Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls and Why Were They Forgotten? - A Lecture by Rachel Elior

Who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? Why were they forgotten?

During his recent visit to Israel, President Barack Obama began his itinerary with a viewing of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Officials took this occasion to underscore the continuity from biblical times to the present exemplified by these most ancient of biblical scrolls. Of course, examination of the Dead Sea Scrolls and of the ways they have been understood in ancient and in modern times afford evidence not only of continuity but also of dispute and disagreement. In her Israel Studies Lecture, "Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls and Why Were They Forgotten," Rachel Elior offers an overview of the provenance of the scrolls and her assessment of their significance in both ancient Judaism and modern scholarship.

Rachel Elior is John and Golda Cohen Professor of Jewish Philosophy and Jewish Mystical Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Israel Studies Professor for Spring Quarter 2013 at the University of Chicago Divinity School. She is teaching a course at UChicago, "Major Issues in the Study of Jewish Mysticism: Between Kabbalah and Hasidism." Professor Elior is the fourth visiting faculty member at the Divinity School's Religion and Culture in the Twenty-first Century: Perspectives from Israel program, made possible through the generous support of the Israel Studies Project of the Jewish Federation of Chicago.

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[marlahlavac]

OHhh my goodness, This is Amazing ... i would love to be at one of these lectures .... Wow !!! .. there is so much added information

[donsaxton]

This confirms the Zadok Priestly Calendar. WOW! This is so YAH-mazing!! HalleluYAH!!

[chyah]

What a joy to finally hear a Jewish scholar interpret the evidence independently and re-discover our Priests. It is so amazing and comforting to see the same letters and words in the Isaiah scroll written a thousand years before the Leningrad, Allepo, Stuttgart, etc. codices for oneself at the Israeli DSS digital website. Now everyone should be busy correcting their texts and websites that the Essenes wrote these works, since they were copied from even more ancient texts several hundreds of years before the so called Essene sect at Qumran.

[wmarkfish]

John the Baptist was head of the community in the Desert of Judea where this library was found, not the Essenes whose writings were found in Nag Hamidi and were Gnostics.

[williamjayaraj]

Thank you for giving so much of information about the Dead Sea scrolls.

[SopranoJessi]

Awesome to hear about Jubilees & Enoch and Testament of Twelve Tribes were found alongside!

[aristidesg]

Thank you for a wonderful travel through the scrolls. To God the glory.

[dr.yahkovabyisrael]

I have learned so much from this lecture. I love you. YAH bless you and make you wiser than your teachers

[e.z.]

Extraordinary! Another example of the self-perpetuation of the academy's pet theories (live the Egyptian historical timeline). This stifles the acquisition of knowledge and search for truth. Fabulous presentation!

[ahimsainternational]

This presentation was not just erudite but very interesting also.

[SopranoJessi]

Wow another beast changing times and laws!!

[yanetsmith]

I have often wondered at the extremely coincidental timing of the finding of something of such religious significance and the formation of Israel.

[GatheringJacob]

She said is clear - “The rabbis had a new agenda”. That’s why the left books out which were primary to the Zadokite priests!

[dr.yahkovabyisrael]

I am learning so much. I love this lecture....i keep sharing it

[GatheringJacob]

She did not want to infer that this solar calendar was the actual calendar from Israel of antiquity but. - Of coarse it is a historical truism from the time of David!

[duantorruellas]

It's true the war scroll is something you don't hear about everyday. I think The dead sea scrolls was a secret that would not stay hidden. And why were they written in ancient hebrew and aramaic, we were all told nobody few could read and write and scholars all wrote in greek . This never made sense to me so I was glad to hear it was mostly written in hebrew.

[TakeUsHomeYeshua]

They were not forgotten, they were hidden from the Romans and Pharasees

[modernism]

Persuasive, passionate, informed presentation and interpretation. I am not ready yet to settle on any existing theory but Professor Elior's theory is teneable. I don't hear her denying the existence of the Essenes or even denying that the Essenes or a group that we've come to know as the Essenes lived at Qumram. I am heading towards a synthesis, that is that the Zokak scrolls mingled with new scrolls by the Essenes who may have been allies. That Qumram may have served multiple functions at different times. Even as a military outpost or watch tower! Perhaps the Zokok priests even lived at Qumram for residencies so to speak which may have served as a scriptorium among other functions. But, really, the core of her theory is that the scrolls addressed the Zakok priests concerns. I'm not there yet but I respect her theory.

[christinabernier]

Keeping Passover tonight on the same calendar kept by the Zadokite priests, the ones that stand before YHWH forever. Praise The Elohim of Yasharel for bringing truth from the earth as a witness to His Almighty Power 🙏

[dancahill]

The biggest question I have about the Dead Sea Scrolls is why did the original group sit on them for ~40 years without publicly releasing comprehensive photographs of the fragments. It certainly doesn't say good things about transparency or intellectual integrity.