Today
(October 3, 2014) at sundown is the beginning of Yom Kippur, the Day of
Atonement. It is by far the most widely observed of Jewish holidays and fast
days. Synagogues are packed with families in Israel, as well as throughout the
diaspora. It has been the most important Jewish holiday throughout the
centuries, going back into the Second Temple Period -- the times of the Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes and the Jesus Movement.
A good way for Christians to understand its importance is to compare it to what
Easter means to Christians. In this article I am going to focus on Yom Kippur
during the Late Second Temple Period, rather than the rituals now practiced in
synagogues. Keep in mind that what follows will reflect what Jesus and his original
followers experienced every year. There are hints in the Synoptic Gospels that
the final year of the life of Jesus may have coincided with the Year of
Jubilees, but we will look at what happened every year at the Temple. The fact
that the highest official of the Temple, the High Priest, was required to
personally officiate the rituals, made the importance of Yom Kippur very clear
to everyone. Download or read the compete article at -- http://biblicalheritage.org/DTB/1014_DTB_Yom_Kippur.pdf
The witnesses, laying their coats at the feet of Saul, were the men that would cast the first stones at Stephen in Acts 7. Why did they all lay their coats at Saul’s feet? The Talmud contains a very interesting account of the act of stoning that may provide the answer. “When the trial was over, they take him [the condemned person] out to be stoned. The place of stoning was at a distance from the court, as it is said, ‘Take out the one who has cursed.’ [i] A man stands at the entrance of the court; in his hand is a signaling flag [Hebrew sudarin = sudar , ‘scarf, sweater’]. A horseman was stationed far away but within sight of him. If one [of the judges] says, ‘I have something [more] to say in his favor,’ he [the signaler] waves the sudarin , and the horseman runs and stops them [from stoning him]. Even if [the condemned person] himself says, ‘I have something to say in my favor,’ they bring him back, even four of five times, only provided that there is some substance to...
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