''The Aleppo Codex: A True Story of Obsession, Faith, and the Pursuit of an Ancient Bible'' is a 2012 book by

Matti Friedman Matti Friedman ( he, מתי פרידמן) is a Canadian-Israeli journalist and author. He is an op-ed contributor for the New York Times, and columnist for Tablet magazine. Biography Matti Friedman was born to a Canadian Jewish family and gre ...

published by

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

. The book tells the story of how the Aleppo codex, one of the world's oldest extant

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

s, was saved from destruction during the 1947 Aleppo pogrom, how it was smuggled into Israel, and what became of the missing pages. The ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' calls Friedman's book "a detective thriller," noting that, "not everything about the codex is as it seems."

Prizes

''The Aleppo Codex'' won the 2014

Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature The Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature is an annual prize awarded to an outstanding literary work of Jewish interest by an emerging writer. Previously administered by the Jewish Book Council, it is now given in association with the National Libr ...

, was selected as one of

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

's top ten religion and spirituality books of 2012, was awarded the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

's 2013 Sophie Brody Medal and the 2013

Canadian Jewish Book Award The Helen and Stan Vine Canadian Jewish Book Awards were a Canadian program of literary awards, managed, produced and presented annually by the Koffler Centre of the Arts to works judged to be the year's best works of literature by Jewish Canadian ...

for history, and received second place for the

Religion Newswriters Association The Religion News Association (RNA) is an American non-profit professional association which seeks to promote better reporting on religion in the news media and to provide help and support to journalists who cover religion. It was founded in 1949 a ...

's 2013 nonfiction religion book of the year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aleppo Codex 2012 non-fiction books Religious studies books Canadian non-fiction books History books about Jews and Judaism Books about books Algonquin Books books