The sanctification of the priesthood thus took place as a seven-day annual re-ordination, probably from the day following or consequent to the New Moon of Nisan, as the beginning of the religious system and process leading up to the sanctification of the simple and the erroneous on 7 Nisan (Ezek. 45:20). The alternative is that 7 Nisan commenced the process which ended on 14 Nisan, but this is unlikely. This entire concept has been lost to rabbinical Judaism through their adherence to the Babylonian system of Tishri as New Year, instead of obeying God and keeping Nisan as the beginning of months. The requirements of sanctification were examined and outlined in the paper Sanctification of the Temple of God (No. 241). The Temple Scroll (Col. 14) says of the New Year of Nisan: On the first day of the [first] mon[th falls the beginning of months; for you it is the beginning of the months] of the year. [You are to do] no work, [You shall offer a male goat for a sin offering,] which must be offered separately from the other sacrifices to aton[e for you. In addition, you are to sacrifice one young bull,] one ram, and [seven unblemished year]ling lambs [...] not in[cluding the regular burn]t off[ering of the first day of the month; together with a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of choice flour mixed with oil,] one-half a hin [for the one bull; and wi]ne for a drink offering, [one-half a hin a pleasing odour to the Lord; and two-]tenths of an ephah of choice flour as a grain offering, mixed [with oil, one-third of a hin; and wine for a drink offering. You are to offer] one-th[ird] of a hin for the [one] ram, [an offering by fire, a pleasing odour to the Lord; and one tenth of an ephah of choice flour] as a grai[n offering, mixed with oil, one fourth of a hin; and wine for a drink offering ... ] (Wise, Abegg and Cook The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation, Hodder and Stoughton, 1996, pp. 460-461). The authors of the work from which this text was quoted made the observation that this text was not in the Bible. Ezekiel 45:18 shows the intent, and perhaps refers to the sequence of which the bull is the first element. The special arrangements for the sacrifice were not listed. However, the ordinance of the New Year of 1 Nisan as the beginning of months was ordained by God as a statute, and the understanding of the day as a solemn Feast day is preserved in the Psalms and was kept up until the first century CE. In other words, it was understood as being a valid ordinance or statute during the entire Temple period. Only in rabbinical Judaism of the post-Temple period do we find Tishri coming in as the New Year. The calendar is then predicated upon Tishri from a postponed molad, instead of being on the true molad on the conjunction in Nisan as the correct solemn Feast of the New Year, as we see from Psalm 81. Is there any evidence for the contention that Judah and Judaism altered the intent and method of determining the Calendar and the New Year? The answer is that the evidence is clear and undeniable. It is in fact overwhelming. Here are some quotes from eminent scholars on the matter. Ferdinand Dexinger Samaritan Origins and the Qumran Texts, Methods of Investigation of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Khirbet Qumran Site, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 722, 1994 (ISBN 0-89766-794-8). In the context of our methodological considerations as far as the relationship between Samaritanology and Qumranology are concerned we must turn to the festival calendar. Is it possible to find in the existing Samaritan liturgical tradition hints of the date of the separation of both the Samaritan and the Jewish liturgical traditions? And in what way can the Qumran material be helpful in this field of research? (ibid., Chapter: The Feast of the Seventh Month, p. 239) The starting point of our deliberations is the obvious fact that the Samaritan calendar compared to the Jewish has its pluses and minuses. Without astonishment we register the fact that Jews and Samaritans share the feasts Pesah, Shavuot and Sukkot all mentioned in the Pentateuch. A certain difference exists as far as the Mazzot-feast is concerned which is celebrated by the Samaritans as a feast distinct from Pesah. I won’t pursue this question but turn to another biblical feast, namely the “Feast of the Seventh Month” as mentioned in Lv 23,24 and celebrated in the Jewish calendar as Rosh ha-Shanah. ... The “Feast of the 7th Month” can be seen as another example of an ancient, that is, Second Temple tradition within Samaritanism. Both the Jewish and the Samaritan liturgical texts connect, although in totally different wording, various religious ideas based on biblical texts with the Feast of the Seventh Month. Some of these are given major importance ... whereas others are obviously considered as being of minor relevance. The role of the Shofar can according to my view be helpful to gain some insight into the historical development of this feast. Again the Qumran material will be useful for this purpose. The blowing of the Shofar is an integral part of the Jewish Rosh ha-Shanah Liturgy, but it is not mentioned in Lv 23,24. The biblical proof for the Shofar as the instrument of the Teruca can only be obtained by reference to another biblical passage, namely Lv 25,9. Regarding the blowing of the Shofar as a command of this feast, the Amidah quotes the three existing pentateuchal verses mentioning the Shofar as part of the Sinai story. In spite of introducing by these texts the theme of the Decalogue, the Decalogue itself is not recited in the Jewish Rosh ha-Shanah Musaph, whereas this is the case in the Samaritan Shaharit. This reminds us of what was said before in connection with the Decalogue. Num 10,10 as the concluding pentateuchal verse is contained as a biblical text in the Samaritan liturgy of this day. This verse however does not speak of the Shofar but of the Hswsrt. This reminds us that mention of the Shofar is lacking in mRH 3,3-4. Heinemann concluded therefore, that the Mishnah here describes a practice dating back to the times of the Second Temple. This part of the Amidah using Num 10,10 therefore was part of the Jewish Temple Liturgy. The Samaritan Shaharit does not contain the Shofar-verses at all, whereas the Hswsrt are mentioned several times. The Shofar is not connected with the Samaritan Feast of the 7th Month. Comparing this material with the Temple Scroll (11QTemp 25,3) mentioning the Feast of the 7th Month and also based on Leviticus, we observe that the Shofar is not mentioned either, though one has to admit that the text of Column 25 is very fragmentary. If one does not assume that the Samaritans at some unknown date started the celebration of their Feast of the 7th Month one has to look for some chronologically reasonable starting point. Taking into consideration that the Samaritans do not favor the use of the Jewish names of the month but use the ordinal numbers instead, the assumption seems to be plausible that the proto-Samaritans did not follow the Jewish calendar from the time when the Babylonian names for the months were finally introduced together with the Autumn Calendar. An additional support for this dating is the fact that the Samaritans do not celebrate the Jewish Feasts Purim and Hanukkah introduced in the Maccabean period. This is once again a parallel to the Qumran Festival-Calendar. I therefore come to the conclusion that beginning with the Maccabean period the proto-Samaritans stopped developing their religious and liturgical traditions within the common biblical heritage of the Jews. (ibid., p. 240) What Frank Moore Cross said about the text of the Samaritan Pentateuch can be applied to the Samaritan religion in general. “The Samaritan text-type thus is a late and full exemplar of the common Palestinian tradition, in use both in Jerusalem and in Samaria.” It is the common Jewish heritage, then, which forms the similar background of Qumran and the Samaritans as well. And it is the Qumran material that enables us to reach fresh scholarly view of Samaritan origins. (ibid., Chapter: Conclusion, p. 244) MICHAEL WISE (Univ of Chicago): I have a question for you with regard to the concept of common Jewish heritage. I’m specifically thinking here of the calendar texts from Qumran. As you know, there are a group of them which set up a concordance between a lunisolar calendar (a form or version of it, or so it seems) and the 364 day calendar familiar to us. The thing that is interesting to me about this concordance is that the lunisolar version calculates for the day on which the month ends. This fact seems to me to imply that the new moon is calculated and is the equivalent of the modern astronomical new moon, rather than being a new moon determined by observation. In other words, it’s when the conjunction between the sun and the moon occurs, rather than when the first portion of the moon is visible, that the new moon is designated. I see the same thing in the Samaritan lunisolar calendar. That is to say, a calculated new moon: not based on observation, but an astronomical new moon. In your opinion, does this then represent one of the elements of the Jewish heritage, going back to the Second Temple Period? (ibid., Chapter: Discussion of the Paper) Does then the Jewish calendar represent a change from the original one, which appears to be akin to the Samaritan except for the post-25 March New Moon rule? Ferdinand Dexinger (Univ of Vienna, Austria): I’m not an expert in calendrial research, because that has to do with mathematics, but as far as Samaritan studies are concerned, Sylvia Powels wrote about the Samaritan calendar. Coming to your question, I think that this has something to do with the common heritage. Experts like you and others should try to get the exact comparison. The calendar is of utmost importance for the life of a community. In spite of all the medieval changes, the calendarical computation remained conservative. My answer is yes. (loc. cit.) 1Chr 24:1-18 describes how the order of the priestly courses was once determined by the fall of the lot. As it is laid out in Chronicles, the order began with Jehoiarib and ended with Maaziah. The Qumran mishmarot use the same names for the courses – apparently indicating that their system postdates 1 Chronicles 24 – but in a different order. Rather than beginning with Jehoiarib, the Qumran texts begin with Gamul. Probably the reason for this change is that the list given in 1 Chronicles began the rotation in the autumn. Jehoiarib rotated into service at the beginning of the seventh month, Tishri. In contrast, the Qumran calendar texts assume a vernal New Year, beginning the year in Nisan. The different beginning derives from an understanding of the Creation narrative. The creation happened in the spring. An eternal order based on the creation must therefore also begin at that time. The vernal New Year meant that the priestly rotation would begin with Gamul. Indications are that the Qumran calendar originally comprised one full six year cycle. The time of each course’s arrival was noted, as were “New Moons” 7 and the major festivals of the religious calendar. ... 7 The text speaks of sdvdv dh because in the Qumran system the astronomical New Moon only occasionally fell at the beginning of the month. (Michael O Wise An Annalistic Calendar from Qumran NYAS722, Chapter: Discussion, p. 395) There is no biblical basis for the actions of rabbinical Judaism. God is clear in His instructions: the month of Abib or Nisan “shall be a beginning of months for you”. The first day of the Sacred Year is a solemn Feast and was so understood from the time of the kings, and for centuries up until the destruction of the Temple. 1 Nisan is God’s true New Year and is a solemn Feast, as the First day of the first Month. This brings us to the next point.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 12:43:00 +0000
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