The Scribe part 5

We have seen how the Ashkenazi script became very pervasive through the careful documentation of the Beit Yosef. The descendants of German Jewry, as they moved Eastward into Poland, Russia, and other East European countries, took this scrip with them. Another script, however, was in use in Turkey, Persia, Iraq,Syria, all of North Africa, Spain, Portugal and all of Southern Europe. We call it the "Sepharadic script", but this is a misnomer. It did not come out of Spain and spread to these other countries. By the time the Jews settled in Spain, it was already the predominant script throughout the Mediterranean basin, as well as points East. From all the old manuscripts we can find, it seems to be the script used in both Babylonian and Eretz Israel in Talmudic times. However, unlike in Germany, where the rabbis painstakingly analysed and reanalysed the shapes and proportion of each letter, the rabbis in the Mediterranean communities seemed to take what had been received as a given. Moreover, local variations of letters sprang up; many of which would be unrecognizable to us. The Sepharadic rabbis were tolerant of all of these. Even today, a scribe examining an old scroll or tefillin, might find an unusual letter. If he takes it to an Ashkenazi rabbi, and the rabbi sees that the letter doesn't conform to accepted rules, he will declare it invalid. A Sepharadic rabbi is more likely to say "It's OK. That is how they wrote that letter in Baghdad, or Aleppo, or Tunis". Today, it has become fairly standardized, leaving behind what we may consider ancient oddities. However, there is still a toleration of variations, which is largely lacking in Ashkenazi circles. The Ashkenazi rabbis would counter that we have a detailed Mesorah (tradition) from the Middle Ages that must not be tampered with. Sepharadim question the binding nature of that Mesorah, especially since we find older manuscripts, even written by great rabbis, who seemed to either be ignorant of such a Mesorah, or at least not to be overly concerned with it. This may account for the fact that when Rabbi Yosef Karo wrote his Beit Yosef, he accepted the Ashkenazi script as correct and binding, while in his Shulchan Aruch he seems not to be concerned with the "niceties" of any particular script. Most present day Ashkenazi authorities accept Sepharadic script as valid, if not ideal. Some do consider it invalid, as several letters differ sharply from the Ashkenazi Mesorah (especially tzadi, nun, lamed and shin). Sepharadim rely on the antiquity of their forms of the letters, but do not question the validity of the Ashkenazi approach. Some Ashkenazi rabbis have questioned if Sepharadic script is old, or merely a copying of the print form of the letters. (Sepharadic script is much more like the fonts used in printed Hebrew). However, printed Hebrew began in Italy, where the Jews used a form of the Sepharadic script. The fonts used in print were actually facsimiles of Sepharadic Hebrew script, not the other way around! I find this fascinating, as it reflects the differences of thought in the two communities on nearly every issue. But again, we have today, thank G-d, reached a point of mutual tolerance and respect; at least when it comes to the Hebrew letters..
These two scripts, however, are not the only ones. Where did the others come from? That will be my next installment.