Shofar as a Temple Instrument
Part 2
Arthur L. Finkle
Sacrificial
Cult
After
the King David supervised the building of the first Temple (1000 BCE), he
dedicated holy building as a sanctuary to house the written law (10
commandments) and to practice the sacrificial cult (which was how poepole in
the Middle East worshipped.)
The
Sacrificial Ceremony
The
Priests consecrated two different types of sacrifices: meat and dough. For both
of these ceremonial rites, When the Priests stood on top of the ramp
holding the parts of sacrifice, placing them into the fire as he carried them
up. He then throws the sacrifice into the great fire; he walks over and places
it neatly on the burning logs.
Accompanying
this ritual were a choral group and a small orchestra. Special lyrics and songs
played according the time of the week and the type of sacrifice (the Bible counts
5 different types of sacrifices in Leviticus 1:1).
Leviticus 1-7 gives the
most detailed description of Israel's sacrificial system. Rituals performed
after childbirth (Leviticus
12:6-8), for an unclean discharge (Leviticus
15:14-15) or hemorrhage (Leviticus
15:29-30), or after a person who was keeping a Nazirite vow.
1. Burnt offering (olah). The burnt
offering was offered both in the morning and in the evening, as well as on
special days such as the Sabbath, the new moon, and the yearly feasts (Numbers 28-29; 2 Kings
16:15; 2 Chronicles
2:4; 2 Chronicles
31:3; Ezra 3:3-6).
was defiled (Numbers
6:10-11) required a burnt offering, as well as a sin offering.
The
animal for this sacrifice could be a young bull, lamb, goat, turtledove, or
young pigeon; but it had to be a perfect and complete specimen. The type of
animal chosen for this sacrifice seems to be dependent on the offerer's
financial ability.
2. Grain offering (minchah; “meat offering”
in KJV). An offering from the harvest of the land is the only type that
required no bloodshed. It was composed of fine flour mixed with oil and
frankincense. Sometimes, this offering was cooked into cakes prior to taking it
to the priest. These cakes, however, had to be made without leaven. Every grain
offering had to have salt in it (Leviticus 2:13), It may have symbolized the recognition of
God's blessing in the harvest by a society based to a large degree on
agriculture. The bringing of a representative portion of the grain harvest was
another outward expression of devotion.
3. Peace offering . This consisted of the
sacrifice of a bull, cow, lamb, or goat that had no defect. As with the burnt
offering, the individual laid a hand on the animal and killed it. The priests,
in turn, sprinkled the blood around the altar. Only certain parts of the
internal organs were burned. The priest received the breast and the right thigh
(Leviticus
7:28-36), but the offerer was given much of the meat to have a meal
of celebration (Leviticus
7:11-21).
4. Sin offering was designed to deal with
sin that was committed unintentionally. The sacrifice varied according to who
committed the sin. If the priest or the congregation of Israel sinned, then a
bull was required. A leader of the people had to bring a male goat, while
anyone else sacrificed a female goat or a lamb. The poor were allowed to bring
two turtledoves or two young pigeons.
5. Guilt offering. This is hard to
distinguish from the sin offering (Leviticus 4-5). In Leviticus 5:6-7,
the guilt offering is called the sin offering. Both offerings also were made
for similar types of sin. The guilt offering was concerned supremely with
restitution. Someone who took something illegally was expected to repay it in
full plus 20 percent of the value and then bring a ram for the guilt offering.
Other instances in which the guilt offering was prescribed included the
cleansing of a leper (Leviticus
14:1), having sexual relations with the female slave of another
person (Leviticus
19:20-22), and for the renewing of a Nazirite vow that had been
broken (Numbers
6:11-12).
The
burnt, grain, peace, sin, and guilt offering composed the basic sacrificial
system of Israel. These sacrifices were commonly used in conjunction with each
other and were carried out on both an individual and a corporate basis. The
sacrificial system taught the necessity of dealing with sin and, at the same
time, demonstrated that God had provided a way for dealing with sin.
Although
the Prophets excoriated the sacrificial rites because the people seemed to be
more impressed with ritual than why the rituals were offered, the prophets did
not want to abolish the sacrificial system.
Interestingly
the sacrifice system is found in the New Testament. The New Testament
consistently describes Jesus’ death in sacrificial terms. Hebrews portrays
Jesus as the sinless high priest who offered himself up as a sacrifice for
sinners (Leviticus
7:27). The book ends with an encouragement to offer sacrifices of
praise to God through Jesus.
After
the Romans destroyed the Holy Temple, the sacrificial cult terminated. During
this time, moreover, the early Church also disbanded the sacrificial rites
because Christianity began to differ materially from Judaism.
Thereafter,
two Priests stood atop of a marble stand near the altar signaling trumpet
blasts: tekiah, tekiah and teruah. A long note followed a series of short
notes; then another long note.
On
Rosh Hashanah and other full holidays (Day of Atonement, Ingathering of the
harvest [Succot], Passover and the Feat of Weeks – Pentecost) a single Priest perfected
two sacrifices in honor of the full holiday, Note that festivals such as
Hanukah and Purim), are not considered full holidays requiring an extra
sacrifice. On Rosh Hashanah, something special occurred during the special
sacrifice. Arguably two Shofar Sounders played the long notes and one Trumpet
player played the short note. Accordingly, Rosh HaShanah is called Yom Teruah
(the day of the blast).
Otherwise,
the Trumpets had “top billing.” Rosh Hashanah27a, supports this claim: “Said
Raba or it may have been R. Joshua B. Levi: What is the scriptural warrant fore
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.” See also Sidney
B. Hoenig, Origins of
the Rosh Hashanah Liturgy, The Jewish Quarterly Review, New Series, Vol. 57, The
Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Volume of the Jewish Quarterly Review (1967), pp.
312-331. Published by: University of
Pennsylvania Press.
Indeed,
on Yom Kippur, the Shofar was sounded to announce the Jubilee Year (every
50-years, Jews were granted freedom, forgiveness and debts and reclamation of
sold lands. Shofar first indicated in Yovel (Jubilee Year - Lev. 25:8-13). Indeed, in Rosh Hashanah 33b,
the sages ask why the Shofar sounded in Jubilee year. Further support is found in Rosh Hashanah 29a,
where the Talmud talks of trumpets for sacrifices but Shofar in the Jubilee
Year does not apply to priests who are exempt from the obligations of the
jubilee. Perhaps, we have the first mention of Shofar Sounding by non-Priests.
Perhaps the first distancing away from the Sacrificial Cult.
Otherwise,
for all other special days, the Shofar is sounded shorter and two special
silver Trumpets announced the sacrifice.
When
the trumpets sound the signal, all the people who are within the sacrifice
prostate themselves, stretching out flat, face down and on the ground.
Indeed,
the idea that rabbinic prayer modeled itself of that of the
Temple
is supported by:
· Jeffrey H. Tigay. On Some Aspects of
Prayer in the Bible, AJS Review, Vol. 1, (1976), pp. 363-379, Published by: Cambridge
University Press on behalf of the Association
for Jewish Studies
· Holman Bible Dictionary: http://www.studylight.org/
· Arthur L. Finkle , , Easy Guide to Shofar Sounding, Torah
Aura, Los Angeles, CA, 2002.
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