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Incense Offering In Rabbinic Literature
The incense offering ( he, קְטֹרֶת ketoret), a blend of aromatic substances that exhale perfume during combustion, usually consisting of spices and gums burnt as an act of worship, occupied a prominent position in the sacrificial legislation of the ancient Hebrews. The correct blend of sweet spices and of aromatic condiments used in making the incense offering was a carefully guarded secret at the time of its offering, fully known only by the compounders of the incense offering so as to prevent its replication in the worship of foreign gods. The priests of the House of Avtinas who were charged with preparing the incense during the Second Temple period kept the technique and exact proportions secret, for which they were censured by the rabbis. Today, what is known of the incense offering has been carefully gleaned from Jewish oral traditions, albeit, various conflicting opinions in Jewish classical writings have also filtered down as to its proper make-up. Modern scientif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Incense Offering
The incense offering ( he, ) in Judaism was related to perfumed offerings on the altar of incense in the time of the Tabernacle and the First and Second Temple period, and was an important component of priestly liturgy in the Temple in Jerusalem. In the Hebrew Bible The sacred incense prescribed for use in the wilderness Tabernacle was made of costly materials that the congregation contributed (). The Book of Exodus describes the recipe: At the end of the Holy compartment of the tabernacle, next to the curtain dividing it off from the Most Holy, was located the incense altar (). According to the Books of Chronicles, there was also a similar incense altar in Solomon's temple in Jerusalem (). Every morning and evening the sacred incense was burned (). Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, coals from the altar were taken in a censer, or fire holder, together with two handfuls of incense, into the Holy of Holies, where the incense was made to smoke before the mercy seat of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Machaerus
Machaerus (Μαχαιροῦς, from grc, μάχαιρα, , makhaira sword he, מכוור; ar, قلعة مكاور, translit=Qala'at Mukawir, lit=Mukawir Castle) was a Hasmonean hilltop palace and desert fortress, now in ruins, located in the village of Mukawir in modern-day Jordan, southeast of the mouth of the Jordan river on the eastern side of the Dead Sea. According to the Jewish-Roman historian Josephus, it was the location of the imprisonment and execution of John the Baptist. According to the chronology of the Bible (; ), the execution took place in about 32 CE shortly before the Passover, following an imprisonment of two years. The site also provides the setting for four additional New Testament figures: Herod the Great; his son, Tetrarch Herod Antipas; his second wife, Princess Herodias; and her daughter, Princess Salome. History The fortress Machaerus was originally built by the Hasmonean king, Alexander Jannaeus (104 BC-78 BC) in about the year 90 BC, servin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Midrash Ha-Hefez
Midrash ha-Ḥefez (midrash of desire / business) is a Hebrew text of 1430 about a wisdom contest between King Solomon and The Queen of Sheba. It is noted as part of a long literary tradition about these figures, and for its inclusion of a number of Hebrew riddles: * There is an enclosure with ten doors: when one is open nine are shut; when nine are open, one is shut. — The womb, the bodily orifices, and the umbilical cord. * Living, moves not, yet when its head is cut off it moves. — A ship in the sea (made from a tree). * What was that which is produced from the ground, yet produces it, while its food is the fruit of the ground? — A wick. Midrash ha-Hefez is also the title of a book by physician Rabbi Yahya bin Suleiman el-Israili (Zachariah bin Solomon ha-Rofeh), ca. 1430. The work contains homilies and haftarot on the Pentateuch, Book of Esther, and Book of Lamentations The Book of Lamentations ( he, אֵיכָה, , from its incipit meaning "how") is a collection o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shekhinah
Shekhinah, also spelled Shechinah ( Hebrew: שְׁכִינָה ''Šəḵīnā'', Tiberian: ''Šăḵīnā'') is the English transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning "dwelling" or "settling" and denotes the presence of God, as it were, in a place. This concept is found in Judaism. The Hebrew Bible mentions several places where the presence of God was felt and experienced as a Shekhinah, including the burning bush and the cloud that rested on Mount Sinai. The Shekhinah was often pictured as a cloud or as a pillar of fire and was referred to as the glory of God. The Shekhinah was also understood to be present in the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem, and to be seated at the right hand of God. The word shekhinah is not found in the Bible and is Talmud and Midrash, though not in the Mishnah. Etymology The word ''shekhinah'' is not present in the Bible, and is first encountered in the rabbinic literature. S. G. F. Brandon, ed., ''Dictionary of Comparative Religion'' (New York ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sadducees
The Sadducees (; he, צְדוּקִים, Ṣədūqīm) were a socio- religious sect of Jewish people who were active in Judea during the Second Temple period, from the second century BCE through the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. The Sadducees are often compared to other contemporaneous sects, including the Pharisees and the Essenes. Josephus, writing at the end of the 1st century CE, associates the sect with the upper social and economic echelon of Judean society. As a whole, they fulfilled various political, social, and religious roles, including maintaining the Temple in Jerusalem. The group became extinct some time after the destruction of Herod's Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. Etymology According to Abraham Geiger, the Sadducee sect of Judaism derived their name (Greek: Saddoukaioi; Hebrew: ṣāddūqim) from that of Zadok, the first High Priest of ancient Israel in the time of Solomon to serve in the First Temple; the leaders of the sect were prop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Midrash HaGadol
Midrash HaGadol or The Great Midrash (Hebrew: מדרש הגדול) is a work of aggaddic midrash, expanding on the narratives of the Pentateuch, which was written by Rabbi David Adani of Yemen (14th century). Its contents were compiled from the two Talmuds and earlier midrashic literature of Yemenite provenance. In addition, it borrows quotations from the Targums, Maimonides, and Kabbalistic writings, and in this aspect is unique among the various midrashic collections. This important work, the largest of the midrashic collections, came to popular attention in the late 19th century through the efforts of Jacob Saphir, Solomon Schecter and David Zvi Hoffmann. In addition to containing midrashic material that is not found elsewhere, such as part of the Mekhilta of Rabbi Shimon, Midrash HaGadol contains what are considered to be more correct versions of previously known Talmudic and Midrashic passages. Discovery and publication The existence of the ''Midrash HaGadol'' was fir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yoma
Yoma (Aramaic: יומא, lit. "The Day") is the fifth tractate of ''Seder Moed'' ("Order of Festivals") of the ''Mishnah'' and of the ''Talmud''. It is concerned mainly with the laws of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, on which Jews atone for their sins from the previous year. It consists of eight chapters and has a Gemara ("Completion") from both the Jerusalem Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud. Content The first chapter is regarding the seven days before Yom Kippur in which the Kohen Gadol is separated from his wife and moves into a chamber on the Beit HaMikdash, sprinkled with water from the Red Heifer and taught the laws relating to the Yom Kippur sacrifices. The second through seventh chapters deal with the order of services on Yom Kippur, both those specific to Yom Kippur and the daily sacrifices. Some of the issues addressed include those of the lottery employed to assign services to Kohanim, laws regarding the scapegoat, and the incense sacrifices performed by the Kohen Ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Book Of Exodus
The Book of Exodus (from grc, Ἔξοδος, translit=Éxodos; he, שְׁמוֹת ''Šəmōṯ'', "Names") is the second book of the Bible. It narrates the story of the Exodus, in which the Israelites leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through the strength of Yahweh, who has chosen them as his people. The Israelites then journey with the prophet Moses to Mount Sinai, where Yahweh gives the 10 commandments and they enter into a covenant with Yahweh, who promises to make them a "holy nation, and a kingdom of priests" on condition of their faithfulness. He gives them their laws and instructions to build the Tabernacle, the means by which he will come from heaven and dwell with them and lead them in a holy war to possess the land of Canaan (the " Promised Land"), which had earlier, according to the story of Genesis, been promised to the seed of Abraham. Traditionally ascribed to Moses himself, modern scholars see its initial composition as a product of the Babylonian exile ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ark Of The Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant,; Ge'ez: also known as the Ark of the Testimony or the Ark of God, is an alleged artifact believed to be the most sacred relic of the Israelites, which is described as a wooden chest, covered in pure gold, with an elaborately designed lid called the mercy seat. According to the Book of Exodus, the Ark contained the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. According to the New Testament Book of Hebrews, it also contained Aaron's rod and a pot of manna. The biblical account relates that approximately one year after the Israelites' exodus from Egypt, the Ark was created according to the pattern given to Moses by God when the Israelites were encamped at the foot of Mount Sinai. Thereafter, the gold-plated acacia chest was carried by its staves by the Levites approximately 2,000 cubits (approximately ) in advance of the people when on the march. God spoke with Moses "from between the two cherubim" on the Ark's cover. Biblical account Construc ... [...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 with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Jewish War
''The Jewish War'' or ''Judean War'' (in full ''Flavius Josephus' Books of the History of the Jewish War against the Romans'', el, Φλαυίου Ἰωσήπου ἱστορία Ἰουδαϊκοῦ πολέμου πρὸς Ῥωμαίους βιβλία, ''Phlauiou Iōsēpou historia Ioudaikou polemou pros Rōmaious biblia''), also referred to in English as ''The Wars of the Jews'', is a book written by Josephus, a first-century Roman-Jewish historian. It has been described by Steve Mason as "perhaps the most influential non-biblical text of Western history". Content Divided into seven books, it opens with a summary of Jewish history from the capture of Jerusalem by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 168 BC to the first stages of the First Jewish–Roman War (Book I and II). The next five books detail the unfolding of the war, under Roman generals Vespasian and Titus, to the death of the last Sicarii. The book was written about 75 AD, originally in Josephus' "pat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry. He initially fought against the Romans during the First Jewish–Roman War as head of Jewish forces in Galilee, until surrendering in 67 AD to Roman forces led by Vespasian after the six-week siege of Yodfat. Josephus claimed the Jewish Messianic prophecies that initiated the First Jewish–Roman War made reference to Vespasian becoming Emperor of Rome. In response, Vespasian decided to keep Josephus as a slave and presumably interpreter. After Vespasian became Emperor in 69 AD, he granted Josephus his freedom, at which time Josephus assumed the emperor's family name of Flavius.Simon Claude Mimouni, ''Le Judaïsme ancien du VIe siècle avant notre ère au IIIe siècle de notre ère : ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
