The Jubilee Calendar Essay, Research Paper
THE JUBILEE CALENDAR
A Major Point of Contention between the Zadokite Priesthood and the Hasmonean Priesthood
INTRODUCTION
Halachikally the Torah Law we follow today is according to the School of Hillel. The School of Hillel and the School of Shami were so far apart that the Talmud expresses fear that the One Torah might end up as two torot (”Sanhedrin” 88b). Medrashim say that when Moshiach comes we will follow the School of Shamai. In other words, the School of Hillel will become lower, and the School of Shamai higher. This is difficult, because “in holy things we only elevate and do not lower (maalim bakodesh veein moridim).” This is because conflicting opinions in the Torah are considered complementary rather than exclusive — and the words of both Hillel and Shamai, even though they apparently contradict each other, are considered “the words of the Living G-d”:
“Eleh VaEleh Divei Elokim Chaiim”
This is difficult because the “Oral Tradition”, now called the Mishnah or the “Oral Law”, developed as a sage was assigned to teach in an Academy during Shabbat, where he expounded the Scriptural lesson. His ideas then became known to all the others and what he said became part of the stream of an Oral Tradition passed on from one to the other and from generation to generation. Later, to enforce observance of the sage’s teaching, it was taught that the Oral Tradition Law was given at Sinai. It was not written down until the beginning of the Third Century CE, by Judah ha-Nasi (Judah the Prince). This was more than a thousand years since the giving of the written Torah. The truth is that the Mishnah developed over a period of a thousand years. We surely need the Mishnah, but to say it was given at Sinai is an unacceptable stretch. The tradition of the Mishnah is vital to our understanding; but now we must consider the evidence of a tradition more than a thousand years older, and that which properly explains the words of the Torah Itself: the calendar of the Sadducees.
In even earlier times there were also two schools of thought, that of the Sadducees (the Zadokite Priesthood), and that of the Pharisees (the Hasmonean Priesthood). Both the School of Hillel and the School of Shamai are of the Pharisees, who in times past, did not consider “conflicting opinions in the Torah complementary rather than exclusive” with regard to the Sadducees. Because of error and political hatred between these two groups the Holy Temple was destroyed. In this time of the “Restitution of All Things” we must heal this error before we begin to build the Third Beit HaMikdash.
A proper analysis of the relationship between our world and that of the ancient Sadducees requires the type of thorough survey only a Torah scholar, fluent in the Hebrew language, could provide. I do not possess these tools. The paradox herein is that one possessed of the proper qualities and tools would be so steeped in negative prejudice towards an objective study, that he would be unable to pursue an investigation from an unbiased viewpoint.
It is only natural that, starting from childhood, we carry with us cultural baggage (obviously with profound historical roots) which portrays the Sadducees as enemies. As a result, this culture is usually drawn in broad, ugly strokes, identifying Sadducee culture and tradition in general with crude ideas largely unsupported by fact.
The disadvantage of such an approach is in fact twofold. Firstly, it does not enable us to get to the crux of the issue and prevents us from understanding the full significance of the conflict between the two divergent subcultures in a profound way. Turning the opponent into a “straw man” makes it easier for us to deal with him, but the real battle – in terms of faith and belief, philosophy and culture – is never addressed.
“Eleh VaEleh Divei Elokim Chaiim”
In addition, erecting a wall between us and this portion of our “roots” can lead us to voluntarily cutting ourselves off from its considerable wealth.
Consider the evidence in the MMT Scroll and the Manual of Discipline. For example, the Sons of Zadok (Sadducees) maintained the tradition of the white linen garments of the priesthood even in their exile to Qumran. The wicked (Pharisee) priest of Jerusalem had forsaken Torah commandments of wearing the white linen garments of the priesthood.
In light of the current preparation for the reinstitution of the Temple Cult we must investigate all areas of the conflict between the Sadducees and the Pharisees; so that errors of the past be not repeated.
As a point of departure, I have chosen one specific subject. This aspect – one of the most central ones – in the debate between these two groups – regards the calendar: a subject which is central to Judaism to this day. In doing so the reader must realize the importance of the calendar to Judaism; and that the writer’s intent is not to discredit, but that it is to properly build for the future. In our future lies a time of Restitution. This restitution must not be built on the errors that were causes for the events of the 9th of Av and the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash. Truth must survive, whatever the cost to the memory of either the School of Hillel, the School of Shamai, the Sadducees or the Pharisees. After all, the underlying truth is that these became, in the end, little more than opposing political parties using the same tools which political parties use today. In the end, they both became caricatures much like the elephant and the donkey are today. In the beginning, the first had sought spirituality for Israel; the second came to promote strong central government and legislation to fight against Hellenism.
Toynbee wrote in his book about Greek culture, that the cardinal sin of Greek culture – from the Christian point of view – was its humanism. Hellenism held man in high esteem and viewed the world through human lenses. Together with abandoning all the primitive feelings of fear associated with paganism, the transition to this Greek humanism had done irreparable harm to the concept of holiness to which the Sadducees held.
Within the Greek Hellenism the sense of awe – not the primitive fear of the early pagans, but true religious fear, the awe associated with “Holy, holy, holy is the Hashem of Hosts,” the G-d on High – this diminished and disappeared. When we see gods as humans (only slightly more sophisticated, perhaps) or as philosophical abstractions, then there is no longer any room for a sense of fear, awe or majesty.
This led to the obliteration in Greek culture of a category fundamental to us: commandments. In our world, man sees himself first and foremost as someone who is commanded, as the bearer of a Divine mission, as carrying upon his shoulders a task which must be fulfilled. This concept is generally lacking in the classical Greek world of Plato and Aristotle, and it was to fight for this concept that the Pharisees became a political force.
It appears that the REAL justification for the Oral Law being “inspired” — is that it teaches the lunar-solar calendar. It also appears that the REAL justification for the lunar-solar calendar — is that it is defined in the Oral Law. When these two justifications are taken together, they offer little confidence in either. When posed the question, “Is there any REAL justification for the teaching that the Talmud (Oral Law) was given to Moses at the same time as the Torah was given? What part of the Oral Law REALLY WAS given when the Torah was given?” Rabbi Mordechai Becher and the Rabbis at Ohr Somayach Institutions, Jerusalem, give us the following answer, which confirms the above conclusion:
“Good question, which is hard to do justice to in an email piece. I suggest a book called “The Infinite Chain: Torah, Mesorah and Man” by Rabbi Natan Lopez-Cordoza. I will try to answer your question briefly – In order to even read the Written Torah which is without vowels or punctuation requires an oral tradition. In addition for emphasis, emotion, pauses and continuity as well as for legal definitions, such as Work on Sabbath, affliction on Yom kippur, life, day, etc. In other words the Torah is incomprehensible without Oral traditions. Was the author being cruel? Or did He provide additional explanations? We say that the Oral Law is the Author’s explanation of the Written Law In fact, it is mentioned in the Torah itself – “And you shall slaughter your flocks and cattle… as I have commanded you” – Deuteronomy 12:21 even though nowhere in the written law is the method of slaughter explained. In addition there are a number of pieces of evidence that indicate an ancient oral tradition.”
a)”Uniform acceptance of basic principles. (Even Karaites and Sadducees) by worldwide Jewish communities throughout history.
b) “Artifacts predating redaction of Mishnah. e.g. Tefilin, Mikvaot – that conform exactly to the oral law requirements. (Yadin, Qumran, Masada.
c)”Septuagint’s Greek translations. e.g. tashbitu = destroy (Exodus 12:15, B.T. Pesachim 21a – is usually in concurrence with the oral “day after Shabbat” (Leviticus 23:11) = “day after Passover”.
Hellenistic works.
d)”Prophets accept Oral Law as given. E.g. Carrying and commerce on Sabbath (Jeremiah 17:21-22)
e) “Judah the Prince lived in the Roman Empire, most Jews live in the Persian Empire. Nevertheless the Mishnah was universally accepted.
f)”Consistency and universality of complex calendar among all communities, even without communications. And the entire calendar is based mainly on Oral tradition.”
RECENT FINDINGS
At Qumran in 1947, there were apocalyptic scrolls found, and among them the Books of Jubilees and the Second Mikdash writings of Enoch I which discuss the calendar and dating system by which these people lived. Scholars had been attentive of the Apocryphal Calendar before this find, but interest was renewed with the discovery of these scrolls by which the Qumran sect lived. It is based on 364 days per year. The year is divided into four periods (to correspond to the four seasons of the year), of 13 weeks or 91 days in each period. There are 12 months in each year or a total of 52 weeks. By using this exact measure and beginning the year on the Wednesday just after the vernal equinox, the holy days fall exactly on the same day, in the same month, every year.
This calendar warrants extensive study, as there are now numerous proofs it was the calendar used by Abraham, King Solomon, King David, and High Priest Zadok in the First Holy Mikdash. A different calendar was used in the Second Commonwealth, but that Mikdash had no Presence, no Ark of the Covenant, and no means for its apostate priesthood to communicate directly with Hashem. In fact, it is recorded that 300 high priests during the second Mikdash period, died when they went into the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur. Something, perhaps many things, were wrong with the Second Mikdash Cult.
A team of scholars was appointed to study the scrolls in 1952. They became an elite and secretive clique. In 1991 this monopoly was effectively broken when the Huntington Library in California announced it would allow public access to its collection of Dead Sea Scrolls photographs. This was soon followed by the publication of a Facsimile Edition by the Biblical Archaeology Society in Washington, D.C. Until this time scholars previously controlling access to the Scrolls had been publicly contending that there was nothing interesting in the remaining unpublished Scrolls and nothing throwing further light on Judaism and Christianity’s rise in Palestine. (The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered, Professor Robert Eisenman & Michael Wise).
The Talmud does not explain this calendar exactly, but does mention the argument of the calendars between the Pharisees and Sadducees.
THE SECOND MIKDASH
The Torah tells us that as the Second Mikdash was dedicated, the joyous noises of the happy Jews were drowned out by the grief-stricken cries of those older people who remembered the glory of the Solomon’s Mikdash. There was not a lot of money in Jerusalem in those years, and worse still, there were not a lot of Jews; most had decided to stay behind in the strong Torah-communities of the exile rather than face the dangers and discomfort of settling the Holy Land.
As if that wasn’t enough, the local political climate at the birth of the second commonwealth was far from stable. Kussim (Samaritans), struggling for the favor of the Persian king, fought physical and political battles against the fragile Jewish community. The community itself was small and at times badly weakened by ignorance of Torah’s commandments and even intermarriage (Nechemiya 9, 2).
The result of all the turmoil was a Mikdash that – while grand – couldn’t compare to its predecessor. How could it be otherwise? The builders literally had to go about their work with sword in one hand (Nechemiya 4,15) and tools in the other.
This second Mikdash lacked the ark (it had been buried decades before the previous destruction to protect it from the hands of the enemy); the high priest had no breastplate from which to consult G-d’s advice (either the stones were missing or, according to another opinion, were there, but did not light up in response to questions); there were fewer open miracles with which to see the Divine presence and the materials and architecture of the building itself were disappointing. But it was better than exile.
The fact was, the whole period of the second empire was anyway a kind of half-exile. The sages, led by the 120 members of the Anshei Knesset Hagadol (Men of the Great Assembly), actually used the years of the Second Commonwealth as a preparation for the longer exile they knew would come. It was this body which, among other things, instituted much of the siddur (prayerbook) that we have today.
These were declining years for the Jewish people. Just over the horizon lay a seemingly endless exile. The future was bleak and the world’s various powers (The Persians, Greeks and Romans) would not leave the little land and its people to enjoy its present either.
But for the existence of our great leaders, like Shimon Hatzadik, Shemaya and Avtalion, Hillel and Shamai and Rabbi Akiva, our people would long before have been swallowed up by the sands of time. It was only the Torah – the Torah of those leaders – that acted as a beacon in the dark night to define us as a nation and show us the path to follow.
SHIMON HATZADIK
One of the earliest high priests of the Second Mikdash, Shimon Hatzadik was also one of the most famous. It was Shimon who was shown the image of a holy man clothed in white every Yom Kipur as he left the holy of holies (on the fortieth year, the last of his life, the image wore black – TB Menachos 109b).
It was Shimon who, throughout his term as high priest Godol, merited that the oil in the “western” cup of the menora burned longer than any other (even though it was lit last) a clear, yet daily, miracle (TB Yoma 39a).
It was a very young Shimon who, at the head of a procession of Jerusalem’s sages, set out to greet the great emperor, Alexander. The Greek, as far as anyone knew, was planning to destroy Jerusalem and end what he saw as its opposition to his rule.
At the head of his huge army, astride his tall horse, Alexander was not likely to give the Jews much time to plead their case. But it was the face of Shimon that inspired the king to dismount and kneel on the ground before the Rabbi. “This face,” explained Alexander, “appeared to me before every battle which I won…” (TB Yoma 69a)
It was Shimon who strengthened the walls of the Holy City, and with them, the hearts of the dispirited Jews who had given up everything to live near the Mikdash.
Shimon Hatzadik, A Sadducee of the Line of Zadok served as High Priest for 40 years. It was he who, as much as anyone, built the foundation for Jewish life in Israel for the next four hundred years, and by extension, set the tone for Jewish life until this day yet he, too, endured a personal struggle.
CHONYO
In one of the great ironies of history, Shimon Hatzadik, one of our people’s greatest teachers, seemed to have had at least one son who was somehow ignorant in Torah-matters.
The Talmud (Menachos 109b) leaves us with the story of Shimon, who, nearing death, instructed his younger son, Chonyo, to take over as high priest. Chonyo, it seems, wished not to embarrass his older brother, Shimi, and gave up the position.
But as the day approached for Shimi to take on his new responsibilities, Chonyo regretted his generosity. He plotted to have his brother expelled from the position – and perhaps even killed!
How did he do it? Knowing that his brother knew little about the Mikdash service, Chonyo offered to instruct Shimi on the details of the induction service.
“Put on these clothes,” he told his older brother, handing him women’s clothing, “and meet me tomorrow morning in the Mikdash courtyard.”
The next day, Chonyo waited with all the rest of the priests for his brother’s arrival. When Shimi came, dressed as he was, Chonyo pointed and shouted: “Look at that man! He promised his wife that as a sign of his love for her, he would wear her clothes the day he became high priest!”
The other priests chased Shimi, intending to punish him for disgracing the Mikdash. But before they could do anything, Shimi managed to figure out what had happened and told the whole story. Now the priests’ attention turned back to Chonyo, the real culprit…