The Genizah at a Glance: 200,000 manuscripts and 110 years of historical analysis

In his presentation, Professor Stefan Reif will explain how the „Cairo Genizah“, the world`s greatest collection of Hebrew and Jewish manuscripts from the Middle Ages, was accumulated and the manner in which it was discovered and brought from Egypt to academic institutions in the western World by a number of remarkable individuals. He will trace the process of decipherment, analysis and research undertaken on these precious but fragmentary documents, and will clarify and exemplify the great variety of content that they have preserved. He will also estimate the effect that these discoveries have had on our understanding of life in the Eastern Mediterranean a thousand years ago.
Stefan Reif is Emeritus Professor of Medieval Hebrew Studies and Fellow of St John`s College in the University of Cambridge. He also holds senior research posts at the Universities of Haifa and Tel Aviv. He was the Founding Director of the Genizah Research Unit at Cambridge University Library (1973 - 2006). He is the author of many books and articles and has lectured widely in Europe, Israel and the USA. His latest volumes are A Jewish Archive from Old Cairo (2000), Problems with Prayers (2006), Charles Taylor and the Genizah Collection (2009), and Death in Jewish Life (2014). He is currently working on a volume describing and analysing medieval liturgical fragments from Cairo Genizah. Together with F. W. de Klerk, former President of South Africa, and Chaim Topol, the famous actor, he was recently awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Haifa.
Moderation: Professor Dr. Stefan Beyerle