[Avodah] Ksav Ivri and Ksav Ashuri

[Prof. Levine]

Someone sent me that following:

"Professor,

I would like to research a little more about the Ksav Ivri alphabet 
and its historical significance in Jewish History. Were those letters 
(the stick-letter alphabet) in fact used during the first Bais 
HaMikdash and prior, rather than the modern Ksav Ashuri alphabet? If 
so, what Kedusha do the older letters have with relation to the newer letters?

On a related topic, a quick check on the Dead Sea scrolls, written by 
the Essenes, a dead sea and supposedly anti-Rabbanus sect, shows the 
texts written in Ksav Ashuri script with the Shem Havaya (YKVK) alone 
written in Ksav Ivri script. Any insight you may provide would be tremendous."

Another person was troubled by the Gemara stating that the Torah was 
given in ksav ashuri (square letters) while the 
archaeological/paleographical evidence is to the contrary, i.e., that 
ksav ashuri did not then exist. And, he asked, if it was given in 
ksav ivri how could Rabbi Akiva "relate to the tagin when none of 
[the] tagin were applied to the Semitic alphabet [of] those times?" 
(He also sent a quote from an online list where someone wrote: 
"Although, you realize of course that if you accept the view that the 
Torah had a different original script, you run into serious problems 
with the Kabbalah we have on Mitzvos such as Tefilin, Mezuza, writing 
of a Sefer Torah, Megillas Sotah etc. Whose Halacha demands that 
their writing be in their 'original' form. (Kehaviyassan). In fact 
the Gemara in Sanhedrin. (ibid) seems to conclude that the Ksav never 
really changed. That other forms of writing were adopted by different 
groups for different purposes at different times...".)

Any insights will be appreciated. YL


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