Vancouver documentary filmmaker Michelle Paymar was riveted when she began reading about the Cairo Genizah in 2010.
A repository of thousands of fragments of literature that had been hidden in Cairo’s Ben Ezra Synagogue since the 13th century, the Genizah was revealed in 1896 by Solomon Schechter. It contained Jewish religious texts, love letters, business reports, shopping lists, children’s drawings and even hand-written drafts penned by Moses Maimonides in the 12th century.
After their discovery, the fragments were recorded, examined and dispersed to 70 libraries and collections worldwide. But in recent years, after a massive international effort, the Genizah fragments were digitized and they’re now accessible online.
Paymar heard about the digitization process as it reached its finale in 2011 and sensed its potential for a documentary. She called the head librarian at Cambridge University’s Taylor-Schechter Genizah Collection, where 70 per cent of the Genizah fragments are housed.
“I assumed …