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Genizah
A genizah (or geniza; Hebrew: גניזה 'storage'; plural: genizot) is the store-room or depository in a Jewish synagogue. It is usually specifically for worn-out Hebrew-language books and papers on religious topics that were stored there before they could receive a proper cemetery burial. Indeed, it is forbidden to throw away writings containing the name of God (יהוה). The word genizah come from the Hebrew root ג-נ-ז, which means hiding, and originally meant 'to hide' or 'to put away'. Later, it became a noun for a place where one put things, and is perhaps best translated as 'archive' or 'repository'. This custom also included the periodic solemn gathering of the contents of the genizah, which were then buried in the cemetery or 'bet ḥayyim'. Synagogues in Jerusalem buried the contents of their genizot every seventh year. By far, the best-known genizah, which is famous for both its size and spectacular contents, is the Cairo Genizah, brought to the attention of Western scholars by Jacob Saphir (1822 – 1886), and chiefly studied by Solomon Schechter and Shlomo Dov Goitein. |