The American Jewish Archives Journal, Volume LXI 2009, Number 1

154Orlinsky knew the volume well, having sat on the publication committee of ASOR, which
approved the publication, and having carried on a long correspondence with Burrows concerning
it and especially the Isaiah Scroll. E.g., Burrows to Orlinsky, 9 January 1950; and Orlinsky to
Burrows, 13 January 1950, Harry Orlinsky, HUC-JIR, Unprocessed Material/B.
155Ibid., 255.
156Orlinsky to Belliveau, 25 June 1956, Harry Orlinsky, HUC-JIR, Unprocessed Material/B.
157A copy of the statement is transcribed in Orlinsky, “The Dead Sea Scrolls and Mr. Green,”
255.
158 “Israel Acquires Ancient Scrolls,” The New York Times (14 February 1955): 21.
159Orlinsky to Albright, 15 June 1954, and Albright to Orlinsky, 23 June 1954, MS 661, Harry
Meyer Orlinsky Papers/1/11, Albright, William.
160In the article Orlinsky specifically attacked the carbon 14 dating of the scrolls, which had
actually been done on fabric coverings and not the scrolls themselves. In 1957 the issue was
brought up again in correspondence with Ellis Rivkin. Additionally, in 1956–1957, the topic
of carbon 14 dating had been in the news as a result of an article in The New York Times that
argued that the magnetic force of the Earth had diminished over time, thus throwing off carbon
14 dating by up to two hundred years. See John Hillaby, “Earth As Magnet Said to Weaken,”
The New York Times (26 December 1956): 24. Ellis Rivkin drew Orlinsky’s attention to the
issue. Rivkin to Orlinsky, 18 January 1957, Harry Orlinsky, HUC-JIR, Unprocessed Material/
Ellis Rivkin.
Sonne was displeased with the published interview and what he perceived as an attack by Orlinsky
on the scrolls. When Millar Burrows wrote to the magazine in response to the article laying
out why he believed the scrolls were important and significant ancient documents [American
Judaism 5, no.3 (1956): 2], Sonne wrote to Burrows to thank him for taking a stand against
Orlinsky’s “presumptuous statements regarding the Dead Sea Scrolls.” Sonne to Burrows, 29
January 1956, MS 513/2343h/Correspondence, 1956.
161Edith Brodsky, “The Case of the 7 Dead Sea Scrolls,” American Judaism 5, no.2 (1955): 16.
162For Yadin’s description of the events surrounding the purchase, see his The Message of the Scrolls,
39–52. The archbishop provides his version of the events in Treasure of Qumran, 197–201.
163See n. 153 above.
164Rabbi Richard F. Steinbrink, New York class of 1961, recalled Orlinsky telling his class the
story. Email communication, 16 May 2008. Rabbi Professor Marc Saperstein recalls being told
the story in 1968. Email communication, 8 June 2008.
165 “Failure to Publish Dead Sea Scrolls is Leitmotif of New York University Scroll Conference,”
BAR 11, no.6 (Sept./Oct. 1985): 4.
166Harman to Orlinsky, 7 September 1981, MS 661/1/10, Harman, Avraham, 1982–1989.
167BAR 18, no.4 (July/Aug. 1992): 26–29.
168A copy of the invitation is preserved in Harry M. Orlinsky—Near Print Biography. Orlinsky
coordinated a similar event as president of the American Academy of Jewish Research. On 22
October 1980 the academy hosted a seminar on “The Temple Scroll and Halachah,” which also
included Ben Zion Wacholder, Joseph Baumgarten, and Baruch Levine. Orlinsky to Wacholder,
23 July 1980, MS 661/15/32, Wacholder, Ben Zion.
169By 1990 a number of voices were raised against the Essene hypothesis. See, for example,
Lawrence Schiffman, “The New Halakhic Letter (4QMMT) and the Origins of the Dead Sea
Sect,” Biblical Archaeologist (BA) 53 no. 2 (1990): 64–73.
170Orlinsky, “Closing Remarks,” 411–415.
171Orlinsky to Wacholder, 18 December 1989, MS 661/15/32, Wacholder, Ben Zion.
172 “Abraham in Normative and Hellenistic Traditions,” doctoral dissertation (Yale University,
1949).
92 • American Jewish Archives Journal