[Mesorah] Codex Lamed (mem)

[Dov Bloom]

In my last post I mentioned Codex Lamed (mem).

Codex Lamed (mem) came from the Cairo Geniza and was in the collection of Manfred Lehman. It had its  Messora Gedola published  by Rav M. Breuer in 5751 (reissued by Reuven Mas 5762). 
This Codex was written by, punctuated by and had the massoretic notes written by one Shmuel Ben Yaacov, who also punctuated and wrote the Massora of the Leningrad B19a codex. 
Its MG is greatly influenced by the Bavli Massora. 

This codex and R Breuer's work on it is very important. 
Many scholars, many non-Jewish scholars and also a lot of Jewish ones hold that the Leningrad Codex is of equal weight to Alleppo (or any other ancient Codex). For their purposes Leningrad is better, more useful, because it has the whole Tnach, which Allepo doesn't. (Thanks to Arab rioters and maybe also to Syrian Halabi Jews, but that is another story entirely)
 
Breuer tried to prove in his book on the Allepo Codex that it is far superior to the Leningrad Codex because it closely/almost 100% hews to the Massora. Leningrad in his opinion has tens or hundreds of divergences from the true Massora.

The opposing scholars said: Leningrad represents a slighty different but of equal weight Messora. Why is it's Masran any worse that Allepo's Masran? Most think "any Messora in any old MSS is of equal weight"

Breuer tried to show by publishing Lamed (mem), that the divergences of Leningrad from what Breuer felt was the "correct" Messora was not an equal, old shita passed down and held by the Masran of Leningrad. Because the very same Masran Shmuel ben Yaacov, in this different codex, wrote something different! So not only does B19a not represent an old Massora, it doesn't even represent the Masran's OWN Messora, he just wrote in 2 places and both have numerous mistakes. Ha-Ra'ayah - the two MSS of the same Masran diverge from each other!

This is a important subject/argument in the Massora world, and I thought it merited its own post and not to be hidden under the subject of Re Allepo Codex Ruth 1:19

Dov Bloom (DB the younger on this list)
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