Music in ancient times was not only a means of pleasure as it is today but also had mystical and heavenly effects.
Music in ancient times was not only a means of pleasure as it is today but also had mystical and heavenly effects.
- Magical medicine - musical
Some attribute magical signs - healings to the story told in the Bible about David playing before Saul to remove the evil spirit from him, and according to the source: "And the Spirit of the Lord departed from the people of Saul, and at the same time an evil spirit from the Lord. Saul's servants said to him: Behold, the spirit of God is evil from your mouth. He said, Please Our Lord, your servants will ask for a man who knows how to play the violin, and the spirit of God will be upon you and he will play with his hand and it will be good for you. Saul said to God His servants: Please see me a good man to play and bring them to me. And one of the boys answered and said: Behold, I saw the son of Leshi, a man of valor, a man of war, and a man of skill, and he was with him. And Saul sent angels to Jesse, and said: Send me your son David, who is in the flock... " (19 Samuel 14:XNUMX-XNUMX).
Amazing and interesting here is the sacrifice/parallel to the Torah, to the ancient Hellenic theory of the figure, the perfect typicality of strength and spirit and of a religious, magical, somewhat idolatrous affinity and the Jewish side of the fusion between body and spirit. Foreign influence? Perhaps and in connection with this the historical dis-chronology embedded in the culture of the ancients.
Yosef ben Matthew, in his book and in his reference to the above-mentioned case and in his omission of historical projection, revealed to us a touch on the beliefs that were prevalent in his time. Hela reported that after Saul's doctors were desperate to find a cure for the king's illness, they asked "to look for a man who knows how to drive out (evil) spirits with the help of music (singing) and plucking according to the violin..." (Kadmoniot 166:45 ff.) On King Solomon Yosef ben Matatiyo was good enough to testify that he also knew how to compose hymns "in which diseases are alleviated" (ibid., ch. XNUMX).
And as for the Sages, it will be said that it is possible in the words, in the terms - "song of wounds" (Talmud Babili, Shavuot 15 p. 2), or "song of wounds" (Shavuots there), which in Jerusalem, from the mouth of the Sages, arose foundations Magicians, supernatural? As a certain connection arose from the mouth of Rabbi Yohanan the Tiberiani, born in the second half of the third century CE, about the psalms in general.
Lucianus dedicated one of his satires to the sufferings of a sick person, when all the Romans were desperate to find him a cure and a long one, until one Jew came, one who claimed to drive away the disease by the chanter of the oath (Axa-dei from the Greek - that is, in the name of God...). It seems that a sarcastic, anti-Jewish tone emerged from the above-mentioned satirist's writings, or was the section based on a certain phenomenon in Lucian's country and time, when Jews were found practicing magical-musical medicine?!
From the sources of sages there is no evidence of the use of magical-medical music, or magic in general, with the exception of one or two mentions in this regard, perhaps showing that this is not a prominent and widespread phenomenon, such as, for example, the testimonies that deal with Homer's poetry. Both the permissive and the forbidding testimonies. All this to teach something about a widespread phenomenon.
It should be noted by the way that the opposition to the practices of sorcerers was in the spirit of the Torah. However, in the literature of the Sages it was clearly interpreted and discussed prominently, which proved the very topicality of the question - permissible or forbidden. Sages opposed the very act of practicing sorcery, but this was not the opinion that was accepted by the broad strata of the population. The Sages could not ignore the reality and tried to find a way of compromise and mainly it concerned different, somewhat primitive healing methods.
I will bring and present here an interesting case that is immersed in the New Testament. There it is told about Paul and Silas who arrived in Philippi and were thrown into prison. In their desperation, they turned to God in various ways, including singing that lasted all night. As a result, suddenly a tremendous noise was heard, all the prison doors opened and the prisoners' chains melted. This episode brings up magical, supernatural elements to themselves that have settled in music. Music served here as a vessel and a conduit through which the prayers flowed to heaven and the heavenly answer came in the form of the aforementioned miracle. This interesting image highlighted, in a similar way, Judaism's approach to music, which is in terms of a conduit of holiness, and similar to it the idea embodied in the shofar according to the Sages, even in terms of visuality , because the shofar (ram horns) is narrow at the mouth and wide at the outer part through which the sounds of the instrument emanated. And the symbolic context seemed to be in the shape of the pipe (ie the horn). Yanor of holiness, and similarly the idea embodied in the Shofar according to the sages.
Moreover, the name, the appellation of the instrument, the Shofar, involves an aspect of beauty, majesty and splendor, not to mention excellence.
- Clarifying the Sage's response
In general, it can be seen that supernatural aspects were perhaps intertwined in the biblical music and that of the Second Temple days (and this is not temple music in general). The reason may lie in the reference of the music to certain circles. In the Bible this was more prominent and it was about music that was reserved for the prophets and the high-priests, for closed classes that were saturated with non-Jewish ritual influences, where music was used as a tested means to reach inspiration through the ecstasy (haragon) of singing, playing and dancing.
In the days of the Second Temple, although then the entire public participated in the worship and the music of the temple (in the form of what is called the "public response"), the music, for the most part, was the property of the Levites-poets, what was in it, perhaps, to give the music a supernatural meaning. However, despite all this, this assumption has no support in the sources, except perhaps for the high priest's bells on the hem of his coat, for which there is great doubt whether it is music in general, or some kind of noise that draws attention during the movement of the body and legs in general.
Even so, possible magical signs penetrated into Jewish music, and this is the version of the laws in the popular strata of the population, and against beliefs of this kind, sages were asked to fight and fence off the boundaries.
In my opinion, after the destruction of the Second Temple and onward, the above-mentioned struggle took on a special dimension, an examination of a coin and two sides to it. I want to say - on the one hand, dosha music became the property of the whole public, in the synagogue and the burden of mystery (to the extent that it was there before) was removed from it.
If so, the work of the Sages was made easier (what else should be noted, from the days of the Second Holocaust onwards, the power of the Sages grew and intensified and their influence among the population grew stronger and stronger). And on the other hand, the destruction of the Temple led to the disappearance of the center of the centers, that is, the Jerusalem Temple which oversaw Judaism throughout the days of the Temple. Moreover, during this period, as one of the results of the destruction of the house we note the settlement of many foreigners in the land, with the land becoming part of the Syrian province, under the rule and supervision of Rome) sand music became more widespread in Judaism. And this is much more than its reality at the time when the Temple stood on its foundation and its foundations, and with it foreign, Greek and Roman signs of magical elements penetrated. If so, the task fell on the Sage.
And let's not forget at all the centrality of the temple in the life of the individual and the whole in Judea and the Galilee, and this despite the fact that in the ancient era, without the contemporary modern media for example and the state lordship in general, the center had quite a hard time controlling the periphery even the near, not to mention the far and very far, let's say in the Galilee and even the coastal plain. And add to this the lack of centrality of a temple and the geo-local-social fragmentation and more of the days of the Second Holocaust and its results. Add... and you get a conglomeration of opinions, positions, worldviews and above all different customs.
And lest, in this matter, it is possible to explain the work and activity of the Sages in a way that has quite a few question marks and bewilderment, but it is possible that it can shed some light on things. Ask to include the discussed case, especially from the third century AD onward, if possible, with eschatological and holy foundations, examining lines to the power of God. We will expand the canvas more in the next section, but it is worth noting here the basic lines of a personal hypothesis, lines that originate from a certain historical conjuncture. That is, in this century the Land of Israel, like many other regions that were subject to the rise of Rome, was caught in a political and socio-economic crisis oppressive and burdensome. This crisis naturally led to the flowering of messianic expectations, of a vision of the end times, of a special redemption. And it seems that the Sages sought to plant their worldview in the landscape of the time and to circulate the magical signs (if and when they were caught in the thought of popular Judaism) through eschatological-apocalyptic channels. That is, that supernatural powers are proof of God's power and heroism, in those days and in the future (and not as proof of demonic and other harmful creations) and if such signs were seen by the Jews of the time as sunken In the world of music, as those who saw it in their neighbors, imbued with Hellenistic culture, Sages also sought to use this general recognition as a lever for a more intense gathering in prayer, in the motivated, musical liturgy. Indeed, the sages of the third century AD and onwards came back and demanded in praise, the necessity and necessity of prayer as the preparation of the generation for the longed-for redemption.
2. Eschatological-heavenly aspects
The heavenly power of music was folded in here and there in the worldview of certain circles in Second Temple Judaism, and these were circles especially close to the spirit of Hellenism, such as we dealt with earlier in our research on the singing of the angels, or in the interesting worldview between music and retirement from the world.
However, from the generation of destruction onwards, this concept floated in other skies. But it is natural, that with the beginning of the recovery from the crisis of destruction, they will rise and float from their generation to a longed-for redemption, to a heavenly miracle, the one that will lead to the establishment of the Temple of the Sword, destroyed and burned. And it is natural that these ideas will be associated with music, with musical aspects, because after all, in music, there is something to give expression to sorrows and sorrows, and it occupied a rather prominent place in the life of the Second Temple.
It seems that there were two trends in Judaism at that time, trends that were fueled by the seeds of the aforementioned expectation, and the next Berita, which was attributed to the generations after the Holocaust, may well faithfully represent the aforementioned trends: "A psalm to David... teaches that the Shekinah sang over him and then he said a song. "A psalm to David "A teacher who said a song and then Shekinah sang over him..." (Talmud Babylon, Pesachim 17 p. 1). That is, One trend conditioned poetry on the inspiration/prior indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the other conditioned the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in poetry. This is undoubtedly a pre-modern assumption at the time, namely the affinity between the performance/affinity and the ancient thought and vice versa.
These two trends were firmly rooted in the landscape of the time - the era of expectation of redemption. This is because some saw, after despair, that hope was gone, and sought to show the "heavens" that they and their generation are ready for redemption. This difference may, in my opinion, resemble the contrast between "heard and done" and "done and heard". It should only be noted that this was done on the cognitive, internal, ideological level.
And as mentioned, in the period between the Second Holocaust and later, and especially in the third century CE and later, there was a huge echo of the words of sages that reflected these two trends, and there are hundreds of testimonies, which may indicate the importance attributed to this issue. , the connection between the Holy Spirit and the Shekinah and music was brought up and emphasized here.
We have already engaged several times in highlighting the relationship between the temple-below and the temple-above and this in connection with the song of the angels, while examining the influence of the Greek-Hellenistic world on the Jewish one. And in the period after the second holocaust, the Sages sought to introduce to the public the myth that heavenly angels reigned for Jehovah. Behind this hidden request, it seems, was an intention to encourage, to a certain extent, the liturgy, the religious singing in the synagogue, which would bring man closer to God And in the process to emphasize the times of redemption The Almighty is more than the ministering angels, that Israel sings a song every hour and the ministering angels only sing once a day. And the ministering angels do not say a song above, until Israel say a song below..." (Talmud Babylon, Chulin 11 p. 2).
This approach is very interesting as it suggested that Israel is more important than the ministering angels above. Her intention was, it seems, to encourage poetry and religious poetry, which she and only she can encourage the poetry of the heights. And even to bring salvation closer and invite the ministry of the Holy Spirit on earth.
In this context, it is interesting to point to the Midrash about David's "Kinuro" or "Neblo". These instruments were "rejuvenated" by a breeze in the middle of the night and play, produce music, of their own accord. And as a result King David would rise up to engage in the Torah. As I explained, these and similar midrashmes were raised to holy and heavenly dimensions in the above-mentioned case. We cannot rule out the possibility that they were operating in various temples with the quasi-hidden intentions of creating/creating a sense of the involvement of the Holy Spirit in this matter, with a wind blowing behind it, a real wind, creating as if in a moving wind Mysterious, somewhat musical.
In conclusion, we will mention two cases, although we have already dealt with them, here and there, it is appropriate to mention them here due to their relevance and closeness to the topic under discussion:
First - the Trumpet episode which takes on a special symbolic meaning among the Essenes sect in the Dead Sea region. We will mainly mention the interesting inscriptions that appeared on the trumpets such as: "Peace be with God in the camp of his saints", "Zikhron Nekham bem Moed El" and more (from the "Scroll of the War of the Children of Light in the Children of Darkness".
The lofty and honorable role of the trumpets in the worldview of the members of the sect, took on a special appearance, when we examine the goal of the sect: the uprooting of idolatry and the establishment of the kingdom of heaven in the world.
The connection between the trumpet and the vision of the end of the days also came up in the composition of the New Testament (such as Paul's letter to the Corinthians 1:15, 12. And it should be noted that the musical instrument that appeared here was in the interpretation of a trumpet and not a trumpet. The warriors of Ben Kusaba. This connection may become clear from the Sage's discussion of the silver trumpets. The same trumpets that were used in the temple and in The divine instruction to Moses in the desert was embodied, literally as a sacred mythological style of "In those days, at this time".
Second - hanging musical traditions on the giants of the primordial Jewish history. In one of the chapters of the historical research I conducted here, I highlighted the character of David as it arose in the traditions of the Book of Chronicles and in another chapter - the character of Moses as it arose in the traditions of the Sages who used to attach various enterprises, not necessarily musical ones to primary, senior mythological figures from the biblical period, is understandable for all reasons. And for our purposes I will bring out the original flavor here, that is, if and when they asked to add a musical instrument, one or another, to the system The musical in the temple, it was very convenient to hang its primacy on a primal, biblical act, the examination of "hanging in my hands".
However, it should be noted that it was not for nothing that the figures of Moses and David were brought up. Apart from being the giants of Jewish history - Moses, the father of the prophets, called for music, whether in the order of the trumpets or in an ancient service such as the "Song of the Sea". And David was known to know and play well, and he was the first of the leaders of Israel who was chosen to lay the foundations for the building of the Temple. Both Moses and David were the most famous and respected figures in all of ancient Jewish mythology. And in both of them together, many legends were later associated with the connection between them and the vision of the end times.
To sum up - due to various reasons, magical, supernatural symbols wrapped in music penetrated the world of Judaism, mostly to the popular stratum of the population. The Sages sought to combat these foreign elements, when they tried, and not without success, to wrap the foreign elements in a heavenly, holy aura, in which eschatological-apocalyptic signs were deposited, and to channel the above-mentioned elements into a vision of the end times. Their approach was firmly rooted in the landscape of the post-Heroin The second temple, and especially in the third century AD, is the generation of crisis, the generation of anarchy, a floating ball for redemption and longing for the end of days.
- Magical medicine - musical
Some attribute magical signs - healings to the story told in the Bible about David playing before Saul to remove the evil spirit from him, and according to the source: "And the Spirit of the Lord departed from the people of Saul, and at the same time an evil spirit from the Lord. Saul's servants said to him: Behold, the spirit of God is evil from your mouth. He said, Please Our Lord, your servants will ask for a man who knows how to play the violin, and the spirit of God will be upon you and he will play with his hand and it will be good for you. Saul said to God His servants: Please see me a good man to play and bring them to me. And one of the boys answered and said: Behold, I saw the son of Leshi, a man of valor, a man of war, and a man of skill, and he was with him. And Saul sent angels to Jesse, and said: Send me your son David, who is in the flock... " (19 Samuel 14:XNUMX-XNUMX).
Amazing and interesting here is the sacrifice/parallel to the Torah, to the ancient Hellenic theory of the figure, the perfect typicality of strength and spirit and of a religious, magical, somewhat idolatrous affinity and the Jewish side of the fusion between body and spirit. Foreign influence? Perhaps and in connection with this the historical dis-chronology embedded in the culture of the ancients.
Yosef ben Matthew, in his book and in his reference to the above-mentioned case and in his omission of historical projection, revealed to us a touch on the beliefs that were prevalent in his time. Hela reported that after Saul's doctors were desperate to find a cure for the king's illness, they asked "to look for a man who knows how to drive out (evil) spirits with the help of music (singing) and plucking according to the violin..." (Kadmoniot 166:45 ff.) On King Solomon Yosef ben Matatiyo was good enough to testify that he also knew how to compose hymns "in which diseases are alleviated" (ibid., ch. XNUMX).
And as for the Sages, it will be said that it is possible in the words, in the terms - "song of wounds" (Talmud Babili, Shavuot 15 p. 2), or "song of wounds" (Shavuots there), which in Jerusalem, from the mouth of the Sages, arose foundations Magicians, supernatural? As a certain connection arose from the mouth of Rabbi Yohanan the Tiberiani, born in the second half of the third century CE, about the psalms in general.
Lucianus dedicated one of his satires to the sufferings of a sick person, when all the Romans were desperate to find him a cure and a long one, until one Jew came, one who claimed to drive away the disease by the chanter of the oath (Axa-dei from the Greek - that is, in the name of God...). It seems that a sarcastic, anti-Jewish tone emerged from the above-mentioned satirist's writings, or was the section based on a certain phenomenon in Lucian's country and time, when Jews were found practicing magical-musical medicine?!
From the sources of sages there is no evidence of the use of magical-medical music, or magic in general, with the exception of one or two mentions in this regard, perhaps showing that this is not a prominent and widespread phenomenon, such as, for example, the testimonies that deal with Homer's poetry. Both the permissive and the forbidding testimonies. All this to teach something about a widespread phenomenon.
It should be noted by the way that the opposition to the practices of sorcerers was in the spirit of the Torah. However, in the literature of the Sages it was clearly interpreted and discussed prominently, which proved the very topicality of the question - permissible or forbidden. Sages opposed the very act of practicing sorcery, but this was not the opinion that was accepted by the broad strata of the population. The Sages could not ignore the reality and tried to find a way of compromise and mainly it concerned different, somewhat primitive healing methods.
I will bring and present here an interesting case that is immersed in the New Testament. There it is told about Paul and Silas who arrived in Philippi and were thrown into prison. In their desperation, they turned to God in various ways, including singing that lasted all night. As a result, suddenly a tremendous noise was heard, all the prison doors opened and the prisoners' chains melted. This episode brings up magical, supernatural elements to themselves that have settled in music. Music served here as a vessel and a conduit through which the prayers flowed to heaven and the heavenly answer came in the form of the aforementioned miracle. This interesting image highlighted, in a similar way, Judaism's approach to music, which is in terms of a conduit of holiness, and similar to it the idea embodied in the shofar according to the Sages, even in terms of visuality , because the shofar (ram horns) is narrow at the mouth and wide at the outer part through which the sounds of the instrument emanated. And the symbolic context seemed to be in the shape of the pipe (ie the horn). Yanor of holiness, and similarly the idea embodied in the Shofar according to the sages.
Moreover, the name, the appellation of the instrument, the Shofar, involves an aspect of beauty, majesty and splendor, not to mention excellence.
- Clarifying the Sage's response
In general, it can be seen that supernatural aspects were perhaps intertwined in the biblical music and that of the Second Temple days (and this is not temple music in general). The reason may lie in the reference of the music to certain circles. In the Bible this was more prominent and it was about music that was reserved for the prophets and the high-priests, for closed classes that were saturated with non-Jewish ritual influences, where music was used as a tested means to reach inspiration through the ecstasy (haragon) of singing, playing and dancing.
In the days of the Second Temple, although then the entire public participated in the worship and the music of the temple (in the form of what is called the "public response"), the music, for the most part, was the property of the Levites-poets, what was in it, perhaps, to give the music a supernatural meaning. However, despite all this, this assumption has no support in the sources, except perhaps for the high priest's bells on the hem of his coat, for which there is great doubt whether it is music in general, or some kind of noise that draws attention during the movement of the body and legs in general.
Even so, possible magical signs penetrated into Jewish music, and this is the version of the laws in the popular strata of the population, and against beliefs of this kind, sages were asked to fight and fence off the boundaries.
In my opinion, after the destruction of the Second Temple and onward, the above-mentioned struggle took on a special dimension, an examination of a coin and two sides to it. I want to say - on the one hand, dosha music became the property of the whole public, in the synagogue and the burden of mystery (to the extent that it was there before) was removed from it.
If so, the work of the Sages was made easier (what else should be noted, from the days of the Second Holocaust onwards, the power of the Sages grew and intensified and their influence among the population grew stronger and stronger). And on the other hand, the destruction of the Temple led to the disappearance of the center of the centers, that is, the Jerusalem Temple which oversaw Judaism throughout the days of the Temple. Moreover, during this period, as one of the results of the destruction of the house we note the settlement of many foreigners in the land, with the land becoming part of the Syrian province, under the rule and supervision of Rome) sand music became more widespread in Judaism. And this is much more than its reality at the time when the Temple stood on its foundation and its foundations, and with it foreign, Greek and Roman signs of magical elements penetrated. If so, the task fell on the Sage.
And let's not forget at all the centrality of the temple in the life of the individual and the whole in Judea and the Galilee, and this despite the fact that in the ancient era, without the contemporary modern media for example and the state lordship in general, the center had quite a hard time controlling the periphery even the near, not to mention the far and very far, let's say in the Galilee and even the coastal plain. And add to this the lack of centrality of a temple and the geo-local-social fragmentation and more of the days of the Second Holocaust and its results. Add... and you get a conglomeration of opinions, positions, worldviews and above all different customs.
And lest, in this matter, it is possible to explain the work and activity of the Sages in a way that has quite a few question marks and bewilderment, but it is possible that it can shed some light on things. Ask to include the discussed case, especially from the third century AD onward, if possible, with eschatological and holy foundations, examining lines to the power of God. We will expand the canvas more in the next section, but it is worth noting here the basic lines of a personal hypothesis, lines that originate from a certain historical conjuncture. That is, in this century the Land of Israel, like many other regions that were subject to the rise of Rome, was caught in a political and socio-economic crisis oppressive and burdensome. This crisis naturally led to the flowering of messianic expectations, of a vision of the end times, of a special redemption. And it seems that the Sages sought to plant their worldview in the landscape of the time and to circulate the magical signs (if and when they were caught in the thought of popular Judaism) through eschatological-apocalyptic channels. That is, that supernatural powers are proof of God's power and heroism, in those days and in the future (and not as proof of demonic and other harmful creations) and if such signs were seen by the Jews of the time as sunken In the world of music, as those who saw it in their neighbors, imbued with Hellenistic culture, Sages also sought to use this general recognition as a lever for a more intense gathering in prayer, in the motivated, musical liturgy. Indeed, the sages of the third century AD and onwards came back and demanded in praise, the necessity and necessity of prayer as the preparation of the generation for the longed-for redemption.
2. Eschatological-heavenly aspects
The heavenly power of music was folded in here and there in the worldview of certain circles in Second Temple Judaism, and these were circles especially close to the spirit of Hellenism, such as we dealt with earlier in our research on the singing of the angels, or in the interesting worldview between music and retirement from the world.
However, from the generation of destruction onwards, this concept floated in other skies. But it is natural, that with the beginning of the recovery from the crisis of destruction, they will rise and float from their generation to a longed-for redemption, to a heavenly miracle, the one that will lead to the establishment of the Temple of the Sword, destroyed and burned. And it is natural that these ideas will be associated with music, with musical aspects, because after all, in music, there is something to give expression to sorrows and sorrows, and it occupied a rather prominent place in the life of the Second Temple.
It seems that there were two trends in Judaism at that time, trends that were fueled by the seeds of the aforementioned expectation, and the next Berita, which was attributed to the generations after the Holocaust, may well faithfully represent the aforementioned trends: "A psalm to David... teaches that the Shekinah sang over him and then he said a song. "A psalm to David "A teacher who said a song and then Shekinah sang over him..." (Talmud Babylon, Pesachim 17 p. 1). That is, One trend conditioned poetry on the inspiration/prior indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the other conditioned the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in poetry. This is undoubtedly a pre-modern assumption at the time, namely the affinity between the performance/affinity and the ancient thought and vice versa.
These two trends were firmly rooted in the landscape of the time - the era of expectation of redemption. This is because some saw, after despair, that hope was gone, and sought to show the "heavens" that they and their generation are ready for redemption. This difference may, in my opinion, resemble the contrast between "heard and done" and "done and heard". It should only be noted that this was done on the cognitive, internal, ideological level.
And as mentioned, in the period between the Second Holocaust and later, and especially in the third century CE and later, there was a huge echo of the words of sages that reflected these two trends, and there are hundreds of testimonies, which may indicate the importance attributed to this issue. , the connection between the Holy Spirit and the Shekinah and music was brought up and emphasized here.
We have already engaged several times in highlighting the relationship between the temple-below and the temple-above and this in connection with the song of the angels, while examining the influence of the Greek-Hellenistic world on the Jewish one. And in the period after the second holocaust, the Sages sought to introduce to the public the myth that heavenly angels reigned for Jehovah. Behind this hidden request, it seems, was an intention to encourage, to a certain extent, the liturgy, the religious singing in the synagogue, which would bring man closer to God And in the process to emphasize the times of redemption The Almighty is more than the ministering angels, that Israel sings a song every hour and the ministering angels only sing once a day. And the ministering angels do not say a song above, until Israel say a song below..." (Talmud Babylon, Chulin 11 p. 2).
This approach is very interesting as it suggested that Israel is more important than the ministering angels above. Her intention was, it seems, to encourage poetry and religious poetry, which she and only she can encourage the poetry of the heights. And even to bring salvation closer and invite the ministry of the Holy Spirit on earth.
In this context, it is interesting to point to the Midrash about David's "Kinuro" or "Neblo". These instruments were "rejuvenated" by a breeze in the middle of the night and play, produce music, of their own accord. And as a result King David would rise up to engage in the Torah. As I explained, these and similar midrashmes were raised to holy and heavenly dimensions in the above-mentioned case. We cannot rule out the possibility that they were operating in various temples with the quasi-hidden intentions of creating/creating a sense of the involvement of the Holy Spirit in this matter, with a wind blowing behind it, a real wind, creating as if in a moving wind Mysterious, somewhat musical.
In conclusion, we will mention two cases, although we have already dealt with them, here and there, it is appropriate to mention them here due to their relevance and closeness to the topic under discussion:
First - the Trumpet episode which takes on a special symbolic meaning among the Essenes sect in the Dead Sea region. We will mainly mention the interesting inscriptions that appeared on the trumpets such as: "Peace be with God in the camp of his saints", "Zikhron Nekham bem Moed El" and more (from the "Scroll of the War of the Children of Light in the Children of Darkness".
The lofty and honorable role of the trumpets in the worldview of the members of the sect, took on a special appearance, when we examine the goal of the sect: the uprooting of idolatry and the establishment of the kingdom of heaven in the world.
The connection between the trumpet and the vision of the end of the days also came up in the composition of the New Testament (such as Paul's letter to the Corinthians 1:15, 12. And it should be noted that the musical instrument that appeared here was in the interpretation of a trumpet and not a trumpet. The warriors of Ben Kusaba. This connection may become clear from the Sage's discussion of the silver trumpets. The same trumpets that were used in the temple and in The divine instruction to Moses in the desert was embodied, literally as a sacred mythological style of "In those days, at this time".
Second - hanging musical traditions on the giants of the primordial Jewish history. In one of the chapters of the historical research I conducted here, I highlighted the character of David as it arose in the traditions of the Book of Chronicles and in another chapter - the character of Moses as it arose in the traditions of the Sages who used to attach various enterprises, not necessarily musical ones to primary, senior mythological figures from the biblical period, is understandable for all reasons. And for our purposes I will bring out the original flavor here, that is, if and when they asked to add a musical instrument, one or another, to the system The musical in the temple, it was very convenient to hang its primacy on a primal, biblical act, the examination of "hanging in my hands".
However, it should be noted that it was not for nothing that the figures of Moses and David were brought up. Apart from being the giants of Jewish history - Moses, the father of the prophets, called for music, whether in the order of the trumpets or in an ancient service such as the "Song of the Sea". And David was known to know and play well, and he was the first of the leaders of Israel who was chosen to lay the foundations for the building of the Temple. Both Moses and David were the most famous and respected figures in all of ancient Jewish mythology. And in both of them together, many legends were later associated with the connection between them and the vision of the end times.
To sum up - due to various reasons, magical, supernatural symbols wrapped in music penetrated the world of Judaism, mostly to the popular stratum of the population. The Sages sought to combat these foreign elements, when they tried, and not without success, to wrap the foreign elements in a heavenly, holy aura, in which eschatological-apocalyptic signs were deposited, and to channel the above-mentioned elements into a vision of the end times. Their approach was firmly rooted in the landscape of the post-Heroin The second temple, and especially in the third century AD, is the generation of crisis, the generation of anarchy, a floating ball for redemption and longing for the end of days.
