Teens are invited to join an exciting six-week program this January (date TBD) to transcribe and decipher centuries-old documents from the legendary Cairo Geniza — one of the most important discoveries in Jewish history. The Cairo Geniza is a trove of 400,000 documents, mostly sacred Jewish texts, found in Old Cairo.
Participants will learn to read and write in Rashi script and Solitreo, the elegant handwritten script of the Sephardic world, while also exploring the fascinating history of the Geniza — how it was created, what it preserved, and how it was ultimately discovered. Guided by Aaron Shapiro, students will meet once a week for one hour to uncover the stories hidden within these ancient texts and bring the voices of the past back to life, culminating in a guided deciphering of a Ladino text from the Geniza.