Footnote 2 – How It Came About: From Saturday to Sunday

The rabbinic sources speak abundantly of the restrictions imposed during Hadrian’s reign, which is commonly referred to in the Talmud as “the age of persecution—shemad—,” or “the age of the edict—gezerah” (cf. Shabbath 60a; S. Krauss, “Barkokba,” Jewish Encyclopedia, 1907, 11, p. 509). The following quotation is a sample of statements often found in the Talmud regarding Hadrian’s anti-Jewish policies: “The Government of Rome had issued a decree that they should not study the Torah and that they should not circumcise their sons and that they should profane the Sabbath” (Rosh Hashanah 19a in The Babylonian Talmud, trans. I. Epstein [London: The Soncino Press, 1938] XIII, 78).