Bibliography
| Title: Öffentlichkeit der Tora im Judentum: anspruch und Wirklichkeit Pages: 91-101 Type: Generic Year: 1996 Abstract: "Hieke, Thomas in: OTA 20,3 (1997) 375: S. demonstrates the difference between claim and reality: whereas Josh 1:8 demands that one meditate on the Torah day and night, it is doubtful the whole people had public access to copies of the Torah. Biblical faith was handed down by daily practice, but only priests and elders knew the text of the Torah. Regular reading of the bible is not attested before the 1 st cent. C.E. Philo mentions the study of religious traditions on the Sabbath. Josephus and the NT do not attest to a regular public reading of the Torah or the Prophets in the synagogue. In the time before 70 C.E. the Torah determined Jewish life but the text was not public: possessing a copy of a biblical scroll was highly exceptional. After 70 C.E. the Rabbis urged communities to buy copies of the Torah. Then everybody had public access to the text, but its true understanding was limited to the wise men among the Jewish people." |