Joseph M. Baumgarten (

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, September 7, 1928 – December 4, 2008) was an Austrian-born Semitic scholar known for his knowledge in the field of Jewish legal texts from biblical law to Mishnaic law and including the legal texts among the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...

. Baumgarten immigrated to the United States with his family in 1939 as a result of the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the Nazi Germany, German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "Ger ...

, Germany's occupation of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in 1938. In 1950, he was ordained a rabbi at Mesivta Torah Vodaath, a prominent Brooklyn yeshiva. He married Naomi Rosenberg in 1953. Baumgarten started his studies in the field of mathematics with a B.A. cum laude from Brooklyn College. It was a chance meeting at

Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland where he remained for most ...

with

William Foxwell Albright William Foxwell Albright (May 24, 1891– September 19, 1971) was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist, and expert on ceramics. He is considered "one of the twentieth century's most influential American biblical scholars." ...

that caused him to change direction, eventually being awarded a Ph.D. in

Semitic studies Semitic studies, or Semitology, is the academic field dedicated to the studies of Semitic languages and literatures and the history of the Semitic-speaking peoples. A person may be called a ''Semiticist'' or a ''Semitist'', both terms being equi ...

in 1954. His dissertation was entitled "The Covenant Sect and the Essenes." From 1952 to 1957 he remained at Johns Hopkins teaching Aramaic. In 1953 he began his long association with Baltimore Hebrew College. He also took on the role of rabbi to the Bnai Jacob Congregation in 1959. Throughout his life he was a member of the

Rabbinical Council of America The Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) is one of the world's largest organizations of Orthodox rabbis; it is affiliated with The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, more commonly known as the Orthodox Union (OU). It is the main pr ...

, a major organization of Orthodox rabbis. Prof. Baumgarten served as visiting professor at Towson State College (now

Towson University Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its founding, the university ...

, the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the Flagship un ...

) and the University of the Negev (now

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) ( he, אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון בנגב, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has five campuses: the ...

) in Israel. He was also in residence at the

Israel Institute for Advanced Studies The Israel Institute for Advanced Studies (; IIAS, or IAS in Israel) is a research institute in Jerusalem, Israel, devoted to academic research in physics, mathematics, the life sciences, economics, and comparative religion. It is a self-govern ...

of the

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public university, public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

in 1990 and again in 2001. He was a fellow at the Annenberg Institute (now the

Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies The Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania—commonly called the Katz Center—is a postdoctoral research center devoted to the study of Jewish history and civilization. History The Katz Center is t ...

of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...

) in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 1992–1993. 1953 saw the first of his publications on the

. Essays from the early period of his study were collected in 1977, ''Studies in Qumran Law'' (Leiden: Brill Publishers, 1977). His knowledge of Qumran legal matters was probably the reason why

John Strugnell John Strugnell (May 25, 1930, Barnet, Hertfordshire, England – November 30, 2007, Boston, Massachusetts) became, at 23, the youngest member of the team of scholars led by Roland de Vaux, formed in 1954 to edit the Dead Sea Scrolls in Jer ...

gave him the task of publishing the Cave 4 fragments of the

Damascus Document The Damascus Document is an ancient Hebrew text known from both the Cairo Geniza and the Dead Sea Scrolls.Philip R. Davies, "Damascus Document", in Eric M. Meyers (ed.), ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East'' (Oxford Univer ...

. His work on the

not only brought its manuscripts to publication but provided the basis for understanding it within the framework of the history of

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

. A

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the ...

was presented to him in 1995: ''Legal Texts and Legal Issues, Proceedings of the Second Meeting of the International Organization for Qumran Studies, Cambridge 1995, Published in Honour of Joseph M. Baumgarten'', edited by M. Bernstein, F. García Martínez, J. Kampen (Leiden: Brill, 1997).

Publications

His publications include: * ''Law in the Dead Sea Scrolls'', (Routledge – an imprint of Taylor & Francis Books Ltd, 2005) * ''Qumran Cave 4 Vol. XIII: The Damascus Document (4Q266–273)'', editor with Jozef T. Milik, Stephen Pfann, Ada Yardeni (Oxford: OUP, 1997) * ''Qumran Cave 4 Vol. XXXV: Halakhic Texts'', editor with Torleif Elgvin, Esther Eshel, Erik Larson, Manfred R. Lehmann (Oxford: OUP, 2000)

External links

"The Laws of the Damascus Document – Between Bible and Mishnah"
– an article by Baumgarten hosted at the Orion Center.
"Immunity to Impurity and the Menorah"
by Joseph M. Baumgarten. ''Jewish Studies, an Internet Journal'' (JSIJ), vol. 5, 2006, pp. 141–5.
Lawrence Schiffman's obituary for Joseph M. Baumgarten
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baumgarten, Joseph M. 1928 births 2008 deaths Austrian emigrants to the United States American Orthodox rabbis American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Dead Sea Scrolls Hebrew language Towson University faculty Brooklyn College alumni 20th-century American rabbis 21st-century American rabbis Burials at Har HaMenuchot