. Both those words are related to a common root that has to do with enumerating, counting, recounting, taking account and thus, telling. Exquisite as some sifrei Torah (scrolls of the Torah) are, they are not as easy to use as a bound, paginated book! Anyone who has tried to find a passage in the scroll can tell you how challenging that can be. And many of you have had the experience of trying to close the scroll, roll it back together, put on its belt and mantle and get it back into the ark without incident! In the case of the other sections of the Tanakh that we mentioned last time, they, too, were inscribed on parchment scrolls.

Finally, centuries after the Christians adopted the codex format, we began using the newfangled technology, too! Codices were used for study purposes but not for liturgical readings. And today? Well, isn’t just about everyone adept at scrolling?

Chazak! Chazak! V’nitchazeik! Be strong! Be strong! And let us strengthen one another!