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Beadle, sometimes spelled "bedel," is a lay official of a church or synagogue who may usher, keep order, make reports, and assist in religious functions; or a minor official who carries out various civil, educational, or ceremonial duties. The term has pre-Conquest origins in Old English, deriving from the Old English ''bydel'' ("herald, messenger from an authority, preacher"), itself deriving from ''beodan'' ("to proclaim", which has a modern descendant in the English verb ''bid'').〔(Entry for "beadle" at Online Etymology Dictionary )〕 In Old English it was a title given to an Anglo-Saxon officer who summoned householders to council. ==In religion== In England, the word came to refer to a parish constable of the Anglican Church, one often charged with duties of charity. A famous fictional constabulary beadle is Mr. Bumble from Charles Dickens's classic novel ''Oliver Twist'', who oversees the parish workhouse and orphanage. In the Church of Scotland, the title is used for one who attends the minister during divine service as an assistant. In Judaism, the term "beadle" (in Hebrew: ''shammash'' or "sexton") is sometimes used for the ''gabbai'', the caretaker or "man of all work", in a synagogue. Moishe the Beadle, the caretaker of a synagogue in Sighet in the 1940s, is an important character in ''Night'' by Elie Wiesel. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Beadle」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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