I visited the Smithsonian this Thanksgiving, and in the Sackler Museum is an exhibit of very old bibles (both Christian and Jewish).
Actually, there are very few complete bibles more than 1,200 years old on display; most 'bibles' older than that are fragments, often a chapter or less. I started reading some of the older Hebrew Bible fragments--one was about 1,800 years old. By that time, Hebrew was essentially written in the same script it is today. It turned out to be the part where Abraham banishes Hagar and Ishmael.
What was odd, is that, while reading it, one of the docents approached me and informed that you're supposed to look at the exhibit from left to right. I asked if I were in anyone's way. She said no. I told her I was just reading the manuscript. She looked at me odd, and then I said, "It's in Hebrew. I'm Jewish, I can read Hebrew." (I wasn't obnoxious or indignant when I said this). Several people, including the docent looked at me funny, and then I realized that it never occurred to them that someone could actually read the documents*, which is very odd, since the D.C. area has a high percentage of Jews, a fair number of whom can...read...and...understand...Hebrew.... Very odd.
Anyway, if you're in the D.C. area, the exhibit is worth seeing.
*I'm guessing the Bibles written in Greek from around the 1000s could be read by those who understand Greek.
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Hah!
I've never quite had that experience (not being Jewish and being unable to read Hebrew) but it certainly fits with other experiences I've had. People tend to assume that everyone else is as ignorant as they are. As a chemist, I read the labels on products knowingly, having a pretty good idea what the purposes of most of the ingredients are; many people think I'm just making stuff up to be humorous or something.
Sounds to me like you were looking at the exhibit the correct way: right to left. That is how you read Hebrew, isn't it?
This reminds me of a school trip to the British Museum many years ago, when me and a bunch of my friends decided to try translating the Magna Carta from its original Latin. Not quite the same reaction, but I don't think anyone believed we were doing anything other than make it up...
Whats odd is that you display your Jewish arrogance without even realizing it.
The guide may not have been lookly at you "oddly", maybe she was impressed that you could read it. Who knows? All this shows is, in addition to your arrogance, your paranoia.
You ARE mad. I
Also, when the others looked at you funny, maybe they thought you were just acting like a prick.
OK, time for a funny story. Please forgive me.
When I was an undergrad theology student I traveled all over the place to meetings, ecumenical conferences, presentations, etc. On one of these I was getting ready for a lecture from Dr. Freedman, a top-notch scholar on ancient Hebrew, so I'm polishing up with a Torah (in codex format) 'cuz my Hebrew is lousy when the depatment secretary's boyfriend came in looking for her. I had heard from her that he was an elder in the local Mormon temple, so when he asked what I was reading, I said "The Torah"
"The what?"
"The torah."
He looked clueless, so I continued,
"The Hebrew Bible?"
"Oh. That's neat"
pause, then he continued,
"Wow. When did they translate the bible into Hebrew?"
No, really.
What's odd is you display your not so latent antisemitism without.........well probably realizing it.
Duke,
sadly, I recognize odd looks when I see them. And how exactly does one display arrogance, 'Jewish' or otherwise, while looking at a piece of parchment? Unlike you, I don't move my lips when I read...
Finally, given all of the public displays of Christianity, why are you so upset by my display--such as it is--of Judaism on my blog?
Oh, I know: you're a lightweight Christian supremacist.
Ahcuah,
yes, that's how you read Hebrew.
To some people, just knowing something, or having a skill, is the height of arrogance!
mike
You are so arrogant to claim that.
;)
Mike, you recognize the "odd looks" when you see them?
People can be looking at you in what you think is "odd" for a numer of reasons...bad day, bad breakfast, worried about their job.
You sound like the young guys with chips on their shoulder who start hassling you and say "why you looking at me funny" if you even glance in their direction.
You are are paranoid. You need counseling. Seriously.
Oh, and you are full of shit.
Duke don't you have a hood to wash or something? Your antisemitism is cute, but it gets old.
Hilarious. Mike's mild jab at people who were surprised to learn that knowing Hebrew (via Jewish culture) allows one to read 1200 year old bibles is evidence that he's paranoid - so much so that he needs counseling. A parody of psychoanalysis.
Mike wrote:
Well, yes, I knew that. I was just trying to make a little funny that, because Hebrew is read from right to left, it was therefore logical to go around the room from right to left (as opposed to the way the docent said you were supposed to go).
Like I said, just an attempt at non-sequitur humor. But having a Duke-injection, I imagine, makes it difficult to be in the right mood for that sort of thing.