The Dead Sea Scrolls PART 3: The Two Recensions of Genesis 1:14-16 and the Four Calendars in the Second Temple Period Professor Dr. Rachel Elior

This program is Real Israel Talk Radio, Episode 99. Today’s show is PART 3 of a multipart series about the Dead Sea Scrolls – an excellent program for Hebrew speakers.

To help us better understand the importance of the Dead Sea scrolls, you will hear an interview that I recorded with Dr. Rachel Elior – the John and Golda Cohen Professor of Jewish Philosophy and Mystical Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Between 1947 and 1956, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls on the Northwestern shores of Israel’s Salt Sea has captured the attention of numerous academics, religious leaders, and biblical researchers emerging from all walks of life. After about 40 years of deciphering and translating the ancient scrolls, the full editorial team of scholars working on the thousands of fragments bundled them together and began publishing their findings. Consequently, they were made widely available for anyone with interest in the study of these ancient documents. A truthful analysis of the scrolls provides us with some unique insights into the spiritual and cultural issues of the day, set within the context of what is called the Jewish Second Temple Period.

Since the early 1970s, Professor Elior’s academic positions include Visiting lecturer at University College London; Princeton University; Chicago University; and Research fellow at Oxford. Professor Elior has also earned many literary excellence awards from a large cadre of well-respected Universities and study centers worldwide. Dr. Elior’s books, awards, and writings are pretty extensive.

Professor Elior will be showing us the four calendar issues that were prevalent in the days leading up to the destruction of the Second Temple in the New Testament timeframe. We will hear about the Book of Jubilees related to the solar calendar of Genesis 1:14-16. We will also learn about the divine purpose of the Moon, the biblical definition of Rosh Chodesh (the “New Moon”), the group referred to as the Essenes, as well as the lunar calendar of the Pharisees; where it came from, and why it is the de facto calendar of Judaism today.