We are fortunate again this year to have the special opportunity to have two seminars offered by Professor Idan Dershov Dershowitz. We are excited about the opportunity to gain new insights to deepen our understanding of Judaism and the Bible.

Professor Idan Dorshav Dershowitz is a young Israeli-American scholar, who earned his doctorate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He joined Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, in 2024. Previously he was Chair of the Hebrew Bible and Its Exegesis at the University of Potsdam and Director of its School of Jewish Theology in Germany. His current research interests include the evolution of biblical religion and the methods of ancient biblical scribes and editors.

Professor Dershowitz will be presenting additional findings from his ongoing research: first on the shorter version of Deuteronomy discovered on leather fragments by Bedouin shepherds in the 1860s; and second from his study of the Great Isaiah Scroll from Qumran (one of the Dead Sea Scrolls). His latest book is on the history of the Great Isaiah Scroll.

SEMINAR SCHEDULE:

Sunday, February 1, 4:00–5:30 p.m. via Zoom
Please visit https://www.riverdaletemple.org/event/adult-ed_2026_0201.html for more information about what will be covered, to register to attend and to receive your Zoom link.

Sunday February 8, 4:00–5:30 p.m. via Zoom

IN SESSION 2 (February 8):

An update about the ongoing study of the short version of Deuteronomy.

This proto-Deuteronomy provides further insights that have produced an increasing number of scholars who continue to defend the documents’ authenticity, among them, Professor Dershowitz.

Participants of Idan’s class last year will remember the story of the discovery in the 1860s by Bedouin shepherds of decayed leather fragments, which contain a short version of Deuteronomy but one that is clearly consistent with the Book of Deuteronomy that we are familiar with. Moses Shapira, a manuscript dealer and amateur scholar, purchased these artifacts a decade later and submitted them to scholars for analysis, but after much controversy and public excitement, they were formally declared to be forgeries, although several scholars persisted in their assessment of the manuscripts’ validity. The documents disappeared and were mostly forgotten until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls reopened the question.