Jewish Theology Part 13

Return ye now every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings."(778)

Ezekiel, while emphasizing the guilt of the individual, preached repentance still more insistently. "Return ye, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so shall they not be a stumbling-block of iniquity to you. Cast away from you all your transgressions, wherein ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord G.o.d; wherefore turn yourselves, and live."(779) The same appeal recurs after the exile in the last prophets, Zechariah(780) and Malachi.(781) The latter says: "Return unto Me, and I shall return unto you." Likewise the penitential sermon written in a time of great distress, which is ascribed to the prophet Joel, contains the appeal:

"Turn ye unto Me with all your heart, And with fasting, and with weeping, and with lamentation; And rend your heart, and not your garments, And turn unto the Lord your G.o.d; For He is gracious and compa.s.sionate, Long-suffering, and abundant in mercy, And repenteth Him of the evil."(782)

This prophetic view, which demands contrition and craving for G.o.d instead of external modes of atonement, is expressed in the penitential Psalms as well,(783) especially in Psalm LI. The idea is expanded further in the parable of the prophet Jonah, which conveys the lesson that even a heathen nation like the people of Nineveh can avert the impending judgment of G.o.d by true repentance.(784) From this point of view the whole conception took on a larger aspect, and the entire history of mankind was seen in a new light. The Jewish sages realized that G.o.d punishes man only when the expected change of mind and heart fails to come.(785)

5. The Jewish plan of divine salvation presents a striking contrast to that of the Church, for it is built upon the presumption that all sinners can find their way back to G.o.d and G.o.dliness, if they but earnestly so desire. Even before G.o.d created the world, He determined to offer man the possibility of _Teshubah_, so that, in the midst of the continual struggle with the allurements of the senses, the repentant sinner can ever change heart and mind and return to G.o.d.(786) Without such a possibility the world of man could not endure; thus, because no man can stand before the divine tribunal of stern justice, the paternal arm of a merciful G.o.d is extended to receive the penitent. This sublime truth is constantly reiterated in the Talmud and in the liturgy, especially of the great Day of Atonement.(787) Not only does G.o.d's long-suffering give the sinner time to repent; His paternal love urges him to return. Thus the Haggadists purposely represent almost all the sinners mentioned in the Bible as models of sincere repentance. First of all comes King David, who is considered such a pattern of repentance, as the author of the fifty-first Psalm, that he would not have been allowed to sin so grievously, if he had not been providentially appointed as the shining example of the penitent's return to G.o.d.(788) Then there is King Mana.s.seh, the most wicked among all the kings of Judah and Israel, who had committed the most abominable sins of idolatrous worship. Referring to the story told of him in Chronicles, it is said that G.o.d responded to his tearful prayers and incessant supplications by opening a rift under His throne of mercy and receiving his pet.i.tion for pardon. Thus all mankind might see that none can be so wicked that he will not find the door of repentance open, if he but seek it sincerely and persistently.(789) Likewise Adam and Cain, Reuben and Judah, Korah, Jeroboam, Ahab, Josiah, and Jechoniah are described in Talmud, Midrash, and the apocalyptic literature as penitent sinners who obtained at last the coveted pardon.(790) The optimistic spirit of Judaism cannot tolerate the idea that mortal man is hopelessly lost under the burden of his sins, or that he need ever lose faith in himself. No one can sink so low that he cannot find his way back to his heavenly Father by untiring self-discipline. As the Talmud says, nothing can finally withstand the power of sincere repentance: "It reaches up to the very seat of G.o.d;" "upon it rests the welfare of the world."(791)

6. The rabbis follow up the idea first announced in the book of Jonah, that the saving power of repentance applies to the heathen world as well.

Thus they show how G.o.d constantly offered time and opportunity to the heathens for repentance. For example, when the generation of the flood, the builders of the Tower of Babel, and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were to be punished, G.o.d waited to give them time for Repentance and improvement of their ways.(792) Noah, Enoch, and Abraham are represented as monitors of their contemporaries, warning them, like the prophets, to repent in time lest they meet their doom.(793) Thus the whole h.e.l.lenistic literature of propaganda, especially the Sibylline books, echoes the warning and the hope that the heathen should repent of their grievous sins and return to G.o.d, whom they had deserted in idolatry, so that they might escape the impending doom of the last judgment day. According to one Haggadist,(794) even the Messiah will appear first as a preacher of repentance, admonishing the heathen nations to be converted to the true G.o.d and repent before Him, lest they fall into perdition. Indeed, it is said that even Pharaoh and the Egyptians were warned and given time for repentance before their fate overtook them.

7. Accordingly, the principle of repentance is a universal human one, and by no means exclusively national, as the Christian theologians represent it.(795) The sages thus describe Adam as the type of the penitent sinner, who is granted pardon by G.o.d. The "sign" of Cain also was to be a sign for all sinners, a.s.suring them they might all obtain forgiveness and salvation, if they would but return to G.o.d.(796) In fact, the prophetic appeal to Israel for repentance, vain at the time, effected the regeneration of the people during the Exile and gave rise to Judaism and its inst.i.tutions. In the same way, the appeal to the heathen world by the h.e.l.lenistic propaganda and the Essene preachers of repentance did not induce the nations at once to prepare for the coming of the Messianic kingdom, but finally led to the rise of the Christian religion, and, through certain intermediaries, of the Mohammedan as well.

However, the long-cherished hope for a universal conversion of the heathen world, voiced in the preachments and the prayers of the "pious ones," gave way to a reaction. The rise of antinomian sects in Judaism occasioned the dropping of this pious hope, and only certain individual conversions were dwelt on as shining exceptions.(797) The heathen world in general was not regarded as disposed to repent, and so its ultimate fate was the doom of Gehenna. Experience seemed to confirm the stern view, which rabbinical interpretation could find in Scripture also, that "Even at the very gate of the nether world wicked men shall not return."(798) The growing violence of the oppressors and the increasing number of the maligners of Judaism darkened the hope for a universal conversion of humanity to the pure faith of Israel and its law of righteousness. On the contrary, a certain satisfaction was felt by the Jew in the thought that these enemies of Judaism should not be allowed to repent and obtain salvation in the hereafter.(799)

8. The idea of repentance was applied all the more intensely in Jewish life, and a still more prominent place was accorded it in Jewish literature. The rabbis have numberless sayings(800) in the Talmud and also in the Haggadic and ethical writings concerning the power and value of repentance. In pa.s.sages such as these we see how profoundly Judaism dealt with the failings and shortcomings of man. The term _asa teshubah_, do repentance, implies no mere external act of penitence, as Christian theologians often a.s.sert. On the contrary, the chief stress is always laid on the feeling of remorse and on the change of heart which contrition and self-accusation bring. Yet even these would not be sufficient to cast off the oppressive consciousness of guilt, unless the contrite heart were rea.s.sured by G.o.d that He forgives the penitent son of man with paternal grace and love. In other words, religion demands a special means of atonement, that is, _at-one-ment_ with G.o.d, to restore the broken relation of man to his Maker. The true spiritual power of Judaism appears in this, that it gradually liberates the kernel of the atonement idea from its priestly sh.e.l.l. The Jew realizes, as does the adherent of no other religion, that even in sin he is a child of G.o.d and certain of His paternal love. This is brought home especially on the Day of Atonement, which will be treated in a later chapter.

9. At all events, the blotting out of man's sins with their punishment remains ever an act of grace by G.o.d.(801) In compa.s.sion for man's frailty He has ordained repentance as the means of salvation, and promised pardon to the penitent. This truth is brought out in the liturgy for the Day of Atonement, as well as in the Apocalyptic Prayer of Mana.s.seh. At the same time, Judaism awards the palm of victory to him who has wrestled with sin and conquered it by his own will. Thus the rabbis boldly a.s.sert: "Those who have sinned and repented rank higher in the world to come than the righteous who have never sinned," which is paralleled in the New Testament: "There is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repenteth than over ninety and nine righteous persons, who need no repentance."(802) No intermediary power from without secures the divine grace and pardon for the repentant sinner, but his own inner transformation alone.

Chapter XL. Man, the Child of G.o.d

1. The belief that G.o.d hears our prayers and pardons our sins rests upon the a.s.sumption of a mutual relation between man and G.o.d. This belief is insusceptible of proof, but rests entirely upon our religious feelings and is rooted purely in our emotional life. We apply to the relation between man and G.o.d the finest feelings known in human life, the devotion and love of parents for their children and the affection and trust the child entertains for its parents. Thus we are led to the conviction that earth-born man has a Helper enthroned in the heavens above, who hearkens when he implores Him for aid. In his innermost heart man feels that he has a special claim on the divine protection. In the words of Job,(803) he knows that his Redeemer liveth. He need not perish in misery. Unlike the brute creation and the hosts of stars, which know nothing of their Maker, man feels akin to the G.o.d who lives within him; he is His image, His child. He cannot be deprived of His paternal love and favor. This truly human emotion is nowhere expressed so clearly as in Judaism. "Ye are the children of the Lord your G.o.d."(804) "Have we not all one Father? Hath not one G.o.d created us?"(805) "Like as a father hath compa.s.sion on his children, so hath the Lord compa.s.sion upon them that fear Him."(806)

2. Still, this simple idea of man's filial relation to G.o.d and G.o.d's paternal love for man did not begin in its beautiful final form. For a long time the Jew seems to have avoided the term "Father" for G.o.d, because it was used by the heathen for their deities as physical progenitors, and did not refer to the moral relation between the Deity and mankind. Thus worshipers of wooden idols would, according to Scripture, "say to a stock, Thou art my father."(807) Hosea was the first to call the people of Israel "children of the living G.o.d,"(808) if they would but improve their ways and enter into right relations with Him. Jeremiah also hopes for the time when Israel would invoke the Lord, saying, "Thou art my Father," and in return G.o.d would prove a true father to him.(809) However, Scripture calls G.o.d a Father only in referring to the people as a whole.(810) The "pious ones" established a closer relation between G.o.d and the individual by means of prayer, so that through them the epithets, "Father," "Our Father," and "Our Father in heaven" came into general use. Hence, the liturgy frequently uses the invocation, "Our Father, Our King!" We owe to Rabbi Akiba the significant saying, in opposition to the Paulinian dogma, "Blessed are ye, O Israelites! Before whom do you purify yourselves (from your sins)? And who is it that purifies you? Your Father in heaven."(811) Previously Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanos dwelt on the moral degeneration of his age, which betokened the end of time, and exclaimed: "In whom, then, shall we find support? In our Father who is in heaven."(812) The appellative "Father in heaven" was the stereotyped term used by the "pious ones" during the century preceding and the one following the rise of Christianity, as a glance at the literature of the period indicates.(813)

3. It is instructive to follow the history of this term. In Scripture G.o.d is represented as speaking to David, "I will be to him for a father, and he shall be to Me for a son,"(814) or "He shall call unto Me: Thou art my Father, ... I also will appoint him first-born."(815) So in the apocryphal writings G.o.d speaks both to Israel and to individual saints: "I shall be to them a Father, and they shall be My children."(816) Elsewhere it is said of the righteous, "He calls G.o.d his Father," and "he shall be counted among the sons of G.o.d."(817) We read concerning the Messiah: "When all wrongdoing will be removed from the midst of the people, he shall know that all are sons of G.o.d."(818) Obviously only righteousness or personal merit ent.i.tles a man to be called a son of G.o.d. In fact, we are expressly told of Onias, the great Essene saint, that his intimate relation with G.o.d emboldened him to converse with the Master of the Universe as a son would speak with his father.(819) According to the Mishnah the older generation of "pious ones" used to spend "an hour in silent devotion before offering their daily prayer, in order to concentrate heart and soul upon their communion with their Father in heaven."(820) Thus it is said of congregational prayer that through it "Israel lifts his eyes to his Father in heaven."(821) In this way prayer took the place of the altar, of which R. Johanan ben Zakkai said that it established peace between Israel and his Father in heaven.(822) Afterwards the question was discussed by Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Jehuda whether even sin-laden Israel had a right to be called "children of G.o.d." Rabbi Meir pointed to Hosea as proof that the backsliders also remain "children of the living G.o.d."(823)

4. In the h.e.l.lenistic literature, with its dominating idea of universal monotheism, G.o.d is frequently invoked or spoken of as the Father of mankind. The implication is that each person who invokes G.o.d as Father enters into filial relation with Him. Thus what was first applied to Israel in particular was now broadened to include mankind in general, and consequently all men were considered "children of the living G.o.d." The words of G.o.d to Pharaoh, speaking of Israel as His "first-born son,"(824) were taken as proof that all the nations of the earth are sons of G.o.d and He the universal Father. Israel is the first-born among the sons of G.o.d, because his patriarchs, prophets, and psalmists first recognized Him as the universal Father and Ruler. From this point of view Judaism declared love for fellow-men and regard for the dignity of humanity to be fundamental principles of ethics. "As G.o.d is kind and merciful toward His creation, be thou also kind and merciful toward all fellow-creatures," is the oft-repeated teaching of the rabbis.(825) Likewise, "Whoever takes pity on his fellow-beings, on him G.o.d in heaven will also take pity."(826) Love of humanity has so permeated the nature of the Jew that the rabbis a.s.sert: "He who has pity on his fellow-men has the blood of Abraham in his veins."(827) This bold remark casts light upon the strange dictum: "Ye Israelites are called by the name of man, but the heathen are not."(828) The Jewish teachers were so deeply impressed with man's inhumanity to man, so common among the heathen nations, and the immorality of the lives by which these desecrated G.o.d's image, that they insisted that the laws of humanity alone make for divine dignity in man.

5. Rabbi Akiba probably referred to the Paulinian dogma that Jesus, the crucified Messiah, is the only son of G.o.d, in his well-known saying: "Beloved is man, for he is created in G.o.d's image, and it was a special token of love that he became conscious of it. Beloved is Israel, for they are called the children of G.o.d, and it was a special token of love that they became conscious of it."(829) Here he claims the glory of being a son of G.o.d for Israel, but not for all men. Still, as soon as the likeness of man to G.o.d is taken in a spiritual sense, then it is implied that all men have the same capacity for being a son of G.o.d which is claimed for Israel.

This is unquestionably the view of Judaism when it considers the Torah as entrusted to Israel to bring light and blessing to all the families of men. Rabbi Meir, the disciple of Rabbi Akiba, said: "The Scriptural words, 'The statutes and ordinances which _man_ shall do and live thereby,' and similar expressions indicate that the final aim of Judaism is not attained by the Aaronide, nor the Levite, nor even the Israelite, but by mankind."(830) Such a saying expresses clearly and emphatically that G.o.d's fatherly love extends to all men as His children.

6. According to the religious consciousness of modern Israel man is made in G.o.d's image, and is thus a child of G.o.d. Consequently Jew and non-Jew, saint and sinner have the same claim upon G.o.d's paternal love and mercy.

There is no distinction in favor of Israel except as he lives a higher and more G.o.d-like life. Even those who have fallen away from G.o.d and have committed crime and sin remain G.o.d's children. If they send up their penitent cry to the throne of G.o.d, "Pardon us, O Father, for we have sinned! Forgive us, O King, for we have done evil!"; their prayer is heard by the heavenly Father exactly like that of the pious son of Israel.

Chapter XLI. Prayer and Sacrifice

1. The gap between man and the sublime Master of the universe is vast, but not absolute. The thoughts of G.o.d are high above our thoughts, and the ways of G.o.d above our ways, baffling our reason when we endeavor to solve the vexatious problems of destiny, of merit and demerit, of retribution and atonement. Yet religion offers a wondrous medium to bring the heart of man into close communion with Him who is enthroned above the heavens, one that overleaps all distances, removes all barriers, and blends all dissonances into one great harmony, and that is-Prayer. As the child must relieve itself of its troubles and sorrows upon the bosom of its mother or father in order to turn its pain into gladness, so men at all times seek to approach the Deity, confiding to Him all their fears and longings in order to obtain peace of heart. Prayer, communion between the human soul and the Creator, is the glorious privilege enjoyed by man alone among all creatures, as he alone is the child of G.o.d. It voices the longing of the human heart for its Father in heaven. As the Psalmist has it, "My soul thirsteth for G.o.d, for the living G.o.d."(831)

2. However, both language, the means of intercourse between man and man, and prayer, the means of intercourse between man and G.o.d, show traces of a slow development lasting for thousands of years, until the loftiest thoughts and sublimest emotions could be expressed. The real efficacy of prayer could not be truly appreciated, until the prophetic spirit triumphed over the priestly element in Judaism. In the history of speech the language of signs preceded that of sounds, and images gradually ripened into abstract thoughts. Similarly, primitive man approaches his G.o.d with many kinds of gifts and sacrificial rites to express his sentiments. He acts out or depicts what he expects from the Deity, whether rain, fertility of the soil, or the extermination of his foes. He shares with his G.o.d his food and drink, to obtain His friendship and protection in time of trouble, and sacrifices the dearest of his possessions to a.s.suage His wrath or obtain His favor.

3. In the lowest stage of culture man needed no mediator in his intercourse with the Deity, who appeared to him in the phenomena of nature as well as in the fetish, totem, and the like. But soon he rose to a higher stage of thought, and the Deity withdrew before him to the celestial heights, filling him with awe and fear; then rose a cla.s.s of men who claimed the privilege to approach the Deity and influence Him by certain secret practices. Henceforth these acted as mediators between the ma.s.s of the people and the Deity. In the first place, these were the magicians, medicine-men, and similar persons, who were credited with the power to conjure up the hidden forces of nature, considered either divine or demoniac. After these arose the priests, distinguished from the people by special dress and diet, who established in the various tribes temples, altars, and cults, under their own control. Then there were the saints, pious penitents or Nazarites, who led an ascetic life secluded from the ma.s.ses, hoping thus to obtain higher powers over the will of the Deity.

All these entertained more or less clearly the notion that they stood in closer relation to the Deity than the common people, whom they then excluded from the sanctuary and all access to the Deity.

The Mosaic cult, in the so-called Priestly Code, was founded upon this stage of religious life, forming a hierarchical inst.i.tution like those of other ancient nations. It differed from them, however, in one essential point. The prime element in the cult of other nations was magic, consisting of oracle, incantation and divination, but this was entirely contrary to the principles of the Jewish faith. On the other hand, all the rites and ceremonies handed down from remote antiquity were placed in the service of Israel's holy G.o.d, in order to train His people into the highest moral purity. The patriarchs and prophets, who are depicted in Scripture as approaching G.o.d in prayer and hearing His voice in reply, come under the category of saints or elect ones, above the ma.s.s of the people.

4. Foreign as the entire idea of sacrifice is to our mode of religious thought, to antiquity it appeared as the only means of intercourse with the Deity. "In every place offerings are presented unto My name, even pure oblations,"(832) says the prophet Malachi in the name of Israel's G.o.d.

Even from a higher point of view the underlying idea seems to be of a simple offering laid upon the altar. Such were the meal-offering (_minha_);(833) the burnt offering (_olah_), which sends its pillar of smoke up toward heaven, symbolizing the idea of self-sacrifice; while the various sin-offerings (_hattath_ or _asham_) expressed the desire to propitiate an offended Deity. However, since the sacrificial cult was always dominated by the priesthood in Israel as well as other nations, the lawgiver made no essential changes in the traditional practice and terminology. Thus it was left to the consciousness of the people to find a deeper spiritual meaning in the sacrifices instead of stating one directly. The want was supplied only by the later Haggadists who tried to create a symbolism of the sacrificial cult. The laying on of hands by the individual who brought the offering, seems to have been a genuine symbolic expression of self-surrender. In the case of sin-offerings the Mosaic cult added a higher meaning by ordering a preceding confession of sin. Here, indeed, the individual entered into personal communion with G.o.d through his prayer for pardon, even though the priest performed the act of expiation for him.

5. The great prophets of Israel alone recognized that the entire sacrificial system was out of harmony with the true spirit of Judaism and led to all sorts of abuses, above all to a misconception of the worship of G.o.d, which requires the uplifting of the heart. In impa.s.sioned language, therefore, they hurled words of scathing denunciation against the practice and principle of ritualism: "I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn a.s.semblies.

Yea, though ye offer Me burnt-offerings and your meal-offerings, I will not accept them; Neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fat beasts.

Take thou away from Me the noise of thy songs; and let Me not hear the melody of thy psalteries.

But let justice well up as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream."(834)

Thus speaks Amos in the name of the Lord. And Hosea:

"For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of G.o.d rather than burnt-offerings."(835)

Isaiah spoke in a similar vein:

"To what purpose is the mult.i.tude of your sacrifices unto Me?

saith the Lord; I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats....

Bring me no more vain oblations; it is an offering of abomination unto Me; new moon and sabbath, the holding of convocations-I cannot endure iniquity along with the solemn a.s.sembly....

And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood.

Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings From before Mine eyes, cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow."(836)

Most striking of all are the words of Jeremiah, spoken in the name of the Lord of hosts, the G.o.d of Israel: "Add your burnt-offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat ye flesh. For I spoke not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices, but this thing I commanded them, saying; 'Hearken unto My voice, and I will be your G.o.d, and ye shall be My people; and walk ye in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.' "(837)

6. However, the mere rejection of the sacrificial cult was quite negative, and did not satisfy the normal need for communion with G.o.d. Therefore the various codes established a sort of compromise between the prophetic ideal and the priestly practice, in which the ideal was by no means supreme.

Sometimes the prophetic spirit stirred the soul of inspired psalmists, and their lips echoed forth again the divine revelation:

"Hear, O My people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: G.o.d, thy G.o.d, am I. I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; and thy burnt-offerings are continually before Me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he-goats out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.... Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?"(838) Another psalmist says: "Sacrifice and meal-offering thou hast no delight in; Mine ears hast Thou opened; burnt-offering and sin-offering hast Thou not required."(839)

Still, the sacrificial cult was too deeply rooted in the life of the people to be disturbed by the voice of the prophets or the words of a few psalmists. It was connected with the Temple, and the Temple was the center of the social life of the nation. The few faint voices of protest went practically unheeded. The priestly pomp of sacrifice could only be displaced by the more elevating and more spiritual devotion of the entire congregation in prayer, and this process demanded a new environment, and a group of men with entirely new ideas.

7. The need of a deeper devotion through prayer was not felt until the Exile. There altar and priesthood were no more, but the words of the prophets and the songs of the Levites remained to kindle the people's longing for G.o.d with a new zeal. Until then prayer was rare and for special occasions. Hannah's prayer at Shiloh filled even the high priest with amazement.(840) The prophets alone interceded in behalf of the people, because the ordinary man was not considered sufficiently clean from sin to approach the Deity in prayer. But on foreign soil, where sacrifices could not be offered to the G.o.d of Israel, the harp of David resounded with solemn songs expressing the national longing toward G.o.d.

The most touching psalms of penitence and thanksgiving date from the exile. A select cla.s.s of devout men, called the G.o.dly or pious ones, _Hasidim_ or _Anavim_,(841) a.s.sembled by the rivers of Babylon for regular prayer, turning their faces toward Jerusalem, that the G.o.d of Israel might answer them from His ancient seat.(842) Thus the great seer of the exile voiced the hope for "a house of prayer for all peoples" to stand in the very place where the sacrifices were offered to G.o.d.(843) The congregation of Hasidim elaborated a liturgy under the Persian influence, in which prayer was the chief element, and the secondary part, the instruction from the Torah and the monitions of the prophets. The Synagogue, the house of meeting for the people, spread all over the world, and by its light of truth and glow of fervor it soon eclipsed the Temple, with all its worldly pomp. In fact, the priesthood of the Temple were finally compelled to make concessions to the lay movement of the Hasidim. They added a prayer service, morning and evening, to the daily sacrifices, and opened the Hall of Hewn Stones, the meeting place of the High Court of Justice, as a Synagogue in charge of the priests.(844)