LARRY SCHIFFMAN will be speaking on the Dead Sea Scrolls in Raleigh, N.C.:

NC Museum To Host Dead Sea Scrolls Lecture
By The Raleigh Telegram Staff 04.AUG.08

RALEIGH The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh is hosting an eight-part lecture series about Israel at the time of the scrolls as part of its The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition.

The museum says that New York University Professor Lawrence Schiffman will present the second lecture of the series called "Israel at the Time of the Dead Sea Scrolls," on Wednesday, August 27 at 4pm and again at 7 pm in the Museum's WRAL Digital Theater. The museum says that due to the overwhelming popularity of the first lecture, the Museum strongly recommends purchasing tickets in advance.

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According to the museum, the Second Temple period (538 BC - 70 AD) was a pivotal time in ancient Israel, beginning with the conquest of Alexander the Great that expanded
the rise of Hellenism and the great Jewish religious movements.

Schiffman will survey these developments and illustrate their significance, providing background for the Dead Sea Scrolls and explaining how they have enriched the understanding of the history of this period, says the museum.

Schiffman is Edelman Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies and Chair of the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, New York University. He lectures widely on the Dead Sea Scrolls; Jewish religious, political and social history in late antiquity; as well as
the history of Jewish law and Talmudic literature.

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