The American Jewish Archives Journal, Volume LXI 2009, Number 1

whom preserved ancient and elitist traditions and practices in contrast to the
progressive and populist notions of the Pharisees. 3 Despite some who questioned
the origins of the Geniza fragments, both HUC and JTS scholars began the
arduous task of unraveling the unknown texts and readings of the Geniza, and
most began to use them to interpret the more well-known corpus of rabbinic
texts. As they began this comparison, a new and more complex system of Jewish
life and custom emerged that indirectly demonstrated to the Jewish world how
diverse medieval Judaism had been. Slowly, over the next one hundred years,
the Geniza fragments revealed that Judaism was indeed more diverse—even a
thousand years ago—than was once known. 4 The Geniza’s forgotten texts and
readings came to influence not only the then-contemporary understanding of
ancient Judaism but also became a vehicle for reinterpreting modern rabbinic
Judaism. These “new/old” texts of the Geniza were used as precedents for modern
Jewish liturgical, legal, and theological innovations. 5 It was a reciprocal process.
Twentieth-century Reform and Conservative scholars influenced the understanding
of the Geniza by their translations and use of the texts as precedents
for innovations in Reform and Conservative Judaism. By the same token, the
modern, developing ideologies of those movements influenced the interpretation
of the Geniza fragments. Citations from the Geniza materials have not only been
found in scholarly
works but, thanks
to the widespread
use of the Geonic
and piyyut (liturgical)
materials
f ou nd i n t he
Geniza, they have
been integrated
into Jewish law
and practice in the
twentieth century
in Conservative
a n d R e f o r m
responsa and have
even affected the
formulation of
prayer books. 6
First paragraph of two-page letter from Solomon Schechter to
Kaufmann Kohler, October 1903
(Courtesy American Jewish Archives)
I n m a n y
ways, the Geniza
discovery and subsequent
research
anticipated the
How the Dead Sea Scrolls Influenced Reform Judaism • 117