cover image Dead Sea Scrolls Understanding Their Spritual Message

Dead Sea Scrolls Understanding Their Spritual Message

Steven A. Fisdel. Jason Aronson, $56.95 (368pp) ISBN 978-1-56821-973-8

There is no end to the scholarly fascination with the Dead Sea Scrolls. Rabbi Steven Fisdel's contribution to the research into the Dead Sea Scrolls is marked by meticulous scholarship and accessible language. Fisdel provides a brief historical overview in which he discusses the social and political context in which the scrolls developed as well as the importance of the scrolls in the history of the development of Judaism. He then discusses the Essene community from which the Scrolls emerged, giving time to various literary, historical and archeological perspectives. Although Fisdel maintains scholarly objectivity, he writes with a warmth and obvious excitement for his subject that make his book an admirable and lively addition to Dead Sea Scrolls studies. (July)