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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'><a name="_GoBack"></a>Can anyone offer insight as to why Rabbi Breuer chose in Ruth 3:13 to have the <i>nûn</i> in <span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>לִינִי</span><span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-family:"Ezra SIL"'> </span><span dir=LTR></span><span lang=HE><span dir=LTR></span> </span><i>l</i><i>în</i><i>î</i> written large?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'>Neither Aleppo Codex nor Leningrad Codex write any of the letters of this word as<span style='font-size:18.0pt'> </span><span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>רבתי</span><span dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>, larger than normal, even though the word is listed as having a large <i>nûn</i> in lists of large letters in the <i>Masora Finalis</i> of Leningrad Codex. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'>Although in its <i>Masora Magna</i> on Gen 1:1 and on I Chron 1:1, the Second Rabbinic Bible of 1527 lists the <i><u>nûn</u></i> in this word as a large letter, in the text of Ruth itself the word is printed with a large <i><u>lāmedh</u></i>, and a <i>Masora Parva</i> reads <span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>למדנחאי</span><span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> </span><span dir=LTR></span><span lang=HE><span dir=LTR></span> </span>“according to the Eastern tradition”. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'>Ginsburg (III:91) cites a Yemenite masora: <span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>אין למד דליני רבתי למערבאי</span><span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> </span><span dir=LTR></span><span lang=HE><span dir=LTR></span> </span>“the <i><u>lāmedh</u></i> of <span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-family:"Ezra SIL"'>ליני</span><span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> </span><span dir=LTR></span><span lang=HE><span dir=LTR></span> </span>is not large according to the Western tradition”. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'>Neither <i>lāmedh</i> nor <i>nûn</i> is included in the list of large letters in Prophets and Writings from Machsor Vitry (Ginsburg I:35, §<span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-family:"Ezra SIL"'>א</span><span dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>226). Ginsburg (I:36, §<span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-family:"Ezra SIL"'>א</span><span dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>227) collated 10 versions of the list <span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>אותיות גדולות שבקריא</span><span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>'</span><span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> </span><span dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>“ large (‘majuscular’) letters that are in Scripture”. Of these, the <i><u>n</u></i><i><u>ûn</u></i> of <span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>לִינִי</span><span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> </span><span dir=LTR></span><span lang=HE><span dir=LTR></span> </span>appears only in <i>Sefer ’okhla we’okhla</i> (Paris [the list does not appear in the Halle manuscript]) §83 and in the two lists of the Second Rabbinic Bible at Gen 1:1 and I Chron 1:1. The <i><u>l</u></i><i><u>āmedh</u></i> does not appear in any of the lists.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'>Further, although Ginsburg does not mention it, the list in <i>Sefer ’okhla we’okhla</i> qualifies this entry with the note <span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>ויש ספרים</span><span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> </span><span dir=LTR></span><span lang=HE><span dir=LTR></span> </span>“and there are [some] scrolls [which read]….” <o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'>Ginsburg (I:37, §<span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-family:"Ezra SIL"'>א</span><span dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>229) also collated 9 versions of the list <span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>אותיות קטנות</span><span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> </span><span dir=LTR></span><span lang=HE><span dir=LTR></span> </span>“small (‘minuscular’) letters”. Of these, the <u>nûn</u> appears in Orient 16 at Jer 39:13.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'>In <i>The Biblical Text in the Jerusalem Crown Edition and its Sources in the Masora and Manuscripts</i> (2003), Rabbi Breuer indicates both supporting and conflicting witnesses for the nusaḥ printed. In this case, as conflicting he only gives the Second Rabbinic Bible (<span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Ezra SIL"'>לִ</span><span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-family:"Ezra SIL"'>ינִי</span><span dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>, with large <i>lāmedh</i>), and as supporting he only gives: “<span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-family:"Ezra SIL"'>מ"ש</span><span dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>?” but adds in a footnote the sources noted above:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition dir=RTL style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:1.0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;direction:rtl;unicode-bidi:embed'><span lang=HE style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>נ של לִינִי מובאת ברשימת האותיות הגדולות של מ"ס-ל ומ"ג-ד בר' א,א; דה"א א,א. כל ניא מובאת באו"א 83 בשם י"ס.</span><span dir=LTR style='font-size:18.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=Exposition style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:1.0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'>The <i>nûn</i> of <span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-family:"Ezra SIL"'>לִינִי </span><span dir=LTR></span><span lang=HE><span dir=LTR></span> </span>is included in the list of large letters in the Masora Finalis of the Leningrad Codex and in the Masora Magna of the Second Rabbinic Bible at Genesis 1:1 and I Chronicles 1:1. Thus [also] is it included in <i>Sefer ’okhla we’okhla </i>83 attributed to “there are [some] scrolls”.<i><span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-family:"Ezra SIL"'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'>It is particularly puzzling that he seems to cite Minḥath Shay (MSh) as supportive of the large nûn, even with a question mark. The entry in MSh reads: <o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition dir=RTL style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:1.0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;direction:rtl;unicode-bidi:embed'><span lang=HE style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>כפי המסרה דריש דברי הימים וריש בראשית הנו</span><span lang=AR-SA style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>"</span><span lang=HE style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>ן רבתי ולא הלמ</span><span lang=AR-SA style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>"</span><span lang=HE style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>ד</span><span lang=AR-SA style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>, </span><span lang=HE style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>ובנוסח אחר מאותיות גדולות לא נמנית עמהם</span><span lang=AR-SA style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>, </span><span lang=HE style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>וכן בספרים כתובי יד אין שום אחד מהן גדולות</span><span dir=LTR></span><span lang=HE dir=LTR style='font-size:18.0pt'><span dir=LTR></span> </span><span dir=LTR style='font-size:18.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=ExpositionEnglishtranslation>“According to the masora at the beginning of Chronicles and the beginning of Genesis, the <i>nûn</i> is large and not the <i>lāmedh</i>, but in another version of large letters it is not listed with them, and thus it is in the manuscript codices that neither of them is large.” <o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'>I can only imagine that Rabbi Breuer saw the MSh’s comments as possibly implying “even though...” and that MSh supports a large <i>nûn</i>. It seems to me, however, that MSh generally provides the evidence of “manuscript codices” as support for his position, and thus the lack of large letters in those implies that he himself does not make them large. Further, even if it is the case that MSh supported a large <i>nûn</i>, I would not expect Rabbi Breuer to choose MSh over the text of the Aleppo Codex.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'>Given that the evidence for a large <i>nûn</i> is so weak, I am surprised that Rabbi Breuer chose this <i>nusaḥ</i>. Can anyone suggest why he would go against the Aleppo Codex in this case?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'>Many thanks,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'>Hayyim<o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=Exposition style='margin-left:0in'>10 versions collated by Ginsburg of <span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>אותיות גדולות שבקריא</span><span lang=AR-SA dir=RTL style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>'</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition>(1-4) Add. 15,251: supplemental folio, Num 27:5, Deut 6:4, I Chron 1:1; <o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition>(5-6) Add 15,250: Ex 34:14, Deut 6:4; <o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition><span lang=IT>(7) Vienna Codex No. 35: I Chron 1:1; <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=Exposition>(8) Sefer ’okhla we’okhla (Paris) §83; <o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition>(9-10) V: Gen 1:1, I Chron 1:1. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>9 versions collated by Ginsburg of</span> <span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"David","sans-serif"'>אותיות קטנות</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition>(1) Orient 16: Jer 39:13; <o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition>(2) Harley 5710: Gen 23:2; <o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition>(3-5) Add 15,251: Deut 32:18, I Sam 17:7, supplemental folio; <o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition>(6) Machsor Vitry; <o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition>(7) Sefer ’okhla we’okhla (Paris) §84; <o:p></o:p></p><p class=Exposition>(8-9) V: Lev 1:1, mf <span lang=HE dir=RTL style='font-family:"Ezra SIL"'>א§2</span><span dir=LTR></span><span dir=LTR></span>. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Hayyim Obadyah<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><a href="mailto:HayyimObadyah@aol.com">HayyimObadyah@aol.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>430 West 119 Street<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Apt. 47<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>New York, NY 10027<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>(646) 712-0117<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></i></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><br><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>NOTICE: This message, including all attachments transmitted with it, is for the use of the addressee only. 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