Early Judaism- A Comprehensive Overview

Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Ta-

bernacles (Exod. 23:14-17; 34:18-24; Deut. 16:1-17). It came to be understood

that the Jerusalem Temple was the place where one appeared before

YHWH; as a result, thousands of Jews would travel to Jerusalem to cele-

brate those holidays, whether from the land or the Diaspora. Deuteron-

omy also stipulated that Passover be held at the sanctuary; consequently,

large crowds converged on Jerusalem on the prescribed date (1/14); they

could remain there for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, which followed

immediately (from 1/15 to 1/21). The Day of Atonement (7/10) involved

elaborate rites at the Temple, including several trips in and out of the Holy

of Holies by the high priest (Leviticus 16). During Hasmonean times an-

other Temple-related festival — Hanukkah — was added to the list in the

Hebrew Bible; it celebrated and remembered the reconsecration of the

Temple in 164b.c.e.after it had been defiled.

Worship at the Temple also involved music. There are references in the

literature to the singing of the Levites, with the books of Chronicles being

especially rich in passages relating to this levitical function. They present

the Levites as singers at the time of David and his royal successors, but

these books may reflect more of the situation in Second Temple times

when they were compiled. In 1 Chron. 6:31-48 David appoints Levites to

provide music at the house of the Lord; among them are Asaph and

Kohath, whose names are found in the titles of some psalms (sons of

Korah: Psalms 42, 44–49, 84–85, 87–88; Asaph: Psalms 50, 73–83; in 1 Chron.

16:7-36 Asaph and his kin sing from Psalms 105, 95, and 106; see also

2 Chron. 29:25-30; 35:15). The king ordered the singers and instrumentalists

to perform at the times of sacrifice, Sabbaths, and festivals (1 Chron. 23:30-

31). When Jews presented their Passover offerings, the Levites sang the

Hallel psalms (Psalms 113–18;m. PesaF.5:7).

The large costs incurred in connection with the forms of worship at the

Temple and the maintenance of the structures were met through different

means. As noted, support for the priests, who had no land to supply them

with their needs, came from the parts of sacrifices allotted to them by the

Law, and they also received one of the tithes mentioned in the Scriptures.

The Law provided that the Levites, who also lacked land, should receive

tithes from the Israelites (cf. Deut. 14:28-29), and they in turn were to give a

tithe from their tithe to the priests (Num. 18:21-32). Tobit 1:6-7 gives a sum-

mary of the firstfruits contributions and the clerically related payments as

the protagonist describes his religious practice before he was exiled from his

land: “I would hurry off to Jerusalem with the firstfruits of the crops and

73

Judaism in the Land of Israel

EERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:03:53 PM