Aleppo and Leningrade Codices Online

[Kirk Lowery]

So, according to Wikipedia,

Later, after the university denied him access to the codex, Mordechai Breuer began his own reconstruction of the Masoretic text on the basis of other well-known ancient manuscripts. His results matched the Aleppo Codex almost exactly. Thus today, Breuer's version is used authoritatively for the reconstruction of the missing portions of the Aleppo Codex. The Jerusalem Crown (כתר ירושלים, Keter Yerushalayim, lit. "Jerusalem Crown"), printed in Jerusalem in 2000, is a modern version of the Tanakh based on the Aleppo Codex and the work of Breuer: It uses a newly designed typeface based on the calligraphy of the Codex and is based on its page layout.

Okay, question answered: the missing parts were reconstructed by Breuer.

[talmid56]

After downloading Flash to my Mac and installing it, then restarting Safari, I now can see the site in Safari. Now also works with Firefox for me after manually enabling Flash. One interesting thing, there is extra material (introductions, etc. to the project) you can see if you leave off the "newsite/index.html" part of the URL after "aleppo.org". You can still access the codex viewer from the aleppo.org address.

Thanks for sharing, Jason!

[Jason Hare]

I adjusted the Aleppo site as requested. And it indeed worked. Using Chrome, which disables Flash be default, I got a page to activate Flash. Violá! There it is. YMMV with other browsers.

Thanks for fixing it. I use Chrome by default, but I have to use Firefox for accessing JSTOR. My proxy to the university server doesn't work with Chrome, for whatever reason.

May I ask an amplification: why the Jerusalem Crown is your favorite? Given how damaged Aleppo is, what text do they use to supplement the missing pages? Aleppo plus text from some other manuscript/edition?

I really like the material that the cover is made of. It is gorgeous how the text is split up into three columns. The font used is also very attractive. It is designed to look like the handwriting of the Aleppo Codex.

I'm not sure how they filled in the text of the missing portions of the codex. I would assume that it was mostly taken from the Leningrad Codex. I've looked around, but I didn't see a direct answer to that question.

[Jason Hare]

So, according to Wikipedia,

Later, after the university denied him access to the codex, Mordechai Breuer began his own reconstruction of the Masoretic text on the basis of other well-known ancient manuscripts. His results matched the Aleppo Codex almost exactly. Thus today, Breuer's version is used authoritatively for the reconstruction of the missing portions of the Aleppo Codex. The Jerusalem Crown (כתר ירושלים, Keter Yerushalayim, lit. "Jerusalem Crown"), printed in Jerusalem in 2000, is a modern version of the Tanakh based on the Aleppo Codex and the work of Breuer: It uses a newly designed typeface based on the calligraphy of the Codex and is based on its page layout.

Okay, question answered: the missing parts were reconstructed by Breuer.

Right, but I wonder where he got his text.

[Kirk Lowery]

I looked around to see if I could find a source that details what Breuer did and his methodology, but to no avail.

The only thing I found was in the Wikipedia article about him:

Breuer's position was that only a single correct text of Tanakh existed; any variants from this authoritative edition were therefore errors. Breuer's approach to establishing this correct text and punctuation of Tanakh was at first eclectic, based on several early manuscripts (and the Venice edition of Mikra'ot Gedolot) and their masoretic notes, as well as notes from Wolf Heidenheim and Minḥat Shai (Rabbi Solomon Norzi). He later gained access to the Aleppo Codex (dating from the tenth century) and found it to match almost perfectly with his work, supporting his thesis of only one correct edition. His edition was first published by Mossad Harav Kook in the Da'at Mikra series and as its own volume. It was republished in 1998 and 2001 by different publishers. The last is the modern edition of the Tanakh known as Keter Yerushalayim (Hebrew: כתר ירושלים‎, lit. 'Jerusalem Crown'), referred to in English as the Jerusalem Codex. It is based graphically on the Aleppo Codex, and is now the official Tanakh of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and of the Israeli Knesset.

Jason, which edition did you buy: the leather bound, the hardback, or...? Asking for a friend.

[Jason Hare]

Jason, which edition did you buy: the leather bound, the hardback, or...? Asking for a friend.

I got the red soft leather. It's pretty.

[Schubert]

Jason, is there a readily accessible source for the Jerusalem Crown? I had a look on Amazon and was surprised at the prices being asked.

[Jason Hare]

Jason, is there a readily accessible source for the Jerusalem Crown? I had a look on Amazon and was surprised at the prices being asked.

I live in Israel, where you can get a copy in Steimatski. I don't know how accessible it is outside of Israel. I know that some people on Facebook had mentioned to me that they purchased a copy.

[Jason Hare]

Checking the website, I see you can buy a copy of the smallprint edition for $28. I'm sure shipping couldn't be that much.

[Schubert]

Checking the website, I see you can buy a copy of the smallprint edition for $28. I'm sure shipping couldn't be that much.

These prices are enormously better than on Amazon! Thank you for the info.