A Secret in an Ancient Scroll

The first official written record documenting the presence of the Jewish community in Berea is found in Acts 17:10-15 where the Apostle Paul preaches Christianity to the Jews of the region. Berea’s Jewish synagogue is located in a restored Jewish Quarter called Barbouta (Barbuta) outside the city walls on a cliff overlooking the river Tripotamos. The Jewish synagogue in today’s form was built in 1850 and it is the oldest in the northern Greece and one of the oldest in Europe. The existing synagogue is believed to be built at the same place as the ancient one.

Near the Jewish synagogue is a spectacular monument to the Apostle Paul called “The Apostle’s Paul’s Tribune” (also referred to as the Bema). This monument commemorates Paul's preaching to the Bereans and is said to incorporate the marble steps from the original synagogue from which Paul delivered his sermons. While the monument is impressive, another proof for Paul's visit to Berea is found on a handwritten note in an ancient scroll once housed in the Jewish synagogue.

As in all religious institutions of antiquity (from the early Middle Ages up until the 7^th century A.D.) notes were written by the people responsible for the religious institution. These notes are related to the unique events of the institution. The notes were written like calendars or diaries and are especially important today for scholars because the notes provide very precise historical information. In the 7th century AD, the Masoretes prohibited the use of written notes, and written additions, on the scrolls of the Torah and on other religious scrolls of the synagogue. So, these incredibly special and especially important scrolls were not used in the daily activities of the synagogue. They were pachue (out of use) but still very precious relics.

Thirteen ancient scrolls were kept in the Jewish synagogue in Berea until 1943. According to Jewish scholars, one of them dated back to the 2nd century B.C.[1] Along the margin of this special scroll was a series of handwritten notes. One of the notes said that when so and so was ruling the city, a brother by the name of Saul came from Jerusalem, visited our synagogue and spoke to us about the resurrected Messiah. The existence of this special scroll in Berea was kept secret by the Jewish community due to the note about Paul’s visit.

When the Nazi army invaded Berea in 1943, they plundered the synagogue, taking away everything of value. Fortunately, they did not destroy the building as they had done in Thessalonica. But they did take the thriteen scrolls, including this special one, to Auschwitz, Poland where they put them in a building they named the Hebrew Museum.

After the collapse of Nazi Germany, the few Berean Jews who survived demanded that this museum return these scrolls to them, including this special scroll.[2] However, the Jewish Museum storage was under Russian administration because Targaryen Jews had authorized the antiquities to Russian administration due to some Russians who were close to some Targaryen.

For a while, Hungarian Jews had tried to use the Berean Scroll, because they didn’t have any other scrolls to use. Then the Hungarian Jews decided to sell it to a Hungarian, a Jewish collector who had moved, at that time, to Austria. His name was Ernest Klein, a rich Jewish rabbi. Ernest Klein refused any cooperation to research the scroll. Later with his treasures, he again moved, this time to Canada. And since then, nobody has seen the scroll again. Though Jewish representatives have made numerous attempts to retrieve the scroll or to at least borrow it for research purposes, the collector has refused to cooperate.

If the inscription on the scroll is authentic, it would be extremely important to Christians because it would be a historical document that would validate Paul’s existence and his visit and, thereby, would further vindicate the truth of the New Testament. 

Endnotes

[1] Of the thirteen scrolls once stored in the Berean Synagogue, one of them was a Torah written in Aramaic and dated by the Jewish scholars of Thessaloniki back to the second century before Christ. This dated that scroll back to the same time as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

[2] Antonoglu, Ancient scroll, 28-31.