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278 THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Atonement original sinless state of

which

state

must be

mitted against

man

restored

as the child of

God

—than as a wrong com-

God needing covering

The

up.

ex-

pressions "temimim," "spotless," and "ben shanah," "of the first year" (Num. xxviii. 3), suggested the thought that sin-laden man should become " spotless like a child of one year" (Pesik. R. I.e. compare Shaft. 896). Of course, as a symbolic rite, this mode of cleansing oneself from sin could be, and actually was, replaced by daily baptism and fasting such as were practised by the Hasidim those heroes of prayer who in time of national distress made intercession for the people far more effectively than did the priests in the Temple (Josephus, "Ant." xiv. 2, § 1; xviii. 8, § 4; compare Ta'anit 19a, 20a, 23a). Still the words of Simon the Just, " The world rests on the Law, worship, and works of benevolence " (Ab. i. 2), retained their validity likewise for the Hasidim, who felt the need of an atoning sacrifice (Ned. 10c«; Ker. vi. 3). It was especially owing to the assistance offered by the "ma'amadot," the chosen representatives of the people, with their fasts and prayers, that the daily sacrifice assumed a more spiritual character, so that to it was applied the passage (Jer. xxxiii. 2.")): "If my covenant be not maintained day and night [by the service] I would not have made the ordinances of heaven and earth" (Meg. 316; Ta'anit 276). The cessation of sacrifice, in consequence of the destruction of the Temple, came, therefore, as a shock to the people. It seemed to deprive them of the divine Atonement. Hence many turned ascetics, abstaining from meat and wine (Tosef., Sotah, xv.

—

Ab. R. N. iv.); and Joshua ben After the Hananiah, who cried out in despair, Fall of the " Wo unto us What shall atone for Temple. us?" only expressed the sentiment of all his contemporaries (IV Esd. ix. 36: "We are lost on account of our sins "). It was then that Johanan b. Zakkai, pointing to Hosea vi. 6 (R. V.), "I desire mercy and not sacrifice," to Prov. xvi. 6, "By mere} and truth iniquity is purged [atoned for]," and to Ps. lxxxix. 3 (A. V. 2), "The world is built upon mere}', " declared works of benevolence to have atoning powers as great as those of 11;

!

-

sacrifice.

This view, however, did not solve satisfactorily for the problem of sin the evil rooted in man from the very beginning, from- the fall of Adam (IV Esd.

—

all

iii.

20, viii. 118).

Hence a large num-

ber of Jews accepted the Christian faith in the Atonement by the blood " shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matt. xxvi. 28;Heb. x. 12; Col. ment. i. 20) or in Jesus as "the Lamb of God " (John i. 29 Apoc. of John vii. 14, and elsewhere). It was perhaps in opposition to this movement that the Jewish teachers, after the hope for the rebuilding of the Temple in the second century had ended in failure and wo, strove to develop and deepen R. Akiba, in direct opposition the Atonement idea. to the Christian Atonement by the blood of Jesus, addressed his brethren thus: "Happy are ye, IsraelBefore whom do you cleanse yourselves, and ites.

Christian Idea of Atone-



who cleanses you ? Your said

'

Father in heaven for it is I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye

shall be clean

cleanse you.

new



278 from

all

your

A new heart

filthiness

.

.

.

will I

also will I give you,

put within you

and

"

(Ezek. xxxvi. 26) and again it is said that the Lord, " the hope of Israel " (Jer. xiv. 8), is also a " fountain of water " (a play on the Hebrew word " mikweh "). " As the fountain of water purifies the unclean, so does God purify Israel " (Yoma viii. 9). This doctrine, which does away with all mediatorship of either saint, high priest, or savior, became the leading idea of the Jewa

spirit will I

'



Atonement.

ish

Accordingly, Atonement in Jewish theology as developed by the Rabbis of the Talmud, Elements has for its constituent elements: (a) of Atone- on the part of God, fatherly love and forgiving mercy ment. (6) on the part of man, repentance and reparation of wrong. The following exposition will serve to enlighten the reader on these elements

While God's quality of justice ("middat hawhich punishes the wrong-doing, would leave no hope for man, since "there is not a righteous man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not " (Eccl. vii. 20, R. V.), God's quality of mercy ("middat harahamin") has from the very beginning provided repentance as the means of salvation (Gen. R. i., xii. (a)

din

"),

Pesik. xxv. 1586; Pesik. R. 44; Pes. 54a.) "Thou hast mercy upon all; thou condonest the sins of men in order that they should amend " ( Wisdom " Wherever there are sins and righteous xi. 23). deeds set against each other in the scale of justice, God inclines it toward mercy " (Pesik. xxvi. 167a).

Par from being merely judicial compensation for an outward act, as Weber (" System der Alt-Synagogalen Theologie," pp. 252, 300-304) asserts, the

mercy is expressly represented by Hillel as working in favor of pardoning those who have no merit: "He who is plenteous in mercy turns the scale of judgment toward mercy" (Tosef., Sanh. xiii. 3; R. H. 17a). This quality of mercy is sure to prevail as soon as it is appealed to by Divine the mention of the thirteen attributes Mercy. with which the Lord appeared to Moses divine

in response to his prayer for forgiveness after the sin of the Golden Calf (R. H. 174). No matter how vile the sinner be he as wicked as Menasseh or as Ahab the gate of repentance is open

—

—

to

him

"

(Pesik. xxv. 1606, 162a).

Human Wisdom, when

asked, What shall be done with the sinner replieth, Evil pursueth sinners (Prov. xiii. 21) Prophecy, when asked, What shall he done with the sinner ? 't

'

'

'

'

'

replieth,

'

The

soul that sinneth,

it

shall die

'

(Ezek. xviii.

4).

The Law, when asked, What shall be done with the sinner ? replieth, Let him bring a guilt-offering and the priest shall atone for him' (Lev. i. 4 [Hebr.]). God himself, when asked, 'What shall be done with the sinner?' replieth, 'Let him repent, and he will be atoned for; was it not said: "Good and '

'

is the Lord : therefore will he teach sinners in the way of repentance" (Psalms xxv. 8). For, my children, what do I require of you ? " Seek me and live " ' " (Pesik. xxv. 1587)

upright

Yer. Mak.

ii.

31c!).

Upon

these ideas, which can be traced through the entire Apocryphal literature, was based the liturgy of the fast-days, and that of the Day of Atone-

ment in

particular; they are probably best expressed

in the Ne'ii.ah prayer of the latter, which,

much

going

further back than the second century (see