ABSTRACT The edict to "appear before the Lord" in the Temple on the three festivals of Sukkoth , Passover and Shavuoth appears in the Bible ( Ex . 34 : 23 ; Deut . 16 : 16 ) . The book ofNehemiah and the Halachic literature mention additional occasions to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem - to bring wood offerings to the Temple and to ensure that the members ofthe priestly divisions would ascend to officiate in the Temple . Pilgrimage to Jerusalem during the time of the Second Temple is documented in a variety ofsources as an extensive social phenomenon . Pilgrims would travel together in convoys on traditional roads ; residents of the Jewish communities near those roads were required to keep them in good condition and improve them ahead of specific dates each year . During the time of the First Temple and of Ezra and Nehemiah , Jewish settlements were located in the Jerusalem Mountains mainly from Gophna in the north to Hebron in the south , and in the Jericho area . Thus , the traditional...
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