Michael Pollak, in his book on the Kaifeng Torah Scrolls, noted that in one way they are different Western Torah Scrolls, the choice of vavei ha'amudim, or column words. Torah scroll columns all begin with with words that feature a vav expect in six places. These begin with the letters, bet, yod, hem shin, men and vav. Typically, the word used indicate the provenance of the Torah scroll. Pollak summarized his findings here:
These letters, known are known by the acronym b'yah sh'mo. As we can see from this chart, certain words are fixed for all Jewish communities, but others vary based on the community creating the scroll:
Here are the Kaifeng choices for these words:
Bet: The Kaifeng Scrolls use bereshit, the first word of the Torah, as do all scroll regardless of region.
Yod: The Kaifeng Scrolls use yesakhar, from Genesis 49:14. Kaifeng shares this choice with Mizrahi scrolls.
He: The Kaifeng Scrolls use habaim, from Exodus 14:28, as do all scrolls regardless of region.
Shin: The Kaifeng Scrolls use shoftim, from Deuteronomy 16:18. Kaifeng shares this choice with Mizrahi scrolls.
Mem: The Kaifeng Scrolls use motzaih, from Deuteronomy 23:24, and Kaifeng shares this choice with Yemini, Italian and Mizrahi scrolls.
Vav: The Kaifeng Scrolls use vaeidah, from Numbers 24:5, as do all scrolls regardless of region.
Of the three variable words that come into play, Mizrahi examples found in all three, but the final case could be from a Yemenite or Italian scroll (with Yemenite being most likely).
In the previous entry, we saw how there are many areas of overlap between the Vienna Scroll and Yemeni scrolls. Here, we see that the b'yah sh'mo column format follows Mizrahi scrolls. Both of these make historical and geographical sense: most likely, replacement Torah copies arrived in Kaifeng via these eastern communities or their representatives.
A future question: are there more areas of overlap between Mizrahi and Kaifeng scrolls?
Comments
Post a Comment