Eyal Regev
sensus. I therefore believe that the elders cannot be identified with the
Hellenized Jews of the Seleucid period.^19 The author's portrayal of the two
parties in terms of age differences, namely, separate generations, corre
sponds with what the sociologist Karl Manheim called "the problem of gen
erations." The categories of generations mark two social classes of separate
"historical space," namely, distinct social units.^20 All this leads me to the con
clusion that the general characteristics of Jubilees and particularly chap. 23
do not reflect a sect but rather a reform movement.^21 Jubilees represents a
group that aims to change society rather than withdraw from it. It challenges
the prevailing elite, wishing to lead the people in a different path.
This general social difference between Jubilees and the Qumran sects
also applies to the comparison of Jubilees with the Essenes. Apart from
strictness pertaining to avoidance of work on the Sabbath, the Essene so
cial restrictions and taboos are unattested in Jubilees. One interesting con
trast between the two is that whereas most Essenes lived in celibacy with
out women, Jubilees presents an idealized characterization of biblical
matriarchs.^22
Those who identify the "Qumran community," the "Qumran sectari
ans," or the "Dead Sea Scrolls sect" with the Essenes tend to overlook the fact
that at least two distinct sects are reflected in the scrolls. Although the yahad
of the Community Rule and the Damascus Covenant of the Damascus Doc
ument share much terminology and many general ideas, they differ in social
organization, hierarchal or egalitarian structure, the stringency of social
boundaries, and in other ideological aspects.^23 This fact complicates the
comparison of the Essene practices and way of life with those in the scrolls,
since in several cases one point of similarity between the Essenes and the
yahad actually serves as a discrepancy between the Essenes and the Damas
cus Covenant, or vice versa. The most significant example is communal
- In contrast to scholars such as G. L. Davenport, The Eschatology of the Book of Ju
bilees (Leiden: Brill, 1971), 41-43, following Charles. - K. Manheim, Essays on the Sociology of Knowledge (London: Routledge and Kegan
Paul, 1952), 276-320. - Cf. already K. Berger, Das Buch der Jubilaen, Jiidische Schriften aus hellenistisch-
romanischer Zeit, II. 3 (Giitersloh: Giiterloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn, 1981), 298. - B. Halpern-Amaru, The Empowerment of Women in the Book of Jubilees, JSJSup 60
(Leiden: Brill, 1999). - P. R. Davies, "The Judaism(s) of the Damascus Document," in The Damascus Doc
ument: A Centennial of Discovery, ed. J. M. Baumgarten et al., STDJ 34 (Leiden: Brill, 2000),
27-43; E. Regev, "The Yahad and the Damascus Covenant: Structure, Organization and Rela
tionship," RevQ 21, no. 2 (2004): 233-62.