These eighteen (really nineteen) benedictions are men- tioned in the Mishna, Rosh IIa-S/iana/i.\v; Berakoth, iv, 3 ; Tosiphta Berahotk, iii ; Jerusalem Berakoth, ii; Me- (/illiih, 17 a. We are distinctly told that they were or- dained by the one hundred and twenty elders of the Great Synagogue (J/eyi7/(//?, 17 b; Berah>th,oo a; Siphre on Deut. xxxiii, 2), and we know that the representatives of the people (H w"^ "^^jX) recited them in the Temple every day {Subbat/i, 24 b), that the priests pronounced three of them upon the people every morning in the Hull of Squares (n"'T5n JH^'J?) in the Temple-court, and that the high-priest prayed the sixteenth (n!l£~i) and the seventeenth (D^TT'S) sections of this litany on the Great Day of Atonement (l'o««, 68 b). There can therefore be no doubt that our Saviour and his apostles joined in these prayers when they resorted to the syn- agogue, and that when the apostles went on the top of the house to pray at the stated hour (Acts i, 13; x, 9) these benedictions formed part of their devotions. It must, however, be remarked that the first three and the last three benedictions are the oldest; that benedictions (/ to m were compiled during the Maccabrean struggles and the Roman ascendency in Palestine; and benedic- tion n was most probably compiled after the destruction of the second Temple.
But though these three groups ( viz. the hymnal group, tlie Shema, and the eighteen benedictions) con- stituted the liturgy of the Jews when engaged in pub- lic or private devotion during the period of the second Temple, yet there were other prayers wliich could only be recited at public worship when the legal number ("pJ^) were properlj' assembled.
4. The order of the public worship in the synagogue was as follows :
(1.) Morning Service. — The congregation having washed their hands outside the synagogue, and being properly assembled, delegated one of their number to go before the ark and conduct public worship. This
legate of the congy-egation ( "n21£), who, like the rest of the congregation, was arrayed in his fringed gar- ment, and with the phylacteries on his head and left arm [see Fiiinge; riiVLACTEiJY], began with reciting the Kadish ('d^Tp), the people responding to certain parts, as follows : " Exalted and hallowed be his great name in the world which he created according to his will; let his kingdom come in your lifetime and in the lifetime of the whole house of Israel very speedily. [Legate and congregation] Amen. Blessed be his great name, world without end. [Legate alone] Blessed and praised, celebrated and exalted, extolled and adorned, magnified and worshipped, be thy holy name; blessed be he far above all benedictions, hymns, thanks, praises, and consolations which have been uttered in the world. [Legate and congregation] Amen. [Legate alone] May the prayers and supplications of all Israel be graciously received before their Father in heaven. [Legate and congregation] Amen. [Legate alone] Maj' perfect peace descend from heaven, and life upon us and all Israel. [Legate and congregation] Amen. [Legate alone] May he who makes peace in his heaven confer peace upon us and all Israel. [Legate and congregation] Amen." The similarity between this very ancient Kadish and the Lord's Prayer needs hardly to be pointed out. After this the legate recited in a loud voice the first sentence of the ' Shema, the rest being recited quietly by him and the con- gregation. Then followed the eighteen benedictions, for the third of which the Kedushah (iTIIITp) was substi- tuted in public worship. It is as follows: "Hallowed be thy name on earth as it is hallowed in heaven above, as it is written by the prophet, and one calls to the oth- er and says [Congregation], Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God of Sebaoth ; the whole earth is filled with his glory! [Legate] Those who are opposite them re- spond : [Congregation] Blessed be the glory of the Eter- nal, each one in his station. [Legate] And in thy Holy Word it is written, thus saying: [Congregation] The Lord shall reign forever, thy (iod, O Zion, from gener- ation to generation. Halleluiah ! [Legate] From gen- eration to generation we will disclose thy greatness, and for ever and ever celebrate thy holiness; and thy praise shall not cease in our mouth, world without end, for thou, O Lord, art a great and holj' King. Blessed art thou, holy God and King !" On Monday, Thursday, Sabbath, feasts and fasts, lessons from the law and proph- ets were read, and (with the exception of Mondaj' and Thursday) discourses delivered by the rabbins. The service concluded with the priests' pronouncing the ben- ediction (Numb, vi, 2-1-27).
(2.) The Afternoon and Evening Prayer. — Some of the psalms in the hymnal group were omitted, other- wise the service was similar to that of the morning. The public worship of the feasts and fasts is described in the articles on the respective festivals, and in the ar- ticle Haphtarah. The other prayers which precede and follow the three ancient groups in the present lit- urgy of the s3-nagogiie are not described in this article because they are of later origin. See Liturgy.
VI. Judicial Authority. — 1. As the officers of the syn- agogue were also the administrators of justice, the au- thority which each assembly possessed extended to both civil and religious questions. The rabbins, or the heads of the synagogue, as it is to the present day, were both the teachers of religion and the judges of their commu- nities. Hence the tribunals were held in the syna- gogue (Luke xii, II ; xxi, 12), and the chazzdn, or bea- dle, who attended to the divine service had also to ad- minister the stripes to offenders (iv, 17-20; comp. Mishna, I\Iakkoth,in,Vl\ and j\Iatt. x, 17 ; xxiii,34; Mark xiii, 9; Acts xxii. 19; xxvi, 11). The rabbins who had diplomas from the Sanhedrim, and, after the Sanhedrim ceased, from the Gaonim of the respective colleges at Sora and Pumbaditha (q. v.), and who were chosen by the different congregations to be their spiritual heads with the consent of the assemblv, selected such of the