1.
Shofar
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A shofar is an ancient musical horn made of rams horn, used for Jewish religious purposes. Like the modern bugle, the shofar lacks pitch-altering devices, all pitch control is done by varying the players embouchure. The shofar is blown in synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah and at the end of Yom Kippur. Shofars come in a variety of sizes and shapes, depending on the choice of animal, the shofar is mentioned frequently in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud and rabbinic literature. The blast of a shofar emanating from the cloud on Mount Sinai made the Israelites tremble in awe. The shofar was used to announce holidays and the Jubilee year, the first day of the seventh month is termed a memorial of blowing, or a day of blowing, the shofar. They were used for signifying the start of a war, later, it was also employed in processions, as musical accompaniment and eventually it was inserted into the temple orchestra by David. Note that the trumpets described in Numbers 10 are a different instrument, described by the Hebrew word trumpet, the Torah describes the first day of the seventh month as a zikron teruˁah and as a yom teruˁah. This was interpreted by the Jewish sages as referring to the sounding of the shofar, in the Temple in Jerusalem, the shofar was sometimes used together with the trumpet. On fast days the principal ceremony was conducted with the trumpets in the center, on those occasions the shofarot were rams horns curved in shape and ornamented with silver at the mouthpieces. On Yom Kippur of the year the ceremony was performed with the shofar as on New Years Day. On Rosh Hashanah and other full holidays a single Priest perfected two sacrifices in honor of the full holiday, on Rosh Hashanah, something special occurred during the special sacrifice. Arguably two Shofar Sounders played the notes and one Trumpet player played the short note. Accordingly, Rosh Hashanah is called Yom Teruah Otherwise, the Trumpets had top billing, Rosh Hashanah 27a, supports this claim, Said Raba or it may have been R. Joshua B. Levi, What is the warrant for this. – Because it is written, With trumpets and the sound of the Shofar shout ye before the King in the Temple, we require trumpets and the sound of the Shofar, elsewhere not. Indeed, on Yom Kippur, the Shofar was sounded to announce the Jubilee Year curved ram, 2) curved other sheep, 3) curved other animal, 4) straight—ram or otherwise, 5) non-kosher animal, 6) cow. The first four categories are used with a bracha, the fifth without a bracha, and the last, not at all
2.
Jews
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The Jews, also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Israelites, or Hebrews, of the Ancient Near East. Jews originated as a national and religious group in the Middle East during the second millennium BCE, the Merneptah Stele appears to confirm the existence of a people of Israel, associated with the god El, somewhere in Canaan as far back as the 13th century BCE. The Israelites, as an outgrowth of the Canaanite population, consolidated their hold with the emergence of the Kingdom of Israel, some consider that these Canaanite sedentary Israelites melded with incoming nomadic groups known as Hebrews. The worldwide Jewish population reached a peak of 16.7 million prior to World War II, but approximately 6 million Jews were systematically murdered during the Holocaust. Since then the population has risen again, and as of 2015 was estimated at 14.3 million by the Berman Jewish DataBank. According to the report, about 43% of all Jews reside in Israel and these numbers include all those who self-identified as Jews in a socio-demographic study or were identified as such by a respondent in the same household. The exact world Jewish population, however, is difficult to measure, Israel is the only country where Jews form a majority of the population. The modern State of Israel was established as a Jewish state and defines itself as such in its Declaration of Independence and its Law of Return grants the right of citizenship to any Jew who requests it. The English word Jew continues Middle English Gyw, Iewe, according to the Hebrew Bible, the name of both the tribe and kingdom derive from Judah, the fourth son of Jacob. The Hebrew word for Jew, יְהוּדִי ISO 259-3 Yhudi, is pronounced, with the stress on the syllable, in Israeli Hebrew. The Ladino name is ג׳ודיו, Djudio, ג׳ודיוס, Djudios, Yiddish, ייִד Yid, ייִדן, Yidn. The etymological equivalent is in use in languages, e. g. but derivations of the word Hebrew are also in use to describe a Jew, e. g. in Italian. The German word Jude is pronounced, the corresponding adjective jüdisch is the origin of the word Yiddish, in such contexts Jewish is the only acceptable possibility. Some people, however, have become so wary of this construction that they have extended the stigma to any use of Jew as a noun, a factual reconstruction for the origin of the Jews is a difficult and complex endeavor. It requires examining at least 3,000 years of ancient human history using documents in vast quantities, as archaeological discovery relies upon researchers and scholars from diverse disciplines, the goal is to interpret all of the factual data, focusing on the most consistent theory. In this case, it is complicated by long standing politics and religious, Jacob and his family migrated to Ancient Egypt after being invited to live with Jacobs son Joseph by the Pharaoh himself. The patriarchs descendants were later enslaved until the Exodus led by Moses, traditionally dated to the 13th century BCE, Modern archaeology has largely discarded the historicity of the Patriarchs and of the Exodus story, with it being reframed as constituting the Israelites inspiring national myth narrative. The growth of Yahweh-centric belief, along with a number of practices, gradually gave rise to a distinct Israelite ethnic group
3.
Jewish prayer
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Jewish prayer are the prayer recitations and Jewish meditation traditions that form part of the observance of Rabbinic Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, however, if the Talmud mentions tefillah, it refers to the Shemoneh Esreh only. Prayer—as a service of the heart—is in principle a Torah-based commandment and it is not time-dependent and is mandatory for both Jewish men and women. You shall serve God with your whole heart, further additional prayers, Musaf are recited by Orthodox and Conservative congregations on Shabbat, major Jewish holidays, and Rosh Chodesh. A fifth prayer service, Neila, is recited only on Yom Kippur, the language of the prayers, while clearly from the Second Temple period, often employs Biblical idiom. However the differences are compared with the commonalities. Most of the Jewish liturgy is sung or chanted with traditional melodies or trope, synagogues may designate or employ a professional or lay hazzan for the purpose of leading the congregation in prayer, especially on Shabbat or holidays. According to the Talmud Bavli, tefillah is a Biblical command, what service is performed with the heart. Prayer is therefore referred to as Avodah sheba-Lev and it is not time-dependent and is mandatory for both Jewish men and women. Mentioning tefillah, the Talmud always refers to the Amidah, that is also called Shemoneh Esreh, the noted rabbi Maimonides likewise categorizes tefillah as a Biblical command of Written law, as the Babylon Talmud says. The Oral law, according to the Talmud Bavli gives two reasons why there are three basic prayers, According to Rabbi Jose b, Hanina, each of the Patriarchs instituted one prayer, Abraham the morning, Isaac the afternoon and Jacob the evening prayers. This view is supported with Biblical quotes indicating that the Patriarchs prayed at the times mentioned, however, even according to this view, the exact times of when the services are held, and moreover the entire concept of a mussaf service, are still based on the sacrifices. Each service was instituted parallel to an act in the Temple in Jerusalem, the morning Tamid offering, the afternoon Tamid offering. Therefore, the Anshei Knesset HaGedola based their Takkanah that Jewish men were required to pray three times a day from hints to personal habits of the forefathers in the tanach. Additional references in the Hebrew Bible have been interpreted to suggest that King David, moreover, it is generally accepted by Orthodox, Modern Orthodox, and Sephardic religious authorities that women are exempt from the evening prayer. Conservative Judaism regards the halakhic system of daily services as mandatory. According to halakha, all prayers and virtually all communal prayers may be said in any language that the person praying understands. Maimonides relates that until the Babylonian exile, all Jews composed their own prayers, the differences are quite minor compared with the commonalities
4.
Synagogue
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A synagogue, also spelled synagog, is a Jewish house of prayer. Synagogues have a hall for prayer, and may also have smaller rooms for study and sometimes a social hall. Some have a room for Torah study, called the beith midrash beis medrash —בית מדרש. Synagogues are consecrated spaces used for the purpose of prayer, Tanakh reading, study and assembly, halakha holds that communal Jewish worship can be carried out wherever ten Jews assemble. Worship can also be carried out alone or with fewer than ten people assembled together, however, halakha considers certain prayers as communal prayers and therefore they may be recited only by a minyan. The synagogue does not replace the long-since destroyed Temple in Jerusalem, israelis use the Hebrew term beyt knesset. Jews of Ashkenazi descent have traditionally used the Yiddish term shul in everyday speech, Sephardi Jews and Romaniote Jews generally use the term kal. Spanish Jews call the synagogue a sinagoga and Portuguese Jews call it an esnoga, persian Jews and some Karaite Jews also use the non-Hebrew term kenesa, which is derived from Aramaic, and some Arab Jews use kenis. Reform and some Conservative Jews use the word temple, the Greek word synagogue is used in English, to cover the preceding possibilities. The all-day Yom Kippur service, in fact, was an event in which the congregation both observed the movements of the kohen gadol as he offered the days sacrifices and prayed for his success. During the Babylonian captivity the Men of the Great Assembly formalized and standardized the language of the Jewish prayers, prior to that people prayed as they saw fit, with each individual praying in his or her own way, and there were no standard prayers that were recited. Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, one of the leaders at the end of the Second Temple era and this contributed to the continuity of the Jewish people by maintaining a unique identity and a portable way of worship despite the destruction of the Temple, according to many historians. A synagogue dating from between 75 and 50 BCE has been uncovered at a Hasmonean-era winter palace near Jericho, more than a dozen Second Temple era synagogues have been identified by archaeologists. Any Jew or group of Jews can build a synagogue, there is no set blueprint for synagogues and the architectural shapes and interior designs of synagogues vary greatly. In fact, the influence from local religious buildings can often be seen in synagogue arches, domes. Historically, synagogues were built in the architectural style of their time. Thus, the synagogue in Kaifeng, China looked very like Chinese temples of that region and era, with its outer wall, the styles of the earliest synagogues resembled the temples of other sects of the eastern Roman Empire. The surviving synagogues of medieval Spain are embellished with mudéjar plasterwork, the surviving medieval synagogues in Budapest and Prague are typical Gothic structures
5.
Tishrei
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See Tišritum for the Babylonian month. Tishrei, from Akkadian tašrītu Beginning, from šurrû To begin) is the first month of the civil year, the name of the month is Babylonian. It is a month of 30 days. Tishrei usually occurs in September–October on the Gregorian calendar, in the Hebrew Bible, before the Babylonian Exile, the month is called Ethanim. Edwin R. Tishrei is the used for the counting of the epoch year - i. e. the count of the year is incremented on 1 Tishrei. 1 Tishrei - Daf Yomi study regimen is launched,2 Tishrei - HaRav Tuvya and HaRav Yisroel were murdered in a blood libel in Razino. 3 Tishrei - Assassination of Gedaliah, now a fast day,4 Tishrei - King Louis XIV expelled the Jews from all French territories in America. 5 Tishrei - Rabbi Akiva tortured and executed,8 Tishrei - 14-day dedication of Solomons Temple begins. 9 Tishrei - Death of the Tanna R Elazar ben Rab Shimon,10 Tishrei - Moses returns from a final trip to Mount Sinai, bearing a second set of tablets and a message of forgiveness for the Golden Calf. 25 Tishrei - Death of Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev Tishrīn is the name of two Gregorian months in the Levant, Tishrīn al-Awwal, October. The 1973 Yom Kippur War is generally known by the name Ḥarb Tishrīn in Syria and Lebanon, resources on the Month of Tishrei This Month in Jewish History
6.
Hebrew language
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Hebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of whom over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, the earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language. Hebrew had ceased to be a spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining since the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Aramaic and to a lesser extent Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among elites and it survived into the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature, intra-Jewish commerce, and poetry. Then, in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, and, according to Ethnologue, had become, as of 1998, the language of 5 million people worldwide. After Israel, the United States has the second largest Hebrew-speaking population, with 220,000 fluent speakers, Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of the State of Israel, while premodern Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world today. Ancient Hebrew is also the tongue of the Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Arabic is their vernacular. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Leshon Hakodesh, the modern word Hebrew is derived from the word Ivri, one of several names for the Israelite people. It is traditionally understood to be a based on the name of Abrahams ancestor, Eber. This name is based upon the root ʕ-b-r meaning to cross over. Interpretations of the term ʕibrim link it to this verb, cross over, in the Bible, the Hebrew language is called Yәhudit because Judah was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation. In Isaiah 19,18 it is called the Language of Canaan, Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. In turn, the Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages, according to Avraham ben-Yosef, Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during about 1200 to 586 BCE. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile. In July 2008 Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa which he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating around 3000 years ago. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew, the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that through the Greeks, the Gezer calendar is written without any vowels, and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places where later Hebrew spelling requires it
7.
Judaism
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Judaism encompasses the religion, philosophy, culture and way of life of the Jewish people. Judaism is an ancient monotheistic Abrahamic religion, with the Torah as its text, and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the relationship that God established with the Children of Israel. With between 14.5 and 17.4 million adherents worldwide, Judaism is the tenth-largest religion in the world, Judaism includes a wide corpus of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Modern branches of Judaism such as Humanistic Judaism may be nontheistic, today, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism. Major sources of difference between groups are their approaches to Jewish law, the authority of the Rabbinic tradition. Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and Jewish law are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism generally promoting a more traditional interpretation of Judaisms requirements than Reform Judaism. A typical Reform position is that Jewish law should be viewed as a set of guidelines rather than as a set of restrictions and obligations whose observance is required of all Jews. Historically, special courts enforced Jewish law, today, these still exist. Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization, the history of Judaism spans more than 3,000 years. Judaism has its roots as a religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Judaism is considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions, the Hebrews and Israelites were already referred to as Jews in later books of the Tanakh such as the Book of Esther, with the term Jews replacing the title Children of Israel. Judaisms texts, traditions and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity, Islam, many aspects of Judaism have also directly or indirectly influenced secular Western ethics and civil law. Jews are a group and include those born Jewish and converts to Judaism. In 2015, the world Jewish population was estimated at about 14.3 million, Judaism thus begins with ethical monotheism, the belief that God is one and is concerned with the actions of humankind. According to the Tanakh, God promised Abraham to make of his offspring a great nation, many generations later, he commanded the nation of Israel to love and worship only one God, that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate Gods concern for the world. He also commanded the Jewish people to one another, that is. These commandments are but two of a corpus of commandments and laws that constitute this covenant, which is the substance of Judaism
8.
New Year
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New Year is the time at which a new calendar year begins and the calendars year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner and the 1st day of January is often marked as a national holiday, in the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system today, New Year occurs on 1 January. This was also the case both in the old Roman calendar and in the Julian calendar that succeeded it, other calendars have been used historically in different parts of the world, some calendars count years numerically, while others do not. Beginning in 1582, the adoptions of the Gregorian calendar and changes to the Old Style and New Style dates meant the local dates for New Years Day changed to using one fixed date. The widespread official adoption of the Gregorian calendar and marking January 1 as the beginning of a new year is almost global now, regional or local use of other calendars continue, along with the cultural and religious practices that accompany them. In Latin America, various native cultures continue the observation of traditions according to their own calendars, israel, China, India and other countries, continue to celebrate New Year on different dates. The most common dates of modern New Years celebrations are listed below,1 January, The first day of the civil year in the Gregorian calendar used by most countries. Contrary to common belief in the west, the civil New Year of January 1 is not an Orthodox Christian religious holiday, the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar makes no provision for the observance of a New Year. January 1 is itself a religious holiday, but that is because it is the feast of the circumcision of Christ, while the liturgical calendar begins September 1, there is also no particular religious observance attached to the start of the new cycle. Orthodox nations may, however, make civil celebrations for the New Year and those that adhere to the revised Julian calendar, including Bulgaria, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Romania, Syria, and Turkey, observe both the religious and civil holidays on January 1. The Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, occurs every year on the new moon of the first lunar month, the exact date can fall any time between 21 January and 21 February of the Gregorian Calendar. Traditionally, years were marked by one of twelve Earthly Branches, represented by an animal, and one of ten Heavenly Stems and this combination cycles every 60 years. It is the most important Chinese celebration of the year, the Korean New Year is a Seollal, or Lunar New Year’s Day. Although January 1 is, in fact, the first day of the year, Seollal, celebration of the Lunar New Year is believed to have started to let in good luck and ward off bad spirits all throughout the year. With the old year out and a new one in, people gather at home and sit around with their families and relatives, catching up on what they have been doing. The Vietnamese New Year is the Tết Nguyên Đán which most times is the day as the Chinese New Year due to the Vietnamese using the Lunar Calendar. The Tibetan New Year is Losar and falls from January through March, the Mizo in northeast India celebrate their Pawl kut. 29-30 sep Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon after the Northward equinox. Ancient celebrations lasted for eleven days, nava Varsha is celebrated in India in various regions in March–April
9.
Hebrew Bible
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They are composed mainly in Biblical Hebrew, with some passages in Biblical Aramaic. The term does not comment upon the naming, numbering or ordering of books, the term Hebrew Bible is an attempt to provide specificity with respect to contents but avoid allusion to any particular interpretative tradition or theological school of thought. Hebrew Bible refers to the Jewish biblical canon, in its Latin form, Biblia Hebraica, it traditionally serves as a title for printed editions of the Masoretic Text. Many biblical studies scholars advocate use of the term Hebrew Bible as a substitute to terms with religious connotations. Hebrew Bible Old Testament without prescribing the use of either, however, he accepts that there is no reason why non-Christians should feel obliged to refer to these books as the Old Testament, apart from custom of use. Modern Christian formulations of this tension include Supersessionism, Covenant Theology, New Covenant Theology, Dispensationalism, in terms of canon, Christian usage of Old Testament does not refer to a universally agreed upon set of books but, rather, varies depending on denomination. The Hebrew Bible includes small portions in Aramaic, written and printed in Aramaic square-script, the books that constitute the Hebrew Bible developed over roughly a millennium. The oldest texts seem to come from the 11th or 10th centuries BCE and they are edited works, being collections of various sources intricately and carefully woven together. Since the 19th century, most biblical scholars have agreed that the Pentateuch consists of four sources which have been woven together and these four sources are J, D, E and P sources. They were combined to form the Pentateuch sometime in the 6th century BCE and this theory is now known as the documentary hypothesis, and has been the dominant theory for the past two hundred years. The Deuteronomist credited with the Pentateuchs book of Deuteronomy is also said to be the source of the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, several editions, all titled Biblia Hebraica, have been produced by various German publishers since 1906. Between 1906 and 1955, Rudolf Kittel published nine editions of it,1966, the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft published the renamed Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia in six editions until 1997. Since 2004 the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft has published the Biblia Hebraica Quinta, other projects include, Hebrew University Bible Project Hebrew Bible, A Critical Edition Biblical canon Books of the Bible Non-canonical books referenced in the Bible Torah Brueggemann, Walter. An introduction to the Old Testament, the canon and Christian imagination, the People of Ancient Israel, an introduction to Old Testament Literature, History, and Thought, Harper and Row,1974. Sinai and Zion, An Entry into the Jewish Bible, archived from the original on 14 March 2012. The Ancient Near East, Volume I, Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press. An abridgement of Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament Noth, how the Bible Became a Book. The Old Testament, A Literary History, hebrew-English Tanakh, the Jewish Bible Complete, fully vocalized, contilated, Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible, together with the classic English translation by the Jewish Publication Society
10.
High Holy Days
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The term High Holy Days most probably derives from the popular English phrase, “high days and holydays”. The Hebrew equivalent, Yamim Noraim, is neither Biblical nor Talmudic, many prefer the term High Holy Days over High Holidays because the former emphasizes the personal, reflective, introspective aspects of this period. By contrast, Holidays suggests a time of communal celebrations of events in the history of the Jewish people, the Hebrew month preceding Rosh Hashanah, Elul, is designated as a month of introspection and repentance. In preparation for the Jewish New Year, special prayers are recited, Psalms 27 is added at the end of morning and evening prayers, and the shofar is blown at the end of morning services on weekdays. Among Sephardi Jews, Selichot are recited at dawn on weekdays throughout the month, also, many complete the entire Book of Psalms twice during the month. It is customary to increase the giving of charity and to ask forgiveness from people one may have wronged, at midnight on the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah, Ashkenazi Jews begin reciting selichot. On the following days, however, they recite the selichot before the regular morning prayers. On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, extra prayers are recited, Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year, and falls on the first and second days of the Jewish month of Tishri. The Mishnah, the work of the Jewish Oral Torah, sets this day aside as the new year for calculating calendar years and Sabbatical. Rabbinic literature describes this day as a day of judgment, God is sometimes referred to as the Ancient of Days. Some descriptions depict God as sitting upon a throne, while containing the deeds of all humanity are opened before Him. Prayer services are longer than on a regular Shabbat or other Jewish holidays, on the afternoon of the first day, the ritual tashlikh is performed, in which sins are cast into open water, such as a river, sea, or lake. They include the Fast of Gedaliah, on the day of Tishri, and Shabbat Shuvah. Shabbat Shuvah has a special Haftarah that begins Shuvah Yisrael, hence the name of that Shabbat, traditionally the rabbi gives a long sermon on that day. It is held that, while judgment on each person is pronounced on Rosh Hashanah, the Ten Days are therefore an opportunity to mend ones ways in order to alter the judgment in ones favor. Yom Kippur is the Jewish festival of the Day of Atonement, the Hebrew Bible calls the day Yom Hakippurim. In the Hebrew calendar, the day of Tishri is known as Erev Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur itself begins around sunset on that day and continues into the day until nightfall
11.
Northern Hemisphere
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The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earths North pole. Due to the Earths axial tilt, winter in the Northern Hemisphere lasts from the December solstice to the March Equinox, the dates vary each year due to the difference between the calendar year and the astronomical year. Its surface is 60. 7% water, compared with 80. 9% water in the case of the Southern Hemisphere, the Arctic is the region north of the Arctic Circle. Its climate is characterized by cold winters and cool summers, precipitation mostly comes in the form of snow. The Arctic experiences some days in summer when the Sun never sets, the duration of these phases varies from one day for locations right on the Arctic Circle to several months near the North Pole, which is the middle of the Northern Hemisphere. Between the Arctic Circle and the Tropic of Cancer lies the Northern Temperate Zone, the changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally mild, rather than extreme hot or cold. However, a temperate climate can have very unpredictable weather, tropical regions are generally hot all year round and tend to experience a rainy season during the summer months, and a dry season during the winter months. In the Northern Hemisphere, objects moving across or above the surface of the Earth tend to turn to the right because of the coriolis effect, as a result, large-scale horizontal flows of air or water tend to form clockwise-turning gyres. These are best seen in circulation patterns in the North Atlantic. For the same reason, flows of air down toward the surface of the Earth tend to spread across the surface in a clockwise pattern. Thus, clockwise air circulation is characteristic of high pressure weather cells in the Northern Hemisphere, conversely, air rising from the northern surface of the Earth tends to draw air toward it in a counterclockwise pattern. Hurricanes and tropical storms spin counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, the shadow of a sundial moves clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. When viewed from the Northern Hemisphere, the Moon appears inverted compared to a view from the Southern Hemisphere, the North Pole faces away from the galactic center of the Milky Way. The Northern Hemisphere is home to approximately 6.57 billion people which is around 90% of the total human population of 7.3 billion people
12.
Hebrew calendar
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The Hebrew or Jewish calendar is a lunisolar calendar used today predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits. The present Hebrew calendar is the product of evolution, including a Babylonian influence, when to add it was based on observation of natural agriculture-related events in Israel. Through the Amoraic period and into the Geonic period, this system was displaced by the mathematical rules used today. The principles and rules were codified by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah in the 12th century. Maimonides work also replaced counting years since the destruction of the Temple with the modern creation-era Anno Mundi, the era used since the Middle Ages is the Anno Mundi epoch. As with Anno Domini, the words or abbreviation for Anno Mundi for the era should properly precede the date rather than follow it, AM5777 began at sunset on 2 October 2016 and will end at sunset on 20 September 2017. The Jewish day is of no fixed length, the Jewish day is modeled on the reference to. there was evening and there was morning. In the creation account in the first chapter of Genesis, based on the classic rabbinic interpretation of this text, a day in the rabbinic Hebrew calendar runs from sunset to the next sunset. In most populated parts of the world this is always approximately 24 standard hours, halachically, a day ends and a new one starts when three stars are visible in the sky. The time between sunset and the time when the three stars are visible is known as bein hashmashot, and there are differences of opinion as to which day it falls into for some uses. This may be relevant, for example, in determining the date of birth of a child born during that gap, there is no clock in the Jewish scheme, so that the local civil clock is used. The civil clock is used only as a reference point – in expressions such as, Shabbat starts at. In Judaism, an hour is defined as 1/12 of the time from sunrise to sunset, so, during the winter, an hour can be less than 60 minutes. This proportional hour is known as a shaah zmanit, a Jewish hour is divided into 1080 halakim or parts. A part is 3⅓ seconds or 1/18 minute, the ultimate ancestor of the helek was a small Babylonian time period called a barleycorn, itself equal to 1/72 of a Babylonian time degree. These measures are not generally used for everyday purposes, instead of the international date line convention, there are varying opinions as to where the day changes. One opinion uses the antimeridian of Jerusalem, the weekdays start with Sunday and proceed to Saturday, Shabbat
13.
Adam and Eve
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Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman and the ancestors of all humans. It provides the basis for the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. It also provides much of the basis for the doctrines of the fall of man and original sin that are important beliefs in Christianity. In the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible, chapters one through five, in the first, Adam and Eve are not mentioned. Instead, God created humankind in Gods image and instructed them to multiply, in the second narrative, God fashions Adam from dust and places him in the Garden of Eden. Adam is told that he can till the ground and eat freely of all the trees in the garden, except for a tree of the knowledge of good, subsequently, Eve is created from one of Adams ribs to be Adams companion. They are innocent and unashamed about their nakedness, however, a serpent deceives Eve into eating fruit from the forbidden tree, and she gives some of the fruit to Adam. These acts give them additional knowledge, but it gives them the ability to conjure negative and destructive concepts such as shame, God later curses the serpent and the ground. God prophetically tells the woman and the man what will be the consequences of their sin of disobeying God, then he banishes them from the Garden of Eden. The story underwent extensive elaboration in later Abrahamic traditions, and it has been analyzed by modern biblical scholars. The story of Adam and Eve is often depicted in art, the story of the fall of Adam is often understood to be an allegory. There is no evidence that Adam and Eve ever literally existed. In the Book of Genesis, the Genesis creation narrative tells of the creation of the first humans, humankind, in Genesis 1, scholars recognize two separate accounts of the creation in the Old Testament. In the Priestly narrative, God creates the world in six days, culminating in the creation of humanity, here, in the Priestly narrative, the emphasis is on the entirety of the universe and its creation. Here, in the Jahwist narrative, the emphasis is on the Earth within the universe, and humankinds residence on the Earth. Contrast, for example, the order of terms in Genesis 1,1 where it says that God made the heavens and the Earth with Genesis 2,4 where it says God made the Earth and the heavens. In the Jahwist version of the story, God places the man in a garden in Eden where he is permitted to till the land and tend the garden and animals, Genesis 2, 8–15. But none of the animals are found to be a companion for the man, so God causes the man to sleep
14.
God in Judaism
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God in Judaism is understood to be the absolute one, indivisible, and incomparable being who is the ultimate cause of all existence. Traditional interpretations of Judaism generally emphasize that God is personal, while some interpretations of Judaism emphasize that God is a force or ideal. God has a name, written YHWH in the Hebrew Bible. In Jewish tradition another name of God is Elohim, the name of God used most often in the Hebrew Bible is the Tetragrammaton. Jews traditionally do not pronounce it, and instead refer to God as HaShem, in prayer this name is substituted with Adonai, meaning Master or Lord. The worship of gods and the concept of God having multiple persons are equally unimaginable in Judaism. The idea of God as a duality or trinity is heretical in Judaism – it is considered akin to polytheism, God, the Cause of all, is one. This does not mean one as in one of series, nor one like a species, nor one as in an object that is made up of many elements, rather, God is a unity unlike any other possible unity. In this way Judaism can be regarded as being similar to panentheism, Kabbalistic tradition holds that the divine consists of ten sefirot. Any belief that an intermediary between humanity and God could be used, whether necessary or even optional, has traditionally been considered heretical, all our prayers should be directed towards God, nothing else should even be considered. Some rabbinic authorities disagreed with this view, notably, Nachmanides was of the opinion that it is permitted to ask the angels to beseech God on our behalf. This argument manifests notably in the Selichot prayer called Machnisay Rachamim, modern printed editions of the Selichot include this prayer. Godhead refers to the aspect or substratum of God that lies behind Gods actions or properties, there is, in truth, no relation in any respect between God and any of Gods creatures. In Kabbalistic thought the term Godhead usually refers to the concept of Ein Sof, the knowability of the Godhead in Kabbalistic thought is no better that what is conceived by rationalist thinkers. As Jacobs puts it, Of God as God is in Godself—Ein Sof—nothing can be said at all, Ein Sof is a place to which forgetting and oblivion pertain. Because concerning all the sefirot, one can search out their reality from the depth of supernal wisdom, from there it is possible to understand one thing from another. However, concerning Ein Sof, there is no aspect anywhere to search or probe, nothing can be known of it, for it is hidden and concealed in the mystery of absolute nothingness. In traditional Judaism, God is conceived of as the eternal, omnipotent and omniscient creator of the universe, God has the power to intervene in the world
15.
Torah
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The Torah is the central reference of Judaism. It has a range of meanings and it can most specifically mean the first five books of the twenty-four books of the Tanakh, and it usually includes the rabbinic commentaries. In rabbinic literature the word Torah denotes both the five books and the Oral Torah, the Oral Torah consists of interpretations and amplifications which according to rabbinic tradition have been handed down from generation to generation and are now embodied in the Talmud and Midrash. According to the Midrash, the Torah was created prior to the creation of the world, traditionally, the words of the Torah are written on a scroll by a scribe in Hebrew. A Torah portion is read publicly at least once every three days in the presence of a congregation, reading the Torah publicly is one of the bases for Jewish communal life. The word Torah in Hebrew is derived from the root ירה, the meaning of the word is therefore teaching, doctrine, or instruction, the commonly accepted law gives a wrong impression. Other translational contexts in the English language include custom, theory, guidance, the earliest name for the first part of the Bible seems to have been The Torah of Moses. This title, however, is neither in the Torah itself. It appears in Joshua and Kings, but it cannot be said to refer there to the entire corpus, in contrast, there is every likelihood that its use in the post-Exilic works was intended to be comprehensive. Other early titles were The Book of Moses and The Book of the Torah, Christian scholars usually refer to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible as the Pentateuch, a term first used in the Hellenistic Judaism of Alexandria, meaning five books, or as the Law. The Torah starts from the beginning of Gods creating the world, through the beginnings of the people of Israel, their descent into Egypt, and it ends with the death of Moses, just before the people of Israel cross to the promised land of Canaan. Interspersed in the narrative are the teachings given explicitly or implicitly embedded in the narrative. This is followed by the story of the three patriarchs, Joseph and the four matriarchs, God gives to the patriarchs a promise of the land of Canaan, but at the end of Genesis the sons of Jacob end up leaving Canaan for Egypt due to a regional famine. They had heard there was a grain storage and distribution facility in Egypt. Exodus begins the story of Gods revelation to his people of Israel through Moses, Moses receives the Torah from God, and teaches His laws and Covenant to the people of Israel. It also talks about the first violation of the covenant when the Golden Calf was constructed, Exodus includes the instructions on building the Tabernacle and concludes with its actual construction. Leviticus begins with instructions to the Israelites on how to use the Tabernacle, leviticus 26 provides a detailed list of rewards for following Gods commandments and a detailed list of punishments for not following them. Numbers tells how Israel consolidated itself as a community at Sinai, set out from Sinai to move towards Canaan, even Moses sins and is told he would not live to enter the land
16.
Repentance in Judaism
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Repentance is one element of atoning for sin in Judaism. A Jewish penitent is traditionally known as a baal teshuva, an alternative modern term is hozer beteshuva. According to the Talmud, God created repentance before He created the physical universe, rosh HaShanah, Aseret Yimei Teshuva, Yom Kippur, and according to Kaballah, Hoshana Rabbah. Numerous guides to the process can be found in rabbinical literature. See especially Maimonides Rules of Repentance in the Mishneh Torah, the second of Rabbenu Yonahs Principles of Repentance is forsaking the sin. After regretting the sin, the penitent must resolve never to repeat the sin, however, Judaism recognizes that the process of repentance varies from penitent to penitent and from sin to sin. For example, a non-habitual sinner often feels the sting of the sin more acutely than the habitual sinner, therefore, a non-habitual sinner will have an easier time repenting, because he or she will be less likely to repeat the sinful behavior. The case of the sinner is more complex. If the habitual sinner regrets his or her sin at all, in such a case, Rabbi Nosson Scherman recommends devising a personal system of reward and punishment and to avoid circumstances which may cause temptation toward the sin being repented for. The Talmud teaches, Who is the penitent whose repentance ascends until the Throne of Glory, — one who is tested and emerges guiltless. Once, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai was walking with his disciple, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Yhoshua looked at the Temple ruins and said Alas for us. The place that atoned for the sins of the people Israel lies in ruins, then Rabbi Yohannan ben Zakkai spoke to him these words of comfort, Be not grieved, my son. There is another equally meritorious way of gaining ritual atonement, even though the Temple is destroyed and we can still gain ritual atonement through deeds of loving-kindness
17.
Binding of Isaac
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The Binding of Isaac, also known as The Binding and the Akedah or Aqedah, is a story from the Hebrew Bible found in Genesis 22. In the biblical narrative, God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Moriah, Abraham begins to comply, Abraham then sees a ram and sacrifices it instead. This episode has been the focus of a deal of commentary in traditional Jewish, Christian. According to the Hebrew Bible, God commands Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice, after Isaac is bound to an altar, a messenger from God stops Abraham at the last minute, saying now I know you fear God. Abraham looks up and sees a ram and sacrifices it instead of Isaac, the passage states that the event occurred at the mount of the LORD in the land of Moriah. The location believed to be the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the majority of Jewish religious commentators argue that God was testing Abraham to see if he would actually kill his own son, as a test of his loyalty. However, a number of Jewish Biblical commentators from the medieval era, the early rabbinic midrash Genesis Rabbah imagines God as saying I never considered telling Abraham to slaughter Isaac. Rabbi Yona Ibn Janach wrote that God demanded only a symbolic sacrifice, rabbi Yosef Ibn Caspi wrote that Abrahams imagination led him astray, making him believe that he had been commanded to sacrifice his son. Ibn Caspi writes How could God command such a revolting thing, hertz interprets the Akedah as demonstrating to the Jews that human sacrifice is abhorrent. However, the actions and words of angels are generally understood to derive directly from Gods will, according to this view, Abraham failed to show compassion for his son, so God punished him by ostensibly failing to show compassion for Abrahams son. This is a flawed theory, since the Bible says that God agreed with Sarah. In The Binding of Isaac, Religious Murders & Kabbalah, Lippman Bodoff argues that Abraham never intended to sacrifice his son. Rabbi Ari Kahn elaborates this view as follows, Isaacs death was never a possibility — not as far as Abraham was concerned and this is precisely how the sages of the Talmud understood the Akeida. Citing the Prophet Jeremiah’s exhortation against child sacrifice, they state unequivocally that such behavior never crossed God’s mind, though readers of this parashah throughout the generations have been disturbed, even horrified, by the Akeida, there was no miscommunication between God and Abraham. The thought of actually killing Isaac never crossed their minds, others suggest that Abrahams apparent complicity with the sacrifice was actually his way of testing God. Abraham had previously argued with God to save lives in Sodom, by silently complying with Gods instructions to kill Isaac, Abraham was putting pressure on God to act in a moral way to preserve life. More evidence that Abraham thought that he would not actually sacrifice Isaac comes from Genesis 22,5, the boy and I will go up there, we will worship and we will return to you. By saying we, he meant that both he and Isaac would return, thus, he did not believe that Isaac would be sacrificed in the end
18.
Korban
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In Judaism, the qorban is any of a variety of sacrificial offerings described and commanded in the Torah. The most common usages are animal sacrifice, peace offering and olah holocaust, a qorban was a kosher animal sacrifice, such as a bull, sheep, goat, deer or a dove that underwent shechita. Sacrifices could also consist of grain, meal, wine, or incense, offerings were often cooked and most of it eaten by the offerer, with parts given to the Kohen priests and small parts burned on the altar of the Temple in Jerusalem. Only in special cases was all of the offering given only to God, the Hebrew Bible says that God commanded the Israelites to offer offerings and sacrifices on various altars. The sacrifices were only to be offered by the hands of the Kohenim, before building the Temple in Jerusalem, when the Israelites were in the desert, sacrifices were only to be offered in the Tabernacle. David created a new center in Jerusalem at the threshing floor of Araunaḥ. According to the Hebrew Bible, after the building of Solomons Temple, after the Temple was destroyed, sacrifices was resumed when the Second Temple was built until it was also destroyed in 70 CE. After the destruction of the Second Temple sacrifices were prohibited because there was no longer a Temple, Offering of sacrifices was briefly reinstated during the Jewish–Roman wars of the second century CE and was continued in certain communities thereafter. When sacrifices were offered in ancient times they were offered as a fulfillment of the 613 commandments, since there is no longer a Temple, or priests, modern religious Jews instead pray or offer tzedakah as a form of charity. The practice and nature of sacrifices in Judaism are based on the 613 commandments, theology, according to the Jewish perception the coming of the messiah will not remove the requirement to keep the 613 commandments. Most Orthodox Jews believe that animal sacrifice will be resumed once the Third Temple is built, others believe that prayer, the Semitic root √qrb means to be close to someone/something, other words from the root include qarov close and qerovim relatives. The same stem is found in Hebrew and, for example, the Hebrew feminine noun qorban first occurs in the Bible in Leviticus 1,2 and occurs 80 times in the Masoretic Text,40 times in Leviticus,38 in Numbers and 2 in Ezekiel. The related form qurban appears only in the Book of Nehemiah 10,35 and 13,31 wood offering, traditionally the etymology is from the verb stem qarab and indicates the purpose to bring man close to God. The Septuagint generally translates the term in Greek as δῶρον gift, θυσία sacrifice, by the Second Temple period, Hellenistic Jewish texts use qorban specifically to mean a vow. Josephus also generally uses other words for offering but uses korban for the vow of the Nazirites and cites Theophrastus as having cited a qorban vow among the Tyrians. Besides this one exception, there were the majority of other purposes for bringing qorbanot, and the expiatory effect is often incidental. Qorbanot are brought purely for the purpose of communing with God, also, they were brought for the purpose of expressing thanks, gratitude, and love to God. When qorbanot was used for atonement, it was not to atone for the sins of the sinner, i. e. to cause them to be forgiven, but to purify the defilement in the Temple caused by the sins
19.
Yom Kippur
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Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. Its central themes are atonement and repentance, Jewish people traditionally observe this holy day with an approximate 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services. Yom means day in Hebrew and Kippur comes from a root that means to atone, Yom Kippur is usually expressed in English as Day of Atonement. Yom Kippur is the day of seventh month and is regarded as the Sabbath of Sabbaths. Rosh Hashanah is the first day of that month according to the Hebrew calendar, on this day forgiveness of sins is also asked of God. Yom Kippur completes the period known in Judaism as the High Holy Days or Yamim Noraim that commences with Rosh Hashanah. According to Jewish tradition, God inscribes each persons fate for the year into a book, the Book of Life, on Rosh Hashanah. During the Days of Awe, a Jew tries to amend his or her behavior and seek forgiveness for wrongs done against God, the evening and day of Yom Kippur are set aside for public and private petitions and confessions of guilt. At the end of Yom Kippur, one hopes that they have been forgiven by God, the Yom Kippur prayer service includes several unique aspects. One is the number of prayer services. Unlike a regular day, which has three services, or a Shabbat or Yom Tov, which have four prayer services. The prayer services also include private and public confessions of sins, as one of the most culturally significant Jewish holidays, Yom Kippur is observed by many secular Jews who may not observe other holidays. Many secular Jews attend synagogue on Yom Kippur—for many secular Jews the High Holy Days are the times of the year during which they attend synagogue—causing synagogue attendance to soar. Erev Yom Kippur is the day preceding Yom Kippur, corresponding to the day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei. This day is commemorated with additional morning prayers, asking others for forgiveness, giving charity, performing the ritual, an extended afternoon prayer service. Leviticus 16,29 mandates establishment of this day on the 10th day of the 7th month as the day of atonement for sins. It calls it the Sabbath of Sabbaths and a day upon which one must afflict ones soul, Leviticus 23,27 decrees that Yom Kippur is a strict day of rest. Five additional prohibitions are traditionally observed, as detailed in the Jewish oral tradition, the number five is a set number, relating to, In the Yom Kippur section of the Torah, the word soul appears five times
20.
Nisan
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Nisan on the Assyrian calendar is the first month, and on the Hebrew calendar is the first month of the ecclesiastical year and the seventh month of the civil year. The name of the month is of Assyrian-Babylonian origin, in the Torah it is called the month of the Aviv, assyrians today refer to the month as the month of happiness. It is a month of 30 days. Nisan usually falls in March–April on the Gregorian calendar, in the Book of Esther in the Tanakh it is referred to as Nisan. Karaite Jews interpret it as referring to the month in which barley was ripe and his last words are recorded as, Im going to heaven, I leave you the writings. 3 Nisan – The Alhambra Decree orders the expulsion of Spanish Jews from Castile,7 Nisan – Joshua sends two spies to Jericho. 10 Nisan – Death of Miriam,39 years after the Exodus,13 Nisan – Death of Rabbi Joseph Caro, author of the Shulchan Aruch. 13 Nisan – Death of Tzemach Tzedek, the third Rebbe of Chabad,14 Nisan – Birth of Maimonides 14 Nisan – Warsaw Ghetto uprising begins. The uprising would last until Iyar 3, and is now commemorated in Israel on 27 Nisan. 15 Nisan – Birth of Isaac 15 Nisan – The Exodus from Egypt 15 Nisan Esther appears before Achashverosh unsummoned and invites him, during the feast she requests that the king and Haman attend a second feast the next day. 16 Nisan – The Children of Israel stop eating Manna, six days after entering the Holy Land,16 Nisan – Esthers second feast during which she accuses Haman regarding his plot to annihilate her nation. Achashverosh orders his servants to hang Haman,17 Nisan – Noahs Ark came to rest on mountains of Ararat 17 Nisan – Haman hanged after Queen Esthers second drinking party. 21 Nisan – The sea splits, allowing Israel to escape the Egyptian army,26 Nisan – Death of Joshua 28 Nisan – Conquest of Jericho by Joshua. 29 Nisan – Death of Rabbi Chaim Vital, a Kabbalist,29 Nisan – In Bamberg, Germany during a commercial crisis in 1699, the populace rose up against the Jews, and one Jew saved himself by throwing prunes from a gable-window down upon the mob. That event, the 29th of Nisan, called Zwetschgen-Taanit, was commemorated by a fast, Nisan is also the name for the month of April in Arabic, a later Semitic language, in Kurdish and modern Turkish. In the story of Xenogears, Nisan is the name of a country, quartodecimanism Resources on the Month of Nisan Jewish Encyclopedia, Nisan Strongs Concordance, Nisan This Month in Jewish History
21.
Passover
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Passover or Pesach, is an important, biblically derived Jewish holiday. The Jewish people celebrate Passover as a commemoration of their liberation by God from slavery in Egypt and it commemorates the story of the Exodus as described in the Hebrew Bible especially in the Book of Exodus, in which the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. According to standard biblical chronology, this event would have place at about 1300 BCE. Passover commences on the 15th of the Hebrew month of Nisan and lasts for seven days or eight days for Orthodox, Hasidic. The rituals unique to the Passover celebrations commence with the Passover Seder when the 15th of Nisan has begun, in the Northern Hemisphere Passover takes place in spring as the Torah prescribes it, in the month of spring. It is one of the most widely observed Jewish holidays, when the Pharaoh freed the Israelites, it is said that they left in such a hurry that they could not wait for bread dough to rise. In commemoration, for the duration of Passover no leavened bread is eaten, thus matzo is eaten during Passover and it is a tradition of the holiday. Samaritans still make this pilgrimage to Mount Gerizim, but only men participate in public worship, the Passover begins on the 15th day of the month of Nisan, which typically falls in March or April of the Gregorian calendar. Passover is a festival, so the 15th day of Nisan typically begins on the night of a full moon after the northern vernal equinox. However, due to months or leap months falling after the vernal equinox, Passover sometimes starts on the second full moon after vernal equinox. If the barley was not ripe, or various other phenomena indicated that spring was not yet imminent, however, since at least the 4th century, the date has been fixed mathematically. Diaspora Jews historically observed the festival for eight days, and most still do, reform and Reconstructionist Jews and Israeli Jews, wherever they are, usually observe the holiday over seven days. The reason for this day is due to enactment of the ancient Jewish sages. It is thought by scholars that Jews outside of Israel could not be certain if their local calendars fully conformed to practice of the Temple at Jerusalem. Karaites and Samaritans use different versions of the Jewish calendar, which are out of sync with the modern Jewish calendar by one or two days. In 2009, for example, Nisan 15 on the Jewish calendar used by Rabbinic Judaism corresponds to April 9, on the calendars used by Karaites and Samaritans, Abib or Aviv 15 corresponds to April 11 in 2009. The Karaite and Samaritan Passovers are each one day long, followed by the six-day Festival of Unleavened Bread – for a total of seven days, scholarly consensus dates the origin of the festival to a period earlier than the Exodus. Hyssop was employed to daub the blood of a sheep on the lintels
22.
Siddur
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A siddur is a Jewish prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers. The word siddur comes from the Hebrew root Hebrew, סד״ר meaning order, the earliest parts of Jewish prayer book are the Shema Yisrael, and the Priestly Blessing, which are in the Torah. A set of eighteen blessings called the Shemoneh Esreh or the Amidah, is ascribed to the Great Assembly in the time of Ezra. The name Shemoneh Esreh, literally eighteen, is a historical anachronism and it was only near the end of the Second Temple period that the eighteen prayers of the weekday Amidah became standardized. Even at that time their precise wording and order was not yet fixed, many modern scholars believe that parts of the Amidah came from the Hebrew apocryphal work Ben Sira. However, the wording was still left open. The order, general ideas, opening and closing lines were fixed, most of the wording was left to the individual reader. It was not until centuries later that the prayers began to be formally fixed. By the Middle Ages the texts of the prayers were nearly fixed, the siddur was printed by Soncino in Italy as early as 1486, though a siddur was first mass-distributed only in 1865. The siddur began appearing in the vernacular as early as 1538, the first English translation was published in London in 1738 by an author writing under the pseudonym Gamaliel ben Pedahzur, a different translation was released in the United States in 1837. Readings from the Torah and the Neviim form part of the prayer services, to this framework various Jewish sages added, from time to time, various prayers, and, for festivals especially, numerous hymns. The earliest existing codification of the prayerbook was drawn up by Rav Amram Gaon of Sura, Babylon, half a century later Rav Saadia Gaon, also of Sura, composed a siddur, in which the rubrical matter is in Arabic. These were the basis of Simcha ben Samuels Machzor Vitry, which was based on the ideas of his teacher, Rashi. Another formulation of the prayers was that appended by Maimonides to the laws of prayer in his Mishneh Torah, this forms the basis of the Yemenite liturgy, from this point forward all Jewish prayerbooks had the same basic order and contents. Some forms of the Sephardi rite are considered to be very overtly kabbalistic and this is partly because the Tetragrammaton frequently appears with varying vowel points beneath the letters and different Names of God appear in small print within the final hei of the Tetragrammaton. In some editions, there is a Psalm in the preparations for the Amidah that is printed in the outline of a menorah, the Ashkenazi rite is more common than the Sephardi rite in America. While Nusach Ashkenaz does contain some elements, such as acrostics and allusions to the sefirot. The ark is opened for the duration of the song, although the Ari himself was born Ashkenazi, he borrowed many elements from Sephardi and other traditions, since he felt that they followed Kabbalah and Halacha more faithfully
23.
Machzor
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The mahzor is the prayer book used by Jews on the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Many Jews also make use of specialized mahzorim on the three festivals of Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot. The prayer book is a form of the siddur, which is generally intended for use in weekday. It is applied to the prayer book because the festivals recur annually. Some of the earliest formal Jewish prayerbooks date from the 10th century, the mahzor contains not only the basic liturgy, but also many piyyutim, which are liturgical poems specific to the holiday for which the mahzor is intended. Many of the prayers in the machzor, including those said daily or weekly on the Sabbath, have special melodies sung only on the holidays, most mahzorim contain only text and no musical notation, the melodies, some of which are ancient, have been passed down orally. The liturgy includes a modern English translation and features prayers for the State of Israel, Israel’s Defense Forces, Welfare of the Government, the Koren Sacks Rosh HaShana Mahzor was released in 2011 and was named a 2011 National Jewish Book Award finalist by The Jewish Book Council. The Koren Sacks Yom Kippur Mahzor was released in 2012 and the Koren Sacks Pesah Mahzor was released in March 2013, the Jewish Press calls the introduction to the Koren Sacks Pesah Mahzor a thematic and theological entree to the very essence of Passover. Artscroll Machzor - Very popular mahzorim used both in the Haredi and Modern Orthodox Jewish community, the text has English translations, commentary, scriptural sources, and choreography Many versions are available. Machzor HaShalem, High Holiday Prayerbook - Edited by Philip Birnbaum, still used in the Modern Orthodox Jewish community, and for a time in some Conservative/Masorti synagogues. The text has English translations, commentary, scriptural sources and this book is only now going out of print, after having been used for the last 50 years. Mahzor, High Holiday Prayerbook - Edited by Conservative Rabbi Morris Silverman, the text has explanatory notes, meditations, and supplementary readings. It is still in use in some congregations today, published by the Prayer Book Press. Mahzor for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Ed, jules Harlow, the official Mahzor of Conservative Judaism from the early 1970s until 2009. Unlike previous machzorim published in the 20th century, this text has much less commentary, the editors focused on the translation, feeling in most places it would be sufficient. It has somewhat fewer poems than other traditional and conservative machzorim, the translations are more poetic and less literal. In 2009 the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism announced a new successor volume, Mahzor Lev Shalem - The new official Mahzor of the Conservative movement in Judaism. English transliterations are offered for all prayers and lines recited aloud by the congregation, the page layout surrounds prayers with a variety of English commentaries and readings, as one finds in classical rabbinic commentaries
24.
Yom Hazikaron
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Yom Hazikaron, in full Yom Hazikaron lChalalei Maarachot Yisrael ulNifgeei Peulot Haeivah, is Israels official remembrance day, enacted into law in 1963. In 1949 and 1950, the first two years after the declaration of the State, memorial services for soldiers who fell in the War of Independence were held on Independence Day, services at military cemeteries were coordinated between the IDF and the Ministry of Defense. A concern arose, expressed by families of soldiers, to establish a separate memorial day observance distinct from the festive celebrations of national independence. This council recommended establishing the 4th of Iyyar, the day preceding Independence Day and this proposal won government approval that same year. Yom Hazikaron is the remembrance day observed in Israel for those who fell since 1860. As of May 2016 that number was 23,447, national memorial services are held in the presence of Israels top leadership and military personnel. The day opens with a siren the preceding evening at 20,00, given that in the Hebrew calendar system, a day begins at sunset. The siren is heard all over the country and lasts for one minute, during which Israelis stop everything and stand in silence, commemorating the fallen, many religious Jews say prayers for the souls of the fallen soldiers at this time. The official ceremony to mark the opening of the day takes place at the Western Wall, many Israelis visit the resting places of loved ones throughout the day. One of the television stations screens the names of all the fallen in chronological order over the course of the day. Names appear for three seconds each. This has been mentioned in the West Wing episode Memorial Day, scheduling Yom Hazikaron right before Yom Ha-Atzmaut is intended to remind people of the price paid for independence and of what was achieved with the soldiers sacrifice. This transition shows the importance of this day among Israelis, most of whom have served in the forces or have a connection with people who were killed during their military service. Likewise, when Yom Hazikaron falls on Saturday night/Sunday day, both observances are rescheduled to one day later, culture of Israel Israeli casualties of war Remembrance Day--Independence Day -- Selected Readings
25.
Arabic
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
26.
Shmita
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During shmita, the land is left to lie fallow and all agricultural activity, including plowing, planting, pruning and harvesting, is forbidden by halakha. Other cultivation techniques may be performed as a measure only. Additionally, any fruits which grow of their own accord are deemed hefker, a variety of laws also apply to the sale, consumption and disposal of shmita produce. All debts, except those of foreigners, were to be remitted, chapter 25 of the Book of Leviticus promises bountiful harvests to those who observe the shmita, and describes its observance as a test of religious faith. There is little notice of the observance of this year in Biblical history and it is still discussed among scholars of the Ancient Near East whether or not there is clear evidence for a seven-year cycle in Ugaritic texts. Jehuda Felix suggests that the land may have been farmed only 3 years in seven, borowski takes the fallow year as one year in seven. But during the year, you must leave it alone. The needy among you will then be able to eat just as you do and this also applies to your vineyard and your olive grove. For six years you may plant your fields, prune your vineyards, and harvest your crops and it is Gods sabbath during which you may not plant your fields, nor prune your vineyards. Do not harvest crops that grow on their own and do not gather the grapes on your unpruned vines, the land is resting may be eaten by you, by your male and female slaves, and by the employees and resident hands who live with you. All the crops shall be eaten by the domestic and wild animals that are in your land, and if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year. Behold, we may not sow, nor gather in our increase, then I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth produce for the three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the produce, I will scatter you among the nations, and keep the sword drawn against you. Your land will remain desolate, and your cities in ruins, then, as long as the land is desolate and you are in your enemies land, the land will enjoy its sabbaths. The land will rest and enjoy its sabbatical years, thus, as long as it is desolate, will enjoy the sabbatical rest that you would not give it when you lived there. Book of Deuteronomy, At the end of seven years. The idea of the year is that every creditor shall remit any debt owed by his neighbor. You may collect from the alien, but if you have any claim against your brother for a debt and you must gather together the people, the men, women, children and proselytes from your settlements, and let them hear it
27.
Ex nihilo
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Ex nihilo is a Latin phrase meaning out of nothing. In theology, the common phrase creatio ex nihilo, contrasts with creatio ex materia, Creatio continua is the ongoing divine creation. The phrase ex nihilo also appears in the classical philosophical formulation ex nihilo nihil fit, when used outside of religious or metaphysical contexts ex nihilo also refers to something coming from nothing. For example, in a conversation, one might raise a topic ex nihilo if it bears no relation to the topic of discussion. An early conflation of Greek philosophy with the narratives in the Hebrew Bible came from Philo of Alexandria, Philo equated the Hebrew creator-deity Yahweh with Aristotles primum movens in an attempt to prove that the Jews had held monotheistic views even before the Greeks. Theologians debate whether the Bible itself teaches creation ex nihilo, traditional interpreters argue on grammatical and syntactical grounds that this is the meaning of Genesis 1,1, which is commonly rendered, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. However, other interpreters understand creation ex nihilo as a theological development. According to this view, church fathers opposed notions appearing in pre-Christian creation myths, Jewish thinkers took up the idea, which became important to Judaism, to ongoing strands in the Christian tradition, and—as a corollary—to Islam. The first sentence of the Greek version of Genesis in the Septuagint starts with the words, ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν, many ancient texts tend to have similar issues, and those on each side tend to interpret the text according to their understanding. Therefore, an uncaused, personal creator of the universe exists, who without the universe is beginningless, changeless, immaterial, timeless, spaceless, If it is possible for nothing to be, then it must be possible for everything to be. Some scholars have argued that Plethon viewed Plato as positing ex nihilo creation in his Timaeus, eric Voegelin detects in Hesiods chaos a creatio ex nihilo. The School of Chartres understood the creation account in Platos Timaeus to refer to creatio ex nihilo, in The Book of the Articles of Faith and Doctrines of Dogma written by Saadia Gaon the metaphysical problems of the creation of the world and the unity of the Creator are discussed. In this book, Saadia Gaon gives four proofs for the doctrine of the creation of the ex nihilo. To harmonize the biblical statement of the ex nihilo with the doctrine of the primordial elements, the Sefer Yetzirah assumes a double creation, one ideal. The cosmogony of Sefer Yetzirah is even omitted from the discussion of creation in his magnum opus Emunoth ve-Deoth. Several schools of thought stemming from the first cause argument, the following quotations come from Muhammad Asads translation, The Message of The Quran,52,35, Were they created by nothing. Or were they themselves the creators,2,117, The Originator is He of the heavens and the earth, and when He wills a thing to be, He but says unto it, Be—and it is. 19,67, But does man not bear in mind that We have created him aforetime while at one point they were nothing
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Ancient Near East
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The ancient Near East is studied in the fields of Near Eastern archaeology and ancient history. The ancient Near East is considered one of the cradles of civilization and it also saw the creation of the first writing system and law codes, early advances that laid the foundations of astronomy and mathematics, and the invention of the wheel. During the period, states became increasingly large, until by the end the region was controlled by military empires who had conquered a number of different cultures. The phrase ancient Near East utilizes the 19th-century distinction between Near East and Far East as global regions of interest to the British Empire, the distinction began during the Crimean War. The two theatres were described by the statesmen and advisors of the British Empire as the Near East, shortly, they were to share the stage with Middle East, which came to prevail in the 20th century and continues in modern times. Meanwhile, ancient Near East had become distinct, the Near East ruled by the Ottoman Empire ranged from Vienna to the north to the tip of the Arabian Peninsula to the south, from Egypt in the west to the borders of Iraq in the east. The 19th-century archaeologists added Iran to their definition, which was never under the Ottomans, but they excluded all of Europe and, generally, Egypt, which had parts in the empire. Ancient Near East periodization is the attempt to categorize or divide time into discrete named blocks, or eras, the result is a descriptive abstraction that provides a useful handle on Near East periods of time with relatively stable characteristics. Named after the Sumerian city of Uruk, this saw the emergence of urban life in Mesopotamia. It was followed by the Sumerian civilization, the late Uruk period saw the gradual emergence of the cuneiform script and corresponds to the Early Bronze Age. Sumer, located in southern Mesopotamia, is the earliest known civilization in the world, the Akkadian Empire, founded by Sargon the Great, lasted from the 24th to the 21st century BC, and was regarded by many as the worlds first Empire. The Akkadians eventually fragmented into Assyria and Babylonia, Ancient Elam lay to the east of Sumer and Akkad, in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretching from the lowlands of Khuzestan and Ilam Province. In the Old Elamite period, c.3200 BC, it consisted of kingdoms on the Iranian plateau, centered on Anshan, and from the mid-2nd millennium BC, it was centered on Susa in the Khuzestan lowlands. Elam was absorbed into the Assyrian Empire in the 9th to 7th centuries BC, however, the Proto-Elamite civilization existed from c.3200 BC to 2700 BC, when Susa, the later capital of the Elamites, began to receive influence from the cultures of the Iranian plateau. In archaeological terms, this corresponds to the late Banesh period and this civilization is recognized as the oldest in Iran and was largely contemporary with its neighbour, the Sumerian civilization. The Proto-Elamite script is an Early Bronze Age writing system briefly in use for the ancient Elamite language before the introduction of Elamite Cuneiform, the Amorites were a nomadic Semitic people who occupied the country west of the Euphrates from the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. In the earliest Sumerian sources, beginning about 2400 BC, the land of the Amorites is associated with the West, including Syria and Canaan and they ultimately settled in Mesopotamia, ruling Isin, Larsa, and later Babylon. Assyria, after enduring a period of Mitanni domination, emerged as a great power from the accession of Ashur-uballit I in 1365 BC to the death of Tiglath-Pileser I in 1076 BC
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History of Iran
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Iran is home to one of the worlds oldest continuous major civilizations, with historical and urban settlements dating back to 7000 BC. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel names the Persians as the first Historical People, the Medes unified Iran as a nation and empire in 625 BC. It was the largest empire yet seen and the first world empire and they were succeeded by the Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Empires, who successively governed Iran for almost 1000 years and made Iran once again as a leading power in the world. Persias arch-rival was the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine Empire, the Persian Empire proper begins in the Iron Age, following the influx of Iranian peoples. Iranian people gave rise to the Medes, the Achaemenid, Parthian, once a major empire of superpower proportions, having conquered far and wide, Iran has endured invasions too, by the Greeks, Arabs, Turks, and the Mongols. Iran has continually reasserted its national identity throughout the centuries and has developed as a political and cultural entity. The Muslim conquest of Persia ended the Sasanian Empire and was a point in Iranian history. Islamization of Iran took place during the eighth to tenth centuries, however, the achievements of the previous Persian civilizations were not lost, but were to a great extent absorbed by the new Islamic polity and civilization. Iran, with its history of early cultures and empires, had suffered particularly hard during the late Middle Ages. Many invasions of nomadic tribes, whose leaders became rulers in this country, the earliest archaeological artifacts in Iran were found in the Kashafrud and Ganj Par sites that are thought to date back to 100,000 years ago in the Middle Paleolithic. Mousterian stone tools made by Neandertals have also been found, in 1949, a Neanderthal radius was discovered by Carleton S. Coon in Bisitun Cave. Early agricultural communities such as Chogha Golan in 10,000 BC along with such as Chogha Bonut in 8000 BC, began to flourish in. Around about the time, the earliest-known clay vessels and modeled human and animal terracotta figurines were produced at Ganj Dareh. There are also 10, 000-year-old human and animal figurines from Tepe Sarab in Kermanshah Province among many ancient artifacts. The two main Neolithic Iranian settlements were the Zayandeh River Culture and Ganj Dareh, parts of what is modern-day northwestern Iran was part of the Kura–Araxes culture, that stretched up into the neighboring regions of the Caucasus and Anatolia. Susa is one of the settlements of Iran and the world. Based on C14 dating, the time of foundation of the city is as early as 4395 BC, the general perception among archeologists is that Susa was an extension of the Sumerian city state of Uruk. In its later history, Susa became the capital of Elam and it is one of the most artifact-rich archaeological sites in the Middle East
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Ancient Greece
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Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th-9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and this was followed by the period of Classical Greece, an era that began with the Greco-Persian Wars, lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a influence on ancient Rome. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered the cradle of Western civilization. Classical Antiquity in the Mediterranean region is considered to have begun in the 8th century BC. Classical Antiquity in Greece is preceded by the Greek Dark Ages and this period is succeeded, around the 8th century BC, by the Orientalizing Period during which a strong influence of Syro-Hittite, Jewish, Assyrian, Phoenician and Egyptian cultures becomes apparent. The end of the Dark Ages is also dated to 776 BC. The Archaic period gives way to the Classical period around 500 BC, Ancient Periods Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details The history of Greece during Classical Antiquity may be subdivided into five major periods. The earliest of these is the Archaic period, in which artists made larger free-standing sculptures in stiff, the Archaic period is often taken to end with the overthrow of the last tyrant of Athens and the start of Athenian Democracy in 508 BC. It was followed by the Classical period, characterized by a style which was considered by observers to be exemplary, i. e. classical, as shown in the Parthenon. This period saw the Greco-Persian Wars and the Rise of Macedon, following the Classical period was the Hellenistic period, during which Greek culture and power expanded into the Near and Middle East. This period begins with the death of Alexander and ends with the Roman conquest, Herodotus is widely known as the father of history, his Histories are eponymous of the entire field. Herodotus was succeeded by authors such as Thucydides, Xenophon, Demosthenes, Plato, most of these authors were either Athenian or pro-Athenian, which is why far more is known about the history and politics of Athens than those of many other cities. Their scope is limited by a focus on political, military and diplomatic history, ignoring economic. In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. The Lelantine War is the earliest documented war of the ancient Greek period and it was fought between the important poleis of Chalcis and Eretria over the fertile Lelantine plain of Euboea. Both cities seem to have suffered a decline as result of the long war, a mercantile class arose in the first half of the 7th century BC, shown by the introduction of coinage in about 680 BC
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Gregorian calendar
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The Gregorian calendar is internationally the most widely used civil calendar. It is named after Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in October 1582, the calendar was a refinement to the Julian calendar involving a 0. 002% correction in the length of the year. The motivation for the reform was to stop the drift of the calendar with respect to the equinoxes and solstices—particularly the northern vernal equinox, transition to the Gregorian calendar would restore the holiday to the time of the year in which it was celebrated when introduced by the early Church. The reform was adopted initially by the Catholic countries of Europe, the last European country to adopt the reform was Greece, in 1923. Many countries that have used the Islamic and other religious calendars have come to adopt this calendar for civil purposes. The reform was a modification of a made by Aloysius Lilius. His proposal included reducing the number of years in four centuries from 100 to 97. Lilius also produced an original and practical scheme for adjusting the epacts of the moon when calculating the date of Easter. For example, the years 1700,1800, and 1900 are not leap years, but the years 1600 and 2000 are. The canonical Easter tables were devised at the end of the third century, when the vernal equinox fell either on 20 March or 21 March depending on the years position in the leap year cycle. As the rule was that the full moon preceding Easter was not to precede the equinox, the date was fixed at 21 March for computational purposes, the Gregorian calendar reproduced these conditions by removing ten days. To unambiguously specify a date, dual dating or Old Style, dual dating gives two consecutive years for a given date, because of differences in the starting date of the year, and/or to give both the Julian and the Gregorian dates. The Gregorian calendar continued to use the calendar era, which counts years from the traditional date of the nativity. This year-numbering system, also known as Dionysian era or Common Era, is the predominant international standard today, the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar. A regular Gregorian year consists of 365 days, but as in the Julian calendar, in a leap year, in the Julian calendar a leap year occurs every 4 years, but the Gregorian calendar omits 3 leap days every 400 years. In the Julian calendar, this day was inserted by doubling 24 February. In the modern period, it has become customary to number the days from the beginning of the month, some churches, notably the Roman Catholic Church, delay February festivals after the 23rd by one day in leap years. Gregorian years are identified by consecutive year numbers, the cycles repeat completely every 146,097 days, which equals 400 years
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Jubilees
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Jubilees is considered one of the pseudepigrapha by Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Churches. The text was also utilized by the community that originally collected the Dead Sea Scrolls, no complete Hebrew, Greek or Latin version is known to have survived. The chronology given in Jubilees is based on multiples of seven, there is also a preserved fragment of a Latin translation of the Greek that contains about a quarter of the whole work. The Ethiopic texts, now numbering twenty-seven, are the basis for translations into English. Passages in the texts of Jubilees that are parallel to verses in Genesis do not directly reproduce either of the two surviving manuscript traditions. Consequently, even before the Qumran discoveries, R. H. However, although the Pre-Masoretic text may have indeed been authoritative back then, arguments can be made for and against this concept. Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, the large quantity of manuscripts indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate, the first biblical scholar to propose an origin for Jubilees was Robert Henry Charles. Charles proposed the author of Jubilees may have been a Pharisee, However, with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran in 1947, Charles Pharisaic hypothesis of the origin of Jubilees has been almost completely abandoned. The dating of Jubilees has been problematic for biblical scholars, while the oldest extant copies of Jubilees can be assigned on the basis of the handwriting to about 100 BC, there is much evidence to suggest Jubilees was written prior to this date. But Jubilees could not have written very long prior. The Animal Apocalypse pretends to predict the Maccabean Revolt and is dated to that time. The direction of dependence has been controversial, but the consensus since 2008 has been that the Animal Apocalypse was first, as a result, general reference works such as the Oxford Annotated Bible and the Mercer Bible Dictionary conclude the work can be dated to 160–150 BC. The Hasmoneans adopted Jubilees immediately, and it became a source for the Aramaic Levi Document, Jubilees remained a point of reference for priestly circles, and the Temple Scroll and Epistle of Enoch are based on Jubilees. It is the source for certain of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, there is no official record of it in Pharisaic or Rabbinic sources, and it was among several books that the Sanhedrin and Rabbi Akiva left out of the canon they established in the late first century. Sub rosa, many of the traditions which Jubilees includes for the first time are echoed in later Jewish sources, the sole exception within Judaism, the Beta Israel Jews formerly of Ethiopia, regard the Geez text as canonical. Some Early Church Fathers evidently held the book of Jubilees was in high regard, the Book of Jubilees had great influence on the formation of Islam. In the Book of Jubilees there is the same concept of revelation as in Islam, Gods words
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Shavuot
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The holiday is one of the Shalosh Regalim, the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals. It marks the conclusion of the Counting of the Omer, the Torah mandates the seven-week Counting of the Omer, beginning on the second day of Passover, to be immediately followed by Shavuot. This counting of days and weeks is understood to express anticipation, on Passover, the people of Israel were freed from their enslavement to Pharaoh, on Shavuot they were given the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God. The word Shavuot means weeks, and the festival of Shavuot marks the completion of the seven-week counting period between Passover and Shavuot, the yahrzeit of King David is traditionally observed on Shavuot. Hasidic Jews also observe the yahrzeit of the Baal Shem Tov, Shavuot is one of the less familiar Jewish holidays to secular Jews in the Jewish diaspora, while those in Israel as well as the Orthodox community are more aware of it. According to Jewish law, Shavuot is celebrated in Israel for one day, Reform Judaism celebrates only one day, even in the Diaspora. Shavuot is not explicitly named as the day on which the Torah was revealed by God to the Israelite nation at Mount Sinai in the Bible, although this is commonly quoted to be its main significance. What is indeed textually connected in the Bible to the Feast of Shavuot, is the season of the grain harvest, specifically of the wheat, in ancient times, the grain harvest lasted seven weeks and was a season of gladness. It began with the harvesting of the barley during Passover and ended with the harvesting of the wheat at Shavuot, Shavuot was thus the concluding festival of the grain harvest, just as the eighth day of Sukkot was the concluding festival of the fruit harvest. During the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem, an offering of two loaves of bread from the wheat harvest was made on Shavuot, in the Bible, Shavuot is called the Festival of Weeks, Festival of Reaping, and Day of the First Fruits. Shavuot, the plural of a word meaning week or seven, the Talmud refers to Shavuot as Atzeret, referring to the prohibition against work on this holiday and to the conclusion of the holiday and season of Passover. Since Shavuot occurs 50 days after Passover, Hellenistic Jews gave it the name Pentecost, Shavuot was also the first day on which individuals could bring the Bikkurim to the Temple in Jerusalem. The Bikkurim were brought from the Seven Species for which the Land of Israel is praised, wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates. In the largely agrarian society of ancient Israel, Jewish farmers would tie a reed around the first ripening fruits from each of these species in their fields. At the time of harvest, the fruits identified by the reed would be cut and placed in baskets woven of gold and silver. The baskets would then be loaded on oxen whose horns were gilded and laced with garlands of flowers, as the farmer and his entourage passed through cities and towns, they would be accompanied by music and parades. At the Temple in Jerusalem, each farmer would present his Bikkurim to a Kohen in a ceremony that followed the text of Deut, the ceremony of Bikkurim conveys the Jews gratitude to God both for the first fruits of the field and for His guidance throughout Jewish history. However, it is characterized by many minhagim
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Sukkot
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It is a biblical Jewish holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. During the existence of the Jerusalem Temple it was one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which the Israelites were commanded to perform a pilgrimage to the Temple. The more elaborate religious significance from the Book of Leviticus is that of commemorating the Exodus, the holiday lasts seven days in Israel and eight in the diaspora. The first day is a Shabbat-like holiday when work is forbidden and this is followed by intermediate days called Chol Hamoed, when certain work is permitted. The festival is closed with another Shabbat-like holiday called Shemini Atzeret, Shemini Atzeret coincides with the eighth day of Sukkot outside of Israel. The Hebrew word sukkōt is the plural of sukkah, booth or tabernacle, a sukkah is the name of the temporary dwelling in which farmers would live during harvesting, a fact connecting to the agricultural significance of the holiday stressed by the Book of Exodus. Throughout the holiday, meals are eaten inside the sukkah and many people there as well. On each day of the holiday it is mandatory to perform a ceremony with the Four Species. The origins of Sukkot are both historical and agricultural, historically, Sukkot commemorates the forty-year period during which the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, living in temporary shelters. Agriculturally, Sukkot is a harvest festival and is referred to as Chag HaAsif. Sukkot is a holiday, with the first day celebrated as a full festival with special prayer services. The seventh day of Sukkot is called Hoshana Rabbah and has a special observance of its own, outside Israel, the first and last two days are celebrated as full festivals. The intermediate days are known as Chol HaMoed, according to Halakha, some types of work are forbidden during Chol HaMoed. In Israel many businesses are closed during this time, throughout the week of Sukkot, meals are eaten in the sukkah and the males sleep there, although the requirement is waived in case of rain. Every day, a blessing is recited over the Lulav and the Etrog. Observance of Sukkot is detailed in the Book of Nehemiah 8, 13-18, Zechariah 14, 16-19 and Leviticus 23, 34-44 in the Bible, the Mishnah, the Tosefta, the sukkah walls can be constructed of any material. The walls can be free-standing or include the sides of a building or porch, the roof must be of organic material, known as schach, such as leafy tree overgrowth, schach mats or palm fronds. It is customary to decorate the interior of the sukkah with hanging decorations of the four species
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Egyptians
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The Black Egyptian hypothesis is the hypothesis that Ancient Egypt was a predominately Black civilization, as the term is currently understood in modern American ethic perception. Mainstream scholars recognize that many indigenous Egyptians, including several Pharaohs, were of ancestry that, in the modern era, the Black Egyptian hypothesis goes a lot further, claiming that Egypt, from north to south, was a black civilization. At the UNESCO Symposium on the Peopling of Ancient Egypt and the Deciphering of the Meroitic script in Cairo in 1974, some modern scholars such as W. E. B. Du Bois, Chancellor Williams, Cheikh Anta Diop, John G. Jackson, Ivan van Sertima, Martin Bernal, the frequently criticized Journal of African Civilizations has continually advocated that Egypt should be viewed as a Black civilization. Diop and others believed the views were fueled by scientific racism. Diop used an approach to counteract prevailing views on the Ancient Egyptians origins. Since the second half of the 20th century, most scholars have held that modern notions of race to ancient Egypt is anachronistic. The focus of some experts who study population biology has been to consider whether or not the Ancient Egyptians were primarily biologically North African rather than to which race they belonged, in 1975, the mummy of Ramesses II was taken to France for preservation. The mummy was also tested by Professor Pierre-Fernand Ceccaldi, the chief forensic scientist at the Criminal Identification Laboratory of Paris. Professor Ceccaldi determined that, Hair, astonishingly preserved, showed some complementary data - especially about pigmentation, the description given here refers to a fair-skinned person with wavy ginger hair. Keita wrote that There is no reason to believe that the primary ancestors of the Egyptian population emerged and evolved outside of northeast Africa. Stuart Tyson Smith writes in the 2001 Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt that Any characterization of race of the ancient Egyptians depends on modern cultural definitions, not on scientific study. Thus, by modern American standards it is reasonable to characterize the Egyptians as black, several Ancient Greek historians noted that Egyptians had complexions that were melanchroes. There is considerable controversy over the translation of melanchroes, most scholars translate it as black. Alan B Lloyd wrote that there is no justification for relating this description to negroes. Melanchroes could denote any colour from bronzed to black and negroes are not the physical type to show curly hair. These characteristics would certainly be found in many Egs, ancient and modern, some of the most often quoted historians are Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, and Herodotus. Herodotus states in a few passages that the Egyptians were black/dark, lucian observes an Egyptian boy and notices that he is not merely black, but has thick lips
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Flood myth
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A flood myth or deluge myth is a narrative in which a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, destroys civilization, often in an act of divine retribution. Most flood myths also contain a culture hero, who represents the human craving for life, the Mesopotamian flood stories concern the epics of Ziusudra, Gilgamesh, and Atrahasis. In the Sumerian King List, it relies on the motif to divide its history into preflood and postflood periods. The preflood kings had enormous lifespans, whereas postflood lifespans were much reduced, in the Atrahasis version, the flood is a river flood. In the Genesis mythology of the Hebrew Bible, Yahweh decides to flood the earth because of the depth of the state of mankind. Righteous Noah is given instructions to build an ark, when the ark is completed, Noah, his family, and representatives of all the animals of the earth are called upon to enter the ark. When the destructive flood begins, all life outside of the ark perishes, after the waters recede, all those aboard the ark disembark and have Gods promise that he will never judge the earth with a flood again. He gives the rainbow as the sign of this promise, in the 19th century, Assyriologist George Smith translated the Babylonian account of a great flood. Further discoveries produced several versions of the Mesopotamian flood myth, with the account closest to that in Genesis found in a 700 BCE Babylonian copy of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the vessel would save Utnapishtim, his family, his friends, and the animals. In Platos Timaeus, Timaeus says that because the Bronze race of Humans had been making wars constantly Zeus was angered and decided to punish humanity by a flood. Prometheus the Titan knew of this and told the secret to Deucalion, after 9 nights and days, the water started receding and the ark was landed at Mount Parnassus. In ancient Mesopotamia, the Sumerian King List reads After kingship came down from heaven, the kingship was taken to Shuruppak. In Shuruppak, Ubara-Tutu became king, he ruled for 5 sars and 1 ner, in 5 cities 8 kings, they ruled for 241,200 years. Excavations in Iraq have revealed evidence of localized flooding at Shuruppak, a layer of riverine sediments, radiocarbon dated to about 2900 BC, interrupts the continuity of settlement, extending as far north as the city of Kish, which took over hegemony after the flood. Polychrome pottery from the Jemdet Nasr period was discovered immediately below the Shuruppak flood stratum, other sites, such as Ur, Kish, Uruk, Lagash, and Ninevah, all present evidence of flooding. However, this comes from different time periods. Geologically, the Shuruppak flood coincides with the 5.9 kiloyear event at the end of the Older Peron, in Israel, there is no such evidence of a widespread flood. Given the similarities in the Mesopotamian flood story and the Biblical account, floods in the wake of the last glacial period may have inspired myths that survive to this day
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Cheshvan
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Marcheshvan, sometimes shortened to Cheshvan, is the second month of the civil year and the eighth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. In a regular year Marcheshvan has 29 days, but because of the Rosh Hashanah postponement rules, Marcheshvan is an autumn month which occurs in October–November in the Gregorian calendar. Given the Akkadian etymology, it likely the מ and the ו were switched at some point in time, since w-r-ḥ is the Semitic root for moon. Also, מ and ו are labials, since then, the first two letters מַר have been reinterpreted as the Hebrew word for bitter, alluding to the fact that the month has no holidays or fasts. The Ethiopian Jewish community celebrates Sigd on the 29th day of Marcheshvan, the Hebrew Bible, before the Babylonian Exile, refers to the month as Bul. Bahab, or in Hebrew בהב stands for 2,5,2, on the Monday, Thursday and second Monday after the Sabbath, the minhag is to fast and/or recite penitential prayers called Selichot. Bahab is also observed at the beginning of Iyar,11 Marcheshvan - Methuselah dies at age 96911 Marcheshvan - Death of Rachel while giving birth to Benjamin 12 Cheshvan - Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, now a national memorial day
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Mishnah
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The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions known as the Oral Torah. It is also the first major work of Rabbinic literature, most of the Mishnah is written in Mishnaic Hebrew, while some parts are Aramaic. The Mishnah consists of six orders, each containing 7–12 tractates,63 in total, the word Mishnah can also indicate a single paragraph or a verse of the work itself, i. e. the smallest unit of structure in the Mishnah. For this reason the work is sometimes called by the plural. The term Mishnah originally referred to a method of teaching by presenting topics in an order, as contrasted with Midrash. The Mishnah consists of six orders, each containing 7–12 tractates,63 in total, each masechet is divided into chapters and then paragraphs. In this last context, the word means a single paragraph of the work, i. e. the smallest unit of structure, leading to the use of the plural, Mishnayot. Because of the division into six orders, the Mishnah is sometimes called Shas, in each order, tractates are arranged from biggest to smallest. A popular mnemonic consists of the acronym ZMaN NaKaT, the Babylonian Talmud states that there were either six hundred or seven hundred orders of the Mishnah. Hillel the Elder organized them into six orders to make it easier to remember, the historical accuracy of this tradition is disputed. There is also a tradition that Ezra the scribe dictated from memory not only the 24 books of the Tanakh but 60 esoteric books. It is not known whether this is a reference to the Mishnah, interestingly, Reuvein Margolies posited that there were originally seven orders of Mishnah, citing a Gaonic tradition on the existence of a seventh order containing the laws of Stam and Berachot. A number of important laws are not elaborated upon in the Mishnah and these include the laws of tzitzit, tefillin, mezuzot, the holiday of Hanukkah, and the laws of conversion to Judaism. These were later discussed in the minor tractates, nissim ben Jacobs Hakdamah Lemafteach Hatalmud argued that it was unnecessary for Judah the Prince to discuss them as many of these laws were so well known. Rabbinic commentaries on the Mishnah from the four centuries, done in the Land of Israel. In themselves they are known as Gemara, the books which set out the Mishnah in its original structure, together with the associated Gemara, are known as Talmuds. Two Talmuds were compiled, the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud, unlike the Hebrew Mishnah, the Gemara is written primarily in Aramaic. The Mishnah does not claim to be the development of new laws, the term Mishnah is related to the verb shanah, to teach or repeat, and to the adjectives sheni and mishneh, meaning second
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Midrash
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The Midrash, capitalized, refers to a specific compilation of these writings, primarily from the first ten centuries CE. Gesenius ascribes the etymology of midrash to the Qal of the common Hebrew verb darash to seek, study, inquire. The word midrash occurs twice in the Hebrew Bible,2 Chronicles 13,22 in the midrash of the prophet Iddo, in Second Temple Jewish literature it began to be used in the sense of education and learning generally. According to the PaRDeS approaches to exegesis, interpretation of Biblical texts in Judaism is realized through peshat, remez, derash, the Midrash concentrates somewhat on remez but mostly on derash. Many different exegetical methods are employed in an effort to derive meaning from a text. This is not limited to the traditional thirteen textual tools attributed to the Tanna Rabbi Ishmael, in many cases, a dialogue is expanded manifold, handfuls of lines in the Biblical narrative may become long philosophical discussions. It is unclear whether the midrash assumes these dialogues took place in reality or if this refers only to subtext or religious implication, many midrashim start off with a seemingly unrelated sentence from the Biblical books of Psalms, Proverbs or the Prophets. This sentence later turns out to reflect the content of the rabbinical interpretation offered. This strategy is used particularly in a subgenre of midrash known as the Petikhta, some Midrash discussions are highly metaphorical, and many Jewish authors stress that they are not intended to be taken literally. Rather, other sources may sometimes serve as a key to particularly esoteric discussions. Later authors maintain that this was done to make this material accessible to the casual reader. In general the midrash is focused on either halakha or aggadic subject matter, Midrash halakha is the name given to a group of tannaitic expositions on the first four books of the Hebrew Bible. These Midrashim, which are written in Mishnahic Hebrew set out a distinction between the Biblical texts that they discuss, and the rabbinic interpretation of that text. They often go well beyond simple interpretation and derive or provide support for halakha and this work is based on pre set assumptions about the sacred and divine nature of the text, and the belief in the legitimacy that accords with rabbinic interpretation. By collecting and compiling these thoughts they could be presented in a manner which helped to refute claims that they were only human interpretations, Midrashim which seek to explain the non-legal portions of the Hebrew Bible are sometimes referred to as aggadah or haggadah. Some of these midrashim entail mystical teachings, the presentation is such that the Midrash is a simple lesson to the uninitiated, and a direct allusion, or analogy, to a Mystical teaching for those educated in this area. An example of a Midrashic interpretation, And God saw all that He had made, and there was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day. —Midrash, Rabbi Nahman said in Rabbi Samuels name, Behold, it was very good refers to the Good Desire, AND behold, can then the Evil Desire be very good
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Names of God in Judaism
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The name of God used most often in the Hebrew Bible is the Tetragrammaton YHWH. It is frequently anglicized as Jehovah and Yahweh and written in most English editions of the Bible as the Lord owing to the Jewish tradition of reading it as Adonai out of respect. Rabbinic Judaism describes seven names which are so holy that, once written, should not be erased, The Tetragrammaton, El, Eloah, Elohim, Shaddai, Ehyeh, and Tzevaot. The documentary hypothesis proposes that the Torah was compiled from original sources. The seven names of God that, once written, cannot be erased because of their holiness are the Tetragrammaton, El, Elohim, Eloah, Elohai, El Shaddai, in addition, the name Jah—because it forms part of the Tetragrammaton—is similarly protected. Rabbi Jose considered Tzevaot a common name and Rabbi Ishmael that Elohim was, all other names, such as Merciful, Gracious and Faithful, merely represent attributes that are also common to human beings. The name of God used most often in the Hebrew Bible is YHWH, Hebrew is a right-to-left abjad, so the words letters Yōd, Hē, Vav, Hē are usually taken for consonants and expanded to Yahweh or Jehovah in English. The Tetragrammaton first appears in Genesis and occurs 6828 times in total in the Stuttgart edition of the Masoretic Text and it is thought to be an archaic third-person singular imperfect tense of the verb to be. This agrees with the passage in Exodus where God names Himself as I Will Be What I Will Be using the first-person singular imperfect tense. Rabbinical Judaism teaches that the name is forbidden to all except the High Priest and he then pronounces the name just as it is written. As each blessing was made, the people in the courtyard were to prostrate themselves completely as they heard it spoken aloud. As the Temple has been destroyed since CE70, most modern Jews never pronounce YHWH but instead read Adonai during prayer and while reading the Torah and as HaShem at other times. Similarly, the Vulgate used Dominus and most English translations of the Bible write the Lord for YHWH and the Lord God for Adonai YHWH instead of transcribing the name. Or Theos for occurrences of the name. )El appears in Ugaritic, Phoenician and other 2nd, in the Hebrew Bible El appears very occasionally alone, but usually with some epithet or attribute attached, in which cases it can be understood as the generic god. A common name of God in the Hebrew Bible is Elohim, despite the -im ending common to many plural nouns in Hebrew, the word Elohim when referring to God is grammatically singular, and takes a singular verb in the Hebrew Bible. When the Hebrew Bible uses elohim not in reference to God, there are a few other such uses in Hebrew, for example Behemoth. In Modern Hebrew, the singular word baalim looks plural, a number of scholars have traced the etymology to the Semitic root *yl, to be first, powerful, despite some difficulties with this view. Elohim is thus the plural construct powers, Hebrew grammar allows for this form to mean He is the Power over powers, just as the word Baalim means owner
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Throne
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A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign on state occasions, or the seat occupied by a pope or bishop on ceremonial occasions. Throne in an abstract sense can refer to the monarchy or the Crown itself, an instance of metonymy. These have ranged from stools in places such as a Africa to ornate chairs and bench-like designs in Europe and Asia, respectively. Accordingly, many thrones are typically held to have been constructed or fabricated out of rare or hard to find materials that may be valuable or important to the land in question, when used in a religious sense, throne can refer to one of two distinct uses. The other use for throne refers to a belief among many of the worlds monotheistic and polytheistic religions that the deity or deities that they worship are seated on a throne. Such beliefs go back to ancient times, and can be seen in surviving artwork, Thrones were found throughout the canon of ancient furniture. The depiction of monarchs and deities as seated on chairs is a topos in the iconography of the Ancient Near East. The word throne itself is from Greek θρόνος, seat, chair, early Greek Διὸς θρόνους was a term for the support of the heavens, i. e. the axis mundi, which term when Zeus became an anthropomorphic god was imagined as the seat of Zeus. In Ancient Greek, a thronos was a specific but ordinary type of chair with a footstool, the Achaeans were known to place additional, empty thrones in the royal palaces and temples so that the gods could be seated when they wished to be. The most famous of these thrones was the throne of Apollo in Amyclae, the Romans also had two types of thrones- one for the Emperor and one for the goddess Roma whose statues were seated upon thrones, which became centers of worship. The word throne in English translations of the Bible renders Hebrew כסא kissē, the Pharaoh of the Exodus is described as sitting on a throne, but mostly the term refers to the throne of the kingdom of Israel, often called the throne of David or throne of Solomon. The literal throne of Solomon is described in 1 Kings 10, 18-20, Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold. The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind, and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays. And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps, in the Book of Esther, the same word refers to the throne of the king of Persia. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, Jesus promised his Apostles that they would sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Johns Revelation states, And I saw a white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth. The Apostle Paul speaks of thrones in Colossians 1,16, pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, in his work, De Coelesti Hierarchia interprets this as referring to one of the ranks of angels. This concept was expanded upon by Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica, in Medieval times the Throne of Solomon was associated with the Virgin Mary, who was depicted as the throne upon which Jesus sat
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Elul
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Elul is the twelfth month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a month of 29 days. Elul usually occurs in August–September on the Gregorian calendar, the name of the month, like the names of the rest of the Hebrew calendar months, was brought from the Babylonian Exile, and originated from the Akkadian word for Harvest. A similar month name was used in Akkadian, in the form elūlu. In the Jewish tradition, the month of Elul is a time of repentance in preparation for the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah, the word “Elul” is similar to the root of the verb “search” in Aramaic. The Talmud writes that the Hebrew word Elul can be understood to be an acronym for the phrase Ani Ldodi Vdodi Li - I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine. Elul is seen as a time to ones heart and draw close to God in preparation for the coming Day of Judgement, Rosh Hashanah. During the month of Elul, there are a number of special rituals leading up to the High Holy Days and it is customary to blow the shofar every morning from Rosh Hodesh Elul until the day before Rosh Hashanah. The blasts are meant to awaken ones spirits and inspire him to begin the soul searching which will prepare him for the High Holy Days, as part of this preparation, Elul is the time to begin the sometimes-difficult process of granting and asking for forgiveness. It is also customary to recite Psalm 27 every day from Rosh Hodesh Elul through Hoshanah Rabbah on Sukkot, ashkenazi Jews begin the recitation of selichot with a special service on Saturday night between solar mid-night and morning light on the first day of Selichot. Many Jews also visit the graves of loved ones throughout the month in order to remember, another social custom is to begin or end all letters written during the month of Elul with wishes that the recipient have a good year. The standard blessing is Ktiva VaHatima Tova, meaning that the person should be written and sealed in the Book of Life for a good year. Tradition teaches that on Rosh Hashanah, each person is written down for a good or a year, based on their actions in the previous one. On Yom Kippur, that fate is sealed,1 Elul - Moses ascends Sinai for 3rd 40 days 1 Elul - The Prophet Haggai commands that the rebuilding of the Second Temple continue 2 Elul - Shulchan Aruch published 3 Elul - Death of Rabbi A. I. It was also used in Akkadian, in the form elūlu, in the story of Xenogears, Elul is the name of a country, named after the Hebrew month. In the official English translation, however, it was transliterated Elru, Elul is the name of a pluralistic beit midrash in Israel founded by Ruth Calderon
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Shabbat
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Shabbat observance entails refraining from work activities, often with great rigor, and engaging in restful activities to honor the day. Judaisms traditional position is that unbroken seventh-day Shabbat originated among the Jewish people, as their first and most sacred institution, variations upon Shabbat are widespread in Judaism and, with adaptations, throughout the Abrahamic and many other religions. According to halakha, Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night, Shabbat is ushered in by lighting candles and reciting a blessing. Traditionally, three meals are eaten, in the evening, in the early afternoon, and late in the afternoon. The evening meal begins with a blessing called kiddush and another blessing recited over two loaves of challah. Shabbat is closed the evening with a havdalah blessing. Shabbat is a day when Jews exercise their freedom from the regular labors of everyday life. It offers an opportunity to contemplate the spiritual aspects of life, the word Shabbat derives from the Hebrew verb shavat. Although frequently translated as rest, another translation of these words is ceasing. The related modern Hebrew word shevita, has the implication of active rather than passive abstinence from work. The notion of active cessation from labor is also regarded as consistent with an omnipotent Gods activity on the seventh day of Creation according to Genesis. Sabbath is given status as a holy day at the very beginning of the Torah in Genesis 2. It is first commanded after the Exodus from Egypt, in Exodus 16,26 and in Exodus 20, Sabbath is commanded and commended many more times in the Torah and Tanakh, double the normal number of animal sacrifices are to be offered on the day. Sabbath is also described by the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos, the longstanding traditional Jewish position is that unbroken seventh-day Shabbat originated among the Jewish people, as their first and most sacred institution. The Mosaic tradition quotes an origin from the Bible of special creation, though some suggest a later, naturalistic origin. Seventh-day Shabbat did not originate with the Egyptians, to whom it was unknown, the first non-Biblical reference to Sabbath is in an ostracon found in excavations at Mesad Hashavyahu, which is dated 630 BCE. The prohibitions on these days, spaced seven days apart, include abstaining from chariot riding, on these days officials were prohibited from various activities and common men were forbidden to make a wish, and at least the 28th was known as a rest-day. The difficulties of this theory include reconciling the differences between a week and a lunar week, and explaining the absence of texts naming the lunar week as Sabbath in any language
