{"product_id":"loa-community-rule","title":"Community Rule","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat does a community demand when shared meals, spoken words, and private conduct all fall under strict rules?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCommunity Rule opens the inner life of a Jewish religious group living apart from society near the Dead Sea. Also called Serekh ha-Yahad, or the Order of the Community, this anonymous text sets out beliefs, admission tests, shared meals, prayer, and discipline. Its concern is practical: how members must live together.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe opening calls members to seek God with their whole heart and soul. The Instruction on the Two Spirits describes truth and deceit struggling within each person, according to the text. Alongside these teachings come years of testing for newcomers and penalties for misconduct. Spiritual ideals meet the demands of daily life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eInside this book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe path into community\u003c\/strong\u003e – Follow a newcomer's approach to the Overseer and the years of testing that follow.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTwo spirits within\u003c\/strong\u003e – Explore how the text frames human conduct through the spirits of truth and deceit.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMeals, meetings, and discipline\u003c\/strong\u003e – See how shared meals, prayer, and counsel fit within a fixed order of community life.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePurity in daily practice\u003c\/strong\u003e – Consider rules for ritual purity and communal property alongside the group's demanding spiritual ideals.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe wilderness and hymn\u003c\/strong\u003e – Read how later sections describe the community's purpose through holiness, council, and a closing hymn.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003ePerfect for history lovers, religious readers, and anyone curious about Second Temple Judaism, the Dead Sea Scrolls, or religious self-government.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOpen the first page and explore how this community turns its beliefs into rules for living.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Library of Alexandria Press","offers":[{"title":"eBook","offer_id":58111237947740,"sku":"LOA-248-EB","price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":58111237980508,"sku":"LOA-248-AU","price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":58111238013276,"sku":"LOA-248-PB","price":5.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":58111238046044,"sku":"LOA-248-HC","price":12.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1027\/9442\/8764\/files\/248.jpg?v=1781945159","url":"https:\/\/libraryofalexandria.com\/de\/products\/loa-community-rule","provider":"The Library of Alexandria","version":"1.0","type":"link"}