Scholar Offers Insight into Dead Sea Scrolls

CHESTERTOWN, MD—One of the foremost experts on the Dead Sea Scrolls, Lawrence Schiffman, will lecture on the topic at Washington College on Monday, October 22. His presentation,  “Scholars, Scrolls and Scandals: The Dead Sea Scrolls, Judaism and Christianity,” will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Litrenta Lecture Hall of the John S. Toll Science Center on the College campus, 300 Washington Avenue.

            The talk is sponsored by the Department of History, the Department of Philosophy and Religion, and the Institute for Religion, Politics & Culture and is free and open to the public.

            Schiffman, who serves as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at Yeshiva University, is a specialist in Judaism in Late Antiquity, the history of Jewish law, and Talmudic literature. He has published widely, including numerous scholarly articles on the history and significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the 1995 book Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls. His expertise has landed him in the PBS Nova documentary “Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls,” as well as in four BBC documentaries, the McNeil-Lehrer Report, and a Discovery special. He also consulted on the recent Franklin Institute exhibit, “Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Ancient Times,” in Philadelphia.

             Schiffman is a fellow with the American Academy for Jewish Research, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation. His most recent books include The Courtyards of the House of the Lord:  Studies on the Temple Scroll (2008)  and Qumran and Jerusalem: Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the History of Judaism ( 2010).