Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 2.djvu/338

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NOTES AND QUERIES. LII s. vm. OCT. 25, 1913.

of the moon. They generally hunted in couples : father and son, or master and servant. Ultimately, this " rule-of -thumb " gave way before a more scientific system, the result of experience and of traditional knowledge. The duty of taking observations was still rigidly enforced, because " sancti- fication depended on observation " (' Rosh Hashana,' 20). But for various reasons the Sanhedrin, dissatisfied with the old method, resolved to create a special depart- ment of the Beth Din to take charge. These Commissioners took over all the existing formulae and other documents appertaining to their office, and applied themselves seriously to building up a solid mass of evidence, on which their successors might act at all times, whether reports arrived in time or not, and also whether the reports were trustworthy or not. Not infrequently the Dayanim or Commissioners, after wa' ting a reasonable time for the reporters, would (on their own forecasts) announce to the delegates assembled for that purpose the expected event. As soon as the accredited agents of the Dayanim arrived with their reports for only men of education and cha- racter were appointed then to take observa- tions they were collated with existing data, and if found to be in order, a move was made by the chief of the Beth Din, attended by his herald and the officers of his Court, towards the large vestibule in the Court of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, where assembled the " Sheluchim," or delegates, from North and South of Palestine, &c. ; and on silence beins; enforced, he would exclaim " Mekoo- dash ! " (" It is sanctified ! ") and the people would respond " Mekoodash ! Mekoodash ! " and would gallop a\vay as fast as their horses could carry them to announce the great news far and wide. Special pains were taken by all concerned to get perfect " sound- ings " for Nissan and for Tishri the two holiest months of the year Tishri, because all the great festivals were regulated by it ; Nissan, because there is a tradition that the Messiah will come to us in that month: " In Nissan they were delivered from Egypt; in Nissan they will be emancipated again " ('R. H.,' 11). Wherefore special privileges were accorded both to the "Eidim " (or witnesses) and to the " Sheluchim " ; even the rigid formulae of the Sabbath were abrogated so that no delay should occur. They could also incur extra liabilities, which the Dayanim gladly paid if matters were thereby expedited.

It was the Sanhedrin that established " the two-day festival," beloved of the pious and

rejected by the " reformed " Hebrew. It came about in this way. The delegates often travelled hundreds of miles, and arrived home a day too late. To remedy that they appointed the second day to be as good as the first. In the process of time people began to like the idea, so " the two days " gradually became a universal custom. Before the introduction of the " Sheluchim," the Talmud tells us (' R. H.,' 22), they had a more spectacular process of communication with the remoter centres of Jewish life. They used to light beacons and bonfires on the Mount of Olives. From neighbouring emin- ences men would [then wave to and fro long poles from which depended flaming cressets. Soon from every hill, from Olivet to Beth Boltin, there leapt a network of dancing fire. The reason why this dramatic mode of transmitting intelligence was dis- carded is not without interest. Under the name of Cutheans = Samarians (possibly another nom de guerre for the Romans: witness the story told in the Talmud, and corroborated by Josephus, about the pig they sold to the hapless Hebrews, as a sub- stitute for the lamb required for sacrifice), our Rabbins charge certain hostile people with tampering with their signalmen, and with other mischievous tricks of an identical sort, by which their religious practices were grossly hampered.

Our New Year is sometimes designated by the " Payetanim," or hymiiists, as " the Feast of Trumpets." What Capt. Conder hi ay have had in his mind was the various viands kept piping hot in the refectory of the Court for the various " runners " engaged in the sacred duties aforesaid. The "glass " mentioned by Conder must have been the " glass lamp " used by the searching parties. Only the naked eye was permissible. The Talmud (' R. H.,' 22) relates that when the witnesses were brought before Rabban Gamaliel they were confronted with a series of diagrams of the moon, which usually hung on the walls of his study.

M. L. R. BBESLAB.

Percy House, South Hackney, N.E.

CLOCKMAKEBS IN BRISTOL (11 S. viii. 290). Bartley & Eggert carried on business as " clock and watch makers " in Bristol from 1810 to 1814 at Nicholas Street (now St. Nicholas Street), close to the church of that name and Bristol Bridge. In 1815 they appear to have dissolved partnership, or possibly Eggert died about that time, for from 1816 "to 1850 and later Mark Bartley was in business alone, in the same place and