Community Magazine April 2014

28 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE centers abroad. They are all but one phone call or email away from one another, creating an around-the-clock network of information. The museum is a constant whirlwind of activity with staff intensely engaging in conversation as towhat happenedwhen andwhy. The staff takes nothing for granted, and nary a detail is missed. The atmosphere is bursting with energy and excitement. Rabbi Sultan says that the museum is operational from around 4am till 1am, leaving but a few hours of desolation. For these scholars, this is not a job, but a calling, to which they are passionately and tirelessly devoted. Manuscripts Division The crown jewel of this operation, according to Rabbi Sultan, is the museum’s manuscript publishing division. The Torah of our fathers and grandfathers, Rabbi Sultan explains, is far more important than anything else to which our community lays claim. While we may reminisce about times that were, it is imperative to focus on the laws and customs that remain. Above all else, the Sephardim of the past centuries were host to towering Torah scholars. Hundreds of rabbis with extraordinary reservoirs of knowledge scripted and authored what has become the bedrock of our spiritual existence. Over the years their works were rescued or transferred from their native countries to our shores on cracked parchment and frayed covers. These jewels of Torah scholarship constitute the core of the Sephardic Heritage Museum’s manuscript division. The museum is home to nearly one thousand manuscripts and books that were once thought lost, pieces of Torah scholarship that touch upon nearly every aspect of religious life. Most date back hundreds of years, as determined by the writing and bindings. The topics covered in these texts include matrimony, milah , kashrut, daily ethics, and virtually every subject imaginable. These texts are an integral part of the scholarly tradition that dictates how we live our lives even today. Some were written by household names of Sephardic Torah literature, while others were authored by largely unknown figures, but each manuscript is an immensely important piece of scholarship, sewn into the very fabric of our society. Without these religious texts, we are but a misguided cluster of immigrants who were chased from their land. With them, we lay claim to the greatest heritage a group of people has ever known. While the manuscript collection consists mainly of communal records, it also includes other texts. For instance, a small, leather-bound book near the bottom of the shelves is described by the staff as “the berit milah book,” a ledger recording nearly all the milot conducted in Aleppo through the centuries. Hundreds of names are listed in hand script, and nearly every name is recognizable. These include familiar Syrian names such as “Sutton,” “Shammah,” “Dweck,” “Haber” and “Kassin.” Rabbi Sultan explained some of the history behind this unique artifact. “Most of the milot were carried out by a member of the Dayan family. It is said that they are direct descendants of David Hamelech. For this reason they were considered nobility, and no berit , or official community function, for that matter, was officiated without them. If one wished to use a different mohel he would pay a fee to the family in compensation for not using their services. So here we have the very book that chronicled the right of passage for hundreds upon hundreds of Syrian boys.” Bringing Historical Artifacts Onto the Bookshelves Acquiring these manuscripts was by no means an easy feat. It has taken decades to collect and thousands of hours to preserve. Behind each manuscript lies a unique story as to how it came into the hands of the Sephardic Heritage Museum. Some were purchased, others were attained through overt Divine intervention, and a few were donated by families wishing to have their place entrenched in our history. The only common feature is that they were all, without exception, very difficult to come by. Realizing that these works were written to be studied, and not merely displayed, the museum has undertaken the ambitious task of turning the manuscripts into readable books. After the long journey of locating and obtaining these precious texts, the Sephardic Heritage Museum is committing to allowing the public access to this wealth of scholarship. After each manuscript is brought to the museum and reviewed, it is restored to its previous form.This is no simple task.Most manuscripts date back to before the 18 th century, which means that the ink used by the scribe consists of acid. Over the years, the acid burns through the pages, rendering it nearly unreadable to the common eye. A highly-skilled restoring technician, the same one employed by the world famousSmithsonianMuseumfor its ownpreservationpurposes, spends countless hours tediously returning each page to readability. Even the shards of paper that have fallen off over the years are kept for safekeeping and further analysis. A long and complex process is used to reconstruct each page, allowing the reader to handle it as if any other book. This is all done by the restorer with an understanding This image from the museum’s portfolio shows Mr. Natan Salama working in his copper shop. Damascus, circa 1990 Mr. Rahamum Jajati working in his butcher shop. Damascus, circa 1990