<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=Windows-1252">
<style type="text/css" style="display:none;"> P {margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;} </style>
</head>
<body dir="ltr">
<div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
I am a little surprised at your surprise.</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
It is well known from the Dead Sea Scrolls that there were lots of different versions floating around at the time of Chazal.</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Which is "more authentic" is not something that we can intelligently talk about; all we know is that there were several.</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
BUT already R. S‘adya Gaon records that the poskim at his time agreed that the Tiberian tradition was the most correct and should be followed. The Rambam specifies that that means the Aleppo Codex. So it is a matter of accepted p'sak (not only the Rambam)
that we follow Ben Asher, and that means the Codex.</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
What exactly was on the versions given to Moshe Rabbeinu? We shall never know.<br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<br>
</div>
<div id="Signature">
<div id="divtagdefaultwrapper" dir="ltr" style="font-size:12pt; color:#000000; font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">
<div name="divtagdefaultwrapper" style="font-family:Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:; margin:0">
<div class="BodyFragment"><font size="2"><span style="font-size:10pt">
<div class="PlainText"><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Rabbi Dr. Seth Mandel</span><br>
<span style="font-size:12pt">Rabbinic Coordinator</span><br>
<span style="font-size:12pt">The Orthodox Union</span><br>
<span style="font-size:12pt"></span></font><font size="3" face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><br>
<span style="font-size:12pt">Voice and Fax (212) 613-8330 e-mail mandels@ou.org</span></font></div>
</span></font></div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div id="appendonsend"></div>
<div style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:12pt; color:rgb(0,0,0)">
<br>
</div>
<hr tabindex="-1" style="display:inline-block; width:98%">
<div id="divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font style="font-size:11pt" face="Calibri, sans-serif" color="#000000"><b>From:</b> Mesorah <mesorah-bounces@lists.aishdas.org> on behalf of Danny Levy via Mesorah <mesorah@lists.aishdas.org><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Sunday, November 10, 2019 3:41 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> mesorah@lists.aishdas.org <mesorah@lists.aishdas.org>; Mesorah List <mesorah@aishdas.org><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Mesorah] Is the Masoretic text the most authentic?</font>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div>
<div dir="rtl">
<div dir="ltr">I recently had a fascinating discussion with Rabbi Yitzchak Goldstein, head of Machon Ott (see
<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__ott.co.il&d=DwMFaQ&c=VTwaeXjOsAHot2hQQ0nozrBJwyviuCtydNuGwYGfYiI&r=e6XbAQdGwcl_5FMtQ-t1eA&m=BLIsPqV9kvoZI5V7SQM4Px3CVz1V4yRgqVLn1hnmVrs&s=ZxgHzgcdwIwzkktF5uyLu6HAfyr8dmduMqKBGQvAu9Q&e=">
ott.co.il</a>), who is very knowledgeable about differences in minhagim of writing Sifrei Torah among the various communities over hundreds of years.</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">I mentioned to him that every year on Shabbat Noach I feel a twinge of sadness when I hear the Ba'al Kore lein "Vayhi kol y'mei Noach" (9:29), considering the work of R. Breuer and others who have proven conclusively that the text in Yemenite
Sifrei Torah, "Vayihyu kol y'mei Noach", is that of the Ba'alei Hamesorah. His response was "Eilu v'eilu divrei Elokim chaim" and our text is no less authentic than any other. To illustrate his point he mentioned a number of places in the Gemara where it
is evident that Chaza"l and the Rishonim had texts or spellings that were different from what we have today and different from the Masoretic text (R. Akiva Eiger gives a long list of examples in Gilyon Hashass on Shabbat 55b). He also mentioned the fact that
the Aleppo community preserved the Sephardic tradition of writing Sifrei Torah and did not correct them according the Aleppo Codex despite their tradition (now confirmed) that it was the Tanach that the Rambam relied on in his Hilchot Sefer Torah as being
the most accurate. </div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">I would welcome input from group members on this interesting question: is the Masoretic text the closest we can get to the text of the Torah given to Moshe Rabbeinu or is it just one tradition, not necessarily preferable to others?</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">Danny Levy</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<br>
<div style="background-color:#eaf1f7; border:1px dotted #003594; padding:.8em; ">
<span style="font-size:12pt; font-family: 'Arial', 'Helvetica',sans-serif; color:#003594;">Legal Disclaimer</span><br>
<p style="font-size:8pt; line-height:10pt; font-family: 'Arial', 'Helvetica',sans-serif;">
The contents of this email and any attachments are intended solely for the addressee(s) and may contain confidential and/or legally privileged information. You must not use or disclose them other than for the purposes for which they were supplied. If you are
not the intended recipient of this message, or if this message has been addressed to you in error, please immediately alert the sender by reply email and then delete or destroy all copies of this message and any attachments. If you are not the intended recipient,
you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, copying, or storage of this message or its attachments is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Any privilege or confidentiality pertaining to this email and attachments is not waived by reason of mistaken
delivery to you.</p>
</div>
</body>
</html>