Dead Sea Scrolls

Dead Sea Sect vs Rabbinic Interpretation

The Dead Sea Scrolls are considered to be the most important archaeological find of the twentieth century. A considerable number of these scrolls are evidently sectarian and they reveal an intense debate from the Second Temple era over aspects of Jewish ritual and philosophy. Who were these sectarians? What were their beliefs? Against whom were they polemicizing? We will learn the underpinnings of this dispute by examining key passages in the scrolls and by searching for contrasts and analogies in rabbinic literature.