The Hidden Story of the Erfurt Manuscripts

In 1868, German scholar Adolf Jerschowski published a book on Jewish history, mentioning an ancient manuscript of the "Jerusalem Talmud" housed in the Evangelistic Church library in Erfurt, Germany. Talmudic scholar Zacharias Frankel was intrigued by this discovery, recognizing its potential significance for research. He set out to Erfurt and gained permission to examine the manuscript. To his surprise, it wasn't the Jerusalem Talmud but the Tosefta. The Erfurt Manuscript became renowned as the oldest, most authoritative manuscript of the Tosefta, a version later included in the Vilna Shas.

Thanks to the dedicated librarians of the Erfurt Church for preserving the manuscript and allowing Frankel access! Additionally, there’s a vast collection of unique and rare Jewish manuscripts known as the "Erfurt Collection." In 1879, the church sold the "Erfurt Collection" to the Berlin State Library for a modest 5,000 marks, where it remains today. Those who ask nicely can view this precious collection.

Erfurt was a prominent city in Ashkenaz, home to important Jewish figures like Rabbi Eleazar of Worms, Rabbeinu Asher (the Rosh), and others.

About ten years ago, the Berlin State Library digitized its manuscript collection, allowing researchers to view them online. Ephraim Kaspi, a researcher of ancient texts, made a startling discovery.

The history is documented: the church's collection, sold for 5,000 marks, was acquired not through labor or legality—rather, through a horrific massacre of Erfurt's Jews. During the Black Death in 1349, on Shabbat, a Christian mob accused the Jews of spreading the plague and slaughtered them. Three thousand Jews were killed, many burned alive in their homes. In the synagogue, Rabbi Alexander Siskind was murdered during Torah reading. The Torah scrolls and manuscripts were plundered, desecrated, and burned; the remaining items were confiscated by the church, later to be sold.

The old synagogue of Erfurt was sold to a townsman and later used as a banquet hall. During the Holocaust, it became a restaurant, sparing it from Nazi destruction. Recently, it returned to Jewish hands, standing today as a more than 800-year-old synagogue. Nearby, a mikveh and part of a Jewish cemetery were discovered.

Kaspi's shocking discovery was the precise date of the massacre, debated by historians. Kaspi believed the Torah scrolls would remain open to the portion read on the fateful day. Indeed, the three scrolls preserved showed signs of the parashot: Tazria, Pinchas, and Bo. Historical calculations revealed the massacre occurred on Shabbat, 1 Nisan 1349, when Tazria was read. The second Torah had Rosh Chodesh reading from Pinchas, and the third had "Parashat HaChodesh" from Bo.

The chilling find: in the Berlin State Library scans, visible bloodstains mar the Torah scrolls at those precise spots. This is the blood of martyrs from 700 years ago, seeped into the scrolls. On a preserved machzor from that collection, stains appear at the Shabbat Rosh Chodesh prayer. The blood of our ancestors cries from the books misused by wrongdoers, generating illicit wealth, as the saying goes, "Have you murdered and also inherited?" May Hashem remember in mercy those righteous who sacrificed their lives for the sanctification of His name and avenge the spilled blood of His servants.