which had chosen not to risk any compromise with Hellenism or with official Judaism, which they believed had been tainted by Hellenism. They went to the desert to be a pure community and wait for God to deliver them and vindicate their stand as God’s true people. The importance of ritual and religious calendars is also evident from this material, revealing an approach to religious practice that is far different from much religious expression today but that reflects concerns that existed within first-century