Solomon Zeitlin

Solomon Zeitlin, שְׁלֹמֹה צײטלין, Шломо Цейтлин Shlomo Cejtlin (Tseitlin, Tseytlin) (28 May 1886 or 31 May 1892, in Chashniki, Vitebsk Governorate (now in Vitebsk Region) – 28 December 1976, in United States) was a Jewish historian. His work The Rise and Fall of the Judean State is still considered the standard history of the Second Jewish Commonwealth, and essential reading for anyone wishing to study the origins and birth of Christianity.

Zeitlin taught at Dropsie College in Philadelphia and at Yeshiva University in New York City. In addition to history he taught Talmud. Many rabbis of the Philadelphia area were his students. He never married and had no immediate survivors. Dr. Zeitlin stirred up controversy when he stated that he did not believe that the Dead Sea Scrolls were of pre-Christian origin.

Works

• "An Historical Study of the Canonization of the Hebrew Scriptures", Off-print from Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research, 1931-1933
• Who Crucified Jesus?, New York: (Harper & Brothers, Publishers), 1942, 1947
• "The Hoax of the 'Slavonic Josephus'". The Jewish Quarterly Review: New Series. 39/2 (October 1948): 172–177.
• Maimonides - A Biography, New York: (Bloch Publishing Company), 1955
• The Rise and Fall of the Judean State: A Political, Social and Religious History of the Second Commonwealth. New York: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1967.