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Priestly Court
In Judaism, the priestly court (''beit din shel kohanim'', Hebrew: בית דין של כהנים; also translated as the ''beit din of the priests'' or ''Court of the Priests'') was a court of Jewish law, composed of priests descended from Aaron, which operated at the Temple in Jerusalem and oversaw matters related to the priesthood and Temple rituals. The priestly court coexisted with the Sanhedrin, which was generally the legal authority for non-Temple matters. According to rabbinic literature, the priestly court consisted solely of priests of verified patrilineal descent from Aaron ("Kohanim meyuchashim"), while the Sanhedrin which was composed of members of all twelve tribes of Israel. Some scholars are of the opinion that the 23 members of the priestly court also served in the Sanhedrin, roughly a third of the latter's 71 members. Biblical sources The priestly court is not mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. According to the Sifrei, it is hinted to in ("Therefore thou and thy son ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Modern Judaism evolved from Yahwism, the religion of ancient Israel and Judah, by the late 6th century BCE, and is thus considered to be one of the oldest monotheistic religions. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the covenant that God established with the Israelites, their ancestors. It encompasses a wide body of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. The Torah, as it is commonly understood by Jews, is part of the larger text known as the ''Tanakh''. The ''Tanakh'' is also known to secular scholars of religion as the Hebrew Bible, and to Christians as the "Old Testament". The Torah's supplemental oral tradition is represented by later tex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holy Of Holies
The Holy of Holies (Hebrew: ''Qōḏeš haqQŏḏāšīm'' or ''Kodesh HaKodashim''; also הַדְּבִיר ''haDəḇīr'', 'the Sanctuary') is a term in the Hebrew Bible that refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle, where God's presence appeared. According to Hebrew tradition, the area was defined by four pillars that held up the veil of the covering, under which the Ark of the Covenant was held above the floor. According to the Hebrew scripture, the Ark contained the Ten Commandments, which were given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. The Temple in Jerusalem was said to have been built by King Solomon for keeping the Ark. Ancient Jewish traditions viewed the Holy of Holies as the spiritual junction of Heaven and Earth, the " axis mundi". As a part of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies was situated somewhere on Temple Mount; its precise location in the Mount being a matter of dispute, with some classical Jewish sources identifying its location wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Priestly Divisions
The priestly divisions or sacerdotal courses ( he, מִשְׁמָר ''mishmar'') are the groups into which Jewish priests were divided for the purposes of their service in the Temple in Jerusalem. The 24 priestly divisions are first listed in the Biblical Book of Chronicles chapter 24, though according to Maimonides, the separation of priests into divisions was earlier commanded in . Role in the Temple The Book of Chronicles refers to these priests as "descendants of Aaron." In the biblical traditions upon which the Chronicler drew, Aaron had four sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. However, Nadab and Abihu died before Aaron and only Eleazar and Ithamar had sons. In Chronicles, one priest, Zadok, from Eleazar's descendants and another priest, Ahimelech, from Ithamar's descendants, were designated by King David to help create the various priestly work groups. Sixteen of Eleazar's descendants were selected to head priestly orders, while only eight of Ithamar's descend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Status Quo Kohen
The presumption of priestly descent (or presumed kohen or status-quo kohen) in Judaism is the attribution to a kohen of equivalent position as if there was proven descent from the priestly family of Aaron. This is evidenced not by genealogical records but by ''de facto'' priestly behavior as defined in rabbinical halakhic texts. In the Land of Israel it was the raising up of hands in the priestly benediction, and sharing heave offering at the threshing floor, whereas in Syria and Babylonia the raising up of hands constituted adequate grounds, but not sharing heave offering at the threshing floor as stated in the Jerusalem Talmud Ketubot 2:7 and other texts. The "presumed kohen" (''kohen mukhzaq'') ( he, כהן מוחזק, from חזק) is a rabbinic title which legitimates kohen status to a kohen who—among multiple criteria—exhibits conduct exemplary of and is recognized by his peers and community as such. The tannaitic rabbi Jose ben Halafta extolled the soundness of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shekalim (Tractate)
Shekalim is the fourth tractate in the order of Moed in the Mishnah. Its main subject is half-shekel tax that ancient Jews paid every year to make possible the maintenance and proper functioning of the Temple in Jerusalem. There is no Gemara about the treatise in the Babylonian Talmud, but there is one in the Jerusalem Talmud The Jerusalem Talmud ( he, תַּלְמוּד יְרוּשַׁלְמִי, translit=Talmud Yerushalmi, often for short), also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century ..., and the latter is often printed in the editions of the Babylonian Talmud. Chapters There are eight chapters in this tractate, as follows: # בְּאֶחָד בַּאֲדָר (''Be'echad Ba'adar'') --- This chapter is concerned with dates of the payment of the tax and who would pay it. The tax was collected throughout the month of Adar. Women, slaves, and minors were not required to pay the tax but could do ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Babylonian Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewish cultural life and was foundational to "all Jewish thought and aspirations", serving also as "the guide for the daily life" of Jews. The term ''Talmud'' normally refers to the collection of writings named specifically the Babylonian Talmud (), although there is also an earlier collection known as the Jerusalem Talmud (). It may also traditionally be called (), a Hebrew abbreviation of , or the "six orders" of the Mishnah. The Talmud has two components: the Mishnah (, 200 CE), a written compendium of the Oral Torah; and the Gemara (, 500 CE), an elucidation of the Mishnah and related Tannaitic writings that often ventures onto other subjects and expounds broadly on the Hebrew Bible. The term "Talmud" may refer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torah Scroll
A ( he, סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה; "Book of Torah"; plural: ) or Torah scroll is a handwritten copy of the Torah, meaning the five books of Moses (the first books of the Hebrew Bible). The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Torah reading during Jewish prayers. At other times, it is stored in the holiest spot within a synagogue, the Torah ark, which is usually an ornate curtained-off cabinet or section of the synagogue built along the wall that most closely faces Jerusalem, the direction Jews face when praying. The text of the Torah is also commonly printed and bound in book form for non-ritual functions, called a (plural ) ("five-part", for the five books of Moses), and is often accompanied by commentaries or translations. History The En-Gedi Scroll is an ancient Hebrew parchment found in 1970 at Ein Gedi, Israel. Radiocarbon testing dates the scroll to the third or fourth century CE (210–390 CE), although paleographical considerations suggest that the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tosefta
The Tosefta ( Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תוספתא "supplement, addition") is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the late 2nd century, the period of the Mishnah. Overview In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah (''tosefta'' means "supplement, addition"). The Mishnah ( he, משנה) is the basic compilation of the Oral law of Judaism; according to the tradition, it was compiled in 189 CE. The Tosefta closely corresponds to the Mishnah, with the same divisions for ''sedarim'' ("orders") and ''masekhtot'' ("tractates"). It is mainly written in Mishnaic Hebrew, with some Aramaic. At times the text of the Tosefta agrees nearly verbatim with the Mishnah. At others there are significant differences. The Tosefta often attributes laws that are anonymous in the Mishnah to named Tannaim. It also augments the Mishnah with additional glosses and discussions. It offers additional aggadic and midrashic material, and it sometimes contradicts the Mishnah in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zuz (Jewish Coin)
A Zuz (Hebrew-זוז; plural zuzzim Hebrew-זוזים) was an ancient Jewish silver coin struck during the Bar Kochba revolt, as well as a Jewish name for the various types of non-Jewish small silver coinage, used before and after the period of the revolt. The name was used from the Greek era of drachmas, through the Roman era of Denarius, and then as the quarter denomination of Bar Kochba coinage. The Jewish insurrectionists' zuz were overstruck on Roman Imperial denarii or Roman provincial drachmas of Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Trajan and Hadrian. Four Zuzzim, denarii or drachmas make a Shekel, a Sela or a Tetradrachm. Etymology Several different etymologies have been suggested for the word "zuz": * A corruption of the Greek Zeus, who was the deity portrayed on the reverse of many Seleucid tetradrachms during the latest stages of the Seleucid Empire. *In Hebrew, the word "zuz" means "move", or "to move", so it was called "zuzzim" to show that it was constantly moving aro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ketubah
A ketubah (; he, כְּתוּבָּה) is a Jewish marriage contract. It is considered an integral part of a traditional Jewish marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride. In modern practice, the ''ketubah'' has no agreed monetary value, and is seldom enforced by civil courts, except in Israel. History According to the Babylonian Talmud, the ''ketubah'' was enacted by Simeon ben Shetach so that it might not be a light thing for a man to divorce his wife. The enactment provides for a man's wife to receive a fixed sum of money, usually accruing from his property, in the event of his divorcing her or of his predeceasing her. Thirteenth-century rabbi, Aharon HaLevi, adds a different reason, writing: "Of the logic behind this one commandment, e findthat the Torah has commanded us to perform an act before taking a wife, a matter that is intended to show that they are a couple united in wedlock before he lies down with her carnall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
