מקוואות טהרה של מעמדות וכתות בישראל בימי בית שני‎

Translated title of the contribution: Ritual Baths of Jewish Groups and Sects in the Second Temple Period

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Abstract

References to ritual baths having a staircase divided into two separate lanes link this type of mikva'ot to the Temple. In our view, the geographical distribution of these mikva'ot testifies to their use by priests who observed the laws of purity more strictly than did the Jews in general. The ritual baths having a 'treasury', and the pairs of adjoining baths, were designed to make the waters ritually fit for use by mixing them. One can learn from the dispute between the Sadducees and the Pharisees, in which the former group and the Qumran sect claim the 'nissoq' to be impure, while the Pharisees believe that it is pure (M. Yadayim 4, 7; Miqsat Ma'ase Ha-Torah B:55-58), that the Sadducees and the Qumran sect believe that the waters of mikva'ot should not be mixed. Thus, we assume that those two groups did not use ritual baths having a 'treasury' or pairs of baths, and that these baths were characteristic mainly of Pharisees.
Translated title of the contributionRitual Baths of Jewish Groups and Sects in the Second Temple Period
Original languageHebrew
Pages (from-to)3-21
Number of pages19
JournalCathedra: For the History of Eretz Israel and Its Yishuv
Volume79
StatePublished - 1996

IHP Publications

  • ihp
  • Eretz Israel -- Antiquities, Roman
  • Eretz Israel -- History -- 586 B.C.-70 A.D., Exilic and Second Temple period
  • Jewish law
  • Mikveh
  • Pharisees
  • Purity, ritual (Jewish law)
  • Qumran Site (West Bank)
  • Sadducees
  • ארץ-ישראל -- ארכיאולוגיה -- תקופה רומית (63 לפנה"ס- 324 לספירה)
  • ארץ-ישראל -- היסטוריה -- תקופת בית שני (587 לפנה"ס- 70 לספירה)
  • הלכה
  • טומאה וטהרה (יהדות)
  • מקווה טוהרה
  • פרושים
  • צדוקים
  • קומראן

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