Oral Performance of Statutory Texts in the Synagogue

    From the first century of the current era forward, the practice of reading excerpts from Moses and the Prophets on the Sabbath in synagogue is well-attested (Acts 13:15; Josephus, Against Apion 2:175; Philo, Hypoth. 7.10-14; Theodotus inscription, Mt. Ophel).

In addition, ancient homilies on Torah passages often cite and expound a verse from Psalms or Proverbs in conjunction with the Torah passage (Bereshit Rabbah, etc.). But not all of the contents of Judaism’s most ancient set of canonical writings were read and expounded on in public assembly. Beyond the Torah, vast stretches of the rest of what became the Tanakh had no fixed place in the reading tradition. Of the books later known as the Five Scrolls, up until the end of the Talmudic period, only Esther was read publicly. Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, and Qohelet obtained a fixed place in the liturgy in post-Talmudic times, Qohelet last of all. A baraita  states that on the Ninth of Av the Bible may not be read nor tradition studied, “but one may recite Job, Lamentations, and the sections of Jeremiah which deal with calamity,” (וקורא בקינות באיוב ובדברים הרעים שבירמיה b. Ta’an. 30a). Components of the Tanakh which never obtained a fixed place in the Sabbath and holiday reading tradition are (counting the Twelve as a single component): Job, Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Daniel. A text’s inclusion in the Tanakh and the reading of it in assembly stand in partial correlation.

    The study of Judaism’s other canons is commanded, though some canons, e.g., the Zohar, are not accepted by all. The primary setting for the study of Talmud and other tradition was the beit midrash , where rabbis and students learned together, to be distinguished from the beit sefer, where boys under thirteen were introduced, beginning with Leviticus, to components of the Tanakh. The beit sefer, beit midrash, and beit ha-keneset (synagogue) are correlative institutions in which canon upon canon are commented upon.

    Oral and written literature which made it into the prayerbook tradition was understood as consonant with sound doctrine, but insufficient as a basis for establishing said doctrine. The fact that something is repeated in worship does not imply that it could be appealed to as foundational to the teaching in the course of a homily. Prayers, hymns, and narrative that play or played a role in a liturgical setting but are not treated as a teaching instrument in the sense explained include the Megillat Antiochus which was read on Ḥannukah Sabbath in some times and places; the piyyuṭim, in some times and places read in a fixed cycle alongside readings from the Torah and the Prophets; and statutory prayer like the Amidah. Hellenistic Jewish statutory prayer analogous to it, it might be noted, became a vehicle of worship among early Christians. Redacted versions are found in Books Seven and Eight of the Apostolic_Constitutions.

    The reading of Mishnah excerpts on the Sabbath according to a fixed pattern was traditional in some times and places. The ban on the reading of deuterosis in the 6^th cent. Justinian code appears to target this practice. If so, the other side of that coin would be an implicit authorization of public reading of the Tanakh/ Hebrew Bible. The beloved Pirqei Avot has a place in the liturgy of many communities today. It is often found in editions of the siddur.

    Textual function is the most reliable index of canonicity. The canonical component of synagogue oratory is the text or texts treated as foundational to the teaching imparted. Said component can have more than one layer. A canonical interpretation of a canonical text may be the true foundation to the teaching imparted (an authorized translation, a transmitted midrash, or the authoritative comment of a Rashi or ibn Ezra). Nonetheless, authoritative interpretation derives its authority from the text it interprets. Layer upon layer of interpretation may serve as a foundation in the oratorical moment. In most times and places, nonetheless, the presupposed point of departure has been a passage of Torah read out beforehand. 

Comments

[Jonathan]

The link to 'Apostolic Constitutions' appears to go to an empty page.

[JohnFH]

Thanks, Jonathan. Fixed.