NY man at Dead Sea Scrolls trial: Case stems from malice toward my dad’s scholarship
By APMonday, September 20, 2010
NY man in Dead Sea Scrolls case: It’s revenge
NEW YORK — A New York lawyer denies he impersonated a Judaic studies professor and calls the allegation payback in a scholarly dispute over the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Raphael (RAY’-fee-ehl) Golb’s 2009 videotaped statement to authorities was played Monday at his Manhattan identity theft trial.
Prosecutors say Golb faked e-mails while posing as New York University professor Lawrence Schiffman. They say the e-mails made it appear Schiffman admitted plagiarizing work by Golb’s father, Norman Golb.
Schiffman denies the plagiarism claim.
The elder Golb is a University of Chicago professor. He and Schiffman disagree about the ancient Jews who wrote the 2,000-year-old scrolls, which include the earliest known versions of portions of the Hebrew Bible.
In the video, Raphael Golb denies sending the e-mails. He suggests Schiffman implicated him “out of maliciousness” toward his father.
