Origin and Transformation of the Ancient Israelite Festival Calendar
Origin and Transformation of the Ancient Israelite Festival Calendar

Author: Jan A. Wagenaar

Publisher: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 9783447052498

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The book focusses on the origin and transformation of the priestly festival calendar. Since the epoch-making work of Julius Wellhausen at the end of the 19th century the differences between the various ancient Israelite festival calendars have often been explained in terms of a gradual evolution, which shows an increasing historicisation, denaturalisation and ritualisation. The festivals were in Wellhausen's view gradually detached from agricultural conditions and celebrated more and more at fixed points in the year. This study tries to show that the changes in the priestly festival calendar reflect a conscious effort to adapt the ancient Israelite festival calendar to the semi-annual layout of the Babylonian festival year. The ramifications of the change only come to the fore after a careful study of the agricultural conditions of ancient Israel - and Mesopotamia - makes clear that passover and the festival of unleavened bread were originally celebrated in the second month of the year. The first month of the year envisaged by the priestly festival calendar for the celebration of passover and the festival of unleavened bread in turn mirrors the date of one of the two semi-annual Babylonian New Year festivals. The two Babylonian New Year festivals were celebrated exactly six months apart at the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. In order to adapt the ancient Israelite festival calendar to the Babylonian scheme with two New Year festivals a year, the date of passover and the festival of unleavened bread had to be moved up by one month. The consequences for the origin of passover, the festival of unleavened bread, the festival of weeks and the festival of huts are charted and the relations between the various ancient Israelite festival calendars are determined anew.

What on Earth Is God Doing?
What on Earth Is God Doing?

Author: Renald Showers

Publisher: Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry

Published: 2003-01-01

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 9780915540808

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Walk from creation to eternity in a way guaranteed to change your view of the world. You'll finally understand the war Satan is waging against God and how that conflict has affected history, including the persecution of Jewish people and Christians.

Qol Tamid
Qol Tamid

Author: Jonathan L. Friedmann

Publisher:

Published: 2017-05

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 9781946230041

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From biblical times until today the shofar has served an array of practical purposes and communicated a range of symbolic meanings. The roughly seventy references to the shofar in the Hebrew Bible show four stereotypical functions: announcing the divine presence, accompanying sacred ceremonies, proclaiming kingship, and signaling on the battlefield. In addition to the above purposes, the shofar served as a symbol for messages of joy, fear, group identity, and redemption. This volume, written by prominent Jewish scholars and faith leaders, examines the role of the shofar in the Hebrew Bible and subsequent Jewish life, including even appearances in popular literature of the present day.

The Halakhah
The Halakhah

Author: Jacob Neusner

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 554

ISBN-13: 9789004116177

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The Halakhah embodies the complete Jewish Law, and contains commandments and guidelines for day-to-day living. The original commandments given by God to the Jewish people were enhanced by rabbis to offer a detailed framework to guide the lives of all Jews. In this complete, all-encompassing encyclopaedia of the Halakhah, the various laws are classified in such a way that a systematic and coherent structure is obtained. Each entry of the Halakhah is presented in a logical fashion. Where applicable, the original biblical wording is given, extended with literal abstracts from the Torah. Next, problems and questions that may arise from that law are stated and any additional information given. Finally, each entry gives comprehensive explanations and recommendations as to how these laws are to be observed in daily life where to be and where not to be, what to do and what not to do, what to say and what not to say. The Halakhah, or standard Jewish Law, combines the Mishnah (about 200 CE), the Tosefta (about 300 CE), and the two Talmuds (about 400, 600 CE for the Land of Israel and Babylon, respectively). Volumes I and II contain entries pertaining to the Jewish people in relationship to God. Volume III explains how the Jewish people can restore and maintain their society in accordance with the Torah as it is explained by the rabbis. In Volumes IV and V of this study, we take up the life of the Jewish household in their encounter with God. The Encyclopaedic account therefore moves from regulating relationships between Israel and God to establishing stable and equitable relationships among Israelites and finally to actually living the Halakhah."

Days of Awe
Days of Awe

Author: Shmuel Yosef Agnon

Publisher: Schocken

Published: 1995-08-22

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 0805210482

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Compiled by S.Y. Agnon, one of the greatest Hebrew writers of the twentieth century and winner of the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature, Days of Awe is the long-acknowledged classic companion to the High Holy Days prayerbook. Here in one volume are readings from the meditations from the Bible, the Talmud, the Midrash, and the Zohar, to deepen the spiritual experience of the holiest days of the Jewish year. More than three hundred texts. selected from the vast storehouse of Jewish literature from ancient to modern times, are arranged to follow the order of the synagogue service for the High Holy Days. "From the moment of its appearance," writes Judah Goldin in the Introduction, "[this] volume seemed as though it had always been here, as though it had always been the companion of the holiday prayerbook."

Joy Songs, Trumpet Blasts, and Hallelujah Shouts!
Joy Songs, Trumpet Blasts, and Hallelujah Shouts!

Author: Carlyle Fielding Stewart

Publisher: CSS Publishing

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 150

ISBN-13: 0788008552

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Explore the unique art of African-American preaching, in which storytelling is a pivotal element. In addition to an astute overview, Stewart includes many captivating sermons.