© 2006 Jan Herca (license Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0)
It was not only the year with its festive calendar that marked Israel’s religiosity vis-à-vis other peoples, but also its weekly Sabbath festival. The Sabbath was celebrated not only in Jerusalem and its temple, but everywhere, in any place in Palestine and even outside the country.
The Sabbath feast was determined by the Sabbath precept in the Decalogue. It establishes it as a day of rest from work, even for male and female slaves, foreigners, and livestock. In Ex 20:8-11 the Sabbath precept is based on God’s rest after the work of creation. But it is all a priestly elaboration, presenting the Sabbath as the first law received by men and, consequently, as the central point of the entire Law. It was given only to the people of Israel and is the sign of their election and their difference from the rest of the nations. For this reason, the Sabbath was under special protection. Thus, it was said: “Whoever does any work on it must die. Every man who observes it will be sanctified and blessed all his days.” The rabbis of the time, aware of the importance of the Sabbath, took great care to prepare writings in which they recorded all the issues relating to the Sabbath and the Sabbath year. It was said that “if all Israel would observe only two Sabbaths, according to the prescribed rules, the eternal salvation of the people would immediately begin.” Hence the immense emphasis placed on this matter.
The thousand and one things that were forbidden to do on the Sabbath were absolutely suffocating. Let us give some examples:
- one could walk a maximum of a thousand cubits;
- no personal healing or healing of others.
- bearing arms and defending oneself. Following the Maccabean uprising, it became necessary to repeal this prohibition, as the Israelites were falling on the battlefield on the Sabbath for failing to defend themselves. From then on, the principle was reached that defending life neutralized the Sabbath; indeed, the Pharisees later expanded this maxim to the effect that “saving a human life abolishes the Sabbath.”
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Because the Sabbath of God was the fundamental holy precept for Israel, its violation was punishable. If it occurred inadvertently, the person who committed it received a warning and became obligated to make an expiatory sacrifice. When the Sabbath precept is broken, despite witnesses and prior admonition, its transgression demands stoning as a penalty, while when such a transgression occurs without witnesses, it results in extermination by the avenging hand of God.
The Sabbath was announced and separated from the workday by three trumpet blasts from the Levites in the Temple and from the synagogue guards in the country. After these blasts, the pious Israelite lit the Sabbath lamp, removed his phylacteries, and put on fine clothes, for the Sabbath was to be celebrated as a day of joy.
The Sabbath actually began on Friday night with a banquet. This first festive meal included two cups. During it, the blessing of the table was pronounced, along with the Qiddus, the formula for sanctifying the Sabbath: “Praise be to you, who sanctified the Sabbath day” or “Praise be to you, who gave the Sabbaths for rest to your people in love and as a sign of covenant. Praise be to you who sanctified the Sabbath.”
Celebrations were also held on the Sabbath itself with special banquets. However, the meal had to be prepared the day before, since the acquisition and preparation of food fell under the prohibition of working on the Sabbath. The main meal took place after midday, and guests were invited to the meal and fed sumptuously. When preparing the meal, it was also necessary to consider the needy travelers who, detained by the Sabbath, were forced to stay in one place.
During the Sabbath feast, fasting was prohibited, as it was to be a day of rejoicing. At its beginning and end, the Sabbath was separated from the workday by the so-called Haggadah, the formula of separation, pronounced at the Sabbath supper. Its exact form is unknown, but it may have been something like this: “Blessed be You, who separates the holy from the profane, the seventh day of the six days of work.”
The Temple divine service required additional offerings for the Sabbath; the unleavened bread was renewed, and the censers were placed on the table of unleavened bread. Priestly shifts alternated in the service throughout the day. Psalm 92 was the Sabbath Psalm in the Temple.
The synagogue divine service is closely connected with the Sabbath feast. This form of assembly and divine worship developed in exile, where the distance from the destroyed temple necessitated meetings without worship, focusing on the Law and the history of the people. It effectively contributed to making piety something personal and intimate.
The local inhabitants met on Saturday morning. Seats, which were scarce, were arranged according to a certain order, with the most distinguished members of the community in the front rows and the young people behind. Men were also separated according to their different occupations. Lepers and women had to remain in annexes separate from the main hall. At least ten people were required for the celebration to take place.
The synagogue’s morning divine service (alongside it there is also the evening divine service and the weekly divine service on market days, Mondays and Thursdays, which were fast days for the Pharisees) consists of a liturgical and a doctrinal part.
¶ Liturgical Part
Its fixed elements are:
- A first prayer, as follows:
“Blessed be the Lord, King of the world, creator of light and darkness, maker of peace, creator of all; who in his mercy, gives light to the earth and to those who dwell in it; who in his goodness renews day after day and every day, the works of creation. Blessed be the Lord our God for the glory of his works and for the lights that illuminate what he has made for his praise. Selah. Blessed be the Lord our God, maker of light”.
- After a short pause, a second prayer was recited:
“The Lord our God has loved us with great love and has compassion on us, our Father and our King, for the sake of our ancestors who trusted in him. You taught them the statutes of life. Be gracious to us and teach us. Enlighten our eyes in the Law; make our hearts obey your commandments. Unite our hearts to love you and fear your name, so that we will not be put to shame, world without end. For you are the God of salvation, and you have chosen us from among all nations and all languages, and have truly brought us close to your great name, Shelah, that we may praise your unity in love. Blessed be the Lord, who in love chose his people Israel.”
- Next came the Shema Yisrael (Hear, O Israel), the Jewish creed, recited in chorus by the seated community, with their blessings. This rite consisted of the repetition of numerous passages from the Law and indicated that believers accepted the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven and the yoke of the commandments, both day and night. It consisted of Deut 6:4-9, 11:13-21; and Numbers 15:37-41, preceded and followed by one or two blessings. The Shema had to be recited by every Jew at least twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Children, women, and slaves were exempt. The people prayed with their faces turned toward the Holy of Holies, toward Jerusalem. This is a version of this prayer:
Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might, and you shall take all these commandments that I give you today into your heart. Teach them to your children, and when you sit in your house, when you travel, when you lie down, and when you get up, speak of them always. Bind them on your hands as a sign; put them on your foreheads and between your eyes; write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
If you obey the commandments I command you, to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give your land rain in season, early and late. You will harvest your grain, your new wine, and your oil. I will also give your fields grass for your livestock, and you will eat and be satisfied. But be careful that your hearts are not enticed to turn away and you turn aside to serve other gods and bow down to them. For the Lord’s anger will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, and there will be no more rain, and the land will yield no more fruit, and you will soon perish from the good land that the Lord is giving you. Therefore take the words that I speak to you into your hearts and minds; bind them as a memorial on your hands and wear them as a frontlet between your eyes. Teach them to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk, when you lie down and when you rise up. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them may be many, as the days of the heavens above the earth.
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Israelites and tell them to make tassels on the edges of their garments throughout their generations, and to fasten the tassels around each edge with a blue-colored cord. This will be a reminder to them when they see it, all the commandments of the Lord, to observe them and not to turn to the desires of their hearts and eyes, to those who play the harlot. For if you remember my precepts and observe them, you will be holy to your God.” I, Yahweh, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I, Yahweh, your God.
Then followed a third prayer, the Tefillah:
“Truly, you are Yahweh, our God, and the God of our fathers, our King, and the King of our fathers; our Savior, and the Savior of our fathers; our Creator, and the Rock of our salvation; our help, and our deliverer. Your name is from everlasting, and there is no other god but you. They sang a new song to those who were freed, and they sang it by the sea, praising your name. Together they praised you and acknowledged you as King, saying, ‘Yahweh will reign, world without end.’ Blessed is the Lord who saves Israel.”
- Next came the prayer of the eighteen eulogies, blessings, or supplications (berakot): that is, the Schemone Esreh, together with the Qaddis prayer, as well as the Aaronic blessing inserted between blessings 17 and 18. If possible, it was pronounced by a priest, who during the blessing symbolically represented the presence of God by standing before the case containing the Torah scrolls, and the congregation limited themselves to uttering certain responses, especially the amen. This part could be shortened, because of its length, to just a few blessings, to give more time for the following part, in which the discourse was given. The Schemone Esreh was to be recited by every pious Jew three times a day, in the morning, in the early evening (when the minchah offering, a food offering made at the Temple in Jerusalem, was made), and at sunset. The translation most likely in use in Jesus’ time is this:
1. Blessed are you, Lord, God of our fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, the great, mighty, and awesome God, God Most High, who created heaven and earth, our shield and the shield of our fathers, our support in every generation. Blessed are you, Lord, shield of Abraham.
2. You are mighty and you humble the proud, strong and you judge the violent, you live forever and raise the dead, you make the wind blow and send down the dew, you sustain the living and revive the dead; in a moment you cause our salvation to spring forth. Blessed are you, Lord, who raises the dead to life.
3. You are holy, and your name is awesome, and there is no other God beside you. Blessed are you, Lord, the holy God.
4. Grant us, Father, knowledge from you, understanding and discernment from your Torah. Blessed are you, Lord, who gives knowledge.
5. Turn us back to you, Lord, and we will repent. Renew our days as of old. Blessed are you who delight in repentance.
6. Forgive us, our Father, for we have sinned against you. Blot out our wicked deeds and remove them from before your eyes, for many are your mercies. Blessed are you, Lord, abounding in forgiveness.
7. Look upon our affliction, and defend our cause, and redeem us for your name’s sake. Blessed are you, Lord, the redeemer of Israel
8. Heal us, O Lord our God, from the pain in our hearts; remove our sorrow from us and heal our wounds. Blessed are you who heals the sick of your people Israel.
9. Bless us this year, Lord our God, and make all its fruits prosperous. Hasten the coming of the year of our redemption and grant dew and rain to the earth, and satisfy the world with the treasures of your goodness, and bless the work of our hands. Blessed are you, Lord, who blesses the years.
10. Proclaim our deliverance with the great trumpet and set up a banner to gather our dispersed ones. Blessed are you, Lord, who gathers the exiles of your people Israel.
11. Restore our judges as of old and our counselors as at the first, and reign over us alone. Blessed are you, Lord, who love justice.
12. And may there be no hope for apostates, and may the insolent kingdom be quickly eradicated in our days. And may heretics soon perish, and may they be blotted out of the Book of Life, and may they not be registered with the righteous. Blessed are you, Lord, who humbles the insolent.
13. Let your lovingkindnesses shower down upon the righteous proselytes, and grant us a rich reward, along with those who are pleasing to you. Blessed are you, Lord, the upholder of the righteous.
14. Be merciful, O Lord our God, with your great kindnesses to Israel your people, to Jerusalem your city, to Zion the dwelling place of your glory, to your temple and your habitation, and to the royal house of David, your righteous Messiah. Blessed are you, Lord, God of David, who builds Jerusalem.
15. Hear, O Lord our God, the voice of our supplication, and be gracious to us, for you are a God of grace and mercy. Blessed are you, Lord, who hears prayer.
16. May it be pleasing to you, O Lord our God, to dwell in Zion, and to have your servants minister to you in Jerusalem. Blessed are you, Lord, whom we fear and worship.
17. We give you thanks, Lord God of our fathers, for all the goodness and grace and favors you have bestowed on us and that you have shown to us and to our fathers before us. And if we say that our feet slip, let your grace, O Lord, help us. Blessed are you, Lord, the Most Gracious, you are to be praised.
18. Pour out your peace on Israel, your people, and on your city and on your inheritance, and bless us all. Blessed are you, Lord, who makes peace.
¶ Doctrinal part
It took place with the reading aloud of the Torah and the Prophets, as well as a sermon. The reading of the Torah or Pentateuch took place in Palestine in a successive three-year cycle, during which passages relating to the current period of the Temple festive calendar were read during the various festivals and the preparatory periods for them. This resulted in 154 sections to be read on each Sabbath, although other distributions could also be made. The relevant passages were given the name Paras or Parasah. They were read by a number of readers previously chosen by the community, or by a single person, and translated into Aramaic (for those who did not already know Hebrew) by a translator, usually the same person who read; this translation was called a Targum. The reading from the Prophets (Nebiyim) came at the end and was called a Haftarah, or “farewell recitation,” because it concluded the divine service. It was read on Saturday mornings and during the services of the great festivals; it was freely chosen, but it had to fit in with the Torah lesson and explain and summarize it in some way. When the boy reached religious majority, at thirteen, he could act as a reader for the first time and was employed as such; for this purpose, he was consecrated as a bar mistwá, or “son of obligation.” The act of removing the Torah scroll from the shelf where it was kept, as well as unrolling it and returning it to its shelf, were accompanied by solemn rites.
The Haftarah was followed by a sermon (darash), consisting of a brief doctrinal and comforting discourse, usually delivered by the same person who gave the readings, the preacher or darsan, standing on a platform or exedra.
The service ended with a blessing pronounced by a priest (Numbers 6:22ff.), to which the assembly responded with the amen. It went like this: “May the Lord bless you and keep you; may he make his face shine upon you and give you his favor; may he turn his face toward you and give you peace.” If there was no priest, then the hazan simply recited it.
This was the order followed for the morning service, but in the afternoon, the people gathered again in the synagogue at the time of the Minchah sacrifice. The difference here is that there was no reading from the Prophets. There were also services on Mondays and Thursdays, on New Moon days, and on festivals. All followed the same pattern.
¶ External links
¶ References
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Emil Schürer, Historia del pueblo judío en tiempos de Jesús (History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus), Ediciones Cristiandad, 1985.
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Johannes Leipoldt and Walter Grundmann, El Mundo del Nuevo Testamento (The World of the New Testament), two volumes, Ediciones Cristiandad, 1973.