historical perspectives: from the hasmoneans to bar kokhba in light ...

COMMUNAL FASTS 137
Priest persecuted the Teacher of Righteousness and his followers,
precisely because of the differences in their calendar. Thus, Yom
Kippur itself is the most poignant symbol of this dispute. Analysis
of other more fragmented passages is likely to be consistent with this
interpretation.
The reference to the appointed time of Yom Kippur in a song
against demons
42 is reasonable because the sudden
trauma of the persecution on Yom Kippur is a fresh memory in the
consciousness of the sect, as IQpHab 11:2-8 emphasizes. It thus follows
that in its prayers or incantations, the sect would beg to be
spared such afflictions.
I conclude, therefore, in contrast to Flusser, that and
are designations for Yom Kippur, 43 and that the other
occurrences of and its various forms in the scrolls also refer
to this day. 44
Besides the sources discussed above, there is no further evidence of
public fasts in the Qumran scrolls. We do know of some occurrences
of and the roots , but not in connection
with public fasts. At most, they refer to fasts by individuals. A passage
from the Damascus Document containing the word was recentiy
published by Baumgarten. This source, which is concerned with punitive
measures, indicates that the sect members regarded their system
of punishment as an alternative to sacrifices offered for sins.
42 This definition was given to the Songs of the Sage by I. Ta-Shema, Notes, 441;
J. M. Baumgarten, "The Qumran Songs against Demons," Tarbiz 55 (1986): 442-45
(Hebrew). Nevertheless, since Yom Kippur is central to this prayer, one cannot necessarily
assume that this prayer is one of the mentioned in
HQPs 27:10.
43 Nitzan, Qumran Prayer and Religious Poetry, 102—3 and n. 51, suggests a connection
between the time of in 11 QMelch and the liturgy for Yom Kippur (and
the Day of Remembrance [Rosh Hashanah]). See the Hebrew version
of her book, Qumran Prayer and Poetry, Biblical Encyclopedia Library 14 (Jerusalem:
Bialik Institute, 1996), 71-72. She regards this as the time of mercy that was "anticipated
by the men of Qumran," and it is therefore necessary to add this time in
"which the eschatological redemption was anticipated" to the various associations
and ideas that have developed concerning the status of Yom Kippur in the Scrolls.
Can we assume that there is a connection between the persecution by the Wicked
Priest on Yom Kippur and the eschatological expectations of this day?
44 Falk, Festival Prayers, 172-73, raises the possibility that 4Q509 16 3 refers to
the festival of Sukkot, although he also acknowledges that this argument has no
solid basis and that, in terms of content, it could refer to Yom Kippur or, indeed,
to any festival. It seems to me that the combination of (mercy) and
that appears in 4Q508 2 2-6 and that was identified by Falk as a reference to
Yom Kippur increases the likelihood that 4Q509 16 3 also refers to Yom Kippur.