APU Careers & Learning Online Learning

History Outside of the Museum: Exploring a 16th-Century Torah

By Joshua Alexander
Academic Appeals Specialist, APUS

Recently, American Public University System had the opportunity to host an exciting piece of history – a Torah scroll used by a community of Jews in sixteenth-century Yemen! The scroll was displayed on the Charles Town campus on Oct 23rd and 24th by the APUS chapter of the Ratio Christi student organization.

Hand-copied onto 79 feet of calfskin, the scroll contains the first five books of the Hebrew Old Testament (Tanakh) – known in English as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. It also illustrates the care and precision of Jewish scribes as well as the durability of their writing materials and methods.

About the Author

Joshua Alexander is an Academic Appeals Specialist at American Public University System. He has an M.A. in science and religion from Biola University and serves as a Chapter Advisor for the Ratio Christi student organization at APUS, as well as the Chapter Director for Ratio Christi at Shepherd University. Before coming to APUS, Joshua taught mathematics at Shepherd University as an adjunct for eight years.

Susan Hoffman is a Managing Editor at Edge, whose articles have appeared in multiple publications. Susan is known for her expertise in blogging, social media, SEO, and content analytics, and she is also a book reviewer for Military History magazine. She has a B.A. cum laude in English from James Madison University and an undergraduate certificate in electronic commerce from American Public University.

Comments are closed.