The name shalosh regalim derives its origin from the following Biblical passage: “Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year,” ‏שלש רגלים תחג לי בשנה‎ (Exod. xxiii. 14). Although in a parallel passage the word ‏רגלים‎ has been replaced by ‏פעמים‎ (ibid. ver. 17), of the same meaning, “times,” shalosh regalim has been preferred, because ‏רגלים‎ reminds one also of “a journey on foot,” “a pilgrimage,” an important element in the celebration of these three festivals, according to the Divine commandment, “Three times every year shall thy males appear before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose, in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles” (Deut. xvi. 16). The name yamim noraim for the remaining two feasts is not founded on a Biblical phrase, but on the fact that these festivals are devoted more than the rest to earnest reflection and solemn devotion. I. THE THREE FESTIVALS (‏שלש רגלים‎). The three festivals have the following three characteristics in common:— 1. They refer to important events in our national history; viz., Passover to the deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage; Feast of Weeks to the Revelation on Mount Sinai; and Tabernacles to the travels of the Israelites through the Arabian desert. 2. They mark the various stages of the harvest; viz., Passover marks the season of the early harvest, Feast of Weeks the second harvest, and the Feast of Tabernacles the ingathering of the fruit. 3. They serve as a means for imparting essential religious truths; viz., Passover embodies the principle of the Existence of God, the Feast of Weeks that of Revelation, and the Feast of Tabernacles that of Divine Providence. THE DISTINGUISHED SABBATHS (‏ד׳ פרשיות‎). [85] There are in the months Adar and Nisan four Sabbaths distinguished by the circumstance that on them additional sections are read from the Pentateuch and special lessons from the Prophets. Two of them are connected with the celebration of Passover. 1. ‏שבת שקלים‎ “Sabbath of the shekels;” i.e., on which the law concerning the half-shekel contribution is read from the Pentateuch (Exod. xxx. 11–16), and also the account of the gifts for the repair of the Temple in the reign of King Joash (2 Kings xii. 1–17). Every male Israelite, twenty years old or upward, had to contribute annually one half-shekel towards the maintenance of the Temple and the Temple Service. The year commenced the 1st of Nisan, when public sacrifices had to be bought with money of the new contributions. [86] Every one was therefore expected to send his contribution before the 1st of Nisan. On the 1st of Adar proclamations were made throughout the country that the half-shekel was due. [87] Hence the custom to read the above-named sections on the Sabbath before the 1st of Adar, or on the 1st, if this happens to be on a Sabbath.