Dead Sea Scrolls expert to talk here

Hershel Shanks, a noted expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls, will be in Palo Alto on Saturday, Oct. 21 to deliver a lecture on the meaning of these ancient archeological treasures.

Written between 250 BCE and 68 CE, the Dead Sea Scrolls are the oldest copies of biblical books in existence.

Shanks is editor of Bible Review and Biblical Archaeology Review, and has written about biblical archaeology for more than 30 years.

The lecture is sponsored by the Thomas Merton Center of Palo Alto with additional support from the Taube Center for Jewish Studies at Stanford University and Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills. It takes place at 7:30 p.m. in the Lucie Stern Community Center Hall, 1305 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto. For information, call (650) 328-2781.

Yossi Olmert to speak on Peninsula

Yossi Olmert — journalist, scholar and brother of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert — will speak about current events in Israel at two Bay Area events this month.

He will speak at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 28 at Congregation Bet Haverim, 1715 Anderson Road, Davis, Free. His second speaking engagement will be at an advocacy and activism for Israel brunch at 10 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 29, at Temple Beth Jacob,1550 Alameda de las Pulgas, Redwood City, $18. (415) 677-9600.