Sacred Treasure - The Cairo Genizah: The Amazing Discoveries of Forgotten Jewish History in an Egyptian Synagogue Attic

I thought that it would be a book about the contents of the documents found in the Cairo Genizah. It actually is the story of how the documents themselves were found and the in-fighting about how they were handled, bought and sold, and found their way to all parts of the world. There are only a few excerpts from the actual documents, but they are mighty interesting.

During a third year Hebrew class on the Dead Sea Scrolls I took note that the Damascus Document came from a genizah (a room in a Jewish synagogue where mainly worn scrolls and other writings are held) in Cairo. It was a cursory meeting with the Cairo Genizah of the Ben Ezra synagogue.

At long last, a book that brings the story of the discovery of this genizah and its treasure to the general listener/ reader! As far as I know this is the only popular academical book on this subject.

Rabbi Glickman does an excellent job of pulling the reader into the story. He gives an overview from its time of discovery in the 1890's (or... perhaps a few centuries earlier) to the current state of the genizah scholarship. This makes this books indispensable for both Jews, Christians and Muslims (not only Jews and Muslims, as the rabbi sometimes seem to imply.)

When it comes to the reading of the text, Rabbi Glickman's warm voice definitely more than suffices in bringing the intrigues around this discovery to life. However, it seems that he sometimes want to stop at a few awkward places in his sentences. I couldn't decide if he was trying to read to quick and them ran out of breath or if he had overcome a speech impediment. Yet it doesn't take away his warm-hearted invitation to the Cairo Genizah.

In summary, this book about the discovery and implication of the Cairo Genizah is long overdue. Rabbi Mark Glickman masterly immerse you in almost the next best discovery to the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Excellent story about a very interesting topic. I planned to stretch my listening out over a couple of weeks, but I couldn't manage to break away so I ended up finishing in a couple of days! The author/narrator offers us a beautiful portrait of the fascinating figures that discovered and explored the Cairo Genizah. Wrapping the subject material into his and his son's interest in the Genizah made it both personable and endearing.

Although this is actually a history book, it reads like a mystery. It unlocks a huge piece of Jewish history I had no idea about. It also reveals a very different relationship between Jews & Muslim in the past, that is especially intersting in light of the constant conflict in the middle these days. I recommend it to anyone interested in the history of Judaism but also of the middle east.

Clear, easy to listen to & wonderful pronunciation of all the many names & places. He made what might have been hard to read easy to follow. I wish he had spoken a little slower. With such complex information it somestimes needs a little more time to grasp evey bit of information.

This audible book was excellent bringing to life this amazing story. The way it was read made the people come to life and I wanted to meet them as well as reading what they had found.
I will certainly re-listen to it as I know that I will get more from the story next time.

The writing was hard to follow and rather technical. It seemed to jump around.

No, I have not.

Best:
The beginning of the book and the narration were interesting. I am not Jewish, my wife is Jewish. I purchased the book for educational value.

Least:
Hard to keep my attention. I will go back and forth listening to the book. Still not completed it will take a while.

Have not finished

Average to above average. Presented like a class and that is why I purchased the book.

No. I thought that there would be something to reflect on or an Ah Ah moment. Didn't happen.

Glad it was on audio. I doubt if I would have made it that far in a written book. No regrets on purchasing it.