Page:Annotated Edition of the Authorised Daily Prayer Book.djvu/32

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xii
Historical and Explanatory Notes.

(Hebrew lines 5—7), derived from the Mishnah Peah i.I. The added passage, which is missing from the old mediæval Rite known from its place of origin as Maḥzor (or Prayer-book) Vitry, and is also missing from the French Rite, J.Q.R. iv. 36, occurs in substance, but not precisely in the same words, as Baraitha, Sabbath 127a. (On the meaning of Baraitha, see below, note on P.B. p. 13.) The blessing for the gift of the Law (P.B. page 4) is followed by the recital of a passage from the Torah proper (the Priestly benediction), and another passage from the Mishnah and Baraitha (P.B. page 5). Under the term Torah or "Law," Bible and Talmud were included. Hence readings from the Rabbinical books were regarded as necessary to complete the duty of studying the Law. In some other Rites the same effect is produced by transferring the blessing of the Law to a later position, e.g. before the quotation from Numbers xxviii. (P.B. page 9), which is followed by a passage from Mishnah Zebaḥim (P.B. page 11), and a Baraitha (P.B. page 13). The arrangement in P.B. is one of the chief marks of the "Polish" usage.

There are certain things which have no fixed measure, i.e. though the duty is imposed by the Law, and a minimum sometimes fixed by tradition, yet the maximum of performance is left to a man's own generous impulses.

Page 5. The corners of the field (הַפֵּאָה) (Leviticus xxiii. 22): "And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God."

The first-fruits (הַבִּכוּרִים) (Exodus xxiii. 19 ; Deut. xxvi. i-n). The first-fruits were taken to the Temple and presented to the priests. Tradition fixed the minimum amount of the first-fruits at one-sixtieth of the whole produce.

The offerings brought... at the three festivals (הָרַאְיוֺן or according to another spelling הָרֵאָיוֺן) (Deut. xvi. 16-17): "Three times a year shall all thy males appear before