HOW TO READ AN ANCIENT TEXT? LITERACY IN THE PAST AND PRESENT

In the past few centuries, mass literacy was unimaginable. Most people did not read or write but told stories orally, from one generation to another, and, often they embellished their contents to make the events come alive or reflect the realities of their own situations (See, article on “Literacy” in ABD, pp. V: 1022 ff).

In the ancient Middle East, writing emerged in South Mesopotamia in the 4^th millennium BCE. Egyptian hieroglyphics came out around the same time. People used clay or papyrus to write down their messages. Romans used vellum (animal skin) for their written texts. The first hand-written books appeared in Rome in the 1^st cent. BCE. Guttenberg, a goldsmith, is usually cited as the inventor of the printing press in Germany in the 15^th cent. CE. And metal presses began to surface only in the early 1800.

There are a number of rabbinic texts showing that in some communities of the past, only one or two people knew how to read and write, and only a few could actually read from the Torah (that is from the Hebrew scriptures, in the original) ( See Tos. Meg. 3:12 and many others). Most people who needed official documents went to see the TUPSHAR (an Akkadian word, meaning a professional scribe), who studied at the E-DUBBA (namely, in “the house of the scribe”). In the Hebrew Bible, the SOFER (“scribe”), living in the court or local temples, had the same role.

I grew up in Turkey. My father went to College in Paris and became an engineer. His father, however, went only to elementary school. My grandmother, on my father’s side, never went to school. My own mother went to an American High school in Istanbul but did not go to College. Her parents did not have a formal education at all. I, on the other hand, went to Law School in Istanbul, attended the Rabbinic institute in Paris, and later on received ordination from the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati (in 1966), and even got a Ph.D from the U. of Penn (in 1975). The same year my brother went to College in Istanbul and became an electrical engineer.

In our time, it is expected that most people will go to College. My students at Framingham State University are mostly first generation college students. However, it is becoming more and more evident that College today is what we had in High School in the past. In order to get anywhere in life today, you need to get a Master’s degree.

Furthermore, it is becoming evident that now we also need to be proficient in computer technology. You simply cannot function in society these days if you do not know how to work with a laptop. Cell phones are now “de rigueur.” We are paying the price for it, too: few people pay attention to proper English, correct spelling or punctuation.

The other challenge for us is to try to understand what exactly ancient people meant when they used terms that we still do in our time. Even though, in some cases, the meaning remained constant, often basic concepts such as love, wisdom, or law have undergone major changes. Therefore, when we read an ancient text, like the Hebrew Bible or the Quran, or even a medieval document, we must try to understand what it meant in its own time first and, only then, attempt to find relevance for our own days.

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D.

Feb. 25, 2020

SONSINO’S BLOG, rsonsino.blogspot.com

Temple Beth Shalom, Rabbi Emeritus

Framingham State University, Dept. of Psych. and Philosophy

THANK YOU, MY VIEWERS

I have been blogging since 2009, and so far, I have published about 150 blogs, drawing altogether almost half a million viewers. Each blog tends to be about a page long. In the early years, it was called, “From Istanbul to Boston,” and, in 2012, I changed it to “Sonsino’s Blog.”

I write on topics that matter to me and on issues that I think would interest my greater audience: history, theology, life cycle events, and reminiscences.  I write as an academic, as a Rabbi, as someone who has traveled to many parts of the globe. My approach tends to be critical, liberal and based on reason. A review of my blogs show that I have viewers all over the world: the USA, Europe, Russia, Latin America, the Far East, and in the Arab world (primarily in the UAE).

I will continue to blog as long as I have something to say. I appreciate your readership. Please continue to view my texts and send me your comments, for this gives me the incentive to write more.

Gratefully yours,

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D.

Feb. 14, 2020

Temple Beth Shalom, Rabbi Emeritus

Framingham State University, Dept. of Psych. And Philosophy

rifatsonsino@gmail.com

THE EXODUS FROM EGYPT-DID IT HAPPEN?

This past week, I led the first of the four Bible seminars on the Book of Exodus for  the faculty and staff at Framingham State University in the greater Boston area, where I teach Ethics. I decided to concentrate on Exodus, because I consider it to be one of the most fascinating stories in the Hebrew Bible as well as one of the most important narrative in the history of the Jewish people.

The biblical Book of Exodus has four major sections:

1.     The story of the enslavement of the Israelites in Egypt and their liberation (ch.1-15);

2.     The journey of the Israelites to the Sinai desert (ch.16-18)

3.     The covenant with God and the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai (ch.19-24)

4.     The building of the portable sanctuary (ch. 25-40).

The major problem we encounter in the story of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt is its historicity, because there are no references in any of the contemporary Egyptian sources, or in other ancient Middle Eastern texts, to the sojourn in and departure of a group of people called the Israelites from the land of Egypt. The only mention of the Israelites in Egyptian texts is found in the victory hymn of Merneptah over the people of Israel in Canaan (13th cent. BCE), when the king states, “Israel is laid waste; his seed is not” (ANET, p. 378).

There is no knowledge in Egyptian literature of an Israelite leader who went by the name of Moses. In the Hebrew Bible, the name of the Pharaoh, who is involved in the Exodus, is not identified. We do not know when, if ever, the event took place. We also do not know where the crossing occurred. Was it through the “Red Sea” or “the Reed Sea”? And, where is it? (See my article, “Did the Israelites Escape though the Sea”? (In Did Moses Have Horns, 2009, 70 ff). There are also so many generalizations in the Bible about this event that makes it unbelievable. For example, the Hebrew text tells us that the Israelites numbered 70 when they came down to Egypt (Ex.1:5), and, in three generations (Ex.6: 16-20), they left with “about 600,000 men on foot, plus children” (Ex. 12: 37-38), bringing the total to more than one million! All of these assertions make the Hebrew text highly speculative and, at best, legendary. No wonder why so many scholars deny its reliability as an historical event.

Yet, I consider the Exodus a foundational story in the history of the Jews. Over and over again we are told that we were “slaves/strangers in the land of Egypt” (Ex.13: 3; 22.20, Lev. 19:34 Deut. 15:15). Furthermore, as Michael Coogan points out, there are a number of “indisputably Egyptian elements in the account of the Exodus” like, the names of Moses, Aaron, Phinehas and others (The Old Testament, 2006, p. 97) ,which point to an Egyptian origin. Israelites have carried the memory of this fascinating event for centuries, which makes is plausible that it occurred, even if only its kernel is historically correct. Maybe the real event occurred differently and various legends emerged in time; maybe, as some modern scholars now argue, only  a few departing tribes joined up with others already living in Canaan, thus creating a loose confederation of tribes called “Israel” (See, the discussion in my Modern Judaism, 2013, p. 3).

The enslavement and liberation of the Israelites from Egypt have become a symbolic model for all those who are struggling to become free in the modern world. And that is worth noting and even celebrating, as Jews do at every Passover. 

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

Feb. 2, 2020

SONSINO’S BLOG, rsonsino.blogspot.com
Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Beth Shalom, Needham. MA. USA
Framingham State University, Dept. of Psych. and Philosophy