1,200-Year-Old Jewish Prayer Book Is Unveiled

[Mosby]

Austin, Tex. — A 1,200-year-old parchment Jewish prayer book that is billed as the oldest in existence was introduced Sept. 27 by a prominent private collector of Biblical artifacts.

The complete 50-page book with original 13-by-10 centimeter binding features early Babylonian vowels, which are a precursor to modern Hebrew vowels. Those, along with Carbon-14 dating, helped scholars arrive at the 9th-century date, which would make the prayer book several hundred years older than the oldest Torah scrolls, although later than the Dead Sea Scrolls.

“This is the oldest Jewish prayer book known to exist in the world,” said Steven Green, the president of the retail chain Hobby Lobby, announcing the identification at the Religion Newswriters Association conference here.

Green’s eponymous collection, which contains more than 40,000 artifacts, is slated to have a permanent home when the Museum of the Bible opens in Washington, D.C.

Read more: http://forward.com/articles/184640/-year-old-jewish-prayer-book-is-unveiled/#ixzz2gRFtesIx


Every page of this siddur could have been be scanned and posted already. I wonder why not.

[Behind the Aegis]

1. Here's some irony...

http://marlboro-coltsneck.patch.com/groups/opinion/p/hobby-lobby-doesnt-cater-to-our-people


When one of our friends asked where the Chanukah goods were, was told there wouldn't be any, and asked why. According to her, the answer was: "We don't cater to you people"

Understandably irate, she called the home office, and was told, indifferently, that hobby lobby doesn't have Chanukah on its list of holidays.

Having heard this, and always wanting to be certain of what I write about, I just called the Marlboro hobby lobby and asked whether it would be stocking any Chanukah merchandise. I was told it would not. When I asked why, the answer - verbatim - was:

"Because Mr. Green is the owner of the company, he's a Christian, and those are his values"

From: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3752776

[Mosby]

2. it makes me sick that Green owns this siddur

This Siddur should be the property of the Jewish people and be made available to anyone online who wants to read it.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. Given what has recently transpired, yes, it is a kick in the teeth.

I agree it should belong to us as a people.

[chalky]

3. Amazing. Giving this a kick just for this reply.

n/t.