Western Wailing Wall: HopHemp, Heiligenbeelden ed.


~*V*~

DURING
the five centuries
from the reconstruction of Judaea under the Persians
to the destruction of Herod's Temple,
the Jews had continually shown their devotion to the city of Jerusalem
and its Temple, which, according to its rulers and probably the inhabitants of the city, was the ONLY true place
of worship ...

=

ONLY
when and where
the Temple was NOT accessible, too distant,
or accessible on a limited basis to certain groups,
did private or small group worship
take place elsewhere!

=

IT
was certainly SUCH individual worship
that provided the catalyst for the development of the Pharisees & Essenes,
while among Jews kiving outside Palestine,
communal prayer and study were perhaps taking place
already during the Ptolemaic
period?

=

THE
Jerusalem Temple
was not merely a house of public worship;
it was a place where wealth could be deposited
{AND was accumulated from gifts and taxes},
a major market for exchangeable goods,
the chief location for the practice of priestly duties,
and the site of private devotions,
including hte offering of sacrifices and vows,
priestly consultation and purification
rites.

=

THE
Temple Cult
stimulated the local economy,
since it demanded wood, animals, incense, oil,
implements and much else to sustain
its practices.

=

DURING
periods of rebuilding {and even for maintenance},
masons, carpenters, smiths, perfumers, caterers and priests
would have been
needed!

=


THERE is
also evidence
of a huge priestly and administrative caste
attached to the
Temple.

=

THE priestly
service was conducted
in shifts of a week, each shift {'family'} officiating
twice a
year.

=

INCREASINGLY
the three major festivals
~ Pesach/Passover, Weeks/Pentecost & Booths/Tabernacles ~
became the object of pilgrimage not only from Judaea itself but from
the hellenized world and
the whole ROMAN
empire.

=

IT IS
usually assumed
that the Temple cult remained substantially unchanged
throughout the Second Temple
period!

=

BUT
since the Temple Scroll,
for example, describes a different liturgical
cycle, and many of the scrolls a different calendar,
from that known from other sources,
it may be that either different groups shared the Temple,
each observing its own rules,
or the regime changed as different groups were accorded control
of IT?

=

CERTAINLY,
it is difficult to explain otherwise
HOW deviant Temple calendars and regimes could have developed?
The imposition of a single Temple regime and calendar,
and the prohibition of access to those following any other system,
may help to explain WHY at least ONE group reflected in the scrolls
felt it necessary to secede from the Temple wordhip
and form themselves
into a sect.

=

HOWEVER,
it has to be acknowledged
that we actually have little information
about the regular activities
in the Temple.

=

WHAT IS CLEAR
is the public devotion that increasingly came to be attached to it!
Nevertheless, while the IDEA of the temple as a holy site
at the centre of Judaism {of the world, even!}
was universally accepted,
the differences over the manner of the cult could lead
to estrangement.

=

IF THE CULT WAS NOT,
in the eyes of ONE group, being correctly carried out,
THEN "G*D" was NOT being worshipped,
HOLINESS NOT IMPARTED,
and indeed the Temple itself, the land, and the people of Israel,
DEFILED!

=

AND since the Temple was the place
at which Israel became holy, and from which divine forgiveness emanated,
ANY THREAT to its efficacy was
momentous!

=

THERE WERE OTHER WAYS
in which the Temple impinged on daily life!
ALL JEWS in the "Land of Israel" were expected to offer first-fruits and tithes of their produce, the proceeds of which went
to the Temple.

=

THUS
the entire land participated in the Temple cult!
Jews everywhere also sent an annual Temple tax of a half~shekel.
The Temple represented the most holy divine dwelling,
and every Jew entering IT had to be in a state
of ritual purity.

=

FOR the priests,
who alone could approach the altar,
an even HIGHER DEGREE
was required!

=

THIS cult of holiness
was largely applicable to the temple,
but there were occasions when Jews were required to purify themselves
{such as after touching a corpse
or contracting a skin
disease}.

=

WATER {flowing!}
was the usual means of such purification, and at QUMRAN,
as in many large houses from the Second Temple period,
BATHS were provided for such
purposes.

=

THESE
are called MIQVA'OT {singular: MIQVEH}.
SOME groups, perhaps including those living at Qumran,
may have aspired to a higher degree of ritual purity;
many of the water installations there
are interpreted as ritual
baths.

=

MEALS
were also occasions on which some devout Jews also tried
to preserve their pure status {for example,
by not sharing unclean food
with unclean
persons!}.

=

WHETHER
the inhabitants at Quran did the same is not known,
but IF they were the people to whom the Community Rule applied,
they probably tried to be in a state of ritual purity
as much as possible.

~*#$@V@$#*~

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14 feb 2005 - bewerkt op 20 feb 2008 - meld ongepast verhaal
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