The Masoretic Text (750-930)

[@SamAronow]

Naturally, the video that reveals how old I am (16:19) happened to come out on my birthday. I did not realize that before scheduling it.

[@EMattheww]

Happy birthday! I really love the KZbin videos you make about Jewish history. I’ve always had so many questions from a factual, historical viewpoint that I could never figure out growing up so thank you! 😊

[@EladLerner]

יום הולדת שמח!

[@thewildcat7972]

11:01 heram it's sound smiler to احرم " ahream " it means cutting off

[@zhouwu]

Wait. You're my age? You're from my generation? Cool! I'll leave it there.

[@jacovawernett3077]

Lchaim from Jacova born March 11th in a Bethlehem. My covenant with God aka Elohim Adonai Hashem is to make Israel One. It means to bring peace and reconciliation between Jew, Christian, Muslim, cousins by Abraham

[@artisanrocky8496]

Screw Netflix, this series is where its at!

[@codwhores6776]

I just did a short paper on Karaite Judaism and I almost lost it when Anan ben David was brought in

[@scottwarthin1528]

Karaite Judaism and its parallels (possible antecedent?) to the Sadducees has been a passing interest of mine. My neighbors, the Karaite community in Daly City, have an interesting intro KZbin vid.: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4PFaHeejLhpkJo Also, Karaite dude (I think maybe their equivalent of a Rabbi?) from Chicago had the most fascinating KZbin of a book he wrote, was promoting, about how in Gospel of Mathew 'the seat of moses' reference was Jesus promoting a proto-Karaite stance.... for the life of me I cant re-find the video, his book or his name.

[@raphaelalbert8110]

@@scottwarthin1528 I think you're referring to Nehemia Gordon. He's an interesting guy and entertaining speaker.

[@ZviJ1]

@Yose BenDovid It's extremely confusing, but when he comes under scrutiny it turns out he's a Scripturalist, though not Qaraite. This is evident from 3 things: (a.) He constantly resorts to the Rabbinic Haftarah portion cycle that differs considerably from the Qaraite one. (b.) He always invokes the Rabbinical names of the Destruction fasts instead of their Qaraite names -- something an actual Qaraite would *never* do. (c.) Several months ago he claimed at Speaker's Corner in London -- and this can be seen in one of his own uploads in his channel on this site, "we have 3 daily prayers"... in reference to the Rabbinic practice. Again, this is something a Qaraite would *never* get caught saying, being that Qaraites only have 2 daily prayer services. He may have identity issues that compel him to profess Qaraite Judaism at some frequency, but this does not make him a Qaraite.

[@ZviJ1]

@CodWhores There is no Abbasid record of `Anan ben Dawid having been imprisoned, even though the Abbasids were meticulous in recording all matters brought before the Calif and who was imprisoned. The myth not only does not show up until the 10th (possibly the 12th according to Nemoy) century, it also has two different versions: one which said that ‘Anan had a brother name Ḥananyah who succeeded the Exilarch Shelomo ben-Ḥisdai, while in the other it says the brother’s name was Yoshiyah. However, both are fiction and bear no relationship with historical fact, since Shelomo ben-Ḥisdai was succeeded by Yiṣḥaq Iskawi I, who was succeeded by Yehudah Zakkai. There never was an Exilarch named Ḥananyah or Yoshiyah. The myth also claims that ‘Anan’s father was Shafaṭ and that he was only called ben-Dawid as a allusion to his Davidic descent. However, ‘Anan’s father was Dawid ben-Yehudah ben-Ḥisdai ben-Bustenai. ‘Anan ben-Shafaṭ disputed with the Exilarch Rav Huna II in the third century (Rav Huna II was Exilarch from 240 to 260), while the alleged imprisonment was supposed to have occurred in 769. The 10th/12th century myth records what it claims was a secret conversation between ‘Anan and the Muslim scholar Abu Ḥanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Tabit (ignoring the fact that Abu Ḥanifa died in 767, two years before ‘Anan’s alleged imprisonment) in which the Muslim convinces ‘Anan to say that he was not the head of the Jews but of a different religion. If there was such a secret conversation, how could the author of the myth be privy to what was said? None of the Rabbanite opponents of ‘Anan during his lifetime or that of his son or his grandson or great-grandson mention a dispute of the Exilarchate with a brother or him being imprisoned. If the things in the 10th/12th century myth were true, why is it that none of the opponents of ‘Anan or the Karaites mention it until the 10th/12th century? The Rabbanite Ga’on Naṭronai lived less than 90 years after ‘Anan, yet makes no mention of the alleged dispute over the office or imprisonment. Leon Nemoy in his “Karaite Anthology”, p. 6-7 says that Naṭronai tells us nothing “about the contest for the office of the exilarch which allegedly served as the immediate cause of his apostasy. It seems reasonable to assume that Naṭronai’s silence signifies that he knew nothing about it, for it would have been to his advantage, had he knowledge of `Anan’s disqualification for the high office, to set it forth in detail in order to demonstrate the more convincingly, from his own point of view, `Anan’s unworthy and ungodly motives. Moreover, Naṭronai lived in the very center of the scene of `Anan’s activity and belonged to the higher strata of Rabbanite society, where the alleged particulars of `Anan’s secession should have been known best, had they been true.” Someone who lived less than 90 years after ‘Anan would also know that the Exilarch Shelomo ben-Ḥisadai was succeeded by Yiṣḥaq Iskawi and he by Yehudah ben-Zakkai and that there was no Exilarch named Ḥananyah or Yoshiyah. Only someone from a much later time period could confuse the 3rd century ‘Anan ben-Shafaṭ and Rava Huna I with the 8th century ‘Anan ben-Dawid and a fictitious brother named Ḥananyah.

[@EladLerner]

Man, you're videos are the best. I'm angry at the national school system in Israel for not teaching us this important peice of history. You don't even have to do it in history lessons. I learned The Bible for 10 years in the public education system but never once they taught me how the books were compiled. I did my Bagrut in Hebrew and they never taught me how Nikkud was standarised. This is an outrage! I knew most of the names of the people you mentioned only from street names. I wish Israeli children knew how rich and exciting Jewish history was! You must, MUST, translate your series to Hebrew. Contact Kan to help you or something. This is amazing!

[@SamAronow]

Thank you so much! I have Hebrew subtitles for all of these, you know.

[@EladLerner]

I know, but good Hebrew content on KZbin is few and far between. Especially educational content. I just wish these was more of it. Have any teacher contacted to tell you they used on of your videos in their lesson?

[@SamAronow]

Yes, but not in Israel.

[@EladLerner]

That is awesome. I sent your history playlist to my mother in law who's a history teacher, and I hope she watched.

[@RJ-or8bw]

No prophet is accepted in his city @Sam

[@777Justin]

In the Orthodox Church we still use Septuagint for Old Testament. The Bible readings during the liturgy are also sung/chanted. It’s a tradition we kept from the old days.

[@deedevs]

Actually, that's where your Septuagint originates from, the orthodox church, not the 72 jewish scholars. The 72 only translated the first five book of Moses. The rest are later greek translations and a development of the church. It's funny how it get's used as a safe net against what the original Hebrew actually says. The translators had to change some words and passaged so they can align with the false claims of their new testament. Then they call it "The Septuagint" to give their corrupt greek translations more credit so Christians believe it's an authentic jewish source, which it's not. The original Proto-Septuagint that was only the Torah, was held in the library of Alexandria, hence the reason it was translated. When the library was burned down, the real septuagint was destroyed.

[@401Revan]

Only the Torah was translated to begin with, the rest was translated before the birth of Christ... as the Jews admit the Septuagint was literally used by the Second Temple Period Jews before Christ since Greek was so popular as opposed to Hebrew... @@deedevs

[@royxeph_arcanex]

8:18 as an Israeli, hearing about a non-Jewish leader requiring all Jews to wear yellow-colored identifying marks has activated a LOOOOOT of sirens in my head

[@isserles]

@Sam Aronow I am quite certain that the Geonim were not being called geniuses in the own time. גאון seems to have gotten the meaning of genius in a much later time. The word גאון in biblical Hebrew translates approximately to pride or something to be proud of (see Proverbs 16:18, Ezekiel 24:21). The "Geonim" were known as such, because "Geonim" is actually short for their full title: ראש ישיבת גאון יעקב. This title appears in many of the responsa from the time period. The title literally translates to "Head of the Academy of The Pride of Jacob". It appears to be loosely based on Psalms 47:5, and would be better translated as "Head of the Academy of The Torah, since the "Pride of Jacob" in Rabbinic writing is a euphemism for the Torah.

[@andrewsuryali8540]

There's an element of human psychology at play here. Say there are people who have the title "Master of Aerospace Engineering" and other people choose to call them "the Masters" and that stuck for a thousand years. People born a thousand years in the future will have a general idea of how the public thought about them. Now, if out of that title you end up with "Spaceys" some eyebrows might have to be raised. There's a reason the Jewish community picked that specific part of their title and not the rest...

[@whitelady1063]

Once again you are only going up in quality. Honestly Fridays have become the days when sam is hitting us with a new video.

[@scottwarthin1528]

Mind Blowing Episode! Longitude 800 before UK Shipping, TimeZones 900 before US Rail, Hanafi Karaite connection, Much Wider Branching Out of the Davidic Line (then what was taught to me), Next Level Complexity of Biblical Cannon Evolution by connecting Karaism to Masoretic Text. Episodes get better and better.

[@Artur_M.]

At 6:20 I literary exclaimed "Septuaginta!" Finally, there was something in this video that I knew about, aside from the basic framework of Califate's history. Seriously though, learning about the Exilarchy, origins of Karaites, ben Meir and Masoretic Text itself was absolutely fascinating. BTW, when I googled "Exilarchy" the first result was some Warhammer 40k stuff. I don't know should I find it hilarious but I kinda did.

[@anneeq008]

From a Muslim, this was truly fascinating 👍

[@CivilWarWeekByWeek]

Sounds like an amazing arms race of information, best arms race ever

[@YardenJZ]

It would be very interesting to watch a video all about reconstructed pronunciation (1st/2nd temple eras) as well as reconstructed cantillation, before the east/west tradition split.

[@OneProudBavarian]

Thanks for this great video!

[@bernardcornellisvanmeijere4375]

Doing a Jewish playthrough soon Bavarian?

[@OneProudBavarian]

@@bernardcornellisvanmeijere4375 I will eventually! Sorry, didn't get a notification for this reply. Hope you are well! I have been learning about Jewish history a lot via Sam's channel!

[@bernardcornellisvanmeijere4375]

@@OneProudBavarian no problem man! I myself have helped Druzhnik with her current Jews of India playthrough of CK3, it's fun. How's life during these hard times?

[@benjaminklass5118]

Great video, it's cool to see how Hebrew was revived as a medium of scholarly literature even before its reivval as a spoken language 1000 years later.

[@אוהדאריאליופה]

The abbasids are not muhamad's descendants, muhamad was from the hashemites. the abbasids, umayyads and hashemites all belonged to the quraysh tribe.

[@moheroacademia]

The Abbasids were not directly descended from Muhammad but they were Hashemites, they were directly descended from Muhammad’s paternal uncle. Being Hashemites, which the Ummayads were not, was part of their claim to the throne.

[@marrakanderjz4738]

They weren't a descendant of the prophet pbuh but of one of his uncle's Al abas which gave the dynasty it's name

[@LennerM123]

You're fully aware that Hashemites are within the Quraysh tribe ? Just like Banu Umayya and others ? Clans within an overarching tribal body politic.

[@azuaraikrezeul1677]

so the hashemites are blondes?

[@shafsteryellow]

​@@azuaraikrezeul1677 what?

[@benjaminromm8184]

Great video as usual on this under-studied period in Jewish history! Fascinating how political rivalry led to the creation of Karaism and ultimately the Masoretic Text.

[@dorseyromano5812]

Issac and Ishmael Sarah and Hagar... Sammy Hagar

[@lynncomstock1255]

Thanks for the excellent history and backstory to what we Christians call the Old Testament. I also thank you for the "index" of the subject matter that you have provided in the "show more" info (under the video screen). I will use it to review your work, as it is too much to absorb in one viewing. The fidelity of Masoretic Text has been solidly supported by the Dead Sea Scrolls that predated the Masorites by 800 years or so.

[@kwazooplayingguardsman5615]

its actually the opposite, the fidelity of the masoretic text was undermined by the dead sea scrolls with textual mistranslations being too obvious to ignore in the book of joshua and of the book of samuel while the septuagint holds fidelity to the dead sea scrolls, and Its kinda obvious why, at 100 AD when the sseptuagint was released, hebrew was already a dying language, the translators of the Septuagint were Jews who were atleast 300 years removed from the time wherein hebrew was still widely spoken in the levant. The Masoretic text were reiterated 1200 years removed from an era of a sizable hebrew speaking culture until it was released as a finished compendium.

[@charlesandrews2360]

I'm learning so much from watching your videos I can't thank you enough.

[@MrMichaelSStuart]

wow! how scholarly! As a Gentile Christian, I admit this is waaaay above my level of understanding! thanks!! (I had heard of the Masoretic text, but all these names and Jewish groups are new to me.)

[@-kepha8828]

There is no such th8ng as a gentike christian. The word christian means "a follower of christ". Christ was an ISRAELITE JEW. He commanded his true followers to be "grafted (adopted) into the olive tree". Revelation states that this olive tree is "Israel". All true christ followers become grafted into Israel. The word gentile literally means "non Israelite". A gentile, by biblical definition, is any person of any nation OTHER THAN Israel. And no, we are not talking about being a person born or living in Israel. An Israelite was NOT a blood line, but a belief. Just as Caleb, Rahab, Ruth, etc, were not bloodbirn Israelites, but as scripture says, they willingly chose to be grafted (adopted) into Israel. Meaning they submitred to the rule of law of God. That is what Christ taught, to gollow the ways that he followed. And he ONLY gollowed his Fathers ways. He never strayed from them. He wanted us to do the same. That is where the definition of "christian" came to be. It ment we would follow the teachings and instruction of Christ. Which was to keep all of the law and commandments as his Father taught. Today however, self proclaiming christians literally reject the ways of Jesus, and instead uphold their own manmade traditions seperate from Jesus. Most often these traditions were inherantly taught to then by pagan Rome and not the bible. No true christian is a gentile. And no true christian adopts the ways if Rome whike simultaneously abokishing the ways of the Father. But thats exactly what christianity is guilty of. And Jesus prophesized that would happen.

[@888YouCantHandle]

Gentile is a made up word much like church is a made up word.

[@888YouCantHandle]

@@-kepha8828 A true Israelite seed exists. Romans 9:7 “Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.” Romans 11:26 “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:” Amos 3:2 “You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” Matthew 15:24 “But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Oh and Jesus was from Judah and not a jew.

[@borisyuabov7292]

Great presentation, thanks so much. 1. Rav Saadiya's book is called Emunot Vedeot. 2. Cantilations are not just musical notes, they are the syntaxes that carries the meaning of the verse. 3. Prior to Tiberian nikkud, there were Palestinian and Babylonian versions. The idea of Aaron Ben Meir was to adjust the rule of delaying Rosh Hashanah (molad zaken). This is more mathematical and not astronomical rule for our more mathematical than astronomical calendar.

[@berbertalk]

Your videos and explanations are just pure sugar. Love your work.

[@halaldunya918]

Do a video on the history of Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Mizarahi Jewry. Could you also do an analysis on the Torah, and how it became what it is now. Of course tradition says Moses wrote it, but secular sources say it was compiled way later. Maybe also do something on the evolution of modern Hebrew , and how it compares to Biblical Hebrew.

[@SamAronow]

All major edot will get plenty of coverage very soon. The Sfaradim are next time and we'll return to the Ashkenazim after that.

[@furrywarriors]

@@SamAronow what about Yemeni and Caucasian (mountain) Jews?

[@LordJagd]

“Way later” is an understatement when you compare the biblical dates and the scholarly estimates.

[@SamAronow]

I'm going to address this specific issue in the next recap video, which should arrive in late February.

[@atbing2425]

Phonological history of hebrew consonants: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eoabi4mHrb-ssJo

[@Baccanaso]

You def deserve more subscribers this is really good

[@bernardcornellisvanmeijere4375]

That comment on ה becoming a silent letter..... ouch, it's 100% true but still. Low key I would love to see a semi restoration of most the letter sounds (at least one sound per letter) that becomes popular, I don't want Modern Hebrew to drift too far.

[@jacob_and_william]

It starts with you. First step is to destigmatize a "wider" pronunciation.

[@SamAronow]

Why do you think I talk like George Plimpton?

[@dumbledor22]

No letter is silent, in the Hebrew alphabet! Also not א and ע. I mean it's totally ridiculous of him saying these are silent letters, when in the very next moment he has the shema on screen and reads it in a way that clearly shows that the א is *not* a silent letter!

[@dianastevenson131]

What a wonderful video - I had no idea that the compilers of the Masoretic Text were known individuals. Fascinating! I will definitely subscribe.

[@adamsurge5761]

A correction: The pronunciation of Gimmel without dagesh in Tiberian Hebrew was ʁ "gh", cf. Arabic غ) and not d͡ʒ. This is evidenced in all pronunciation traditions of Hebrew that retain a distinction for Gimmel, and even Yemenite Jews use "gh" for the soft pronunciation while using d͡ʒ for the dagesh pronunciation, probably under Arabic influence (especially as they use [g] for qof, both d͡ʒ for gimmel and g for qof reflect Arabic in Yemen and other parts of the Arabian peninsula, "gh" for the lenited pronunciation also reflects pronunciation in modern Neo-Aramaics, and the traditional Sephardic pronunciations, and the pronunciations of Syrian and Iraqi Jews). Also this makes sense with how lenition works phonologically ( a fricative at the same place of articulation of the consonant) and how gimmel is described historically. This is the same lenition process as in other languages throughout the world, cf. Spanish intervocalic /g/ etc. (especially common lenition in the eastern Mediterranean, cf. changes to the Greek pronunciation of gamma and delta). See: The Tiberian Pronunciation of Biblical Hebrew vols. 1/2 by Geoffrey Khan which is a comprehensive review of sources. Note that the vowel mergers of different extant pronunciations of Hebrew by Jewish communities cannot exactly be explained by mergers of _Tiberian_ vowels. The Tiberian vowel system was adopted by everyone in writing, but best reflected Tiberian pronunciation. The Sephardic pronunciation best reflects Yerushalmi niqqud system and is likely a preservation of this system (consider the pronunciations of kamats which in Sephardi Hebrew represents two different vowels depending on contexts, /a/ or /o/ reflecting a disconnect between the Tiberian pointing system and pronunciation, but reflecting the Yerushalmi pointing system which didn't have a kamats at all, vs. the Ashkenazi or Yemenite systems which have a single pronunciation for this vowel.) For some fun traditional Syrian pronunciation, I suggest checking out some of the recordings on www.pizmonim.org/ . Speakers vary a bit in terms of how close to Israeli Hebrew their BeGed KeFat are vs. traditional pronunciation. Nearly all Syrian speakers to my knowledge pronounce Het and Ayin with the traditional pharyngeal values.

[@jocelynlewis1444]

Man would I love to pick your brain sir

[@bitkower]

Wow! Really good episode, among a series of really good episodes!

[@danameyy]

The section on trope gave me flashbacks to the months and months of painstaking training I endured for my Bat Mitzvah that I never used again 😭😭😭 it’s super fascinating though!!

[@shafsteryellow]

😂😂 I'm so grateful my parents skip that and just let me read my portion to the dismay of my grandfather who said my mother was shaming him but ironically when the time came was the life of the party and gave me the best gifts ❤ My cousins were ridiculously jealous that my tutor was via zoom 😂 whilst they trekked across the city to a stuffy classroom for weeks on end

[@ianyork2655]

thanks for doing this episode I live in Kearney Nebraska where we have a small Jewish community of Karaites so this helps thank you.

[@the_major]

Great episode! I always enjoy your videos!

[@SEAN555sean]

Great video, Sam. Keep up the great work, it's much appreciated!

[@marcelobeledeli8974]

Very interesting video! I discovered your channel some days ago and now I'm on a binge. Cheers from Brazil! P.S: I imagine that the writings of the Gaon of Taranto must be kinda amazing, but a bit insane :-)

[@marksimons8861]

This was really impressive. Lots of stuff here I don't think I ever knew.

[@tommy-er6hh]

Very informative and yet clear. Thank you and Kudos!

[@robertosharpe5995]

Wonderful ...thank you...connecting so many stings. Shalom

[@adamtyson3962]

I appreciate your videos so much, and even recommend them in class as supplements! P.S. Good example using Ezekiel 25:17 -- though I think I prefer the Tarantino variant with Shmuel Lamed Yakson's commentary

[@stolenhandle]

I shouldn't have had to scroll this far down for this comment. Well played!

[@ShalK423]

Reb sadiya is one of my most respected and favorite Jewish figures in history.

[@GoodOne4All]

That is crazy turn! I follow the Hanafi fiqh which is the most rationalist approach to Islamic laws/practices.For him to meet Anan the original Karaite founder is amazing.

[@sdelmonte]

I was taught Askkenazi Hebrew and still pray in it. Don’t call me extinct! (I get that eventually all Jews will speak Israeli Hebrew but I like my right vowels.)

[@SamAronow]

I wonder how much of it is generational or geographic. I did know one kid growing up who learned Ashkenazi Hebrew, but she was the only one. My mother and uncle learned Ashkenazi Hebrew c. 1955/56 (this is all Southern California), but I have only heard it spoken by Haredim and the grandpa from Rugrats. My synagogue only taught modern Hebrew- not just in an Israeli accent, but a four-year course in fully modern conversational Hebrew.

[@dannyfarkas9127]

I second Alex. Ashkenazi pronunciation is dominant among charedim and also very common among center-right American modern-orthodox (Yeshiva University type). Not in conversation, but definitely in prayer and study. But heres my challenge to you: What are the origins of polish/hungarian chassidic hebrew pronunciation? (ex: "Avinu malkeinu" becomes "uvini malkayni").

[@SamAronow]

This is the first I'm hearing of it!

[@dannyfarkas9127]

@@SamAronow Rly? Search youtube for any modern chassidic music (ex: Levy Falkowitz, Moshe Kraus, Yiddish Nachas) and you'll hear it. My grandparents used the same pronounciation. The differences carry over to yiddish pronunciation as well. Ex: "Du" (you) becomes "dee". "Vos" (what) becomes "vus".

[@Rhynome]

@@SamAronow I learned the Ashkenazi pronunciation at a reform cheder in the UK in the 90s. I now only recite the Shema in it.

[@rafisw160]

One of your best, if not the best video of yours so far! Holy fuck it’s so good!

[@druganema8219]

Thanks for not being biased

[@mlovecraftr]

Oh, the linguistics of this whole subject are fascinating, as is the singing notation.

[@3bks]

excellent video, you deserves much more views that actually had. but who will view this will be very qualified audience though

[@EnricoDandolo1204]

The calculation of longitude has always been fairly simple based on astronomical observations (especially of eclipses) -- the problem behind the Longitude Prize was calculating longitude at sea, while on a moving platform. It's that which requires accurate and stable mechanical clocks.

[@djdubbzy]

The allepo codex mirrors the dead sea scrolls (the surviving parts at least) which was written a thousand years earlier

[@mrmr446]

The Bait al-Hikma was quite an astonishing place, it sounds like herem is akin to a fatwa, which is simply a judgement by an Islamic scholar with just as much disagreement about who should be acknowledged or ignored.

[@SamAronow]

Yes, that's a perfect analogy, thank you!

[@mrmr446]

@@SamAronow Not at all although I'm now wondering if herem refers to any judgement or specifically a declaration that someone is outside the faith, if the latter then fatwa is too broad as it refers to any decision by an Islamic scholar on any issue. I also wondered if the etymology of the word is linked to haram, as in forbidden. One correction though you imply that the time of the prophet ended in 622, that is the date of the migration from Mecca or hijra which begins the Islamic calendar he died ten years later.

[@SamAronow]

It is in fact a cousin of “haram.”

[@mrmr446]

@@SamAronow In which case I think fatwa doesn't fit as a judgement can be positive or damning but it is rarely shown in such a nuanced light in much of the western media. While not as well known 'takfir' is the closest Arabic term, now used by fanatics to denounce most Muslims as unfit.

[@SamAronow]

Yeah, takfir would be better.

[@Despotic_Waffle]

Absolutely love your content

[@enysuntra1347]

I'd like to comment on the last episode, if you don't mind. Yiddish is an interesting language. It's not "derived from Western German", but Oberteutsch, Highland German. The German language is divided North to South, with Nederdüütsch (Old-Saxonian Lowland German), Hollandsk (Old-Franconian Dutch), Meißner Kanzleisprache (Standard German, Midland German) and Oberteutsch (Alemannic, Schwytzerdütsch, Bavaro-Austrian, Yiddish). That said, a comment on the next few thumbnails: If you try to learn some languages, it gets increasingly difficult to decipher Latin pseudo-fonts, like pseudo-Arabic, pseudo-Cyrillic or pseudo-Hebrew.

[@revivlerech9020]

This one was very interesting. Thank you

[@ESan-yq1tm]

Very interesting. Thank you.

[@fredgillespie5855]

Very interesting, clear, and well presented

[@robertwaguespack9414]

There was a certain Jew who made a retreat at a Carthusian monastery. While he was there he noticed that the prayers the said were sung and that they were the psalms. He thought to himself, "these guys must want to become Jews."

[@Rafi_Stern]

A few more corrections: 1. There are more than two sets of trope. There is Torah, Haftara, Megilat Esther, Megilot and Megilat Eicha. And then there are different versions - Eastern and Western Europe, North Africa, Yemenite (and probably Persian and Iraqi have their own, though I am not that familiar). 2. The end of the Gen 48:3 is only sung as a Sof-Parasha on Monday and Thursday reading. Otherwise it is a plain Sof Pasuk. 3. To hear the various Ashkenazic pronunciations you only only have to go up the road to Jerusalem (or stop off in Beit Shemesh on the way). They are very much in use not "far away from Israel". And to hear a het and an 'ayin, you can just walk around Jaffa a bit.

[@princekrazie]

Founder of the Qaraites meeting the founder of Hanafi Madhab is one of the most greatest WTF crossovers

[@shafsteryellow]

History is better than fiction 😂

[@YeshuaIsTheTruth]

I love your content, thanks

[@Yaalah]

Thank you for this excellent upload! *Saadia’s work is Emunot veDeot, not Emendot (18:06). *The masoretic text diverges from other versions like the Septuagint with additional/less words as well. (7:08) Can you do a video on these variations? *What did the dialect used during the second temple period sound like?

[@Yaalah]

7:06 Quentin = Hamishi 😂

[@Hmmmmmmmm320]

I would love to see another Baghdad/golden age! Ugh cannot wait for peace in the Middle East

[@creativewriter3887]

it's ironic that those "Text Only" camp who throw out an oral tradition have to create their OWN oral tradition/interpretation.

[@ilanablumsack1752]

My ultra-orthodox (Litvish) cousins in bnei brak speak modern hebrew in their day-to-day, but pray using the Ashkenazi accent. I assume using the Ashkenazi accent for prayer is also prevalent among the yiddish speaking hasidim in israel as well.

[@YoelFievelBenAvram]

The idea that the Masoretic texts were written by karaites is now considered to be outdated. "Asher 'the elder', who is stated to be the great-great-grandfather of Aharon, is likely to have lived int eh second half of the eight century C.E., before the emergence of Karaism on the historical scene. There is no evidence of a Karaite community in Tiberias during the Masoretic period. The immigration of Karaites to Palestine evidence began in the second half of the ninth century and was directed towards Jerusalem (Gil 1992, 182) Some of the Masoretes, furthermore, were closely associated with teh Rabbanite Jewish authorities, e.g. Pinhas Rosh ha-Yeshiva, who lived in the ninth century. (Martin Contreras 1999; 2002; 2003)" (The Tiberian Pronunciation Tradition Biblical Hebrew, Khan 2020) It also strains plausibility that the Rambam or Saadia Gaon would publicly endorse a karaite tradition. Rather, it appears that the karaites took a special interest in the masoretic tradition and commissioned more copies of those works in the 11th century.

[@SamAronow]

It was never my intention to suggest that any of the people you name were Karaites; only that the emergence of the Karaites sparked a renewed interest generally in a standardized version of the Bible.

[@deborahriley4340]

Wow! Thank you!

[@michaelfishman3976]

*Emunot V’deot was the work of Sa’adia Ga’on. The relation between Sa’adia and the exilarch David ben Zakkai in of itself deserves study. Basically, David ben Zakkai appointed Sa’adia as Ga’on of Sura, which made Sa’adia the first foreigner to hold that post (he was born in Egypt). But the relation was still contentious. There was a probate case where Sa’adia felt that the exilarch ruled unfairly. The Ga’on of Pumbeditha sided with the exilarch, but Sa’adia refused to bow to pressure. The son of the exilarch threatened Sa’adia with violence, and as a result was roughly handled by Sa’adia’s servant. As a result, David ben Zakkai put Sa’adia in herem, and Sa’adia retaliated by putting David ben Zakkai in herem! David ben Zakkai deposed Sa’adia from office and appointed Joseph ben Jacob as Ga’on of Sura, and Sa’adia appointed David ben Zakkai’s brother Hassan as exilarch. This erupted into a large turf war between Sa’adia’s followers and David ben Zakkai’s followers.

[@alhassani626]

Very good channel.

[@motty6905]

Probably your best video of all. It’s an exciting mix of information and quality. Keep it up, dude!

[@boredlawyer3382]

The "chapters" in the Torah and the rest of Tanakh are not of Jewish origin, but of Chrisitian. The Torah has no chapters, although there are breaks (petuchim and setumim) that set apart sections of the text. The three verses about boiling a kid are traditionally interpreted to forbid (1) cooking; (2) eating and (3) benefitting, all from cooked mixtures of milk and meat. The rabbis extended this to include any mixtures of milk and meat, and requiring separate dishes and a waiting period betweeen them. While Iraq and the Geonim were the intellectual center of Jewish life for about 400 years, there clearly were other Jewish settlements. Much of the literaure we have are responsa from the geonim to far flung Jewish communities instrucing them on Jewish law.

[@nathandominichansen825]

Where is it eveident that the Torah chapters are of Christian origin? There are some clear breaks of syntax and plot that seem almost like chapters, no?

[@harelkalifa2451]

Can you make a video about the exliarchs? What was their role in Jewish society? How did it pass? Who held the office?

[@SamAronow]

The exilarchy began as the pretender monarchy of Judea after of the destruction of the First Temple, beginning with the imprisoned former king Jeconiah. When Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon and allowed the Jews to return to Judea, Jeconiah’s son Shaltiel actually chose to stay in Babylon as a leader of the Jewish community that chose to remain in Mesopotamia. That meant conducting most of the domestic duties that were eventually taken on by the Great Sanhedrin back in Judea, so they collected taxes to fund the Yeshivot, which is why the Yeshivot in Iraq were free, and eventually the exilarch was tasked with nominating the headmasters of the Yeshivot, who of course became synonymous with the Geonim. However, in 825 the Caliph al-Mamun decreed that any group of ten men from any religious community was autonomous and self-governing, and it’s then that the power of the exilarch really began to fall below that of the Geonim. Of course, most of the exilarchic family after that point responded by becoming rabbis so they themselves could become Geonim, and to this day many rabbinic dynasties can trace their ancestry to some exilarch on a direct male line.

[@harelkalifa2451]

@@SamAronow where can I find a family tree from king Jeconiah to the last exliarch?

[@SamAronow]

Unfortunately, there are several different versions of the family tree and none of them are the same. Even the Bustanai dynasty, which is the best documented of the later period, has contradicting versions, and what I put here was my best attempt to reconcile them. Whatever the exact details, there are a number of notable families across the Jewish world (Ibn Yahya, Meisel, etc.) who are known to have begun as offshoots of the exilarchy. Jesus and the Zealots were also offshoots. Of course, this only applies to the male line. By virtue of the amount of time that’s passed, literally everyone of Middle Eastern or European descent is a direct descendant of King David.

[@ryuko4478]

Phonologist with a focus on Semitic languages here, I want to nitpick your pronunciation section a bit, the source I'm using for Tiberian Hebrew is "The Tiberian Pronunciation Tradition of Biblical Hebrew" by Geoffrey Khan (2020): @13:45 you say that Modern Israeli Hebrew has 6 vowel sounds but really it only has 5, Modern Hebrew shva (ə) is also never distinguished from segol and tsere (e), the only difference is that shva can be dropped while segol and tsere are usually not dropped. so it's technically not a separate sound. you also show in the chart that Hebrew /a/ is a merger of patah (a) and qamats (ɔ) but qamats (ɔ) sometimes merges with holam (o) the former (the one that becomes /a/) is called qamats gadol while the latter (the one that becomes /o/) is called qamats qatan. That happened because Modern Hebrew vowels are based the Sephardic tradition which is descendant from the Palestinian tradition of Hebrew not Tiberian Hebrew. Similarly Tiberian doesn't have 8 vowels, it has 12 vowel signs (patah, segol, tsere, hiriq, qamats, holam, qubuts, shuruq, shva, hataf patah, hataf segol, hataf qamats) and 7 vowel sounds [a ɛ e i ɔ o u], shva and the hataf signs were distinguished by length from the other vowels not pronunciation, and qubuts and shuruq both stood for the same sound. @13:50 you say that Modern Israeli Hebrew has 19 basic consonants, yet you list 21 on your screen (/b v g d h w z x t j k l m n ŋ s p f ts ʀ ʃ/) more confusingly you have /w/ and /ŋ/ listed as "basic sounds" when they aren't, /w/ is only found in loan words and sure [ŋ] is an allophone of /n/ before /k g/ but that sort of allophony wouldn't usually be counted, the actual phonemic inventory of Hebrew is: /m n p t k ʔ b d g ts f v s z ʃ χ ʁ̞ h l j/ which is 20 consonants, my guess you didn't count /ʔ/ the glottal stop, but while it is usually dropped it should still be counted as it is still pronounced in careful speech, rural speech, and sometimes preserved in stressed syllables, it's not just a silent vowel carrier as you claim they are. Also /θ/ and /ð/ appear in transliterations not loanwords, only people highly educated in English or Standard Arabic would pronounce those sounds. As for Tiberian Hebrew, well /d͡ʒ/ has never a pronuncation of gimel in Tiberian Hebrew, gimel was pronounced hard as /g/ and soft as /ʁ/, mirroring /k/ and /χ/ for hard and soft kaph respectively. As for Vav there is disagreement, it was mostly pronounced [v] tho it does appear to have been pronounced [w] by some people or at least in certain words, for example a special form of "and" before was pronounced [wu-]. Shema Yisrael would be pronounced like this: Modern: [ʃeˈma jis.ʁ̞aˈʔel ʔa.doˈnaj ʔe.loˈ(h)e(j).nu ʔa.doˈnai ʔeˈχad] Tiberian: [ʃaˈmaː.aʕ jis.rˤɔːˈʔeː.el ʔa.ðoːˈnɔː.ɔj ʔɛ.loːˈheː.nuː ʔa.ðoːˈnɔː.ɔj ʔɛːˈħɔː.ɔð] The 5 vowel system of Modern Israeli Hebrew is in fact pretty fine, it is a direct and faithful descendent of Sephardic vowels, but what is very innovative of Modern Israeli Hebrew phonology is the consonants, those consonant mergers are things that were initially proscribed by language authorities, but as the population of Israel shifted from majority ethnic Mizrahi and Sephardi (who mostly spoke Arabic natively) to majority ethnic Ashkenazi (who mostly spoke Yiddish or Polish natively) the jews of European descent had trouble distinguishing many of the sounds and so merged them and where just accepted over time by the language authorities, making the new norm.

[@ZviJ1]

There is no Abbasid record of `Anan ben Dawid having been imprisoned, even though the Abbasids were meticulous in recording all matters brought before the Calif and who was imprisoned. The myth not only does not show up until the 10th (possibly the 12th according to Nemoy) century, it also has two different versions: one which said that ‘Anan had a brother name Ḥananyah who succeeded the Exilarch Shelomo ben-Ḥisdai, while in the other it says the brother’s name was Yoshiyah. However, both are fiction and bear no relationship with historical fact, since Shelomo ben-Ḥisdai was succeeded by Yiṣḥaq Iskawi I, who was succeeded by Yehudah Zakkai. There never was an Exilarch named Ḥananyah or Yoshiyah. The myth also claims that ‘Anan’s father was Shafaṭ and that he was only called ben-Dawid as a allusion to his Davidic descent. However, ‘Anan’s father was Dawid ben-Yehudah ben-Ḥisdai ben-Bustenai. ‘Anan ben-Shafaṭ disputed with the Exilarch Rav Huna II in the third century (Rav Huna II was Exilarch from 240 to 260), while the alleged imprisonment was supposed to have occurred in 769. The 10th/12th century myth records what it claims was a secret conversation between ‘Anan and the Muslim scholar Abu Ḥanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Tabit (ignoring the fact that Abu Ḥanifa died in 767, two years before ‘Anan’s alleged imprisonment) in which the Muslim convinces ‘Anan to say that he was not the head of the Jews but of a different religion. If there was such a secret conversation, how could the author of the myth be privy to what was said? None of the Rabbanite opponents of ‘Anan during his lifetime or that of his son or his grandson or great-grandson mention a dispute of the Exilarchate with a brother or him being imprisoned. If the things in the 10th/12th century myth were true, why is it that none of the opponents of ‘Anan or the Karaites mention it until the 10th/12th century? The Rabbanite Ga’on Naṭronai lived less than 90 years after ‘Anan, yet makes no mention of the alleged dispute over the office or imprisonment. Leon Nemoy in his “Karaite Anthology”, p. 6-7 says that Naṭronai tells us nothing “about the contest for the office of the exilarch which allegedly served as the immediate cause of his apostasy. It seems reasonable to assume that Naṭronai’s silence signifies that he knew nothing about it, for it would have been to his advantage, had he knowledge of `Anan’s disqualification for the high office, to set it forth in detail in order to demonstrate the more convincingly, from his own point of view, `Anan’s unworthy and ungodly motives. Moreover, Naṭronai lived in the very center of the scene of `Anan’s activity and belonged to the higher strata of Rabbanite society, where the alleged particulars of `Anan’s secession should have been known best, had they been true.” Someone who lived less than 90 years after ‘Anan would also know that the Exilarch Shelomo ben-Ḥisadai was succeeded by Yiṣḥaq Iskawi and he by Yehudah ben-Zakkai and that there was no Exilarch named Ḥananyah or Yoshiyah. Only someone from a much later time period could confuse the 3rd century ‘Anan ben-Shafaṭ and Rava Huna I with the 8th century ‘Anan ben-Dawid and a fictitious brother named Ḥananyah.

[@ezraorlofsky7809]

very interesting glad i found this channel what are your sources for tiberian hebrew being the method of the masoretes? I ask because I know of ways to reconcile sefardic pronunciation with all the marks and vowels and im wondering if the various systems existed side by side

[@swarupaNaik]

God bless you abundantly

[@margahe9157]

The work of the Masoretes influenced even Christianity during the Reformation time. The Protestants, unlike all other Christian denominations, accepted the same Bible books as the Masoretes as Holy Scripture! We Protestants have of course the New Testament AND the same Hebrew books plus Daniel as the Masoretes. Only the order of the books is different. :-)

[@srich7503]

Why is that? Why do you receive the OT text from Jews 900 years after Christianity began and from a group that would never be allowed to preserve the NT? 🤷🏽‍♂

[@yakigesher-zion7289]

13:06 could you elaborate on what you mean by “quite wrongly”? Meaning; in what ways was the interpretation of the tiberian accent being correct wrong? Out of curiosity of course

[@SamAronow]

The Masoretes merely assumed that Tiberian was closest to Biblical and Mishnaic Hebrew by virtue that it was the version spoken in the Land of Israel at their time. In fact, the prestige dialect of a language’s homeland is often the one that has experienced the *greatest* phonological change. You can see this today in languages like English, where tiny islands on the US coast still speak in the accent of Shakespeare while the speech of London today would be unrecognizable to him (if still understandable).

[@charlesabraham-ramirez-verdugo]

What is the relationship between the Exilarchs of the House of David and the House of Hillel? Did the descendants of Hillel go back to Babylon and Persia since the Jewish centers of learning moved to Bavel?

[@odysseusrex5908]

I'm curious, what is the source for the lists of the Exilarchs? I never even heard of them before. I just thought the Davidic line was lost not long after the exile.

[@jonathanhollis3205]

Just to clarify, there have always been spaces between the words/letters in Hebrew. Well I am sure you have done a great job compiling/studying for your videos, this is definitely an error. There is no punctuation in Hebrew scrolls and you are correct there are no verses or chapters. But paragraphs and word spaces have always existed.

[@Exjewatlarge]

Dude, I appreciate your trying to educate people about the שם ה׳, but the fact is that in an academic scholarly context, it’s 100% appropriate and even expected to refer to the deity of Israel and Judaism as “Yahweh”. But yes, I would urge caution to people who want to engage their Jewish friends in a theological conversation: if you call God “Yahweh”, they’ll look at you funny. Just say “god” or “Hashem”.

[@מ.מ-ה9ד]

Another incredible and so interesting video! 1:59 Doesn't גאונים (Geonim) means Geniuses?

[@SamAronow]

The meanings of the English "genius" and the Hebrew "gaon" overlap but don't have exactly the same meaning. "Gaon" has connotations that English isn't linguistically capable of. I said the same thing about "molad" in the comments of Name Explain's latest video.

[@מ.מ-ה9ד]

@@SamAronow I just read at the Hebrew Wiki. It says that term 'genius' from the Roman origin, is related to creativity and not to knowledge. For instance, Itay Herman is a Gaon, but not necessarily a genius. Is that more or less right? he.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%99%D7%AA%D7%99_%D7%94%D7%A8%D7%9E%D7%9F

[@SamAronow]

@@מ.מ-ה9ד Yeah, plus Gaon implies a certain amount of wit or daring. I'm not sure what to call it in English.

[@מ.מ-ה9ד]

@@SamAronow Will you do an episode about the history of Ethiopian Jews? I always wanted to know how and when they got there.

[@isserles]

@@SamAronow The word גאון in biblical Hebrew translates approximately to pride or something to be proud of (see Proverbs 16:18, Ezekiel 24:21). The "Geonim" were known as such, because "Geonim" is actually short for their full title: ראש ישיבת גאון יעקב. This title appears in almost all the responsa from the time period. The title literally translates to "Head of the Academy of The Pride of Jacob". It appears to be loosely based on Psalms 47:5, and would be better translated as "Head of the Academy of The Torah, since the "Pride of Jacob" in Rabbinic writing is a euphemism for the Torah.

[@princekrazie]

Not gonna lie, banning medicine and astronomy seems like some Anarcho Primitivist shit.

[@silveryuno]

We are again at that point in history where all roads lead to Al-Andalus.

[@LordJagd]

Even the Kabbalah seems to begin in the Iberian peninsula. Any idea why?

[@silveryuno]

@@LordJagd Nope... If I already knew I would not be watching these great videos =)

[@LordJagd]

@@silveryuno Haha good point. Have you read about ibn Arabi and his philosophy? It's pretty comparable to the Kabbalah and he was an Andalusian Sufi.

[@tesilab994]

It goes to far to claim that the Aleppo Codex was somehow "the" final product of the masoretes. It along with others, such as the Leningrad Codex, may be the best and closest exemplars of the output of the masoretes that we have today, Maimonides may have endorsed it--though no chain of custody proves his Aleppo Codex is the one we have today--but one cannot say the Aleppo Codex is the official culmination and published product of the masoretes.

[@enemia93]

As a Muslim, I was really surprised to learn about the connection between Abu Hanifa and Karaite Judaism 😮

[@deborahriley4340]

Would you please do a video about the musical notation. I'd love to be able to sing the tanach. Can you teach us how to read the notes?

[@christo-chaney]

The Art of Torah Cantillation and the Art of Cantillation Volume Two are what I recommend.

[@andre-philippetherrien2185]

Excellent work and engaging presentation. I love it. However, I had difficulty discerning the main thesis of the video. I understand that the emergence of the Qaraite movement makes an excellent impetus for the standardization of the Hebrew Bible, but why was the Tiberian tradition chosen over the Babylonian and Palestinian tradition? And how does the herem placed on Aharon ben Meir tie into the impetus for the Masoretes' work? Is it just an illustration of the tension between Eastern (Babylonian) and Western (Levantine and Egyptian) Jews? Does that tension somehow explain why Jews would have wanted to agree on a central, standardized text? These connections could have been clearer. Otherwise you are only giving the context for the emergence of the Masoretic text, but the history you provide might not relate to it in any important way.

[@andre-philippetherrien2185]

I also think more could have been said about who ben Asher and ben Naftali were and why they were chosen.

[@user-so5tb1hy8r]

16:46 I was under the impression we did not know how to say the name because it hadn't been pronounced in so long. That Ancient (and native) Hebrew doesn't have vowel points meaning that most words are recognized by native speakers by it's context in a sentence. This however is a name, which has no context in a sentence other than being a noun. That Christians were being presumptuous when they assumed his name was pronounced (I apologize in advance I couldn't find a way to censor this) Yahweh.

[@tzadiko]

DIGEST?! Where did you get that from?! The 3rd prohibition is not to BENEFIT from mixtures of meat and milk!

[@lynncomstock1255]

Suggestion: Pin the "show more" index to the comments so every viewer will see it.

[@asa.pankeiki]

6:26 You misspelled Παροιμίαι as Πστοιμίαι

[@BenjaminNielson]

Is the Taranto variant at 7:05 a real thing? Or a disguised nod to Pulp Fiction?

[@theobuniel9643]

Definitely the latter, hahahaha.

[@יאןגרברניק]

one question the dead sea scrolls do appear to have spaces and they are far older then the Masoretic text what about that?

[@heathenwizard]

Is that…..is that background music from Ocarina of Time? Lakeside Lab?

[@stevenv6463]

What is the primary source of Abu Hanifa meeting the Karaite rabbi? Sounds super interesting, would love to read more details about it.

[@kuroazrem5376]

So this is how Karaism came to be; interesting. This means Abu Hanifa is technically the inspiration behind it.

[@selahstrong1027]

The Karaite reading of the prohibition against boiling a kid in its mother's milk is very simple. They say boiling a kid in its mother's milk was part of a pagan ritual at the time and therefore the prohibition is just to avoid exactly what it says, ie. boiling a kid in its mother's milk, in order to avoid participating in a pagan ritual. Therefore there is no prohibition on cheeseburgers.

[@smarkalet9078]

11:48 No spaces between words? Can you source that statement please?

[@vinfacts11]

history of Jews in Al Andalus when?

[@mattbenz99]

I know we are a long way off from it, but what are your plans for when you catch up with modern day? Are you planning to go back and cover more specific topics from across history?

[@SamAronow]

I have enough material to do this for years. Going into the modern era will enable me to get into more detail with certain things.

[@one-re2ub]

Early karaite beliers and pracrices.. No wonder al mansur favored his brother..

[@tzadiko]

Ashkenazi pronunciation is not in any way going extinct! It just is not used as in conversation. It is very much alive in prayer and Torah reading.

[@jimmybuzaglo15]

Ahh the famous Ezekiel 25:17…. Question… what does Marsellus Wallace look like..?? … what? If you get it you get it