{"id":75681,"date":"2020-06-08T14:06:49","date_gmt":"2020-06-08T11:06:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=75681"},"modified":"2020-06-08T14:06:49","modified_gmt":"2020-06-08T11:06:49","slug":"days-of-work-and-days-of-rest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/days-of-work-and-days-of-rest\/","title":{"rendered":"Days of Work and Days of Rest"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"75681","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"498","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Open the inner gates\r\n\r\n","content":"

Chapter 44 begins with God\u2019s instruction that the \u201couter gate of the Sanctuary facing eastward\u201d (1) was \u201cto be kept shut and not to be opened\u201d (2). Here, however, we find the instruction that \u201cThe gate of the inner court which faces east shall be closed on the six working days; it shall be opened on the Sabbath day and it shall be opened on the day of the new moon\u201d (46:1).<\/span><\/p>\n

It seems clear that the former was an \u201c<\/span>outer<\/span><\/em> gate\u201d while the latter was \u201ca gate of the <\/span>inner<\/span><\/em> court\u201d and, hence, not in contradiction: one remained closed all the time, while the other was opened regularly. This is reflected in the commentary of the Gaon R. Eliyahu of Vilna. Rashi, on the other hand, maintained that both verses were addressing the same gate and that the resolution to the contradiction is that 46:1 made an exception to the \u201crule\u201d of 44:2 by allowing the \u201couter gate\u201d to be opened occasionally in honor of the <\/span>nasi<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The term used here for the weekdays: \u201cthe six working days,\u201d in Hebrew: <\/span>sheshet yemei hama`aseh<\/span><\/em>, is familiar from the liturgical formula of Havdalah (separation) that demarcates Shabbat from weekdays. It would appear to have been coined by Ezekiel, although 1 Samuel 20:19 does employ <\/span>yom hama`aseh<\/span><\/em> to signify a workday, perhaps there in distinction to \u201cthe new moon\u201d (v.18).<\/span><\/p>\n

Glaringly absent here are the festivals. Was the gate opened on those days or not? Logic would suggest that if the purpose of the openings was both to facilitate access for the <\/span>nasi<\/span><\/em> as well as to differentiate between ordinary workdays and holidays, then festivals must have been included despite not being mentioned explicitly. Furthermore, it is reasonable to assume that on the three pilgrimage festivals the gates were kept open simply because the size of the crowds required it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, the conjoining of Shabbat and the new moon to the exception of the festivals is strongly reminiscent of the penultimate verse in the Book of Isaiah: \u201cAnd new moon after new moon, and sabbath after sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship Me\u2014said the Lord\u201d (66:23).<\/span><\/p>\n

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