‘jewish doctrine takes three forms’ 149
and 5) are fragmentary. The number of the manuscripts, and the differ-
ences between them not least with regard to the leadership of the ‘Sons
of Zadok’ (see below), suggest strongly that the Rule was put into prac-
tice (although that in turn raises the question why copies of the Rule
were preserved once they had become out of date).^64
The Community in the Rule is called the ‘Yahad’, which seems to be
a semi- formal self- designation, although elsewhere the initiates are
referred to as the Rabbim (‘the many’). The group is also called by other
Hebrew terms for a congregation, such as edah or kahal. It seems likely
that they saw no need for a special term, since they saw themselves as
the true Israel, divided into priests and laity:
The Council of the Community shall be established in truth. It shall be an
Everlasting Plantation, a House of Holiness for Israel, an Assembly of
Supreme Holiness for Aaron. They shall be witnesses to the truth at the
Judgement, and shall be the elect of Goodwill who shall atone for the
Land and pay to the wicked their reward. It shall be that tried wall, that
precious corner- stone, whose foundations shall neither rock nor sway in
their place. It shall be a Most Holy Dwelling for Aaron, with everlasting
knowledge of the Covenant of Justice, and shall offer up sweet fragrance.
It shall be a House of Perfection and Truth in Israel that they may establish
a Covenant according to the everlasting precepts.^65
The sectarian life as envisaged in the Community Rule took a form
which was to become common among Christian monks much later in
antiquity. It was centred on communal meals eaten in purity in much
the same fashion as the Essenes and Therapeutae. Priestly authority was
emphasized, and study of the law: ‘And the Congregation shall watch in
community for a third of every night of the year, to read the Book and
to study the Law and to bless together. Each man shall sit in his place:
the Priests shall sit first, and the elders second, and all the rest of the
people according to their rank. And thus shall they be questioned con-
cerning the Law, and concerning any counsel or matter coming before
the Congregation, each man bringing his knowledge to the Council of
the Community.’ Rules within this community were to be enforced with
great precision:
If one of them has lied deliberately in matters of property, he shall be
excluded from the pure Meal of the Congregation for one year and shall
do penance with respect to one quarter of his food. Whoever has answered