RACHEL ELIOR'S theory about the Essenes has been picked up by Time Magazine:

Scholar Claims Dead Sea Scrolls 'Authors' Never Existed
By Tim McGirk / Jerusalem Monday, Mar. 16, 2009

Biblical scholars have long argued that the Dead Sea Scrolls were the work of an ascetic and celibate Jewish community known as the Essenes, which flourished in the 1st century A.D. in the scorching desert canyons near the Dead Sea. Now a prominent Israeli scholar, Rachel Elior, disputes that the Essenes ever existed at all — a claim that has shaken the bedrock of biblical scholarship.

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Er ... no. Sorry Mr. McGirk, but the bedrock of biblical scholarship remains as solid as ever. Up topside we may be debating whether to fiddle with the landscaping a little, but not for the first time.

There's not much new in the article apart from the bombastic hype. Sigh.

Background here.