It has been almost four years since I embarked on the task of bringing the Dead Sea Scrolls to Toronto. I was upset in 2004 when I found out that Montreal and Ottawa were to get an exhibit of these Jewish documents and Toronto did not. I was determined to do something about it, but it was easier said than done.

Fortunately, I did have 40 years of archeological experience and personal contacts behind me. Furthermore, my position as president of the Canadian Institute for Mediterranean Studies (CIMS) at St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto gave me some credibility. As it turned out we, at CIMS were planning a conference on Cyprus, the Sea Peoples and the eastern Mediterranean, which was held in spring of 2006. The Royal Ontario Museum had expressed an interest in co-sponsoring the conference. (The most famous of these Sea Peoples are Philistines of biblical fame).

Events took a fortuitous turn when I found out that the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), the guardian of the scrolls in Israel, was to set up a charitable organization in Canada that aimed to acquaint people with Israel’s phenomenal archeological legacy. To accomplish this task, the authority wanted to bring a blockbuster exhibit of the scrolls to Canada, especially to the ROM. The authority asked me to help them bring this about.

When I next met with ROM representatives, to discuss the Sea Peoples conference, I asked if they would be interested in hosting a major exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Indeed, they were interested. Shortly thereafter, I was introduced to the IAA’s shaliach, Brig.-Gen. Itzchak Fuchs (retired), or Fuchsi, as he preferred to be called. Fuchsi asked me to help the IAA in getting the scrolls to Toronto.

Within a month, I had Fuchsi in a meeting at the ROM to discuss the possibility of an exhibit of the scrolls. Then things began to get more complicated.  Bureaucratic gridlock began to set in. For most of the next year, things got bogged down. Finally, last May, the IAA sent a high-level delegation to meet with ROM representatives.

The museum has now committed to hosting a blockbuster exhibit of the scrolls, after it conducted a feasibility study that showed what I knew to be true all along – that a major exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Toronto would be phenomenally successful.

Of course, much work remains to be done for such an exhibit. Funds will have to be raised to cover part of the costs. We are also planning to hold a major international conference in conjunction with the exhibit. Two friends and former students of mine, Miguel Singer and Barry Zagdanski, have offered to help raise funds to finance the conference.

Fortunately, I have a wonderful committee made up of three of the top scrolls scholars in the country – professors Sarianna Metso; Hindy Najman, the new director of the Centre for Jewish Studies from U of T; and Eileen Schuller, of McMaster University, who edited one of the original scrolls publications.  

Just as exciting for me as a teacher at the Anne and Max Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto for more than 36 years was the fact that a former student, Risa Levitt Kohn, head of Jewish studies at San Diego State University, would be involved in the exhibit. She had been the curator of the immensely successful scrolls exhibit in San Diego, and I recommended to the ROM. She will be the curator of the Toronto exhibit, which is scheduled to open in the early summer of 2009.

For me, this exhibit is yet another rewarding example of how once again the Past moves Forward.