The Day of Atonement in the Late Second Temple Period: Sadducees’ High Priests, Pharisees’ Norms, and Qumranites’ Calendar(s)

Abstract

This chapter explores the difference between the Sadducees and Pharisees regarding the rite of Yom Kippur in the late Second Temple period. It illustrates the intellectual, spiritual, and moral level of an average high priest who was responsible for the ritual performance of the holiest and very unique day in Hebrew and human culture. The chapter exemplifies how the Pharisees overcame some problematic issues in order to fulfill halachic norms, and the complications this caused. It discusses the attempt of a Jerusalem high priest to impose his religious and civic authority on the Qumranites concerning Yom Kippur and the calendar. A number of Dead Sea Scrolls teach that the Qumranites celebrated Yom Kippur on a different day than the one in mainstream Jewish communities, either because of their different calendar or a different reckoning of the same calendar. Keywords:high priest; Jerusalem; Pharisees; Qumranites; Sadducees; Yom Kippur