Prof. Zeitlin Calls or Impartial Commission
To Investigate 'Tales . About Hebrew Scrolls

Prof. Solomon Zeitlin, of
Dropsie College, Philadephia,
editor of the Jewish Quarterly
Review, in the third of a series
of articles, challenges the claim
that the Dead Sea Scrolls are
of pre-Christian origin. He
again questions the value placed
on these Scrolls, maintians that
they belong to the medieval
period and that "the Hollywood-
type publicity in connection
with the Hebrew Scrolls" is to
be deplored.
Recalling his lecture at the
Hebrew University, in Jerusa-
lem, on June 18, 1951, in which
he "suggested to the authorities
of the Hebrew University that
an impartial, international com-
mittee, consisting of Jewish and
Christian scholars and laymen
should be formed to investigate
thoroughly the tales in connec-
tion with the discovery of the
Hebrew Scrolls," Dr. Zeitlin
asserts that "this suggestion has
been ignored."
He maintains that he has
"demonstrated by unimpeach-
able internal evidence" that
the Scrolls "are of the Mid-
dle Ages" and not of antiquity.
"I have shown," he writes,
"that the orthography, and
punctuation, as well as the
terms used therein, are of the
Middle Ages. The laws refer-
red to therein were definitely
enacted after the destruction
of the Second Temple. The
reference to the Halakot show
without any vestige of doubt
that the scrolls could not have
been composed in the pre-
Christian period. Those who
maintain that the scrolls are
of the pre-Christian period
are those who are unfamiliar
with the history of Judaism
and some of them are incap-
able of reading the text of
the scrolls ... We must brand
their interpretation of the
scrolls as belonging to an-
tiquity as a delusion."
Repudiating the claims ad-
vanced by Prof. Miller Burrows,
of Yale University, in his book
on the Scrolls, Dr. Zeitlin
writes:
"Prof. Burrows is of the
opinion that the scrolls will
not revolutionize New Testa-
ment scholarship. Neverthe-
less he believes that "the doc-
trines and practices (des-
cribed in them) substantially
enriched our knowledge of
Judaism at the time just be-
fore and during the origin
and early growth of Christi-
anity. Scrolls written in the
Middle Ages by Jews of
mediocre attainments will not
and cannot enrich Judaism,
because Judaism, more than
any other religion, is based on
knowledge. However, there
is a probability that owing to
the persistence of some of the
Christian scholars in the be-
lief that the scrolls were writ-
ten in the pre-Christian per-
iod by the Essenes and that
the doctrines and the ideas
found there are similar to
those found in the New Tes-
tament, particularly in John,
the history of the origin of
Christianity will be distort-
ed and falsified."
Reviewing the reports of the
manner in which the scrolls
were discovered, Prof. Zeitlin
says they are conflicting, that
there were two merchants in-
volved, that it took a long time
to identify the Bedouins who
found them, that merchants had
been trading in scrolls before
Drs. Sukenik and Trever learned
about the latest discovery, that
"the stories told about the dis-
covery of the Dead Sea Scrolls
are stranger than fiction. He
charges contradictions in the
various reports, that "the imagi-
native vagaries concerning the
discovery are becoming more
intricate," and states:
"A Babylonian phylactery of
the medieval period was dis-
covered in the cave near the
Dead Sea with scrolls supposed-
ly to be of the pre-Christian

period, and one was suppressed;
and the letter of Mr. (G. L.)
Hamilton (director of antiqui-
ties) to the effect that three
scrolls had been on the prem-
ises of St. Mark's Convent for
20 years; and that a Jew gave a
Torah Scroll to the late Arch-
bishop in the year 1929 when
the great pogrom took place in
Hebron. Finally, where are the
Manuscripts and the scrolls and
the castings of the Pentateuchal
Scrolls, and the handles of the
Torah Scrolls made of silver
and bronze which had been in
the synagogues of Hebron? Not
all of them were burned, many
of them were looted. Is there
not a probability that there is
some connection between the
looted scrolls of Hebron and the
discovery of some scrolls in the
caves near the Dead Sea?
In his forthcoming article,
Prof. Zeitlin asserts: "Prof.
Dumont - Sommer advanced
the theory that there was a
Messiah, Christ, before Jesus
and that Jesus was only a
reincarnation of the Teacher
of Righteousness. It is indeed
Socratic irony that Scrolls
written in the Middle Ages
by semiliterate Jews have de-
luded modern Christian schol-
ars and might have an effect
on Christianity."
Dr. Zeitlin minimizes the "im-
portance" of the finding of a
phylactery in the cave that con-
tained the scrolls. "The Jews,"
he states, "have worn phylac-
teries for centuries, and they
still wear them." Mentioning
the claim that the discovered
phylactery was worn by the
soldiers of Bar Kokba, he writes:
"It is remarkable that a medie-
val phylactery should be used
by the men of Bar Kokba. How
the lack of knowledge has a
tendency to deceive!"
He mentions among those
who have questioned the dating
of the scrolls, the names of Pro-
fessors Driver, Lacheman, Or-
linsky, Reider and Weis.
His doubts, Dr. Zeitlin
states, "were not cast on the
authenticity but the antiquity
of the scrolls. Having been a
student of the Second Jewish
Commonwealth all my life, I
know that the Jews did not
write commentaries on Bibli-
cal books at that time. I be-
lieve it absurd to assume that
a commentary on the book of
Habakkuk was written then."
Dr. Zeitlin makes reference
also to radiocarbon dating, and
with reference to the Carbon 14
test of the cloth wrappings
writes that "Dr. Burrows fails
to mention that this test is con-
sidered unreliable." He also
challenges Prof. Burrows to "ex-
plain how a Babylonian phy-
lactery of the Middle Ages came
to be discovered in a cave near
the Dead Sea."
Disputing the idea that the
scrolls were written by the
Essenes, Dr. Zeitlin analyzes
the Essenes' views on life and
states: "If the Essenes believed
in a messiah, Josephus would
certainly have mentioned it. He
would have phrased his account
of the messiah in such a way
as to make sure that the Roman
authorities would not suspect
him of such a belief. The con-
ception of a messiah was either-
national, i.e., that God would
send an Elect one to save the
Jews from their oppressors and
establish a kingdom in Zion,
or that it embraced a wider
philosophy, not national but
universal, viz., that God would
send a messiah of the seed of
Israel for the entire universe,
who would establish the king-
dom of God in Israel and who
would rule the entire universe.
The Essenes were not inter-
ested in either of these philos-
ophies. They were individual-
ists. They were not concerned
about the Jewish people as a
'whole, and certainly not about
the gentiles. They were ab-
sorbed only in their own in-
dividual perfection. They did

not, like the Pharisees and the
early Christians, seek to make
proselytes."
On the question of the Collec-
tion of Benedictions, Dr. Zeit-
lin again says "there is no in-
dication that they belong to
the pre-Christian period. These
are the most extensive frag-
ments published by the editors;
however, they were not discov-
ered by the archaeologists in
any cave. They were bought
from a Bethlehem merchant by
the Palestinian Museum in the
year 1950. There is no evidence
whatsoever that they were
found in the Qumran cave. In
all probability they were never
there."
Discussions of the value of
the Dead Sea Scrolls are be-
coming more extensive. Boris
Smolar, editor of the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency, in his cur-
rent column, "Between YoU and
Me," writes that the scrolls im-
pressed him, when he saw them
in Jerusalem, as "genuine." He-
brew Union College is plan-
ning a national seminar on the
subject. Edmund Wilson's "The
Scrolls from the Dead Sea" be-
came a best seller.

Rabinowitz's Second
Dead Sea Scrolls
Lecture on Monday

Between You and Me

By BORIS SMOLAR

(Copyright, 1956, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

Jewish Scrolls

Interest is growing in the United States in the Dead Sea
Scrolls which were discovered in 1947 in a cave near the Dead
Sea . . . The dispute among scholars as to whether these amaz-
ing scrolls—which may radically alter the picture of Christian
origins—are genuine is beginning to subside . . . It seems that
by now many world-famed Biblical scholars and archaeologists
hive become convinced that the scrolls are authentic . . . Per-
sonally, when I saw the scrolls in the office of Israel's Prime
Minister in Jerusalem, they impressed- me as being genuine
Hebrew documents . . . Seeing them and examining them
strengthens the conviction that they cannot be forgeries . . .
They have intrigued me ever since I read some of them in Eng-
lish translation, and they fascinated me after I saw them in the
original, in hand-printed Hebrew letters . . . Their impact on
Biblical study throughout the world will definitely be felt as
more and more people will learn of their contents and signifi-
cance . . . They are considered the writings of the Essenes, a
Jewish sect which lived about 200 years before Jesus' time . .
And the most important thing about them is the fact that they
correspond so closely with basic parts of the New Testament
that the latter is now thought to be derived from them . . . His-
torical parallels have been made between the life and teachings
of Jesus and those of a Jewish religious leader of the Qumran
community—who is believed to have been crucified by a tyrant
more than a century before Jesus.

American Reverberations

When some of the best preserved scrolls were exhibited at
the Library of Congress in Washington, they drew larger crowds
than any other single display in the history of the library . . .
This, plus the increasing number of books on the importance
of the scrolls, indicates best the growing interest in them in
the United States . . . I do not know how many of our rabbis in
this country have taken an interest in studying the books that
have appeared so far on the Dead Sea scrolls . . Those of
them who did not acquire all -the literature published here on
the subject will soon discover that they are way behind in their
knowledge of Bible history .. . Christian clergymen are devel-
oping an intensive interest in everything that is being published
about the scrolls inasmuch as the deciphering of the scrolls may
have an effect on the origins of Christianity . . . Prof. W. F.
Albright, of John Hopkins University, believes that "many de-
ductions regarding the New Testament literature may have to
be completely revised" as a result of the Dead Sea scrolls . . .
The Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion is now
making preparations to sponsor an international scholarly meet-
ing in September 1957 to assess the Dead Sea scrolls after a
decade of investigations and study.
*
*

The texts of the Dead Sea
Scrolls will be discussed by Dr.
Isaac Rabinowitz, LaMed Pro-
fessor of Jewish Studies at
Wayne University, Monday, 8
p.m., in the small lecture hall of
the Art Institute.
The lecture, under the chair-
manship of Sidney M. Shevitz,
is the second of a series co-spon-
sored by Wayne University and
the Jewish Community Council.
Dr. Rabinowitz will discuss
the scroll, "War of the Children
of Light against the Children of World Echoes
Darkness" and the Damascus
So great is interest in the Dead Sea scrolls that the number
Fragments, and will read ex-
of books • about them is growing . . . One of them is Edmund
cerpts from his translations of Wilson's "The Scrolls from the Dead Sea." "The Dead Sea
the texts of the manuscripts.
Scrolls," by Prof. Miller Burrows of Yale University contains
translations of the principal scrolls . . . Prof. A. Dupont-Som-
Radio Discussion on
mer's "The Jewish Sect of Qumran and the Essenes" analyzes
Scrolls Sunday Morning the
Dead Sea scrolls and shows how they .preceded Christianity
The "Dead Sea Scrolls" will and how strongly Christian teachings were influenced by them
be discussed by Rabbi Milton
.. "Discoveries in the Judean Desert" is the work of a team
Arm, of Shaarey Zedek, in a
of eminent archaelogists containing texts of fragments of the
special broadcast arranged by
Dead Sea scrolls . . . Two new books, published this month by
the Community Council's cul-
Macmillan, are "The Zadokite Fragments and the Dead Sea
ture commission, on the Altman
Scrolls" by H. H. Rowly, and "The Essenes and the Kabbalah"
Hour, over Station WJLB, Sun-
by
Christian D. Ginsburg . .. Another book is Prof. Charles T.
day, at 11:15 a.m., it was an-
Fritsch's
"The Qumran Community."
nounced by Rabbi Morris Adler
S
*
and Sidney M. Shevitz, co-
chairmen of the commission.
Washington Echoes
Secretary of State John Foster Dulles indicates annoyance
Excerpts from "Frank when asked by important people in Washington why he is re-
fusing arms to Israel . . . He makes it clear that the Israel appli-
Diary" at HIAS Event cation for arms has not been rejected, but that no action has
yet been taken on it . . . The possibility of the Arabs lending Mr.
Dulles a hand in his attempt to induce the Republican and
Democratic parties to avoid discussion of the Arab-Israel issue
during the Presidential election campaign is anticipated in
Washington . . . Arabs would like to see pro-Israel sentiment
in the United States hushed up during the election campaign .. .
Once the elections are over, the "soft" Arab propaganda line
indicating the possibility of an understanding with Israel, will
also be brought to an end . . . The interval will be used by
Egypt to good advantage—by training military personnel with
the weapons acquired from Czechoslovakia.

,

Joseph Schildkraut and Su-
san Strasberg, stars of the
great dramatic success, "The
Diary of Anne Frank," are
shown in a scene from their
great hit. They performed at
the annual meeting of United
Hias Service at Hotel Bilt-
more, New York, Feb. 5. A
scroll of Honor, representing
the annual United Hias
award, was presented to Pro-
ducer Kermit Bloomgarden
at the meeting, in recogni-
tion of his services in alert-
ing the conscience of man-
kind by the production of the
strong anti-Nazi drama.

American Sentiments
• What do the people in America think about the Arab-Israel
issue? . . . A survey completed by Chester S. Williams of the
research firm "World Information" establishes that for years most
Americans were completely indifferent both to Israel and to
the Arab countries . . . Even in 1948, when the war between
Israel and the Arabs was raging, 42 percent of those polled had
no opinion which side was right, 13 percent said both sides were
right, 73 percent expressed the opinion that the United States
should not send arms either to Israel or to the Arabs, 12 percent
said they are not sure which side should get American arms .
In 1952, Americans were polled on the question "Haw important
is the Middle East to the United States?" and only half answered
it was at all important . . . In 1954, when Arab-Israel border
clashes increased, a poll was taken on the question "which side
is to blame in the continuing conflict?" .. Sixty-nine percent
stated they had no opinion, 11 percent answered "both," 47 per-
cent cotild not even name more than one country . of the Middle
East and were ignorant of the other Middle East countries . . .
However, recently there is an increased interest among Americans
in the Arab-Israel conflict . . Interest seen -is to be especially
strong among Americans who have • worked and lived in the
Middle East . . . Mr. Williams polled 1,500 of such Americans
and found them alert to the necessity of considering the Middle
East of strategic importance to the United States .. .

24

—

Detroit Jewish News

Friday, February 10, 1956

