LAWRENCE SCHIFFMAN

"Scholars, Scrolls and Scandals: The Dead Sea Scrolls
and the History of Judaism and Christianity"

November 14, 2011

The Dead Sea Scrolls have provided us with the earliest texts of the Hebrew Bible, and have revolutionized our study of the history of Judaism and the background of Christianity. Their discovery, publication, and interpretation have been documented in scholarly journals and the popular press. Much of that popular press has focused on the scandals involving some of the scholars involved with the Scrolls. In this illustrated lecture Prof. Schiffman will discuss the Scrolls’ discovery, archaeological background, the controversy about their publication, and their contribution to our understanding of the rise of Judaism and Christianity. 

Professor Lawrence Schiffman (Ph.D. Brandeis University) is the one of the world’s premier scholars of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Early Judaism. For many years he was the Chair of New York University’s Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies as well as the Ethel and Irvin A. Edelman Professor in Hebrew and Judaic Studies. This past spring he was appointed Vice-Provost of Undergraduate Education and Professor of Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University. In this new role he is able to combine his scholarly interests with his commitment to academic leadership.

Prof. Schiffman is a specialist in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Judaism in Late Antiquity, the History of Jewish Law, and Talmudic Literature. He has held Visiting Professorships at several distinguished universities, including Johns Hopkins University, University of Toronto, University of Pennsylvania, The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Yale University and Duke University. He is the author of hundreds of scholarly articles and many books, including The Courtyards of the House of the Lord: Studies on the Temple Scroll (2008), Understanding Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism (2003), Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls (1994), From Text to Tradition, A History of Judaism in Second Temple and Rabbinic Times (1989), Who Was a Jew? Rabbinic and Halakhic Perspectives on the Jewish-Christian Schism (1985), Sectarian Law in the Dead Sea Scrolls (1983), and The Halakhah at Qumran (1975).

The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies at The University of Arizona is honored to have Professor Schiffman as the inaugural lecturer in the Rabbi Dr. Marcus Breger Memorial Lectureship Series. This annual lecture honors the memory of Rabbi Marcus Breger, one of Tucson’s leading citizens who was Congregation Anshei Israel’s first rabbi, serving from 1939-1970.