השבת של כת מדבר יהודה

Of all the Jewish Holidays the Sabbath alone is mentioned in the writings of the Judean Desert Sect, allotting it an honored place in the Book of the Damascus Covenant. The question is, whether one can ascribe special significance to this fact, and whether the Sabbath of this particular sect differed in any way from the Sabbath observed by Israel in this period. When one compares the prohibitions pertaining to the Sabbath in the Damascus Covenant with those we find in the Talmud, one notices that the prohibitions of this sect are more stringent. However, it is difficult to ascertain from such comparison whether this strictness is characteristic for this sect alone, or whether such strict observance was the accepted norm for all Israel, which only later was eased by the Rabbinic sages. Comparison between prohibitions concerning the Sabbath contained in the Book of the Damascus Covenant and those contained in the Book of Jubilees, written at the end of the Second Temple, indicates that our particular sect allocated great importance to sins connected with speech. Some of the Sabbath prohibitions of the Damascus Covenant can be better understood in the light of the writing by Josephus concerning the Essenes, which are identified by the majority of researchers with the sect of the Judean desert. The following are the guidelines which characterize the Sabbath of this sect: 1. Holiness and purity were felt by this group more strongly than by any other existing group in this period. 2. The Sabbath served as a significant factor in their tendency for separation from their environment. 3. The Sabbath was observed more strictly than by any other group. This can be understood in the light of their ongoing struggle against the Hellenizers, whom they considered as undermining the very existence of the Jewish people. The special mention of the Sabbath by this group points to the great importance of this Day as a factor in the separation between the "God-Fearers" from the rest, thus tying it closely to the expectation of the coming Redemption.