Unravelling the Scrolls
Cross posted
at TamaraEden
Avi and I headed to San Diego in order to have a mini-honeymoon and to visit family along with the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. This is an experience that we both believe will only come once. According to the museum, this is the largest collection of the scrolls ever displayed in one place. Additionally, there are scrolls displayed that have not been put out in public until now. As a matter of fact, five of the ten scrolls we were able to view were on public view for the first time. How exciting!
As a Jew there is some sort of personal connection, in some sort of far off place within, that makes viewing these ancient texts quite special and in some ways personal. For me there were two specifically memorable texts.
First, seeing the Ten Commandments scroll was amazing. This scroll dates to 30–1 BCE. That is practically incomprehensible. The Ten Commandments are very, perhaps cliche, but altogether symbolic and meaningful texts and symbols for me as a Jew. I believe that the image of the tablets is one of the earliest symbols I recall from childhood.
The second significant text today came at the end of the exhibit. There was a Torah scroll on exhibit. This was an ordinary (if there is such a thing) scroll. A scroll used at a local synagogue, typical of the scrolls many of us see weekly in shul. The special thing for me was that of the portions that were unrolled, I was actually able to make out some of the Hebrew text. Not only was I quite proud, but the text was significant. As I skimmed the hand written Torah, with no vowels (which for me is quite challenging), for any familiar words, I was able to find: Sh’ma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Ehad…followed of course by the V’havtah. WOW! Hebrew school payed off and at that moment I felt quite connected and special.
These texts afterall are my/our history, my/our lineage.
Wow, Avi and Tamara, sounds like a great time! I saw the Dead Sea scrolls at the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem in May, and I must say it was a spectacular experience. For me, the big Isaiah scroll in the center of the exhibit was the most moving, because so many of our Haftarot come from there, and it is really a powerful book. And once you get the hang of the script, it’s really interesting how the words become obvious.
But more than the words themselves I was struck by the enormity of our tradition’s ancientness. To think that 2,000 years ago, Jews read these texts as we do today, that in some cave scriptorium in the Judean Desert, a scribe formed each of the letters you can see…. it’s really amazing.
Glad you took those in!
kol tuv,
Yair
That sense of history, that sense of continuity through the ages, is the most amazing thing. It’s such a contrast to the everyday life of new improved everything, that feeling of so much history emanating from our scrolls.
Yair & Yael
Yes it was quite amazing. I mean speaking for myself, it wasn’t so much seeing all the “scrolls” behind glass that were on exhibit because once you’ve seen a piece parchment you kind of have seen them all at least IMO. However for me it was emotionally & spiritually connecting to the historical enormity of our ” Narrative” if you will, that the scrolls represent. It just blows me away that we have this beautiful collective story, one reaches so far back into history and that I, as a Jew, am very connected to that story. Connected to it in ways I’m only beginning to understand and that in all honesty, probably will never fully comprehend or appreciate.