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Ben Asher was descended from a long line of [[Masorete]]s, starting with someone called Asher, but nothing is known about them other than their names. His father, Moses ben Asher, is credited with writing the [[Codex Cairensis|Cairo Codex of the Prophets]] (895 CE). If authentic, it is among the oldest manuscripts containing a large proportion of the [[Hebrew Bible]]. [[Umberto Cassuto]] used this manuscript as the basis of his edition of the Hebrew Bible. Aaron ben Asher himself added vowelization and cantillation notes, and mesorah to the [[Aleppo Codex]], correcting its letter-text according to the [[Masoretic Text|masorah]].
[[Maimonides]] accepted the views of ben Asher only in regard to open and closed sections,{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}<!-- Are you saying that Maimonides did not rely upon Ben-Asher in his understanding of the Masoretic [[plene and defective scriptum]]? You'll need to show proof of this. Maimonides says explicitly that, when he wrote his Torah scroll, he relied on the Codex that was proofread by Ben-Asher, which seems to imply that he relied upon him in all things. --> but apparently admired his work generally and helped to establish and spread his authority. Referring to a Bible manuscript then in Egypt, Maimonides wrote: "All relied on it, since it was corrected by ben Asher and was worked on and analyzed by him for many years, and was proofread many times in accordance with the masorah, and I based myself on this manuscript in the Sefer Torah that I wrote".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=Menachem |title=The Idea of the Sanctity of the Biblical Text |url=http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/dilugim/CohenArt/ |website=users.cecs.anu.edu.au}}</ref>
==First serious scribe==
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==Was ben Asher a Karaite?==
{{See also|Tanakh|Karaite Judaism}}
Scholars have long debated as to whether Aaron ben Asher was a [[Karaite Judaism|Karaite]]. While it seems that most modern scholars now lean toward this likely being true,<ref>
{{cite book |last1=Bowker |first1=John |title=The concise Oxford dictionary of world religions |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780191727221 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095458193 |chapter=Aaron ben Moses Ben Asher}}
</ref><ref name="Hayyim2007">
{{cite encyclopedia |author=Ben-Hayyim, Zeev |article=Ben-Asher, Aaron ben Moses |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Judaica |editor1=Berenbaum, Michael |editor2=Skolnik, Fred |edition=2nd |volume=3 |place=Detroit |publisher=Macmillan Reference |year=2007 |pages=319–321 |via=Gale Virtual Reference Library |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/ben-asher-aaron-ben-moses}}
</ref><ref name="Zer2009">
{{cite journal |last1=Zer |first1=Rafael Isaac (Singer) |title=Was the Masorete of the Aleppo Codex of Rabbanite or of Karaite Origin? |journal=Textus |date=19 August 2009 |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=239–262 |doi=10.1163/2589255X-02401014 |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/text/24/1/article-p239_14.xml |issn=2589-255X}}
</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Friedmann |first1=Jonathan L. |title=Review of: G. Khan, A Short Introduction to the Tiberian Masoretic Bible and its Reading Tradition |journal=Journal of Hebrew Scriptures |date=2015 |volume=15 |url=http://www.jhsonline.org/reviews/reviews_new/review740.htm |quote=he makes subtle allusions to his view that the ben Asher family was not Karaite, contrary to popular belief}}</ref> there does not seem to be clear consensus and thus the question remains open.<ref name="Tawil2010">{{cite book |last1=Tawil |first1=Hayim |last2=Schneider |first2=Bernard |title=Crown of Aleppo: The Mystery of the Oldest Hebrew Bible Codex |date=2010 |publisher=Jewish Publication Society |isbn=978-0-8276-0957-0 |pages=33-37 |url=https://www.google.com/books?id=Rkjl28v4ZdAC&pg=PA35}}</ref>
The idea was first suggested in 1860 by [[Simhah Pinsker]] who argued that Masoretes in general should be ‘suspected’ of being Karaites since they seem to have devoted all of their time to the Bible and showed no interest in rabbinic Midrash or Talmud (which at times contradicts the masoretic text). Numerous other pieces of circumstantial evidence were presented to make a strong case, however not strong enough to tip the scales and end the debate.<ref name="Zer2009"/><ref name="Khan2020">{{cite journal |last1=Khan |first1=Geoffrey |title=The Role of the Karaites in the Transmission of the Hebrew Bible and Their Practice of Transcribing It into Arabic Script |journal=Intellectual History of the Islamicate World |date=30 July 2020 |volume=8 |issue=2-3 |pages=233–264 |doi=10.1163/2212943X-20201013 |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/ihiw/8/2-3/article-p233_4.xml |language=en |issn=2212-9421}}</ref>
Some examples of evidence include the following:<ref name="Tawil2010"/>
* strong parallels to Karite theology in the way both Aaron and his father Moshe write about all three parts of TaNaCh being equally authoritative in terms of halacha (a classic Karite position);
* the Masoretic text does not follow the order set down in the Talmud (Isaiah after Ezekiel), which was accepted as authoritative by Rabbinnites, but rejected by the Karites (the masoretic text also differs from verses quoted in the talmud);
* the Codex contains a prayer for the protection of the temple, presumably referring to the Karite temple, as the Rabinites did not have a temple at the time;
* writings of the time refer to the Ben Ashers with honorifics more typically used by Karites (such as ''melamed'' (teacher) & ''maskil'' (enlightened one));
* indications that the [[Codex_Cairensis|Cairo Codex]] (thought to have been written by his father) was sponsored by a Karite (based on language used by the sponsorer);
* the fact that the Codex was in the possession of the Karites (since the time of its inscribed dedication, I.E. even before they ransomed it from the crusades).
A turning point came in the 1950s when Benjamin Klar discovered that an anti-Karaite polemical poem by R. Sa‘adiah Gaon criticized a Karite masorete by the name of “Ben Asher”.<ref name="Tawil2010"/><ref name="Zer2009"/><ref name="Khan2020"/>{{efn|Gatez seems to have already made these connections about 60 years earlier.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Graetz |first1=Heinrich |title=History of the Jews: From the revolt against the Zendik, 511 C.E., to the capture of St. Jean d'Acre by the Mahometans, 1291 C.E |date=1894 |publisher=Jewish Publication Society of America |page=207 |url=https://www.google.com/books?id=H38pAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA207}}</ref><ref name="Harris1889">{{cite journal |last1=Harris |first1=Isidore |title=The Rise and Development of the Massorah (Concluded) |journal=The Jewish Quarterly Review |date=1889 |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=247 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1450219.pdf}}</ref>}} This fits very well with Sa‘adiah's rejection of ben Asher in favor of ben Naftali,<ref>{{cite web |title=MASORAH - JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10465-masorah#anchor12 |website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref> as well the fact that, ben Asher nevertheless became accepted as relations between the Karites and Rabanites improved. Aron Dotan has dealt with many of the arguments, including Klar's, and also argued that the approval of Maimonides is evidence against the claim.<ref name="Zer2009"/><ref name="Khan2020"/><ref name="Tawil2010"/>{{efn|Altho Dotan is credited with this argument, nearly 100 years earlier Isidore Harris too listed the arguments for and against, including the argument from Maimonides approval.<ref name="Harris1889"/>}} However, according to Zer, few researchers have expressed their support for Dotan’s position.<ref name="Zer2009"/>
== Footnotes ==
{{notelist|1}}
==References==
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