Characteristic is the anecdote of the woman who had become very old and longed to leave this worid- Wlien she went to Joae b. ChalaphtA(2nd cent.) witli her complaint, he asked her : *What luty art thou accustomed daily to perform?* She replied: *It is my custom to neglect even what is dearest to me, in order that I may visit the 8yna<;o;»ue daily.' Then he advit>ed her to leave ofT for three succesj,ive days attending; the syna^u^ie. She followed his counsel and died on the tbiru day {Jalkut Shimeoni, i. 871, from Jelamdenu).
In the Diaspora, women played an important r61e in synagogue life. St. Paul found in the syna- gogue of Philippi (see above) a gathering of w omen (Ac 16'"). On the inscriptions of S. Italy mater tynagogce appears side bj' side with paler sijna- gogcE as a title of honour (Schurer', iii. 50). I'rom Babylonia we have the information {Kidduahin, 81a I that two school heads of the 4th cent., Abaj^
and Raba, arranged that men and women should sit apart from eacli otiier in the synagogue. The members of the synagogue congregation were called nD:jn "J3 (see above) ; at their head was the 'jn tKT ('head of the synagogue,' Gr. dpxio-uva- ywyos or [Lk 8"" J apx(*>v ttj? o-uva-ywYiis). The synagogue of the Jerus. temple liad in like mannei its head. The 'ruler of the synagogue ' had the responsibility of maintaining order in the syna- gogue (see Lk 13'^) ; it was his part to decide who was to conduct the public worship (Ac 13"). If he himself wished to take part in the reading of the Scriptures, he had to be invited by others to do so, because he could not of himself assume an honour- able function (Tos. Meg. iv. 227"'). The 'ruler' was not a scribe, but he stood in rank immediately after the scribes (Pesachim, 496, top; Gittin, &)a, top). At mourning feasts it was customary, follow- ing a rule dating from the 2nd cent. (Jerus. Deralck. 6a ^ ; Scmachuth, ch. 14, end), to drink a cup, with a blessing, to the health of the ruler of the syna- gogue. A more extended sense was assumed by the title 'ruler of the synagogue' in the l)ia,spora, as is evident from the Gr. and Lat. inscriptions, in which it frequently implies no function, but is simply an honorary title, tiestowed even upon women and children (Schiirer^ ii. 438 f., iii. 49 f.).
The service of attendant in the synagogue as well as charge of the building and its furiiisliings was assigned to the synagogue olhcial called naj^n [trj (shortly ijn).
The word |10 was derived not only by Nathan b, Yechiel (Arufli, s.v.) but, before him, by DQnash b. LabrAt (10th cent.) from the verb nin {Kritik ijcjen Saadja, ed. Schroter, No. 170X IJvit this derivation is unsatisfactory' from the point of view both of grammar and sense. It is better to assume that the root ftn has the same meaning as the identically sounding Arab, root
.,li. (see Perles, Mona'sschri/t, 1870, p. 521)i This root if
indeed unexampled elsewhere in Hebrew, but it is readily conceivable that alongside of Jon there existed also a root pn with the same meaning (cf. l*?i; side by side by cSy). From the verb ]in = * keep charge' was formed the subst. {Tn which was used to designate the man who had charge of the synagogue and iU furnishings, and who had also to give attendance at the con- ducting of pubUc worsllip.
Even the synagogue of the temple at Jerusalem had its luizzdn (see Yoma, vii. 1 ; Sola, vii. 7, 8). The temple, however, had other attendants also called hazzanlm ; see Suhkn, iv. 4, where the sub- ject is the keeping of the palm branches at the Feast of Booths, and Tamid, v. 3, wliere the keeping of the [iriests' garments is spoken of. The synagogue attendant is called in Greek inr-qpiryi^ (Lk 4^); Epiphanius (c. Hier. xxx. 11) knows also a Grae- cisiiig of the Heb. word : 'AfowTuK TCiwap airroXi dia- Kovijjv ipiiTivivop-ivuv ^ i/Tnjperujv. — From the period while the temple at Jerusalem yet stood it is re- lated that, along with the pilgrims who brought the firstlings to the sanctuary, the synagogue attendants {noijn n>3 "ji-, var. Ice. '21 n'a iDi pjin) also went up (Tos. Bikkurim, ii. lOV^). — The advent of the Sabbath and of festival days was announced by the hazzdn from the roof of the synagogue, with a thrice-repeated trumpet blast which was the signal for the suspension of work (Tos. Sukka, iv. 199* ; cf. Chullin, i. 7 ; Jerus. SJiabb. 16a »; Bab. Shabb. 35). In the legend of the schoolmaster Nakkai (a contemporary of the Hadrianic persecutions) the latter is called both KB-Di? (attendant) and xtso. Every Friday he arranges the lamps of the synagogue at Mi^dal- Zablia'jiya (Jerus. Maaser sheni, 56a ", £c/ta rabbathi on Ec 3').
During public worship it is the hazzdn that calls to the performance of any function (Jerus. Berakh, 9c"). He hands the copy of the Scriptures to the reader, and receives it back from the hands of th«
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SYNAGOGUE
641
man who lias read the final lesson {Soph. xiv. 3). Cf. Lk 4-'°, where Jesus, havin" read the passage from the Prophets, returns the l)ook to the attend- ant. The hazzdn rolls up the Torah roll after the reading (Jerus. Merj. 756"), and, after holding it up to view (Jerus. Sola, 2ld, top), depo.sits it in the press. He calls upon the prie.st.s at the proper moment to pronoiince the benediction (Sipfird on Nu &^, § 34, end ; cf. Jerus. Gillin, 476 ", Bab. :Sota, 38«). On the occasion of religious fasts he indicates when the priests have to blow the trumpets (Bab. Tannith, IGA). In the great synagogue of Ale.x- andria he waved a handkereliief as a signal to the congregation for the Amen (Tos. Sukkn, iv. 198'-^). When the /ui::dn himself read the Scripture lesson, another had to wait upon him (i^ [i-o nnxi [this denom. verb does not o<!cur elsewhere], Tos. 3Ieg. iv. 2'27"'). The hazzdn belonged to the scribal body, of which he constituted, as it were, the lowest grade. In an Aram, saying of Eliezer b. Hyrcanus (1st cent.) the scale is stated thus : K-D'an (scribes), K-£o (schoolmasters), n.'jin. At mourning feasts a cup was drunk in his honour (Jerus. Berakh. 6a "), as in the case of the ruler of the synagogue (see above). Even in early times it must have been customary, especially in smaller congregations, for theA«;;u» toread I he Scripture lesson. An instance of this from the beginning of the 2nd cent, occurs in Bab. Meij. 25b. He acted also as leader in praj'er. For an example from 3rd cent, see Jerus. Berakh. lid*". — The patriarch Jeluida I. was requested by the inhabitants of an inconsiderable place to recom- mend to them one of his ])upils to discharge the dutiesof preacher, judge, ^tzzdn, and schoolmaster. His recommendation fell upon the afterwards so well-known Levi b. Sisi (Jerus. Ye.bam. 13a"; Gen. rabba, ch. 81, ad itiit.). In the 3rd cent, the Jewish inhabitants of Bostra (xisi^) beg of Simeon b. Lakish to recommend to them some one capable of exercising all the functions necessary, as preaclier, judge, schoolmaster, and hazzdn (.Jerus. Shebiith, serf"). In the Midrash Kohelcth rabba (on Ec 7' and 9") the hazzdn already appears as leader of the