Radical Jewish Study of the Masoretic Text during the Enlightenment Period: Joshua Heschel Schorr, Abraham Krochmal, and Elimelech Bezredḳi

Abstract

During the Enlightenment period, Jewish scholars began addressing the issue of textual criticism. Few of these took a radical approach to this question, the most prominent being Joshua Heschel Schorr, Abraham Krochmal, and Elimelech Bezredḳi, whose writings are replete with thousands of textual emendations. This article seeks to examine this fascinating but neglected chapter in the history of the textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible. It discusses the work of these three scholars, analysing their outlook, principles, and methodology and adducing cultural, intellectual, and personality factors as contributing to their special status as a group within a broader phenomenon.