Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 1.pdf/256

210 Adoration Adraxumelecb Kiniis, viii. 54; tliL- passiigf in

(I

But

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA Ezm. I

ix. C,

Kings, xix.

and other

passijjri'S).

18, referring to kneel-

down

before Baal, must be understood as applying to prostrate adoration, wliieli Exilian and was preceded, as already slated, by a bending of the knee. Alxnil lliis time. Postexilian Times, loo. the pra|itiun Muilt^of Aduiuduii. (From WiUtioson, " Ancient EgyIili«n8."J

A prac ferrcd (I Kings, viii. 23, 54; Lam. iii. 41). tise originating in the period of exile was that of turning the face during prayer toward the Holy Land, as the i)lace favored by God (I Kings, viii. 4H; Dan. vi. 11 [A. V. 10]). The scanty literary remains of the last three preChristian centuries contain so little concerning the Forms of Adoration that it is probable no essential nioditications were made in them. The old luKldnhatrdjidli Form of Adoration was the favorite one in the Second Temiile. and in accordance with the pharisjuc love of minulia' the nund)er of bows in F,verv visitor to the the Temjile was exactly fixed. Siinctuary had thirteen nVinnC'n to [lerfonn, with the lianils and feel spi'ead nut and the face touching the ground (Jlishnah Sliek. vi. 1, ;i; Tosef. ih. ii. IT). Other optional forms are mentioned, such as m'p (Ber. 346) bending the knee with the face touching the ground, and np'C'J kissing the floor of the Tem|i!e (Suk. nSrt,). When blessing the peo]dein tlicTemple the priests rai.sed their hanils toward heaven; this practise, as we have seen, is the postexilian fashion of spreading the hands. But when the priestly benediction was pronounced in the synagogue, where it very early became an essential portion of the piiblic service (see DrK.N), the older fashion of spreading the hands horizontally was em])loyed (Mishnah Sotah. vii. G). After every sacrifice the jiriests had to make the full prostration (.Mishnah Tamid, vi. 1, 2). further f<irm of the rT'inncn is the D'SS H^'SJ the sudden and ccimplcle |irostration with the face to the ground, which took place fmly once a year, on the Day of Atonement, when the liigh priest pronounced the Ineffable Name, on hearing which all present threw themselves on the ground(Yer. Yoma,

attitude in in

which

210 to recite the

opposition to the former,

Shema'.

who were

The

latter,

indilTerent

as to postiu'e, insisted that this pniyer nmst be sjiid standing in the morning; but that, in the evening, the aforementioned posture of .solenm inelinalion was Iheappropriateone. ThisdisEsreh. pule lasted until nearly the end of the lirst Christian century (.^lishnali Ber. i. The chief jirayer, the Eighteen Bi ludiclions, 3). was, however, alwayssjnd standing (.Mishnah Ber. v. Hence the name " Aniidab " (Stand1; Gem. 30(. Thus, in the ing) for the Eighteen Benedictions. New Testament it is said, "The Pharisee stood and prayed" (Luke, xviii. 11); and "they love to pray standing" (.Matt. vi. 5). Prostration also occurred in the daily jirayers, but not (in festival days (B. .M. .">!•//, where it is mentioned with reference to Eliezer b. Hyrcanus, a younger contemporary of theapostles). Asaresultof theadojiiion by theCluistian Church of most of the Jewish Forms of Adoration, it came about that in PaU'sline, w beret he opjiosil ion between Synagogue and Church grew constantly stronger and more hostile, the old Forms of Adoration came to be looked upon with disfavor. Towaril the end of the second century, the Palestinian teachers, relying on Lev. xxvi. 1, took ri'inncn as meaidng to siiread oneself, and taught that il was forbidden outside of the Temiile to prostrate oneself upon stone pavement, which was the usual flooring of synagogues, churches, and heathen tenijiles (Sifra, Beliar, end; Meg. 22/;). Thus it came about, some decades later, that when Bab, the founder of rabbinical learning in Babylonia, returned to his home from Palestine, he ostentatinuslv remained standing in the svnagogue

Curing Shema' and Shemoneh-

A

iii.

40rf.

insertion



The Mishnah in Bali. Yoma, fl6</, is a later see " Dikdnke Soferim " on the passage).

highly probable, in view of the great importance attached by the Pharisees to prayers, and of their love for rule and regulation, that those Forms of Adoration described in the oldest portions of the Mishnah date from the pre-Christian time. About the time of Jesus there was a dispute between the Hillelites and the Shammaites concerning the proper It is

Moliammedan Form

of Adoration.

(Frotn n photograpfa by Boofils.)

others threw themselves prostrate on the Since, however, opposition to Clirislianily was no factor of religious life in Babylonia, as it was in Palestine, and there was, therefore, no necessity for UKidifying ancient religious customs in obedience to it, the Palestinian prohibition of jirostration was modified in Babylonia to the extent that the complete proskynesi.s, with extended hands and feet,

when

all

ground.