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<font size=3>I am posting the following which I received from someone who
said I could post it, but not in his name. It contains much information
about the topic that I think is of interest, and that is why I am posting
it. YL<br><br>
Hi,<br><br>
I am writing off list because I haven't yet decided whether I want
the<br>
following quoted in my name on the publicly archived Avodah. I would<br>
want to first bounce this off of knowledgeable people. That said, I<br>
offer you some thoughts.<br><br>
<br>
* By now, there is ample evidence that Paleo-Hebrew script was
indeed<br>
the only one in use during Bayis Rishon. If Ashuris already existed,<br>
it was very severely restricted, because AFAIK no document with<br>
Ashuris has been found in Bayis Rishon Israel.<br><br>
* Whether Kessav Ashuris was the original alphabet or not is a
matter<br>
of dispute in the Talmud. The Bavli in Sanhedrin rules that Ashuris<br>
was the original alef-beis, but not permissible for daily use. There<br>
is no way to prove or disprove this, since the number of documents<br>
where Ashuris would have been permissible was comparatively small
(the<br>
Lu'hos and perhaps the sifrei Torah, made of materials that<br>
disintegrate over time, so that none were preserved to this day that<br>
are older than the Dead Sea Scrolls).<br><br>
* I understand that the Yerushalmi concludes differently than the<br>
Bavli, and even if it didn't, on historical matters, either
something<br>
was or wasn't, and the usual rules of arriving at halakhic
conclusions<br>
don't apply, so the rejected view in the Bavli may just as well be<br>
right.<br><br>
* It certainly seems more convincing that Ashuris was from Ashur,
and<br>
that under the guidance of Neviiim, we allowed the adoption of this<br>
new script, because one would be hard pressed to explain how a bunch<br>
of exiled, downtrodden people could teach an empire to use a new<br>
alphabet. Furthermore, if I am not mistaken, the spread of Ashuris
in<br>
Ashur predates the 'hurbon, so that I don't see when and how the<br>
hetter to spread that alphabet came about.<br><br>
* The modern understanding of the significance of tagin is
problematic<br>
no matter what. Even in early Ksav Ashuris, the tagin were not like<br>
ours and the alef beis looked somewhat different. Anyone who
believes<br>
that we truly must stick to the precise form of letters as practiced<br>
today, is gullible, and if a talmid 'hokhom, a fool, too. The
Rishonim<br>
had different letter shapes than we do. When the Gemoro teaches that<br>
R'Akivo was doresh kisrei osiyos, it doesn't mean all of that was<br>
halokho leMoshe miSinai. Rabbi Akivo doesn't hold of deroshos being<br>
reflective of the peshat of the words, that is Rabbi Yishmo'el's<br>
shittoh. Rabbi Akivo believes in connecting the messoroh, including<br>
halokho leMoshe miSinai, to the Biblical text with whatever methods
he<br>
could come up with. Not the derosho, but its content is what is<br>
halokho leMoshe miSinai. Other tannoim may disagree, but they
weren't<br>
doresh kisrei osiyos.<br><br>
* Regarding the requirements that kisvei kodesh be written<br>
kehaviyatam, that refers to the minimal tzuras haos, the pessu'hos
and<br>
setumos (and seduros, according to those Rishonim who hold we have<br>
such a kind of parshiyo), and that we generally follow the pessak of<br>
the botei din hagedolim shebiyrusholayim throughout the generations
of<br>
yore. That is our messorah, not some historical revisionism as to
the<br>
"true" tzuras haosiyos. Anshei Knesses haGedolo had enough
authority,<br>
and some prophets to boot, to obligate us in writing this way.<br><br>
* Regarding the Dead Sea Scrolls with the Sheim Havayo in Kessav<br>
'Ivris, there are two ways to understand that: Either the switch to<br>
Ashuris took a lot longer than we think, and people didn't
"trust" the<br>
new script for the holiest word. If so, this was either motivated by<br>
real halakhic concern, or by people who were trying to be overly
frum,<br>
in defiance of the Beis Din haGodol's rulings. Alternatively, by
that<br>
time, it was well accepted that real Kisvei Kidesh are written in<br>
Kessav Ashuris, and the Sheim haShem was written in 'Ivris so as to<br>
give it less kedusho, very much like we put a dash instead of an o
in<br>
G-d so as not to create sheimos requiring special disposal.<br><br>
Feel free to post this on list, but without my name. <br>
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