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Re: orion dss and rabbis
Dear Stephen,
Perhaps my use of the word "obvious" to describe the links between the
scrolls and the Maccabean and pre-Maccabean period is inappropriate at this
stage. The Hasidim wilderness camps are the only group from second temple
times known to have implemented the social structure mandated in the
scrolls, i.e. organization by ranks of 1000s, 100s, etc., commanded by
priests. The apocalyptic climate of the Maccabean rebellion, the belief that
angels participated in Maccabean victories, appears to be reflected in the
scrolls, in which the militant sons of light, and the angels present in their
camps, lived in the end of the age. To me the connections seem apparent, and
I hope to have more specific historical arguments in print soon, but at this
point I'll simply suggest that the Hasmonean period is not the only candidate
for the historical context of the scrolls sect.
Also, you may be right on the use of "conventional views" and "consensus".
Every time the list has been probed for a consensus that I can recall, no
such agreement has been discovered, on a wide variety of issues. The same
facts can almost always give rise to a variety of interpretations, which
cautions us all against overstating the certainty of our positions.
-- Russell Gmirkin