judaism without a temple 253
of the barley harvest and Ruth’s acceptance of the Torah. It is more dif-
ficult to discern why some of the other megillot (scrolls) were assigned
their liturgical places in the annual cycle of reading – the Song of Songs
is read on Pesach and Ecclesiastes during Sukkot – although the public
reading of Lamentations on the Fast of 9 Av in late July or early August,
which commemorates the destruction of the Temple both in 586 bce
and in 70 ce, has a clear rationale. The Fast of Av is the only fast for
twenty- four hours, from nightfall to nightfall, apart from Yom Kippur.
All other fasts begin only at daybreak, including the fast of Tammuz,
which commemorates the breach of the walls of Jerusalem before the
fall of the city in 586 bce and marks the start of three weeks of mourn-
ing which become more intense in the nine days from 1 Av and
culminates in the fast on the 9th.
The early autumn was marked by ten days of reflection and repent-
ance between Rosh haShanah (the New Year) and Yom Kippur. The
Bible had little to say about Rosh haShanah, 1 Tishri, beyond a require-
ment that it be ‘a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with the
blowing of horns, a holy convocation’, but the Mishnah already consid-
ers this day the start of penitence, since on Rosh haShanah ‘all who have
entered into the world pass before him [for judgement] like a flock of
sheep’. The synagogue liturgy, combining a focus on the sounding of
the shofar (ram’s horn) with confession and petition, was well estab-
lished by the sixth century ce and became increasingly elaborate with
the addition of numerous hymns in the early Middle Ages. Since this
festival fell on the first of the month, not even those in the land of
Israel could be told in good time when the month started, and Rosh
haShanah was (and is) celebrated for two days in Israel as well as in the
diaspora.^20
The culmination of penitence on the fast of Yom Kippur began with
Kol Nidrei, a public statement in Aramaic on behalf of all the congreg-
ation that all kinds of vows made before God and unintentionally
unfulfilled should be considered null and void. Well established by the
end of the first millennium ce, despite the strong opposition of rabbinic
authorities both at that time and in succeeding generations, the declar-
ation refers in some communities to the year just passed, in others to the
year ahead, and, in some communities, to both. The liturgy during the
fast day contains numerous allusions to the Temple ritual, but the pri-
mary focus is private repentance, with frequent assertion of the need for
full confession and an intention to avoid repeating the same offences in
the year to come.