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In a class he gave in the 90s, Rabbi Prof. Shnayer Leiman said that he believes that once all of the fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls are properly analyzed and made public, it is very likely that the verse "אם תעזבנו יום יומים אעזבך - If thou forgettest Me one day, I will forget thee two days", which the Yerushalmi and the Sifrei quote in the name of a text called "Megillat Chasssidim", will be found among the fragments (9:28-10:45).

Does anyone know whether it was indeed found?

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    Presumably not because as of this writing Megilas Chasidim is not one of the scrolls found in the Dead Sea Scrolls
    – Schmerel
    Commented Jan 25, 2021 at 23:55
  • Isn't it in Ben Sira?
    – Shalom
    Commented Jan 26, 2021 at 0:47
  • @Schmerel Maybe it's called something else by researchers? Or maybe it appears on a fragment, not a whole scroll?
    – Harel13
    Commented Jan 26, 2021 at 5:29
  • @Shalom It didn't sound like that from Rabbi Leiman (he mentioned Ben-Sira several times and said that this verse came from a scroll mentioned by the Yerushalmi), but if you're aware that it's in Ben-Sira then I'd be happy to see.
    – Harel13
    Commented Jan 26, 2021 at 5:31
  • Why is this phrase/scroll important?
    – Al Berko
    Commented Sep 3 at 11:43

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Having since learned much more about the Dead Sea Scrolls, and having gone through several editions of the published material, which is most of what has been found, I think I can safely say that this phrase has not been found in the scrolls, at least not those that we have today.

With that said, later in 5781 I became convinced that this phrase is unlikely to have ever been part of the ideology of the mysterious sect or sects that owned the scrolls. Personally, I think it may be related to the Chassidim Rishonim (חסידים ראשונים) mentioned in some sources, but that's just a speculation. I wrote on that suggestion in a paper on Chassidim Rishonim (in Hebrew) and can link it if anyone's interested.

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  • Why "this phrase is unlikely to have ever been part of the ideology of the mysterious sect or sects that owned the scrolls"?
    – Al Berko
    Commented Sep 3 at 10:38
  • In short, the quote first appears in Sifrei Devarim, which is a tannaitic midrash from the school of Rabbi Akiva. This means the materials that compose it were authored not long after the destruction of the temple. In other words, there's a pretty good chance that these sages were familiar with the DSS sect(s). While there are arguments that these groups' ideology did not contradict that of the sages and may have even been part of the same circle,
    – Harel13
    Commented Sep 3 at 10:48
  • there are many arguments to support that these were fringe groups and indeed quite a few of their materials differ greatly from what we know of the sages. It's speculative on my part, but I feel that it's unlikely that the sages would have quoted something from a fringe sect in such a positive matter.
    – Harel13
    Commented Sep 3 at 10:48
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    If you're interested in an opinion that these authors were mainstream, you can see for example Neil Asher Silberman's The Hidden Scrolls (although his view is interspersed with explaining the politics surrounding the research of the scrolls).
    – Harel13
    Commented Sep 3 at 10:52
  • AFAIK, DSS comprise a library of scrolls from very different schools. They saw themselves as "keepers" rather than "teachers" - e.g. they preserved different versions of the same books. If the "Scroll of Hassidim" existed, they would probably lay their hands on it. Regarding ideology, how do you know if a "scriptural" verse is/aligns with ideology?
    – Al Berko
    Commented Sep 3 at 11:37

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