Dr. Rebecca J.W. Jefferson has kindly agreed to be our guest for a Casual Conversation, sponsored by the Jewish Culture Group chaired by Bruce Alpert, on Monday, March 14 at 5 pm Eastern Standard Time. She is the Curator of the Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica at the University of Florida (Gainesville). What brought her to our attention was an advertisement in the Times Literary Supplement by the publisher I.B. Tauris (Bloomsbury) for her new book, out this February: The Cairo Genizah and the Age of Discovery in Egypt: The History and Provenance of a Jewish Archive.
If you don’t know about the Cairo Genizah, you are not alone, but you really should. It is a remarkable story of the preservation of a vast collection of documents of Jewish life, theology and history, the discovery of which is unparalleled in the history of the Jewish people, and perhaps second in importance only to the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Here is Curator Jefferson’s online cv. And here is an introduction to the Cairo Genizah.
This is from the Amazon.com entry for her book, an endorsement by an Oxford scholar:
“Jefferson takes the reader on a fascinating journey to nineteenth-century Egypt, where antique dealers, crooks, adventurers, British tourists, budding archaeologists, romantic writers and erudite scholars all scramble to discover the buried treasures of the past. Among the coveted objects are ancient Hebrew manuscripts, many of which originate from a specific location: the cache of worn out writings stored in the old synagogues of Cairo. With impressive historiographical skills and scholarly acumen, drawing on a wealth of archival documents, travelogues, and archaeological reports, RJWJ sheds new light on the discovery and the significance of what has come to be known as the Cairo Genizah” ―Judith Olszowy-Schlanger, Oxford University, UK
Dr. Jefferson responded positively to a blind email sent to her asking for her participation, which she has generously offered. As always, all are welcome, and we encourage attendance to show how hospitable the Class of 1969 is. It did not hurt in persuading her to be part of the Casual Conversation that previously we have heard from the Professor Leah Garrett, author of X Troop: The Secret Jewish Commandos of World War 2, Dartmouth Jewish Studies Professor Susannah Heschel, and Rabbi Arnie Resnicoff. Let’s keep building on our success.
If you wish to join us, please send an email to arthur.fergenson@ansalaw.com by close of business Friday, March 11.
Bruce Alpert and Arthur Fergenson