11. The Religious Practices of the Jews

The Synagogue

When we think of Our Lord going about preaching and teaching the people, we often think of Him doing this out of doors, maybe sitting on a hill with the people gathered all round him. This may be true of some occasions, yet Our Lord usually taught the people in their synagogues.

Matthew says, "Jesus went all over Galilee, teaching in their meeting houses, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom..."(4:23).

Mark says, "They came to the town of Capernaum, and on the next Sabbath day Jesus went into the meeting house and began to teach" (1:21), and, "So he travelled all over Galilee, preaching in the meeting houses and driving out demons". (1:39).

Luke says, "He taught in their meeting houses and was praised by all. Then Jesus went to Nazareth...and on the sabbath day he went AS USUAL to the meeting house" (4:15-16).

St Paul and the other apostles also used to preach in the synagogues of the Jewish community wherever they went.

Origin of the Synagogue

Synagogue means "assembly" or "meeting-house". Of course, the only place of sacrifice was the TEMPLE in JERUSALEM.

But the first Temple (of Solomon) was destroyed in 586 B.C.when the majority of the Jews were taken into exile. Where then could they assemble for common prayer (but not for sacrifice)? They could not go to the Temple; so they began to have prayer assemblies especially on the Sabbaths and the New Moons, in other places. These places of assembly for prayer are called SYNAGOGUES, and that is how they arose IN ADDITION to the Temple after its restoration. The word 'synagogue' refers both to the people assembled and to the place of assembly.

Its Place in Jewish Life

The Synagogue served THREE PURPOSES:-
1) It was a house of PRAYER and WORSHIP:
2) It was the place where community affairs were discussed; where disputes were judged and settled.
3) It was the local school and catechism class combined. where the Mosaic Law was studied and children learned the rudiments of education.

Every village had its own synagogue, and each town had several. In Jerusalem there seem to have been between 300 to 400 synagogues! Any Jew who wanted to might build one or even turn his own house into one. In Lk 7 5 we find that a Roman officer built one, for the elders of that synagogue say to Jesus, "This man really deserves your help. He loves our people and he himself built a meeting house for us".

There were many synagogues in each town because any group of 10 men could assemble; hence those of the same trade or profession would have their own. In the Acts we find mention of the synagogues of the Freedmen, of the Cyreneans and Alexandrians (Acts 6:9).

The Synagogue was the primary school. Children were taken there at the age of five, rich and poor alike. Our Lord surely went to the synagogue at Nazareth for his early education where he would have learned the Holy Law of God by heart i.e. the first 5 books of the old Testament.

The Building & Furniture

In all probability the synagogues were modelled on the plan of the Temple in Jerusalem, with a court, vestibule and the inner room called the basilica.

The most important feature was the 'tebhah' or ARK in which were kept the scrolls of the Law and the Prophets, preserver in a leather case and covered in linen. The ark was set in the apse of the building and shut off by a door or curtain. In the apse were also kept the trumpets used to proclaim the holy days. Before the ark a lamp was continually burning.

In the body of the basilica was the pulpit (bema) from which the Law and Prophets were read out each Sabbath, and from where the sermon was given SITTING DOWN. In Luke's gospel we read, "Jesus stood up to read the scriptures and was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah..."; he read, "gave it back to the attendant and SAT DOWN". (Lk 4:16-17) Sitting was the normal way of teaching; "Jesus saw the crowds and went up a hill, where he SAT DOWN and he began to teach". (Mt 5:1-2)

The people (men only) would sit all round on benches or stools, but there were special places of honour just near the pulpit. Our Lord warns against pride, saying of the pharisees, "They love the best places at feasts and the reserved seats in the meeting houses". (Mt 23:6)

Women could attend but were only allowed to sit in the gallery that ran round the sides of the building. If there were no gallery they would sit somewhere else, separately from the men. There was no altar in a synagogue. The only other decoration might be a seven-branched candlestick, or the five or six pointed star of David. Outside the building there was usually water available for ablutions.

The people prayed standing, turned towards Jerusalem, as alsc did the reader of the Law and the preacher.

Synagogue Service

The Synagogue was opened three times a day for those who wished to pray, but the most important day of prayer was the Sabbath. The service on the Sabbath was fixed; there was nothing in any way resembling the Temple service; it had nothing sacrificial about it.Not even a priest was necessary, although if there was a priest in the community so much the better, but he did not lead the whole service. The normal Sabbath service ran as follows:-

Opening prayers: Shema & The Eighteen Benedictions... (see further down).
Reading the Law (by seven readers) from the pulpit.
A lesson from one of the Prophets by one person according to his own choice.
Sermon or Instruction(sitting)(Cf.Lk 4:20-27;Acts 13:15-42)
Our Lord's teaching (mentioned above) was done at this stage in the service.

Blessing from Numbers 6:24-26, given by a priest if present. All readers of the Law were allowed to comment upon the text they had just read. This commentary was called 'midrash'. The whole Law (five books) was read over a three year period (l53 parts). At the end of the service each person gave alms to the collectors as he left the Synagogue. The whole service which took place in the morning, lasted about an hour.

This custom of READING SCRIPTURE AND INSTRUCTING UPON IT was taken over in the early Church, and continues in the first part of our Mass and the "Liturgy of the Word".

Officials of the Synagogue

The management of the meeting-house was in the hands of the community There was no special priest or 'minister'. The "RULER" of the synagogue was appointed by the people. He had to see to public order, maintenance etc. Cf Lk 8:41 (Jairus, an officer of the local meeting house; Lk 13:14, Acts 13:15).

Besides the Ruler there was also the ATTENDANT (Cf. Lk 4:20) who was the general factotum: servant, sacristan, caretaker and even sometimes schoolmaster (if there wasn't a more qualified person available). This person handed Jesus the scroll of Isaiah in Nazareth. (Lk 4:20 & 17)

The synagogue also settled court cases among the Jewish community. It had power to excommunicate anyone from its assemblies (Jn 9:22 & 35; Mt 23:13; Lk 21:12) and to whip offenders and criminals. (Cf. Mt 10:17; 23:34)

The importance of the Synagogue cannot be overestimated in the lives of the Jews at the time of Christ. Everyone, without exception, went to the synagogue not only for worship, but also for administrative judicial business. Also outside Palestine it was the synagogue that ensured the union of the Jews and kept their faith alive preventing believers from being swallowed up in the mass of heathendom... (see further down).

Law and Prophets

In Mt 5:17 Jesus says, "Do not think I have come to do away with the Law of Moses and the teaching of the Prophets".

To a practising Jew the term "Law and Prophets" summed up the holy Books and their contents. He was used to hear each Sabbath the reading from the law (the first five books of the Bible) from beginning to end every three years and also the Prophets. The Books of Wisdom (Wisdom, Tobias, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, etc.) and the Historical Books (Kings, Joshua, Judges, Chronicles, Maccabees etc.) were not read - just the Prophets and the Law. The pious Jew would know the Law by heart or at least know it very well.. It was the foundation of his education (like our nursery rhymes perhaps). That is why Our Lord and the Apostles could just refer to them without detail and explanation, since they would know the passages by the merest reference. (e.g. Mt 12:5; 12:7; Mk 7:6 & 10) In fact in Matthew's Gospel (since he is writing for Jews who knew the Law and Prophets so well) references to them are very many. (Mt 1:23; 2:18 & 23; 4:15ff; 8:17; 12:18ff; 13:35; 21:5; 27:9f). His theme is that Jesus came to fulfil the Law and the Prophets.

Hence we can understand the importance of the Transfiguration, when Peter, James and John see Jesus ta1king with Moses and Elijah. (Mt 17:1-13; Mk 9:2-13; Lk 9:28-36) For Moses is the personification of the Law and Elijah of the Prophets; this event would be quite conclusive to the three apostles as to the Messiahship of Jesus.

A Jewish boy would begin to learn the Law at the age of five. At ten he would begin to study the tradition explaining the Law. At thirteen he must know the whole of the Law of Moses (Pentateuch or Torah) and follow its prescriptions.. The first five books of the Bible were used to teach a child the ABC, language, grammar, history, geography. It was said, "A child ought to be fattened with the Torah as an ox is fattened in the stall". And, "The maxims of the Law go in by the blood and come out at the lips".

Girls too learned the Law. The Talmud says, "Every man is required to teach his daughter the Torah". Our Lady certainly must have known it well.

Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving

These were the chief works of piety demanded of pious Jews. Also Jesus prescribed them for His followers.

Prayer Besides the official prayers in the Temple and the Synagogue, Jews were expected to pray daily three times; at the third hour, the sixth hour and at the ninth hour (morning, afternoon and evening). This was a duty of all adults (i.e. all males above thirteen years ). We find the Apostles going to pray in the Temple at the 9th hour (Acts 3:1) and Peter praying at noon. (Acts 10:9) In praying a Jew would wrap himself in his prayer shawl (tallith) and wrap the 'tephillin' (phylacteries) on his arms and forehead. These 'tephillin' are small containers in which passages from the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy written parchment were kept. (Cf. Mt 23:5) "They do everything just so people will see them. See how big are the containers with scripture verses on their foreheads and arms, and notice how long are the hems of the cloaks (shawls)". Prayers were usually said standing. (Cf. Mk 11:25, Lk 18:11 & 13) But kneeling, prostrations, touching the face to the floor and other postures were used too. The hands were usually held uplifted, rather like the way in which the priest prays during Mass (Cf. Ps 27:2; Ps 62:4 & 1 Tim 2:8). The prayers used were many, especially the Psalms, but the two most common prayers said every day (like the Our Father and Hail Mary) were the Shema and the Shemoneh Esreh (18 benedictions); the two prayers used every sabbath in the synagogue service.

SHEMA (listen!) is a profession of faith, taken from Deuteronomy. Every Jew knew this prayer by heart. 'Listen, then Israel; there is no Lord but the Lord our God, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with the love of thy whole heart, and thy whole soul and thy whole strength. The commands I give thee this day must be written on thy heart, so that thou canst teach them to thy sons, and keep them in mind continually, at home and on thy travels, sleeping and walking; bound close to thy hand for a remembrance, ever moving up and down before thy eyes; the legend thou dost inscribe on door and gate-post" (Deut 6:4-7; 11:13-21). The prayer continues for two paragraphs more. When Our Lord is questioned as to the greatest commandment (Mk 12:28-34; Mt 22; 34f; Lk 10:25f), He replies with this prayer, "Hear O Israel The Lord our God is the only Lord... etc." (Mk, 12:28.30).

"Eighteen Benedictions" (Shemoneh Esreh) is a longer prayer than the Shema containing requests for daily bread, spiritual grace, the forgiveness of sins, the restoration of Jerusalem, the reuniting of the tribes and the advent of the kingdom of God. When Our Lord taught the disciples to pray, His prayer, the Our Father is a kind of simplified and purified Shemoneh Esreh. Many of the expressions including the first two words "Our Father" are taken from that prayer.

In Our Lord's teaching on prayer (Lk 11:1-13; Mt 6:5-14; 7:7-12), He only condemns the abuses which can render prayer use less as true communication with God and worship of

Fasting

There was one public day of Fasting obligatory on all, the Day of Atonement. But private fasting (i.e. voluntary, non-obligatory) was commonly done in sorrow for sins (David, Job, Paul in Acts 9:9 etc.). Some Pharisees fasted every Monday and Thursday (Cf Lk 18:12) and Anna fasted often (Lk 2:3) Our Lord himself fasted for forty days before His public ministry just as Moses and Elijah did, Mk 4:14; Ex 34:28; I Kings 19:8. Our Lord's teaching on fasting, just as prayer, was nothing new but aimed chiefly at removing the external show, to purify it from the abuses that had crept in and to renew the inner spirit and motivation of fasting (Cf Mt 6:16-18). He also said that his followers would fast too after the bridegroom had left (after His death and resurrection. Cf. Mk 2:18-20; Lk 5:33; Mt 9:14) Of course, fasting meant total abstention from all food and drink. Our present way of fasting, with one full meal being permitted, is mild indeed in comparison.

Almsgiving

In the Gospels Our Lord speaks out against the abuses then existing in the area of almsgiving. (Cf. Mt 6:14) He also preaches on the blessings of almsgiving, "Come and receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you...I was hungry and you fed me ...Come you who are blessed by my Father, come!" (Mt 25:34)

In the early Church the needs of the poor were effectively supplied. Jesus' teaching on temporal goods was put into practice "No one said that any of his belongings was his own, but they shared all with one another in everything they had" and, "There was no one in the group who was in need" (Acts 4:32 &34).

But Our Lord really taught nothing basically new in regard to almsgiving in this matter He stressed the existing obligation to give alms, which was obligatory by the Law (Deut l5:11) and raised it from legalism to be ideal. To refuse alms, say Jewish writers, is "even graver than idolatry" (Rabbi Joshua ben Gorba) Hence when the publican (tax-collector) Zacchaeus said he would give half of what he had to the poor (Lk 19:8) he was merely fulfilling his long neglected duty, imposed by the Law, "You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor in the land". (Deut 15:11) Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving were the three chief works of piety imposed by the Law on the Jews. In Matthew chapter 6 we see how the evangelist intentionally sets out the Good News in the context of these three duties and how Jesus came not to do away with the Law and the prophets, "but to give them real meaning" (Mt.5:17)

Clean, Unclean, Purification, Ablution

Among the Jews, physical cleanliness rendered a man ready to approach God if his motives were proper. "Cleanliness", says Rabbi A. Cohen, "is not merely a near neighbour to piety; it is an integral part of it."

The Law of Moses made clear distinctions between the clean and unclean, the holy and unholy (Lv 10:10). Uncleanliness was primarily CEREMONIAL defilement, NOT MORAL, unless done wilfully. Let us keep this clearly in our minds. For example, to touch a dead body rendered a man ceremonially unclean, but he would do a morally good action in burying the body of his friends or of a relative; he would perform an act that would make him unclean but that was meritorious too. We must keep quite apart the idea of 'clean' and 'unclean' in the ritual sense, and the ideas of good and evil as we know the moral sense (moral cleanliness).

Moral defilement separates a man from God. Ceremonial defilement would keep a Jew from service in the Temple and Synagogue and from fellowship with his fellow Jews.

The reason why the Jews considered some things as making a man unclean is not clear; partly it was due to a primitive irrational fear of the unknown (e.g. leprosy); partly it was for hygienic reasons; partly it was out of reverence towards God and His holy places. "Cleanliness is next to godliness!"

In Our Lord's time there were some Pharisees and teachers of the Law who elevated the ritual or ceremonial (external) cleanliness over the moral and ethical. Our Lord denounced these teachers saying "It is not what goes into a person's mouth that keeps him unclean; rather, what comes out of it makes him clean... from the heart come evil ideas that lead him to kill, commit adultery,and do other immoral things, rob and tell lies and slanders about others. These are the things that make a man unclean" (Mt.15:1-20 Mk.7:1-23)

Ceremonial (external) uncleanliness was contracted in several ways, and many of them are mentioned in the Gospels.

1. Contact with a dead body made a man unclean (Our Lord's body on the cross; Cf. Jn 19:31-34). The person who touched a corpse was unclean for seven days (Nu 19:11 )The purification ritual is given in Numbers chapter 19.

2. Leprosy, whether in a person, clothing or a house, was polluting. (Cf. Lv 13:14) In Mk 1:40 Our Lord meets a leper who asks, "You can make me clean". "I do want to", Jesus answered, "Be clean". Then Jesus sends the man away to offer the purification rite as found in the Law (sacrifice of a bird and the release of another; washing of clothes, shaving of hair and bathing the body: as described in Leviticus chapter 14. (Cf. also Mt 8:14; Lk 5:12-16)

3. Certain foods made the person who ate them unclean. There were unclean fish, birds and animals (Lv 11) and (Dt 14). It was in connection with this type of uncleanness that the above condemnation of Our Lord is spoken (Mk 7:1-23; Mt 15:1-20).

4. All functions connected with the organs of reproduction were somehow unclean. (Cf. Lv 12 & 15) Childbirth made the mother unclean for forty days if the child were a boy, or 80 days if a girl. The rite of purification is mentioned in Leviticus 12 and Luke 2:24, where Our Lady fulfils this part of the Law.

5. Any contact with blood was feared. Any animal that was eaten (even though a clean animal, cf. above) without the blood being drained from it, made the eater unclean (Ez 4:14; Ex 22: 31, Lv 17:15; 22:8). Menstruation made a woman unclean for seven days, and her impurity was highly contagious (Lv 15: 19-24) When the woman who suffered from severe bleeding for twelve years secretly touched Jesus' cloak she knew she had done wrong, for by the Law anything or anyone she touched would be rendered unclean too. That is why when Jesus asked "Who touched Me?", she came, "trembling, and threw herself at Jesus' feet". (Cf. Lk 8:43)

We find this background of ceremonial cleanliness in many places in the Gospels; washing of hands before eating (Mt 15:2); ritual of entering houses (ritual of purification, Jn 2:6; Cana in Galilee) purification was necessary in order to eat of the Passover meal. (Jn 11:55; 18:28)

Our Lord came frequently into conflict with Lawyers and Pharisees on the point of cleanliness etc. He insisted solely upon moral purity. The Laws of uncleanliness and cleanliness were made to lead the people to consider their inner (moral) state, but that was often forgotten. Since Our Lord came to bring to perfection the Law and the Prophets, He preached perfection of holiness. What matters is internal cleanness before God who looks not at the face but into the heart. The laws of ceremonial cleanliness were, therefore, abolished by Jesus. (Mt 15:1-20; cf. Acts 15)

Circumcision

The Law stated with finality that every male child must be circumcised. This was done eight days after birth (Cf. Lk 1:59John the Baptist and Lk 2:21 Jesus).

Circumcision was a rite practised among many nations surrounding the Jews: Egyptians, Midianites, Edomites, Canaanites etc. But to the Jews this was a special religious rite, for in it they saw the mark of their membership among the people of God. Not to be circumcised was not to belong to the Chosen Race, the descendants of Abraham, and not to share in the promises made by God to Abraham "and to his seed forever".

God's plan for the salvation of the world was at work through the family and offspring of Abraham. God ratified this choice by sealing it in a treaty (covenant; testament): "This is the covenant you shall keep with me, thee and thine; every male child of yours shall be circumcised; you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, in token of the covenant between me and you." (Gen 17:10; Cf. also the Magnificat of Our Lady in Lk 1:50 & 55).

Circumcision showed that the person was a descendant of Abraham (either physically or spiritually). By the ceremony he was consecrated to God. A person who was not circumcised was unclean (cf. above); and to call a Jew 'uncircumcised' was the greatest of insults. At the time of the Maccabees Jewish mothers rather chose death than give up circumcising their sons. (1 Mac 1:60; 2 Mac 6:10)

At his circumcision a boy-child would be NAMED: Our Lord came to fulfil the Law and the prophets. Circumcision was only the sign of internal faith and it was through faith in God's promises that Abraham was justified by God; this was to set the example of finding favour (justification) for all his descendants. Those who were only outwardly circumcised but who did not have faith in God were an abomination in God's sight. Circumcision without faith made no one holy.

To the Jews who did not really repent John the Baptist says "Do the things that will show that you have changed your ways And don't start saying among yourselves, 'Abraham is our ancestor'. I tell you that God can take these rocks and make descendants for Abraham!" (Lk 3:8; Mt 3:9)

Because a man believes in Christ, he is baptised; baptism is our circumcision; the circumcision of the heart, not of the flesh. St Paul writes, "After all, who is a real Jew, truly circumcised? Not the man who is a Jew on the outside, whose circumcision is a physical thing. Rather, the real Jew is the man who is a Jew on the inside, that is, whose heart has been circumcised which is the work of God's Spirit, not of the written Law". (Rom 2.28-29) And, "As a result (of baptism) there are no Gentiles and Jews, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarians, savages, slaves or free men, but Christ is all, Christ is in all!' (Col 3:11) We are the true children of Abraham: in one of the Eucharistic prayers we call him "Our Father in FAITH".

Diaspora

Diaspora is the Greek word for "dispersion". In the time of our Lord, the word was used of those Jews whose home was beyond the borders of the Holy Land; who lived (as it were, in exile) in other places and countries.

At the time of the exile (586 B.C.) many Jews were taken away from their land; after the exile many did not return. They founded their own communities (with their own synagogues) and numbered about 7 or 8 millions within the confines of the Roman Empire. The chief centres of settlement were Rome and Alexandria, but there were colonies of Jews everywhere St. Paul came from Tarsus. Simon who carried the cross of Jesus came from Cyrene (N Africa), Barnabas came from Cyprus.

It was among these scattered communities that St. Paul went preaching. At one time the Jews thought Jesus too would go there. (Cf. Jn. 7.35) "Will he go to the Greek cities where the Jews live? At the Passover many of these Jews came on pilgrimage to Jerusalem (Acts 2:9-11).

Proselytes

The word 'proselyte' means 'stranger' i.e. a non-Jew. But it came to refer to those non-Jews (by birth) who had been converted to Judaism and who shared in Jewish beliefs, practices and hopes.

In the period from about the 3rd century B.C.onwards there seems to have been much missionary activity on the part of the Jews, especially by the Jews of the Diaspora. Converts were numerous despite the abhorrence of cicumcision; sabbaths and abstention from pork (the pig was an 'unclean' animal, cf. Lev 11:7). Jewish morality and the doctrine of the One God appealed to many.

On entering Judaism a proselyte would be received by the following rites: .

1. Circumcision,
2.Cleansing (purifications) or baptism. (John the Baptist uses this rite as a sign of true repentance)
3. Sacrifice.

But there were many sympathizers who did not go through the whole ritual (especially the rite of circumcision).

We see from Acts (2:10; 6:5; 13:43) that many were converted to Judaism, and it is most likely that the converts to the message of Christ in the early Church were from this section of sympathizers and believers. Those who were deterred by circumcision were not put off by the Cross. Moreover these people had none of the national racial prejudices (c f. Jewish nationalism) that would be so strongly engrained in a born Jew (Cf. Acts 13:16 43; 16:14f) After the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (A.D.70) the Jews abandoned their interest in the conversion of the world. In God's plan, this task now rests on the followers of His Son.

In the Gospel we find Jesus contrasting the zeal of the missionary with the narrowness of the legalism of the Law: "You sail the seas and cross whole countries to win one convert; and when you succeed, you make him twice as deserving of going to hell as you yourselves are!" (Mt 23:15) The centurion of Capernaum was certainly a proselyte, Cf. Lk 7:5).

Blasphemy

Blasphemy is an act of insult in which the honour of God is defiled by man. The NAME (i.e. the person) of God is to be honoured and revered (second commandment of the Decalogue), but blasphemy is when His Name is cursed or reviled instead.

The penalty of the outrage of blasphemy was DEATH BY STONING (cf.Lev 24:10-23). Stephen the deacon is stoned to death for imputed blasphemy(Acts 6:13; 7:58).

Not only God directly but also His holy places and especially the Temple could be objects against which a person could blaspheme. Jesus was chiefly accused of BLASPHEMY by the Jews. They accused him of this on many occasions and it was the reason why he was put to death (not stoning since the Jews had not the power of capital punishment, but by the Roman way of execution the Cross).

When Jesus forgives the sins of the crippled man (Mt 9:3; Mk2:7), He is accused of blasphemy. Before the High priest an accusation of blasphemy is made (Mk 14:64; Mt 26:65) concerning the destruction of the Temple (Mt 14:57-59). Finally He is sentenced to death because He claimed to be God's Son, which the Jews thought was blasphemous.

The Jews also tried to stone Jesus to death on other occasions when they considered him to be blaspheming (Jn 10:33; 8:59). On hearing a blasphemy the pious Jew tore the hem of his cloak as a sign of horror (Cf. Mk 14:63 and Mt 26:65).