During the Second Temple period, cut off from the music of the temple, a recluse sect lived and worked in which music was an important element both in its daily life and in its plan for the future, on Judgment Day. It is this music that contributed, among other things, to the sect's inner strength and heroism and was a significant factor in its teachings
1 - The circle of the Essenes
The famous sect of the hermits, although very divided, which established its colony in the caves of the Judean desert, near the Dead Sea, and whose leaders were enshrined in celibacy, chastity and vice, left behind a number of valuable scrolls, from which we can learn about the life of the sect. The most famous of them was "the scroll of the war between the sons of light and the sons of darkness, the date of which is disputed by the various scholars. However, their opinion is firm that it was written between the time of the conquest of the Land of Israel by Pompey (63-67 BC) and the end of Herod's time (4 BC), or during the days of the last Roman procurators after Agrippa I (44 BC).
The sect has set itself the task of fighting paganism until its complete eradication. In her opinion, her victory will come only by combining the two factors and the foundations as one - God's help on the one hand and fighting according to the best battle rule on the other.
The sect rejected the existing system, the Jewish one of course, in which the work of the temple and other affairs of the state were conducted not according to the commandments of the Torah, so in its opinion.
In the scroll of the war between the sons of light and the sons of darkness, the whole of which is the designated war, the military music stood out through the extensive use of trumpets and trumpets, whether under the influence of the Hasmonean (Hellenistic) or Roman army.
A - the trumpets
The large and honorable place that the owner of the scroll devoted to the description of the trumpets, their names, functions and addresses, also sheds light on the problems of the organization of the army and the community, on the tactics and the roles of the priests in battle.
On the one hand, we see the affinity of the owner of the scroll to the description of the trumpets in the Bible, especially regarding their roles in religious ceremonies, and on the other hand, his independence from the Bible as far as their use in battle is concerned. It should be noted that the most important and main source for our matter is a book in the desert (10-1) is the divine command to Moses, in the description of the war of Midian (Bamadbar 6:XNUMX) and more. These highlighted the distinct religious character of the trumpets. A book in the wilderness ordered the existence of a complete system of signs for the needs of the camp journey and the reading of the congregation and its leaders, when this was based on three possible ways of distinguishing: the number of trumpets, the type of blowing and the serial number of the blowing.
The "serki" of the trumpets are found in Parashits 1 and 2 mainly, as well as in Parashits XNUMX, XNUMX and XNUMX. The names of the various trumpets are listed in Parasha D, along with the details of their functions and the details of the inscriptions on their backs. Each list was divided into two: XNUMX- the list of trumpets for the reading of the congregation, its heads and units for the purpose of the various ceremonies, similar to what is said in the book in the wilderness); XNUMX- The list of trumpets for combat/military use.
The list in Parasha XNUMX contained only the names of the "battle" trumpets in the hands of the six priests from the "sons of Aaron". But apart from that, the author of the Magila detailed the description of the types of voices and the sounds of the trumpets and their "significant" meaning during the battle.
The trumpets for the congregational ceremonies tore open a window to describe the impressive ceremonies of the priests, Levites and all the people arranged in exemplary order, each man in his special place in the entire ceremony. In this regard, we find different types of trumpets: the trumpets of the "congregation's Bible", the "case of the ministers" and the "trumpets of the traditions" that call all the members of the congregation to get along in their traditions, no one above his position behind the signs and the ministers and thereby constitute the "arm of God".
The battle trumpets of their types according to their functions were varied and the abundance of terms that characterized them are certainly interesting, both from the purely military aspect and from the sound musical aspect. Since each role required a different sound. The types of trumpets listed in this scroll are as follows: "Trumpets of the Gathering", "Trumpets of the Feedback", "Trumpets of the Pursuit", "Trumpets of the Shouts of the Spaces", "Bible Trumpets of the Intermediate People", "Trumpets of the Order of War" and Trumpets of the "Bible" and "Remembrance" , when the latter is not called for a tactical, somewhat mundane role, but, and above all, a ritual one.
The sounds of the trumpets and their sounds in the midst of them as evidence to strengthen the assumption that the owner of the scroll used a special military source. The different voices are defined according to two distinctions: the strength of the voice and its quality - low or high, thick or thin and sharp, and the form of the voice such as: fragmented (staccato) or continuous (legato).
The names of the sounds and voices were as follows: "Noh and Somkh", "Had Trod" and "A thin voice". Each sound had a defined role on the battlefield.
B - the shofars
The owner of the aforementioned scroll mentioned several times the inclusion of shofars in the war cheer, in addition to the six priests blowing trumpets with various tactical signs to mark the stages of the battle, seven Levites were also mentioned with seven Jubilee trumpets in their hands. The sound of the cheering of the trumpets was first a signal to the Levites and those with the shofars to start cheering, and also to the "throwers" people to start throwing/throwing the spears. That is, before us is an interesting conducting, a musical/instrumental conducting on the rhythm of throwing and throwing the aforementioned weapons.
It should be noted that the sharing of the trumpets and shofars, the trumpets mainly for sending signs and the shofars - for the great fanfare whose main purpose was psychological - to melt the enemy's heart. This sharing was interesting, both from the military function and from the musical function. This set of roles required the stabbers to be well skilled in their craft, because even a small sound mistake could be fatal in disrupting the course of the battle.
As mentioned, it is possible that the members of the sect were influenced by the practices that prevailed in the Roman army. There is a lot of logic in this, since it is known that Joseph ben Mattathias, as the commander of the Jewish rebellion in the Galilee, starting in 66 CE, organized his army in a Roman format and ordered them to use the battle trumpets, as he himself testified about the Roman army in his book "The History of the Jewish War in the Romans".
However, it is interesting to note that while among the Romans the blasts were used mainly for tactical needs, to strengthen the hearts of the warriors and to frighten the enemy with their terrifying sound, the shofars and trumpets in the aforementioned scroll were mainly used to indicate the religious/ritual nature of the war (due to the special color of the sect) and also to moderate the signs themselves.
The case of the Levites blowing the trumpets is puzzling, since in the Temple it was the priests who blew the trumpets. This problem can be cracked on the basis of the denial of the practices of the temple by the members of the sect in question, and it is possible that the sect saw the priests as a symbol of the establishment, towards which they opposed, and less than that - worn out, and which therefore assigned even the latter the role of takiya.
It should be noted that the description of the organization of the sect and its rituals, in all the scrolls, proves that the descriptions of the "war of the sons of light and the sons of darkness" should not be considered a figment of the imagination of the owner of the scroll, or an artificial literary style. Rather, it is an accurate description of the practice of the sect which was based on the practice of its time on the one hand and on the perception of its people and their interpretation of what is described in the Bible on the other hand. From this we can surmise, if only in general instruction, that the members of the sect practiced a lot in military music, which according to their records served as an important element, a necessary element in the entire system of designated warfare and the longed-for victory paths.
From the scroll of the sect we learn the great value that its members attributed to music and especially to singing (from the Scroll of the Indians) and even to music, although through the symbol. Music played an important role in the life of the sect and in the scrolls of Oleh Shabham of the songs of praise to the Creator of the world (also in the scroll of Serahs). As well as the transition in the sect's covenant, between the groups of priests and Levites who stood opposite each other as Mount Gerizim and Ibal in Makraf raises the sect's answer in the form of "Amen", after the blessing of Fate-El.
It is possible that this sect came to a deep recognition of the importance of music due to the influence of Pythagorean philosophy, an influence that advocated, among other things, music as a powerful means of educating man and as a guide to all moral qualities. The "musical brotherhood" founded by Pythagoras, may have served as a certain foundation in the life of the sect since the analogy between the two is interesting.
It is possible that the lines of imagination that were woven and stretched between the cult in question and the Pythagorean school originated from coincidence, although its foundation is not solid enough. However, the one who carefully examines and traces each tag and tag in the writings that teach the fruit of the Essene sect, is guaranteed to illuminate the labyrinth and remove the shadows from the corners of the aforementioned difficulty. That is, with or without a Pythagorean influence, the music serves well the sect's world view, its thoughts and the special way of life in which it has chosen to distinguish itself. And if it is more for me to conceal a personal approach here, then the visitor to the Essene caves and the remains of their halls is certain and free that he cannot ignore the pastoral atmosphere, the heavenly silence that surrounds this part of the desert landscape of the Land of Israel. This atmosphere raises the majesty of sanctity, a palace strewn with pearls of magic, one that feeds loads of elation and exaltation, in which the holy, poetic music of the Essenes was undoubtedly on the one hand, and one that seeks, from time to time, an expression to tear the curtain of silence, and this in the form of cheering trumpets and trumpets.
In conclusion, it was said that during the Second Temple period, separated from the music of the temple, a solitary sect lived and worked in which music was an important element both in its daily life and in its plan for the future, on the day of judgment. It was this music that contributed, among other things, to the sect's inner strength and heroism and was a significant factor in its teachings.
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