How to Study a Dead Sea Scrolls Text: A New Approach
One of the problems that many of us felt who entered the field of Scrolls research after the work of the greats of the first generation is that the work of these earlier and pioneering scholars had essentially ground to a halt, having essentially hit a methodological brick wall. That, by the way, is why research really stopped. We are accustomed to look at the crisis that occurred in Scrolls research as a cessation of the publication process and an attendant closing of the material to outsiders. But the real crisis from which the publication issue ensued was an intellectual one, the brick wall I mentioned. Each scholar had come with his (and I mean his) own academic background, usually a “classical” training in OT, NT or archaeology, and each simply derived the conclusions from the study of the Scrolls that flowed from their divided intellectual backgrounds. It was in this context that I criticized what I termed the Christianization of the Scrolls, since the scholars of that generation had no way to correct for the natural intellectual prejudices of their own religious traditions, for the most part Catholic and Protestant. When I think… Continue reading
How to Study a Dead Sea Scrolls Text: Introduction
Qumran Cave 4
The study of the Dead Sea Scrolls has become before our very eyes, in essentially the last generation, a field or perhaps sub-field of its own. This has both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, we have grown to expect certain competences from a Dead Sea Scrolls scholar. We expect him or her to be able to understand a set of codes, numbers and terms. More importantly we expect a high level of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek knowledge, a wide understanding of issues in the fields of Hebrew Bible, ancient Judaism and early Christianity. We expect an ability to handle difficult text critical and editorial work, including palaeographic dating and analysis, calculating line lengths, reading fragmentary texts and reconstruction, let alone the exegesis of these materials. On the other hand, we have become an increasingly socially and academically recognizable group that welcomes with open arms all those who are prepared to pass the requirements of the novitiate, while often unintentionally keeping our rites secret. This is not for lack of an attempt to disseminate our teachings. Rather, like a modern Kabbalah, they are increasingly difficult for outsiders to… Continue reading
Iraq and the Jewish People: Conclusion
Baghdad, courtesy of Aziz1005, Wikimedia Commons
The region once known as Mesopotamia hosted the oldest Diaspora community that existed. It is hard to say whether the existence of the community has ended entirely. If the success of the Jewish community was related to the openness of the rulers—the Sassanians, the Moslems, and, again, ironically, the Moslems of the Ottoman Empire—then there is the chance that, were Iraq to develop into an open Islamic state, like Turkey, the Jewish community could return—somewhat like the unlikely boom of the Jewish community in Germany. The conditions of the region—natural resources, agriculture, location—make it possible for Iraq to be a great empire. Great empires tend to attract Jews.
The community’s decline is directly related to the failures of the British and the Mandate. In fact, the British Mandate was a failure everywhere (as, one might argue, was the French Mandate in Syria and Lebanon); it seems clear that the region still suffers from the mistakes of the British Mandate and its lack of understanding regarding the correct ways to build a society.
While it is impossible to prophesy the future, it is important to note that Jewish communities which at times have appeared dead… Continue reading
