After this the priests, if any were in the Synagogue, spoke the blessing, elevating their hands up to the shoulders [2120] (in the Temple above the head). This was called the lifting up of hands. [2121] In the Synagogue the priestly blessing was spoken in three sections, the people each time responding by an Amen. [2122] Lastly, in the Synagogue, the word Adonai' was substituted for Jehovah. [2123] [2124] If no descendants of Aaron were present, the leader of the devotions repeated the usual priestly benediction. [2125] After the benediction followed the last Eulogy, which, in its abbreviated form (as presently used in the Evening Service), is as follows: -
XIX. (XVIII.) O bestow on Thy people Israel great peace for ever. For Thou art King, and Lord of all peace. And it is good in Thine eyes to bless Thy people Israel at all times and at every hour with Thy peace. Blessed art Thou, Jehovah, Who blesseth His people Israel with peace!'
It was the practice of leading Rabbis, probably dating from very early times, to add at the close of this Eulogy certain prayers of their own, either fixed or free, of which the Talmud gives specimens. From very early times also, the custom seems to have obtained that the descendants of Aaron, before pronouncing the blessing, put off their shoes. In the benediction the priests turned towards the people, while he who led the ordinary prayers stood with his back to the people, looking towards the Sanctuary. The superstition, that it was unlawful to look at the priests while they spoke the blessing, [2126] must be regarded as of later date. According to the Mishnah, they who pronounce the benediction must have no blemish on their hands, face, or feet, so as not to attract attention; but this presumably refers to those officiating in the Temple. [2127] It is a curious statement, that priests from certain cities in Galilee were not allowed to speak the words of blessing, because their pronunciation of the gutturals was misleading. [2128] According to the Jerusalem Talmud, [2129] moral blemishes, or even sin, did not disqualify a priest from pronouncing the benediction, since it was really God, and not man, Who gave the blessing. [2130] On the other hand, strict sobriety was insisted on on such occasions. Later Judaism used the priestly benediction as a means for counteracting the effects of evil dreams. The public prayers closed with an Amen, spoken by the congregation.
The liturgical part being thus completed, one of the most important, indeed, what had been the primary object of the Synagogue service, began. The Chazzan, or minister, approached the Ark, and brought out a roll of the Law. It was taken from its case (têq, teqah), and unwound from those cloths (mitpachoth) which held it. The time had now come for the reading of portions from the Law and the Prophets. On the Sabbath, at least seven persons were called upon successively to read portions from the Law, none of them consisting of less than three verses. On the days of congregation' (Monday and Thursday), three persons were called up; on New Moon's Day, and on the intermediate days of a festive week, four; on feast days, five; and on the Day of Atonement, six. [2131] No doubt, there was even in ancient times a lectionary, though certainly not that presently in use, which occupies exactly a year. [2132] On the contrary, the Palestinian lectionary occupied three [2133] or, according to some, three and a half years, [2134] half a Sabbatic period. Accordingly, we find that the Massorah divides the Pentateuch into 154 sections. In regard to the lectionary of three and a half years we read of 175 sections. It requires, however, to be borne in mind, that preparatory to, and on certain festive days, the ordinary reading was interrupted, and portions substituted which bore on the subject of the feast. Possibly, at different periods different cycles may have obtained - those for three and a half years, three years, and even for one year. [2135] [2136] According to the Talmud, [2137] a descendant of Aaron was always called up first to the reading; [2138] then followed a Levite, and afterwards five ordinary Israelites. As this practice, as well as that of priestly benediction, [2139] has been continued in the Synagogue from father to son, it is possible still to know who are descendants of Aaron, and who Levites. The reading of the Law was both preceded and followed by brief Benedictions.