Takkanah - Early Biblical Takkanot

Early Biblical Takkanot

Among the earlier takkanot are the institutions ascribed to Moses:

1. the observance on holy days of the ceremonies peculiar to the festivals in question (Meg. 32a; comp. Tosef., Meg. vii.)
2. reading aloud from the Torah on the Sabbath, on holy days, on New Moons, and on the semifestivals (Meg. 28a; Yer. Meg. iv. 1)
3. the first blessing in the grace after meals (Ber. 48b
4. the eight watches of the priests, four by Eleazar and four by Ithamar, which Samuel and David increased to twenty-four (Ta'an. 27a)
5. the seven days of wedding festivities for a virgin, and seven days of mourning for the dead (the festivities for a widow's wedding were later ordained to last three days; Yer. Ket. i. 1; comp. Ket. 3a, b).

Other Biblical takkanot were ascribed as follows:

• To Joshua:

1. the second blessing in the grace after meals (Ber. 48b);
2. ten regulations which, however, are not takkanot in the strict sense of the term (B. Ḳ. 80b, 81b, 114a; Tosef., B. M. xi.)

• To Boaz, the ancestor of David: the salutation in the name of God (Ber. 54a).

• To King David:

1. increase of the eight watches of the priests to twenty-four (see above);
2. the recitation of a hundred benedictions daily (Num. R. xviii., but comp. Men. 43b);
3. the third blessing in the grace after meals (Ber. 48b).

• To King Solomon:

1. the practise regarding the 'Erub (Shab. 14b; 'Er. 21a; Yalḳ., Cant. 23)
2. the washing of the hands before Ḳiddush, which Shammai and Hillel made obligatory for Terumah as well, while later authorities extended it to still other occasions (Shab. 14b; 'Er. 21b)
3. the regulation regarding entrance upon another's fields after the harvest (possibly enacted by Joshua also; B. Ḳ. 80b).