When I began to write “The Dead Sea Codex,” I realized that I didn’t really want to go back to Israel and risk being blown up by a suicide bomber. So I cheated; I stayed home in Illinois. I used today’s

virtual magic carpet, the Internet. Lucky me—I avoided the purgatory of crowded

airports and multiple gas-powered vehicles to traverse oceans and time zones

only to arrive sleep-deprived, sweat-stained,…