It's a tradition among Jews to visit Jerusalem, site of our ancient Temple, during the annual pilgrimage festivals: Succot, Passover and Shavuot. During this Succot holiday we visited the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem's Israel Museum. The architecturally important and unique Shrine, built in 1965, contains the Dead Sea Scrolls and other manuscripts and artifacts, many from Qumran in the Judean Desert. The scrolls on exhibit were written and copied in the period from the third century BCE through the first century CE. The most recent ones date from the decade preceding the destruction by the Romans of the desert site in 68 CE, just two years before the Roman legions sacked Jerusalem.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are a fascinating topic. The seven scrolls from the cave at Qumran, which was accidentally discovered in 1947, are Isaiah A and B, the Habakkuk Commentary, the Thanksgiving Scroll, the Community Rule (or the Manual of Discipline), the War Rule (or the War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness) and the Genesis Apocryphon. The strange but interesting 20-minute video we saw at the Shrine pertained to the Community, an extremely ascetic all-male sect. Its depiction of ancient Jerusalem was enlightening.

(You can read more about the Dead Sea Scrolls at www.israntique.org.il.)

Also on display is a rare Torah scroll fragment from the Book of Exodus. It includes the famous Song of the Sea, widely recognized as one of the most beautiful examples of biblical poetry. It celebrates the Israelites' safe crossing of the Red Sea, praises the Almighty for vanquishing their enemies, and anticipates their arrival in the Promised Land. The scroll fragment is on loan from Lebanese-born American physician Fuad Ashkar. It was only in the late 1970s (after contacting Prof. James Charlesworth at Duke University) that Dr. Ashkar, a collector of Hebrew manuscripts, became aware of the historical significance of the Song manuscript. [ www.ancienthebrew. org/21]

The fragment, dating from the 7th or 8th century, is believed to have been found in the Cairo Genizah, a vast depository of medieval Jewish manuscripts discovered in Cairo's Ben Ezra Synagogue in the late 19th century. A genizah (hiding place) is where unusable Jewish religious texts, as well as other miscellaneous documents from the Jewish community, are stored rather than thrown away. The Cairo Genizah contained a treasure of materialwhich would have otherwise been lost. Its importance was brought to light in 1896 by Solomon Schechter. Born in Rumania, Schechter emigrated to England where he became an outstanding Torah scholar and university professor. He later become president of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York and succeeded in making it a renowned educational institution. 1913, Schechter was one of the founders of the United Synagogue of America, the umbrella organization of all Conservative congregations.

The Aleppo Codex is another rare exhibit at the Shrine. This copy of the Hebrew Bible was transcribed around 920 CE in the vicinity of Tiberias. For about five centuries it was kept in the synagogue in Aleppo, northern Syria, hence its name. Prior to this it was in Cairo, where it was apparently used as a model by the famous medieval Jewish scholar Maimonides. Up until the middle of the twentieth century the Codex remained in good condition, the oldest known copy of the complete Bible, generally acknowledged to be the most important Hebrew manuscript in existence.

Unfortunately, the rise of modern Arab nationalism in the early part of the 20-century led to civil unrest, and the Aleppo rabbis ignored pleas from scholars to move the manuscript to a more secure place. They even refused permission to photograph the Codex and they were uncooperative with biblical scholars who wished to examine it. Apparently they had come to believe that their exclusive possession of the manuscript would cause God to protect the Jewish community in Aleppo from all harm.

Worse came to worst in 1948. The synagogue, which contained the Aleppo Codex, was attacked and set on fire by rioters. The rabbis tried to conceal the fact that the manuscript had been rescued from the fire and that it remained in their possession. But the Israeli government, some scholarly institutions, and several Jewish organizations learned of the existence of the manuscript from informants and they directed a concerted campaign against the rabbis. Eventually, two-thirds of the Codex was recovered, but it's believed that Syrian Jews or their descendants living in New York still retain the missing third. Supposedly, one fragment is carried in someone's wallet as an amulet! In any event, the Aleppo Codex is a fascinating example why Jews are known as the People of the Book. [See www.bible-researcher.com]

Due to ongoing renovations expected to end in 2010, we went to the Children's Wing of the museum to see "Blue and White Pages: Documenting the History of Israel." This exhibit has more than 100 original documents, photographs, films, and recordings on loan from the Israel State Archives, in honor of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel. The original Declaration of Independence is on display, along with documents that contain a variety of fateful discussions and decisions. Other documents and artifacts are tied to key events of very different kinds - from notes written by Adolf Eichmann while awaiting trial, to the blood-stained page with lyrics to the "Song for Peace" that was in Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's jacket pocket at the time of his assassination.

Ancient written documents and rare objects from the Museum are woven into the exhibition. Among them are an original 2nd-century letter from the Bar Kokhba Revolt, the last flag of the British Mandate to be flown in Israel, and a paper tabulating the United Nations vote on Resolution 181, the 1947 Partition Plan for the Palestine Mandate. (Interestingly, Greece was the only European country which voted against partition.) A highlight of the exhibit are pages from the diary of Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, which were restored in the Israel Museum's laboratories. The fact that Ramon's frail diary pages survived the catastrophe that killed the entire crew is amazing, as is the fact that one of the remnants is of a Hebrew prayer that Ramon copied into his diary to recite while circling the earth in 2003.

Juxtaposed immediately next to Ramon's painstakingly restored diary are pictures from 1967 of workers in the Sinai Desert digging up a date palm that had grown up through a human skeleton. The skeleton was that of the WWI Jewish spy (assisting Britain against Turkey) Avshalom Feinberg, who was killed by Beduins in 1917 while he was en route to meet British authorities in Egypt. The date seed was in his pocket, evidently food for his desert trek, which - after he died - sprouted and grew into a tree.

It's a blessing and a mitzvah (commandment) for Jews to visit Jerusalem during the Jewish festivals. Not only that, it's enjoyable and educational. For my readers' information, the next Jewish pilgrimage festival is Passover, from April 8 through 15, 2009. Make your

reservations now!

Stephen Kramer resided and worked in the Atlantic City area until 1991, when he moved to Israel with his wife, Michal Langweiler, and two sons. He can be reached at Sjk1@jhu.edu.