A Jews, God & History Podcast
Secret Scrolls
Who was the mysterious Teacher of Righteousness, who led the ancient Israelite sect known as the Essenes? He led a troupe of celibate renunciates, who withdrew from society to make a way in the desert for the anointed one to come. They devoted themselves to divine law, and to an austere lifestyle. They built a small but thriving community, about two hundred strong, on the northwest corner of the Dead Sea, where they engaged in copying and studying their sacred scrolls. They cultivated the healing arts, and were particularly devoted to observing the Sabbath, and to ritual purity. But of course they did not arrive on the stage of history spontaneously. Their story is long and complex, and an open book for those with understanding.
Long ago, pieces of parchment, inscribed by learned sages, were rolled into scrolls, to be read and studied only by a select few. For reasons still unknown to us, they were hidden in mountainous desert caves. Then, on a fateful day in 1947, when an Arab lad was searching for his lost goat, he stumbled upon what was to become the most important archaeological find of the twentieth century – ancient parchments, depicting the life and hopes of an unknown Judean sect. Who were they, and messages did they seek to convey? This is a detective saga not to be missed!
Complimentary Episodes
Episode 01: Out of Babylon – featuring Dr. Ken Hanson
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Episode 01: Out of Babylon by Deep Dive
Meet the mysterious Teacher of Righteousness, the leader and founder of a movement that has come to be called the Essenes. They were an exclusive group of pious Israelites who produced and laboriously copied an entire library of parchment scrolls. They included elaborate visions of wayward angels coming to earth and cohabiting with human women... […]