XII.
IN THE TEMPLE AGAIN.
A boy's twelfth birthday was a great event in a
Jewish family. Up to this age he was called "little,"
afterwards he was called "grown up" and became a
"Son of the Law." He must put away now the things
of a child and behave and be treated as a man. The
same strict subjection to his parents as before was not
expected of him. He was consulted as to the trade or
profession he wished to follow. In the synagogue he
wore the phylacteries, narrow bands of parchment inscribed
with sacred texts. And he was bound to go up
to the Temple at the three great yearly festivals.
The first of these was the Pasch. It commemorated the preservation of the first-born of the Jews on the night when all the first-born of the Egyptians were killed. It lasted seven days. The first-fruits of the barley harvest were offered to God on this Feast. Seven weeks, or fifty days later, came the Feast of Pentecost, commemorating the giving of the Law to the Israelites on Mount Sinai. On this Feast the first-fruits of the wheat harvest were offered.
Lastly, in the autumn, when the fruits of the vine-*yards and the cornfields had been fully gathered, came the Feast of Tabernacles in memory of that time in the desert when the people lived in tents. This was a festival of thanksgiving for the blessings of the year. Every Jew who had come of age was bound to be present in Jerusalem at each of these Feasts. So great were the numbers congregated together at these times that they often exceeded two millions.
