In the annals of Jewish historical research, few figures loom as large or as provocatively as Norman Golb. Born in the bustling immigrant neighborhoods of Chicago on January 15, 1928, Golb rose from humble beginnings to become a towering intellectual force, challenging entrenched theories and unearthing forgotten chapters of Jewish life.
Golb’s groundbreaking work on the Dead Sea Scrolls, medieval Jewish communities and ancient manuscripts not only expanded the boundaries of historical knowledge but also sparked fierce debates that continue to resonate in academic circles today.
Golb’s relentless pursuit of truth, fueled by a prodigious memory and multilingual mastery, earned him accolades, honorary degrees, and a reputation as a contrarian who refused to accept scholarly consensus without rigorous evidence. He passed away on December 29, 2020, at the age of 92, leaving behind a legacy that has profoundly influenced our understanding of Judaism’s rich, multifaceted past.
Golb’s journey was marked by a series of discoveries that read like a historical detective novel. From identifying the oldest known Hebrew musical manuscript to proving the conversion of the Khazars to Judaism, his findings illuminated obscure corners of history. Yet, it was his audacious challenge to the origins of the Dead Sea Scrolls – ancient texts that bridge the gap between biblical times and early Christianity – that cemented his status as a scholarly maverick.
Over a career spanning more than six decades, primarily at the University of Chicago, Golb authored numerous books and articles, mentored generations of students, and advocated for open access to priceless artifacts. His life story is one of intellectual courage, where facts trumped tradition, and curiosity conquered complacency.
Norman Golb was born to Joseph and Rose Golb, both child immigrants from Ukraine who had fled pogroms and sought new opportunities in America. Raised in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood – a melting pot of Jewish, Polish and Irish families – young Norman grew up immersed in a world of cultural diversity and intellectual ferment. His parents, though working-class, instilled in him a deep appreciation for Jewish heritage and learning. Golb attended local schools, including Wright Junior College (now Wilbur Wright College) and Roosevelt College (now Roosevelt University), where he honed his analytical skills amid the post-World War II era’s emphasis on education as a path to upward mobility.
By the early 1950s, Golb’s passion for Judaic studies led him to Johns Hopkins University, where he earned his PhD in Judaic and Semitic studies in 1954. His doctoral dissertation focused on the Qumran scrolls, foreshadowing a lifelong obsession with these enigmatic documents. As a student, Golb secured prestigious fellowships, including the Cyrus Adler Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at Dropsie College in Philadelphia and the Warburg Fellowship for Research in Judaic and Semitic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from 1955 to 1957. These experiences abroad exposed him to ancient manuscripts firsthand, sharpening his expertise in Hebrew, Arabic, and other Semitic languages. Fluent in multiple tongues, Golb developed an uncanny ability to decipher faded scripts and contextualize them within broader historical narratives – skills that would define his career.
Golb’s professional ascent began in earnest in 1957 with a visiting faculty position at the University of Wisconsin, followed by a stint at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati from 1958 to 1963. There, he taught Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic studies, laying the groundwork for his later discoveries. In 1963, he joined the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute and Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, where he would spend the bulk of his career. Rising through the ranks, he was appointed the Ludwig Rosenberger Professor of Jewish History and Civilization in 1988, a position he held until his retirement in 2015.
Throughout his tenure, Golb held visiting appointments at Harvard University in 1966 and Tel Aviv University from 1969 to 1970. He was a prolific grant recipient, earning two Guggenheim Fellowships (1964 and 1966), support from the American Philosophical Society, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Littauer Foundation, and a National Endowment for the Humanities grant in 1970. These funds enabled extensive archival research in Europe, including seasons at Cambridge University Library studying Cairo Genizah documents.
In 1970, he was elected a life member of Clare Hall at Cambridge University. Golb’s teaching style was legendary: former students recall his patience, encyclopedic recall of texts, and encouragement to question sources critically. He mentored scholars who went on to lead in fields like medieval Jewish history, emphasizing primary sources over secondary interpretations.
Golb’s research was a treasure hunt across centuries, yielding discoveries that reshaped Jewish historiography. In 1962, he identified the Kievan Letter, a 10th-century document providing the earliest evidence of Jewish life in Kyiv, Ukraine – a find that highlighted Eastern European Jewry’s ancient roots. He also uncovered an autograph manuscript from Khazarian Jews in Kiev, offering documentary proof that many Khazars, a Turkic nomadic people, converted to Judaism – debunking myths and confirming historical accounts by medieval travelers.
Golb’s work on medieval European Jewry was equally transformative. He identified Obadiah the Proselyte, a 12th-century Norman noble who converted to Judaism, as the author of the oldest extant Hebrew musical manuscript. This discovery, detailed in a 1967 article, bridged musicology and history, revealing how converts enriched Jewish cultural life. His excavations into the Cairo Genizah yielded gems like a document on an 11th-century European convert to Judaism and the earliest legal record of Jews in Sicily. Golb also found a Hebrew manuscript related to the First Crusade, shedding light on Jewish experiences during that tumultuous period.
Particularly notable was his focus on medieval Normandy. In 1976, he published “Toledot hayehudim be’ir Rouen bime habenayim” (“History and Culture of the Jews of Medieval Rouen”) in Hebrew, later translated into French as “Les Juifs de Rouen au Moyen Age” (1985) and English as “The Jews in Medieval Normandy: A Social and Intellectual History” (1998). These works, based on archaeological finds from Rouen’s “Street of the Jews” in 1976 and 1982, reconstructed a vibrant community of scholars, merchants, and rabbis.
For his efforts, Rouen awarded him its Grand Medal in 1985, the University of Rouen an honorary doctorate in 1987, and the Region of Haute Normandie a medal. In 2006, the Italian commune of Oppido Lucano granted him honorary citizenship for his Obadiah research. Co-authored with Omeljan Pritsak, his 1982 book “Khazarian Hebrew Documents of the Tenth Century” further solidified his reputation as a manuscript sleuth.
No aspect of Golb’s career was more contentious or impactful than his work on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Discovered in 1947 near Qumran, these 800-plus manuscripts – including biblical texts, commentaries and apocalyptic writings – were initially attributed to the Essenes, a reclusive Jewish sect described by ancient historians like Josephus and Philo. This “Qumran-Essene hypothesis” posited that the scrolls were produced in a local scriptorium and hidden in nearby caves during the First Jewish Revolt against Rome (66-73 CE).
Golb, who had studied the scrolls since his doctoral days, began questioning this narrative in the 1980s. In a seminal 1980 article in the “Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society”, he argued that the scrolls’ “dizzying variety” – encompassing biblical fragments, pesharim (commentaries) on prophets like Habakkuk, apocrypha such as Jubilees, pseudepigrapha like the Book of Noah, liturgical poetry, wisdom texts, messianic speculations, horoscopes and visions of a future Temple – reflected diverse currents in Palestinian Judaism, not the output of a single, isolated group. He noted over 50 distinct scribal hands in Cave 1 alone, suggesting hundreds of scribes across the collection, far exceeding what a small Essene community (estimated at 4,000 members total) could produce.
Instead, Golb proposed that the scrolls originated from Jerusalem’s libraries, representing multiple sects and communities. They were smuggled out and hidden in Judaean Wilderness caves, including Qumran, to protect them from Roman destruction during the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. This theory, elaborated in his 1995 bestseller “Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls? The Search for the Secret of Qumran” (translated into several languages), challenged the “fiction of scholarship” upheld by a “clique” of scholars, as he put it in a 1989 interview. Variations in phylacteries (tefillin) from the caves – some lengthy, others short, with inconsistent texts – further undermined the idea of a rigid sectarian origin, aligning instead with broader Jewish practices.
The hypothesis ignited “rancorous debate,” with critics accusing Golb of heresy against established views. Yet, it influenced a new generation to reevaluate the scrolls as a “hoard of spiritual treasures” from prerabbinic Judaism, revealing eschatological and messianic themes that shaped early Christianity. In the 1990s, Golb led a campaign to “free” the scrolls from restricted access by a small team of editors, organizing an international congress under the New York Academy of Sciences and the Oriental Institute. His advocacy succeeded, democratizing study and accelerating research.
Controversy extended beyond academia when his son, Raphael Golb, was convicted in the case “People versus Golb” for online impersonation to promote his father’s theories – a legal saga that underscored the passion surrounding Golb’s ideas.
Norman Golb’s legacy is etched in the annals of Jewish studies. His discoveries – from Yemenite manuscripts (“Spertus College of Judaica Yemenite Manuscripts”, 1972) to Judeo-Arabic court documents – have enriched our knowledge of Jewish diasporas across Europe, the Middle East, and beyond. By emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches, combining linguistics, archaeology, and textual analysis, he inspired scholars to view history through a wider lens. His efforts to make the Dead Sea Scrolls accessible transformed the field, enabling DNA and digital analyses that partially vindicate his multi-origin theory.
Golb’s influence extends to public history: his books, like “Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?”, brought arcane debates to lay audiences, while his Rouen research informed local heritage preservation. Honored with fellowships, medals, and honorary degrees, he was remembered by colleagues as a generous mentor with a “prodigious memory” for texts and handwritings. In 1997, he edited “Judaeo-Arabic Studies”, furthering cross-cultural scholarship.
Beyond academia, Golb was a devoted family man. He married Ruth Magder in the early 1950s, a union lasting over 70 years until his death. They had three children: Raphael, Joel and Judith, along with granddaughter Dana Vowinckel and sister Harriet Baker. Ruth recalled their shared values of kindness and concern for Judaism, forged in the shadow of the Holocaust.
In his later years, Golb battled Alzheimer’s disease, passing away in a Chicago hospice on December 29, 2020. His death marked the end of an era, but his work endures, inviting future generations to question, discover, and reinterpret the past. Golb taught that sources must be interrogated -a principle that defines his timeless legacy.