brought in the name of the whole congregation. Besides the Mosaic festivals, the Jews

celebrated at the time of Christ two other feasts --that of Esther, or Purim, and that of the

Dedication of the Temple, on its restoration by Judas the Maccabee. Certain minor

observances, and the public fasts in memory of the great national calamities, will be

noticed in the sequel. Private fasts would, of course, depend on individuals, but the

strict Pharisees were wont to fast every Monday and Thursday 113 during the weeks

intervening between the Passover and Pentecost, and again, between the Feast of

Tabernacles and that of the Dedication of the Temple. It is to this practice that the

Pharisee in the parable refers (Luke 18:12) when boasting: 'I fa st twice in the week.'

The duty of appearing three times a year in the Temple applied to all male Israelites --

bondsmen, the deaf, dumb, and lame, those whom sickness, infirmity, or age rendered

incapable of going on foot up the mountain of the house, and, of course, all in a state of

Levitical uncleanness, being excepted. In general, the duty of appearing before the Lord

at the services of His house was deemed paramount. Here an important Rabbinical

principle came in, which, although not expressed in Scripture, seems clearly founded

upon it, that 'a sacrifice could not be offered for any one unless he himself were present,'

to present and to lay his hand upon it (Lev 1:3, 3:2,8). It followed that, as the morning

and evening sacrifices, and those on feast-days were purchased with money

contributed by all, and offered on behalf of the whole congregation, all Israel should

have attended these services. This was manifestly impossible, but to represent the

people twenty-four courses of lay attendants were appointed, corresponding to those of

the priests and the Levites. These were the 'stationary men,' or 'men of the station,' or

'standing men,' from 'their standing there in the Temple as Israel's representatives.' For

clearness sake, we repeat that each of these 'courses' had its 'head,' and served for one

week; those of the station on service, who did not appear in Jerusalem, meeting in a

central synagogue of their district, and spending the time in fasting and prayer for their

brethren. On the day before the Sabbath, on the Sabbath itself, and on the day

following, they did not fast, on account of the joy of the Sabbath. Each day they read a

portion of Scripture, the first and second chapters of Genesis being for this purpose

arranged into sections for the week. This practice, which tradition traced up to Samuel

and David (Taan. iv. 2), was of ancient date. But the 'men of the station' did not impose

hands on either the morning or evening sacrifice, nor on any other public offering. 114

Their duty was twofold: to represent all Israel in the services of the sanctuary, and to act

as a sort of guide to those who had business in the Temple. Thus, at a certain part of the

service, the head of the course brought up those who had come to make an atonement

on being cleansed from any impurity, and ranged them along the 'Gate of Nicanor,' in

readiness for the ministry of the officiating priests. The 'men of the station' were

dispensed from attendance in the Temple on all occasions when the 'Halle l' was chanted,

possibly because the responses of the people when the hymn was sung showed that

they needed no formal representatives.

Hitherto we have not adverted to the difficulties which those who intended to appear in

Jerusalem at the feasts would experience from the want of any fixed calendar. As the

year of the Hebrews was lunar, not solar, it consisted of only 354 days 8 hours 48' 38".

This, distributed among twelve months, would in the course of years have completely

disordered the months, so that the first month, or Nisan (corresponding to the end of

March or the beginning of April), in the middle of which the first ripe barley was to be

presented to the Lord, might have fallen in the middle of winter. Accordingly, the

Sanhedrim appointed a Committee of three, of which the chief of the Sanhedrim was