M A NU A L O F J E W I S H H I S T O R Y

AND L I T E R A T U R E
MANUAL OF J E WI S H HI S TO R Y
AND L I TE R AT U R E

P R E C EDED BY

A BR I EF S U MM AR Y O F B I BLE H I S T O R Y

DR . D . OASSE L

T R A N S L A TE D BY

M RS . H E NRY LU CAS

Sh ano n

M A C M I L L A N A ND C C .
,
L I MI TE D
NE W Y O R K : T H E M A C M I L L A N C O M PA N Y

O2
 ’
T R ANS L AT O R S PR E FA C E .

IT is frequently no ticed and deplored that Jewish

children are very insufficiently i nstructed in the post
Biblical history o f the Jews This defect has been
.

largely due to the want of a good text book of later -

Jewish history which in a moderate comp ass should

, , ,

present the main facts with clearness and precision .

W ithout such a guide teachers and school managers -

are naturally afraid to venture in their course of

instruction beyond the well trodden pathway of -

Biblical narrative In Germany this want has been

.

well s ’
upplied by D r O assel s L eitfaden far den Unwr
.

mekt in der jizdischen Geschichte and Li teratw This .

li ttle book has gone through many editions and is ,

widely used in the Jewish schools of Germany .

These facts and the well known name of D r C assel

-
.

are a sufficient guarantee for its accuracy and value .

There being no indication of the appearance of a sim ilar

work by any Anglo Jewish scholar the present trans
-

lation h as been undertaken in the hope that it may

,

prove as useful in this country as the original has

2 09 4 2 9 8
vi T R A NSL A TOR S P RE F A C E
’
.

long been found in Germany I t has been made

.

from the fifth German edition and corresponds with

,

it in all respects except that the Appendix on the

,

G eography of Palestine has been omitted .

A shor t section ( for which the translator is in

debted to another hand ) has been added dealing ,

with the history of the J ews in E ngland after their

return to this country during the protectorate of
’
Cromwell Th e limits and nature of D r Cassel s
. .

book precluded him from allotting much space to

this portion of his subject which has obviously an
,

especial interest for English children It therefore

.

seemed advisable to give the main incidents of the

history of the Jews in England but no attempt has
,

been made at completeness .

9 i n a, “ fi A .
 NO T E TO THE S E C O ND E DIT I O N .

’
T H I S S econd E ditionof the translation o f Cassel s
Manu al is a reprint of the First the only change
,

being the addition of genealogical tables o f the

Asmone an and Herodian families T hat a S econd
.

Editio n shoul d be needed is due to the same cause as

that which prompted the publication o f th e First ,

viz the want of a good handbook of post Biblical

.
,
-

Jewish history and literature fo r the use of English

chil dren .
 ’
AUT H O R S PR EFA C E .

TH I S little book which I now place in the hands of

,

teachers and pupils is due to the want of a manual

,

of this kind which I have mysel f felt an d to my

, ,

endeavours to supply that want while giving lessons

on the subj ect U se and the opinion o f those com
.

petent to judge w ill decide whether its form and

contents are such as to ensure its answering th e
purpose for which it has been written I shall.

gr atefully receive and carefully consider any hints

or alterations which practical exp erience in the use
of the m anual may suggest .

Th e summary of Bible history ( a kn owledge of

which is t aken for granted before the rest of th e
,

book is studied) is primarily intended for repetition

in the more advanced classes ; but in the hands of
an intel ligent teacher it may also be used as a
groundwork fo r instruction in Bible history where ,

no special means have been previously provided for

such teaching Those who are qualified to judge
.

such m atters will consider me j ustified in having re

 A UT HOR S P R E F A C E
’
.

tained th e chronology that dates from the Creation

for the pre Mosaic period only and also in having
-
,

give n no d ates whatever fo r the time from Joshua

to D avid during which Biblical chronology fails us
, .

Th e bare outline to which the m agnitude o f the

materials before me and the necessarily small size of
the book have alike compelled me to limit myself make ,

’
the teacher s explan atio ns and amplifications con
stantly desirable I am aware that not every master
.

can be expected to go through the course of st udy

necessary fo r this purpose besides which the large ,

works already extant on Jewish history are not

likely — irrespective of t heir speci al scientific value
to be of much use to the teacher preparing for
instruction Th e receptio n accorded to this little
.

volume will decide whether or no I should complete

this work which is intended entirely for practical
,

use and lays no cl aim to any scientific importance

, ,

by publishing on the same system as the present

,

one another enlarged and more det ailed m anual o f

,

Jewish history and literature 1

.

1
This larger w o rk w as publish ed by Dr Cassel in 1 8 7 8 .
,

un d er th e titl e o f L eh rbuch dc r jfi d isch en G esc h ic h te m d

'

L iteratur — [ A L
. . .
]
 C O NT E NT S .

S U M M ARY O F B I B LE H I S T O R Y

F R O M T H E C R E AT I O N T O T H E BABY L O N I A N
C A PT I V I T Y .

F I RST P ERI O D .

a n
Fro m th e C re tio to th e F lo o d

SE C ON D P ERI O D .

Fro m th e Fl o o d to Ab r ah am
T abl e o f Natio ns ( G en esis x .
)

TH IR D P ERI O D .

F ro m Ab r aham to J ac o b s migratio n into

’
Egyp t

F OU RTH P ERIO D .

Th e Israel ites in E gyp t

F I F TH P ERI O D .

Th e Israel ites in th e D sert 1 49 5 —1 45 5

e ,

SI XTH P ERI O D .

F ro m en t eringC anaan t o th e establ ish m en t o fth e M o narc hy 14

 C ONTENTS .

SE V ENTH P ERIO D .

Th e th ree K ings : a
S ul , Dav id ,
S o lo m o n

EI G HTH P ERIO D .

Th e K ingd o m s o f J udah and Israel

A Th e K ingd o m o f Israel
.

B Th e K ingd o m o f J udah
.

H I S TO RY O F TH E J E W S .

FI R S T PA RT .

F R O M T HE BAB Y L O N I A N C A PT IV I T Y T O TH E

D E S T RU C TI O N O F T H E K I N G D O M BY T I TU S .

F IRST P ERIO D .

T H E J E w s U ND E R F O R E I GN R U L E R S .

Th e B abyl o nian Cap tiv ity

Z rubbab l and J sh ua— Th R ebuilding f th
e e o e o e T em pl e
Th F ast f P urim — E z ra a
e e o nd N eh em iah

Th e H igh -
p riests
A l ex an d er th e G reat— P to l em y Lagus
P to l em y P h ilad elp h us —Th e S eptuagint
P to l em y E v ergetes and Ph il o pato r— S im o n th e J ust
Th e S yrian R ul ers— Antio c hus th e G reat —S el euc us I V .

Antio c h us E piph anes

T yranny o f Antio c hus Epiph anes
Mattath ias and h is S o ns
J udas Mac c ab eus
Th e Fe ast o f D edic atio n
 C ONTENTS . ii
xi

n
S ub sequ e t H isto ry of J udas Mac c ab eus
A l c im us
D h o f J udas Mac c ab eus— J o nath an
eat

J o nath an b ec o m es H igh priest— H is d eath

-

Sim o n as H igh p riest and P rinc e

-

T h e J ew s in E gyp t
Th e T em pl e b uil t by O nias

SE C ON D P ERIO D .

TH E JE w s U ND E R THE I R OWN RU L E RS .

A . TH E A S M O N E A NS .

J o h n H yrc anus
P harisees and Sadd uc ees
H yrc anus q uarrel s w it h th e P h arisees— H is D eath
J udas Aristo bul us— Al exan d er J anneeus
S al o m e— H yrc anus and Arist o b ul us
Antipater th e I d um e anfl— P o m p ey in J erusal em
Warfare in J ud ea
J ul ius C aesar
H ero d so n o f Antipat er
,

D o w nfall o f th e Asm o nean R ul ers

B . TH E H E R O D I A NS .

H ero d L K ing o f J ud ea
,

H ero d s R esto ratio n o f th e T em pl e

’

D ath o f H ero d
e

Arc h elaus H ero d Antip as— P h ilip

-

J ud ea b ec o m es a R o m an Pro vinc e
R el igio n and L iteratur in Pal stinee e

Th e J ew s in Egyp t
T h e Al exan drians— Ph il o
xiv C ONTENTS .

Agripp a I .

Agripp a I I — Th e Rev o l t Flav ius J o seph us

.
-

V espasian and Titus

S iege o f J erusal em — D estruc tio n o f th e Tem pl e
D isso l utio n o f th e K ingd o m

S E COND PA R T .

T H E D I S PE R S I O N O F T H E J E W S .

F IRST PERIO D .

TH E J Ew s IN T HE R O M A N E M P IR E UN T I L IT S D O W NFA LL .

Ge neral C harac ter o f th e E p o c h 83

C o nd itio n o f th e J ew s after th e D isso l utio n of th e
K ingd o m
G am aliel II in J am nia— Aqui
. la
Akib a and h is C o ntem p o raries
B arc o c h b a
Th e J ew s un d er th e Anto nines
J c h uda H a Nasi— Th e Mishna
-

S uc c esso rs o f J c h ud a H a Nasi
-

Th e T al m ud J erush al m i— H ill el II .

Th e first C h ristian Em p ero rs

SE C ON D P ERIO D .

TH E JE w s IN THE NE W P E R S I A N E M P IR E .

Th e J ew s in th e Lan d s o f th e E up h rates
Th e Bab yl o nian S c h o o l s
Th e B abyl o nian Tal m u d
T h e S truc ture o f th e Tal m ud
 C ONTENTS . xv

58 . T h e S eb o raim
59 . Later C o ll ec tio ns o f Halac h o th and H agad o th
60 . D iv ine S ervic e
61 . Maso ra— V o w el s an d Ac c ents

TH IR D P ERI O D .

TH E JEw s IN AS I A AN D AF RI C A U ND E R I S L A M I TE RU L E .

62 . Th e J ew s in Arabia
63 . n
T h e G eo im
64 . Th e Karaites
65 . Th e Kh o z ars— E ld ad ha-
Dani
66 . S aadja G ao n
67 . Th e last G eo nim
68 . Egyp t— C y ren e— F ez
69 . M id rash — K abala— S ynago gal P o etry .

70 . G en eral S um m ary

F OURTH P E R IO D .

TH E JEW S IN E U R O P E T I LL TO W A RD S TH E E ND OF THE

M IDD L E AGE S .

Th e J ew s in S pain und er th e V isigo th s

Th e M o o rs in S pain
C h isd ai b I saac
.

Eno c h and Ab itur— Ch aing and I b n G annac h

Sam uel h a Nagid -

S al o m o G ab iro l — Bac h ja b J o seph .

Th e Fiv e I saac s
M o ses ib n E z ra— J eh ud aH al ev i— Ab rah am ib n E z ra
Ab raham b David — B enj am in o f T ud el a
.

M o ses Maim o nid es ( Ram bam )

xv i C ONTENTS .

Th e th ree gre ta W o rk s o f Maim o nid es

T h e l esser W
o rks o f M aim o nid es
’
T h e Fate o f Maim o nid es W o rk s
Th e J e s in P ro v enc e
w

T h e Fam ily o f th e K im c h is
M o ses b N ac h m an ( Nac h m anid es)
.

N ac h m anid es C o nferen c e
’

S al o m o ib n Ad rath
T h e O pp o nen ts and All ies o f S c ien c e
Th e Z o h ar
Ash er b J c eh ic l
.

L ev i b G ersh o m — J o sef b Caspi—Mo ses Narb o ni

. .

Sam uel Al Lavi— Nassim b R eub en

-
. .

Ch isd ai C resc as— I saac b S h esh eth

.

Th e D uran Fam ily in Afric a .

Th e N ew C h ristians
Th e P o l em ic al C o n tro v ersy in T o rto sa
Th e J ew s in P o rtugal
I saac Ab rav an el
E x pu l sio n o f th e J ew s fro m S pain
Ex pul sio n o f th e J ew s fro m P o rtugal
Th e J ew s rem aining in S pain and P o rtugal
T h e J ew s in th e Byz antin e E m p ire
Th e J ew s in I taly
J ew ish M en o f L earning and Po ets in Italy
M esser L eo n— J o seph K o l o n— E lij ah b M ed igo .

Th e J ew s in F ran c e and G erm any

M ero v ingian s and C arl o v ingians
G ersh o m b J udah .

S al o m o b Isaac c all ed Rash i

.
,

T h e First C rusad e
Th e S ec o n d C rusad e— P ersec utio n o f th e J ew s
Englan d
v iii
x C ONTENTS .

SI XTH P ERIO D .

F RO M M E ND E L SS OH N TO THE P R ESE N T DA Y .

M o ses M en d el sso hn
Men d el sso h n s T ransl atio n o f th e
’
P enta teuc h
’
M en d el sso h n s Frien d s and D isc ipl es
P o l itic al C hanges
I nw ard C hanges
J ew ish S c h o o l s and Teac h ers
S J Rapp ap o rt— L Zunz
. . .

M o d ern J ew ish Literature

J ew ish J o urnal ism
Th e J ew s o f Pal estin e and ot h er no n - E uro p ean
C o untries

TH E J EWS IN ENG L A N D .

Th e R eturn o f th e J ew s to England
Th e S ep h ard im
Th e Ashk enaz im
Th e B o ard o f D ep uties and th e Angl o J ew ish -

so c iatio n
Th e R efo rm M o v em ent
Th e Em anc ip atio n o f th e English J ew s
E m inent In d iv id ual s

G E NE AL O G I C A I . TABL E S
I ND E X
 S UMM A RY O F BIBL E HI S T O R Y

F R O M T H E C R E AT I O N T O T H E BABY L O N I A N
C A PT I V I TY .

F I RS T PE R I O D .

F ro m t h e C re at i o n t o t h e D e l u ge .

Creation of the world in six days

Th e first day : light .

Th e second day : the firm am ent ( or heaven .

T h e third day : land and water Vegetation . .

Th e fourth d ay : the sun moon and stars, , .

Th e fifth day : birds and fishes .

Th e S ixth day : an imals of every kind T h e first .

man and woman : Adam and E v e .

Th e seventh day : the day of rest .

Th e Garden of E den ( Paradise ) I ts four principal .

rivers Pison ( the I ndus or Ganges ) Gihon ( the ,

N ile ) Hiddekel ( the Tigris ) E uphrates

, ,
.

’
A dam and E ve s banishment from Paradise Their .

sons Cain and Abel Cain a tiller of the ground

,
. .

Ab el a shepherd Cain kills Abel

. .

5 B
2 J EWISH H ISTORY [ F I RS T

Th e descendants of Cain : his son Enoch ( afte r

’
Whom he called the city he built ) E noch s son .

’ ’
Irad . Irad s son Meh uj ael M eh ujael s son Me .

’
th usael M eth usael s son L amech
. .

’
L amech s two wives Adah and Zil lah Adah .

was the mother of Jabal ( who lived in tents and

kept cattle ) and Jubal ( the inventor of musical
instruments) Zillah was the m other of Tubal cain
.
-

( inventor of brass and iron work ) and his sister

N aamah .

Th e ten generations from Adam to N oah

Adam died aged 9 3 0 years in the year 9 3 0 after ,

the creation .

’
S eth Adam s son born 1 3 0 died aged 9 1 2 in
“

, , ,

1 04 2 .

’
s son born 2 3 5 died aged 9 05 in 1 1 40
E nos , S eth , ,
.

’
Cainan Eno s s so n born 3 2 5 died aged 9 1 0 in
, , ,

1 2 35 .

’
Mahalaleel ,
C ainan s son born,
39 5, died aged 8 95
in 1 290 .

’
Jared M ah alaleel s son born
, ,
4 6 0, died aged 9 62
in 1 4 2 2 .

’
E noch , Jared s son born ,
6 2 2, died aged 3 65 in
98 7 .

’
Methuselah ,
Enoch s son born ,
687, died aged 9 69
in 1 65 6 .

’
L amech Meth uselah s son born
, ,
8 7 4, died a ged
777 in 1 6 5 1 .

’
N oah L amech s son born
, ,
1 05 6, died aged 9 5 0 in
2 006 .
PE RI O D . A ND LITERA TURE . 3

consequence of the corruptio n and w ickedness

In
‘

of m ankind a great flood is brought up on the world

, ,

and only N oah and his wife and their three sons ,

S hem Ham and J aph eth ( born

, ,
and their
w ives are preserved alive
,
Commencement of the .

flood on the 1 7 th day of the 2 nd month 1 6 5 6 E nd , .

of the flood on th e 2 7 th day of the 2 nd month 1 6 5 7 , .

N oah o ffers a thank offering Th e rainbow Th e -

. .

year is divided i nto t w elve m onths and each month ,

into thir ty days N oah cultivates the ground and

.

plants vineyards ; he curses Ham and blesses S hem ,

and J aph eth .

S EC O ND PE RIO D .

F ro m th e F l o o d t o A b r ah am .

Th edescendants of the sons of N oah scatter them

selves over the whole earth ( S ee page .

Building of the tower of Babel Founding of the .

kingdom of Babel by N imrod Founding of the .

k ingdom of Assyria capital N ineveh Th e Canaan

,
.

ites ( Phoenicians ) inh abit P alestine from S idon to

Gaza and S odom .

Th e ten generations from S hem to A braham °

’
S hem N oah s son born 1 5 5 8 died aged 6 00 in
, , ,

2 1 58 .

’
A rphaxad , Shem s son born ,
1 65 8, died aged 43 8
in 2 09 6 .

’
S alah , Arph axad s son born
, 1 6 9 3, died aged 43 3
in 2 1 26 .
4 J EWI SH H ISTORY [ SECO ND
’ '

Eber, S alah s s on born ,

1 7 2 3, died aged 46 4 in
2187 .

’
P eleg , Eber s son born ,
1 757, died aged 2 39 in
1 996 .

’
R eu, Pel e s g son born ,
1 7 8 7, died aged 2 39 in
2 02 6 .

’
S erug , R eu s son born ,
1 8 1 9, died aged 2 3 0 in
2 049 .

’
N ah or ,
S erugs son born ,
1 8 49 , died aged 1 48 in
1 9 97 .

’
T erah , N ahor s son born ,
1 878, died aged 2 05 in
2 08 3 .

’
Abram ( Abraham ) ,
T erah s son born ,
1 9 48 in Ur
of the Chaldees .

TABLE O F NAT I O NS ( Genesis x ) .

I — J APH E TH ( E urop e )
.

G o m er. M ago g M ad ai .J avan Tub al M esh c h

. . . e . Tiras .

I
h
As k enaz . R ijath . To garm a h . l h h
E is a . Tars is h h . K ittim . D o d anim .

II .
-
HAM ( Africa) .

Miz raim . P hut . C anaan .

L udim . S id o n .

Anam im . H eth .

L eh ab im . J c h usi .

N aph tuh im . Am o ri .

P ath rusim . G irgasi .

C asl ub im ( fro m w h o m H ivi .

th e P h il istines w ere Arki .

d esc en ded ) . S ini .

C aph to rim . Arread i .

Z em ari .

H am ath i .
PE RI O D .
] AN D LITERATURE . 5

III — S E E M ( Asia) .

El am . Asshur . Arph axad . Lud . Aram .

S alah .

Uz . H ul . G eth er . Mash .

Eb er .

l
P eleg . J o ktan .

Th e three sons of T erah are : Abram N ah or , ,

H aran the latter dies young in the land of his

birth —U r of the Chaldees .

Abram marries S arai ( born and N ahor

marries Mil cah the daughter of H aran .

T erah j ourneys towards Canaan with Abram L ot ,

the son of H aran and his family and d ies in Haran

, ,

( 2 08 3)

TH IRD PE RI O D .

’
F ro m A b r ah am to J ac o b s M i grat i o n
int o E gyp t .

’
Abram leaves his father s dwelling in Haran ( 2 02 3)
and j ourneys to Canaan with his wife and L ot his ,
’
brother s son He traverses the land southward and
.
,

builds altars in Beth el and S ichem In consequence

-
.

of a famine he goes for a time to Egypt whence

, ,

he returns greatly enriched and encamps again at ,

Beth c l -
.
6 J EWIS H H I STOR Y [m m

L ot separates himself from Abram and goes to

S odom D efe at of the kings of S odom and others in
.

the vale of S iddim by Amraph el Ched o rlaomer and , ,

o th ers L o t is taken captive and freed by Abram

.
, .

Melchizedek king of S alem ,

.

Th e covenant between the pieces D i vine pro .

mise of numerous posterity to Abraham .

Abram marries the Egyptian maidservant H agar :

her son I shmael born 2 03 4 ,
.

’ ’
Abram s name is changed to Abraham S arai s to ,

S arah T h e i nstitution of the Sign of the covenant

.
,

2 047 .

Abraham in the plains of Mamre in H ebron .

D estruction of S odom Amora Admah Zeboim L ot

, , , .

is saved his two sons are Moab and Ammon .

Abr aham removes his dwelling place to the south o f -

Cana an and lives in Gerar and afterwards at Beer

, ,

S heba I saac the son of Abraham and S arah born

.
, ,

2 048 . Banishment of H agar and I shmael Abra .

’
ham s covenant with Abimelech king of th e Phil is ,

tines Abraham is commanded to offer up I saac — an

.

angel prevents the sacrifice R enewed promise o f .

posterity .

S ar ah dies in H ebron 2 08 5 aged 1 2 7 Abraham , ,

.

purchases the cave of Machpelah in H ebron for four

hundred pieces o f S ilver as a burial place Th e ,
-
.

s teward of his house ( Eliezer ) j ourneys to H aran and

fetches thence R ebecca the d aughter of Bethuel the , ,

son of N ahor as a W ife for I saac 2 08 8

, ,
.

’
Ket urah Abraham s second wife becomes the
, ,
8 J EWISH H ISTORY [ TH IRD

of Bilhah : D an and N aphtali Th e sons of Zilpah .

Gad and Asher .

After remaining with L aban for twenty years

‘

Jacob departs from him secretly with his

wives and children his flocks and herds L aban ,
.

follows and is reconciled to him and they enter into

, ,

a covenant at Gilead .

Jacob now a rich man reconciles himself with

, ,

E sau who has forgotten his anger he purchases a

,

field at S hechem Jacob comes to Beth — el and builds .

an altar there N ear E phrath ( Bethlehem) R achel

.

gives birth to a son Benj amin and dies Th e p ill ar , , .

on her grave .

Jacob comes to H ebron to his father I saac Th e .

latter dies aged 1 8 0 in 2 2 2 8 and is buried by his ,

two sons E sau and Jacob in the cave of M achpelah

, , .

Jacob dwells in Hebron Joseph is sold by his .

brethren and is taken to Egypt 2 2 1 6 Ph arez and , .

Z arah th esons of Judah and T amar

,
.

’
Joseph in Potiphar s house and afterwards in ,
’
prison At the age of thirty he interprets Pharaoh s
.

two dreams and becomes Viceroy of Egypt 2 2 2 9

, , .

His two sons Manasseh and E phraim , .

’
Joseph s brethren come to Egypt to buy corn ,

22 36 Jacob and his whole family numbering

.
,

seventy souls j ourney to Egypt and settle in the

,

la nd of Goshe n .
PE RI O D ] . AND LITER A TURE . 9

F O U RT H PE RI O D .

Th e I s r ae li t e s in E gyp t .

Jacob dies in 2 2 5 5 aged 1 47 seventeen years , ,

after coming to E gypt his body is embalmed taken ,

to Canaan , and buried in the cave o f Machpelah .

Joseph dies in 2 3 09 aged 1 1 0 L evi dies aged 1 3 7

,
.
,

his three sons are Gershon Kohath and Merari , ,

.

Th e I sraelites become exceedingl y numerous Th e .

E gyptians compel them to hard labour 3 they build

Pithom ( Thum Path um as) and R aamses ( after w ards
,

Hero H ero p o l is)

, .

Th e sons of Kohath are : Am ram Tz h ar H ebron , , ,

and U zziel Miriam daughter o fAm ram and J o c h eb ed

.
,

Aaro n h er brother born 1 5 7 8 before the Christi an era

, , ,
.

Th e king o f Egyp t commands the I sraelitish mid

wives S hiphrah and Puah to kill all the new born -

sons o f the I srae li tes S hiphrah and Puah being .

,
’
God fearing women disobey the king s command
-

,
.

Th e king thereupon orders all new born m ale chil -

dren to be thrown into the Nile .

Moses son of Amram and J o c h eb ed is born 1 5 7 5

, ,
.

At the age of three months his mother lays him in

an ark on the banks of the N ile where he is found ,
’
by the king s d aughter an d brought up as her son .

When grown to manhood he kills an E gyptian and

escapes to Midian where he marries Zipporah the
, ,

daughter of the priest Jethro His sons Gershom .

,

and E liezer .
10 J EWISH H ISTORY [ FI FT H

I n obedience to the divine command Moses returns

to Egypt ; in co nj unction with Aaron he announces to
the I sraelites th eir coming deliverance and demands ,

of the king to all o w the I sraelites to depart ( T h e

fl
.

’
king s capital Zoan ( Tanis) in L ower Egypt ) Pharaoh
,
.

refuses to allow them to depart Th e ten plagues . .

T h e departure of the I sraelites from Egypt on the

1 5 th day of the 1 st month 1 49 5 Th e paschal o er
, .
-

ing T h e feast of unleavened bread Th e I sra elites

. .

j ourney south eastw ards from R aamses to S uccoth

-

thence to E tham thence south westwards back to

,
-

Pi— h ahiro th over against B aal zephon ( not far from

,
-

what is now S uez ) by the R ed S ea T hey pass

,
.

thro ugh the sea in which the Egyptians pursuing

, ,

after them are destroyed

, .

F IF TH PE R I O D .

Th e I s r ae li t e s in t h e D e s e rt , 1 49 5 - 1 45 5 .

Fro m the R ed S ea the I sraelites now journey to

the wilderness of S hur and come to Marah ( now the
,

well of Ain H amara) thence they proceed to the

,

oasis of E lim ( now W adi G urund el) ; and on the 1 5 th

day o f the 2 nd month they come int o the wilderness
of Sin between Elim and S inai Th e manna is given
,
.

them for food They are forbidden to collec t it on

.

the S abbath .

From the wilderness of Sin they j ourney to

R ephidim where water is brought out o f the rock
,
PE RI O D ]
. AN D LITERA TURE . 11

( Massah and Meribah ) and where Joshua

, repulses
the attack of the Amaleki tes Jethro brings Moses .

his w ife and children T h e appointment of j udges

. .

O n th e l st day of the 3 rd month th e I sraelites

come into the w ilderness of S inai R evelation at .

S inai ( H oreb ) T h e ten commandments

. Moses .

remains on the m ount forty days during which time ,

Aaron and Hur take his place in the camp Th e .

worship of the golden calf Moses punish es the .

transgressors and returns to the mount where he ,

again remains for forty days Th e two tables of the .

testimony .

Building of the tabernacle under Bezaleel and

Aholiab Completion and dedication of the taber
.

nael e on the 1 St day of the 1 st month 1 4 9 4 Aaron ,

.

and his sons appointed to the priesthood D eath of .

N adab and Abihu Celebration of the Passover

. .

Th e people are numbered on the 1 st day of the

2 nd month Th e males of twenty years old and
.

upwards number besides the L evites of one

month old and upwards who are counted separately , ,

and number
D eparture from S inai on the 2 0th day of the 2 nd
month After three days they reach the wil derness
.

of Paran T aberah ( place of burning ) and Kib ro th

.

h attaav ah ( graves of those w h o lusted ) T hence to .

Hazeroth in the wilderness of Paran S edition of

'

A aron and Miriam against Moses T welve men are .

sent to search out the land Unsuccessful attempt of .

a portion of the people to enter into Canaan .

12 J EW ISH H ISTORY [m m

Places where the I sraelites e ncamped after Hazer

oth R ithmah R immon p arez L ibnah R issah Kehe
,
-

, , ,

l ath ath Mount S hapher H aradah Makheloth T ahath

, , , , ,

T arah Mithcah H ashmonah Moseroth Bene j aakan

, , , ,
-

Ho r h agidgad J o tb ath ah Ebronah E z io n gaber and

-
, , ,
-

finally Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin where they

, ,

e ncamp for some considerable time .

R ebellion of Korah and his followers D eath of .

Miriam Moses and Aaron sin at Meribah

. the
w aters of

Moses sends messengers to the king o f E dom ,

asking permissio n to pass through his land He .

refuses as does also the king of M oab As both

, .

these kingdoms and also Ammon are to be sp ared

, , ,

the I sraelites have to go a long distance out of their

direct ro ad T hey pass along the borders of E dom
.

e ast w ard to Mount H o r Aaron dies on the 1 st day .

o f the 5 th month 1 45 6 His son Eleaz ar becomes

, .

high priest in his stead .

T h e Cana anite king of Arad fe aring that the ,

I sraelites w ill enter Can aan from the south attacks ,

them but is defeated They the n go northwards

,
.
,

east of Mount S eir to Zalmonah Punon Ab o th , , , ,

Ije abarim on the border o f Moab

-
,
then over the
brook Zared and to the Arnon on the border of ,

M oab E ncampments at Beer Mattanah N ahaliel

.
, , ,

D ibon— gad Almon Dib l ath aim

,
T hen to Mount
,
.

Pisgah .

From Kedemoth Moses sends messengers to S ihon

, ,

king of th e Amorit es in H eshbon to ask for permis ,

PE RI O D ] . AN D LITER A TURE . 13

sion to pass through his land O n his refusal he is .

,

d efeated at Jahaz ; his kingdom is conquered also ,

the province of Jaaz er O g king o f Bashan comes .

, ,

out to battle against the I sraelites 5 he is defeated at

E drei and his kingdom conquered
,
T h e I sraelites .

encamp in the plain s of Moab opposite Jericho to , ,

the east of Jordan from Beth jesim o th to Abel ,

-

shittim Balak and Balaam

. .

T h e Midianites t e mpt the I sraelites to idolatry .

A great pestilence Zeal of Phinehas the son o f .

,

E leazar W ar against Midian

. Five princes o f .

Midian and Balaam are slain .

Moses and E leazar number the people O f m ales .

of twenty years old and upwards ther e are ,

besides the L evi tes ( counted separately ) of a month

old and upwards who number ,

Moses appoints Joshua as his successor as he ,

hi m self is not to enter the promised land ; and at

the request of R euben Gad and half the tribe of , ,

Manasseh he allo ts to them the districts on the east

,

side of Jordon the conquest o f which is completed

, .

I n the plains o f Moab on the 1 st day of the 1 1 th ,

month Moses begins to address to the I sraelites

,

admonitions repetitions and supplements to th e law

, , .

H e gives the law to the priests teaches the people ,

his great song blesses each of the tribes and goes

, ,

up into the mo unt N ebo T hence he surveys the .

land o f Canaa n and dies aged 1 2 0 in 1 45 5 T h e

, , , .

I sraelites mourn fo r him fo r thir ty days : his sepul chre

is unkno w n unto this day .
14 J EWISH H ISTORY [ S I X TH

S IX T H PE RI O D .

F ro m e nt e ring C an aan t o t h e e s t ab li sh m e nt
o f t h e M o n ar c h y .

Joshua enters on his office he sends spies to

Jericho and prepares to pass over Jordan
, Th e .

I sraelites pass over Jordan in the spring of 1 45 5 .

E ncampment in Gilgal Celebrati o n of the Passover

. .

Fall of Jericho T h e S in and pu nishment of Ac h an

. .

Conquest o f Ai Th e Gibeonites are spared and

.
,

appoin ted to be hewers of wood and drawers of

water for the house of God .

D efeat of five kings o f Jerusalem H ebro n , ,

J arm uth L achish an d Eglon— at Gibeon Th e sun

, , .

stands still at the prayer of Joshua Th e conquest .

of Makkedah L ibnah L achish Eglon D ebir and all

, , , , ,

th e midland portion of Canaan Th e camp is still at .

Gilgal .

T h e kings in the north of Canaan unite agai nst

Joshua under the leadership of the king of H azor
,
.

They are defeated by the waters o f Merom and their ,

l and is taken .

Joshua divides the land ( of which some districts ,

especiall y in the south west and north west are still

- -

unconquered ) by lot among the n ine and a half tribes .

Judah in the south the half tribe o f Manasseh in the

, ,

nort h and Ephraim in the midland have already

, ,

conquered their portions For the other seven tribes

.
,

Joshua sends out from S hiloh (Where the tabernacle

16 J EWISH H ISTORY [ SI X TH

to be felt Th e remnants of th e Canaanite tribes

.
,

especially those in the plains tempt the I sraelites to ,

idolatry and get th e upperh and here and there

,
.

In times of need different individuals arise and put

,

themselves at the head of one or several tribes .

They are called the Judges .

A portion of the tribe of D an conquers S ec h em

( a f terwards D an ) in,
the north of Canaan .

Chushan rish ath aim king of Mesopotamia makes

-
, ,

the I sraelites pay him tribute for eight years .

O thniel co nquers him Th e land has rest forty

.

years .

S hameful crime in Gibeah W ar of th e other .

tribes against Benj amin 3 the latter is almost com

p l et el y destroyed Phinehas
. is high priest T h e .

ark of the covenant 1 s m Beth c l -

.

E glon king of Moab allied with Ammon and

, ,

Amalek harasses I srael for eighteen years E hud

,
.

assassi nates E glon puts him self at the head of

,

E phraim and defeats the Moabites

,
Th e land has .

rest for eighty years .

Shamgar the son of Anath defeats the Philistines

, ,
.

Jab 1 n the Canaanite king in H azor oppresses the

, ,

I sraelites for twenty years S isera the captain of .

,

his host D eborah a prophetess dwelling between

.
, ,

R amah and Beth e] judges I srael at tha t time

-
,
Sh e .

encourages Barak th e son of Ab inaam of Kedesh

,

naphtali to take the lead U nder the command of

, .

D eborah and Barak the tribes of Zebulon and ,

N aphtali unite with W est Manasseh Ephraim and , ,

P E RI O D ]
. AND LITER A TURE . 17

Benj amin S isera is completely defeated at Megiddo

.
,

by the river Kishon 5 he escapes by flight but is ,

assassinated by Jael the wife of H eber the Kenite,

.

T h e power o f H azor is overthrown I srael has rest .

for forty ye ars .

Midian oppresses I srael fo r seven years Gideon .

o ash in Aphrah of the fam ily o f

( J erub b aal
) son ,
of J ,

Abi— ez rite of the tribe of W est Manasseh places him ,

self at t h e head of his tribe and defeats the Midianites

with the help of Asher Zebulun an d N aphtali in the , , ,

plain o f J ez reel W ith the help of E phraim he

.
,

drives them over the Jordan pursues them by way ,

of S uccoth an d Penu el and defeats them again to the ,

east of N abah and J o gb eh ah Zebah and Zalmu nna .

,

the two M idianite k ings are slain Gideon refuses ,

.

the offer made to him of assuming the hereditary

government Th e land has rest for forty years
. .

’
Gideon s seventy sons .

Abimelech son of G ideon lets himself be made

, ,

king of S hechem and kills his brothers of whom

, ,

only the youngest Jotham escapes ,

After three , .

years S hechem rebels and is destroyed by Abime ,

l e ch he himself falls at the S iege of T hebez .

T ola the son o f P uah of the tribe of I ssachar dwell

, , ,

ing in Shamir j udges I srael for twenty thre e years

,
-
.

Jair a Gileadite j udges I srael twenty two years

, ,
-
.

T h e Philis tin es and Ammonites harass I srael for

eighteen years the Ammonites cross the Jordan and
attack the tribes of Judah Benj amin and Ephraim , , .

T h e I sraelites assemble in Mizpeh .

C
18 J E W IS H H I STORY [ SI X TH

J epth ah ,
the Gileadite is chosen as their leader
, .

After fruitless negotiations with the king of

Ammon war commences and the Ammonites are ,
’
completely defeated J epth ah s vow He humbles
. .

the tribe of E phraim H e reigns six years . .

I bzan of B e thlehem j udges I srael seven years .

( Boaz and R uth in Bethlehem ) .

E lon of the tribe of Zebulun ten years

,
Abdon ,
.
,

the son of H illel a Pirathonite eight years

, , .

T h e southern tribes are oppress e d by the Philis

tines S amson son of Manoah of the tribe of D an
.
, , ,

j udges I srael twenty years His gigantic strength . .

After many success ful achievements he is taken ,

prisoner by the treachery of D alilah His heroic .

death .

Eli and his tw o sons H ophni and Phinehas are

, ,

p riests in S hiloh S amuel the son o f E lkanah and

.
,

H annah is brought up by S amuel for the priest

,

hood .

Th e Philistines defeat the I sraelites at Aphek and ,

the latter fetch the ark of the covenant from S hiloh .

Th e I sraelites are again defeated H ophni and ,

Phinehas are slai n an d the ark of the covenant falls

,

into th e hands of t h e Philistines E li dies on hear .

ing the news of the defeat aged ninety eight years ,

-
.

I chabod the son of Phinehas is born

, ,
.

I n consequence of various plagues by which they

are visited the Philistines send back the ark of the
,

covenant the in h abitants of K irj ath Jearim carry it -

from Beth shemesh to the house o f Abinadab

-
.
PER I OD ] . AN D LITERA TURE . 19

S amuel judges I srael T h e assembly of the people

.

and the sacrifices in Mizpeh T h e I sraelites defe at .

the Philistines and recover their lost territories

, .

’
S amuel s yearly circuits to Beth el Mizpeh and -
, ,

Gilgal His dwelling in R amah : he builds an al tar

.

there S chools for the prophets

. .

’
S amuel s sons Joel and Abij ah judges in Beer
, ,

S heba are
,
unlike their father Th e I sraelites .

demand of S amuel to appoint them a king S amuel .

resists in vain ; at last he anoint s S aul the son of ,

Kish and presents him to the people assembled at

,

Mizpeh .

S E V E NTH PE RIO D .

Th e T h r e e K i ngs : S au l , D av i d , S o lo m o n .

S aul ,at first only recognised by a portion of the

kingdom soon wins univ ersal homage by his resolute
,

d eliverance of Jabesh Gilead which is besieged by-

the Ammonites R enewal of the king d om in G ilgal

. .

S amuel lays down his O ffice .

S aul has a standing army of 3 000 men S uccess .

ful wars of S aul an d his son Jonathan against the

Philist ines who had deprived th e I sraelites of their
,

weapons Ah iah son of Ahitub priest at S hiloh

.
, ,
.

’
S aul s successful wars against Moab Ammon E dom , , ,

Aram Gobah and Am alek whose people he almost

‘

, ,

entirely des troys and whose king Agag is slain

, , , .

S amuel withdraws him self from S aul and ,

20 J EWISH H ISTORY [ S E V E N TH

anoints instead of him D avid the son of Jesse of ,

the tribe of Judah in Bethlehem born 1 08 8 , ,

.

S aul b ecomes melancholy D avid who is a skilful ,

harp player is sent to cheer him with his music

-

,
.

Th e Philistine camp between S hochoh and

Azekah in E phes d am m im
,
D avid slays the giant
-
.

Goliath D efeat and flight of the Philistines

. .

Jonathan m akes a covenant o f friendship with

D avid Th e great deeds of the latter increase h is
.

fame and excite the jealousy of S aul After a

'

perilo us enterprise D avid receives the hand o f ,

Michal th e daughter of S aul

,
.

’
D avid escapes from S aul s repeated attacks on his
-

life fir st to S amuel in R amah then — being warned

, ,

by Jonathan against returning to S aul — to th e pri e s t

Ahi m elech in No b who provides him with food and
'

arms and t hence to Achish

,
king of Gath H ere ,
.

also he finds himself in danger and escapes only by ,

feigning ma d ness He next seeks refuge in the cave

.

of Adullam where he is j oined by his family and

, ,

collects a band o f 400 m en H e places his parents .

in safety with the king of Moab then by the ,

advice of the prophet G ad he betakes himself to the ,

wooded districts in the south of Judah Joab .

,

Abishai and Asahel the sons of Zeruiah the sister

, , ,

of D avid are among his boldest adherents

, .

L ed by the information o f D oeg the E domite S aul ,

takes vengeance on Ahimelech and all his house ;

only the youngest Abiathar escapes to D avi d Whom
, , ,

S aul pursues and persecutes more and more D avi d .

,
PE RI O D ]
. AND LITER A TURE . 21

after re scuing Kei lah in Judah from th e Philistines ,

who were plundering it flies before S aul to the ,

‘

wilderness of Ziph to Maon and to E n gedi ; he

, ,
-

escapes from him w ith the utmost difficulty but ,

shows great generosity when S aul in his turn is in

his power I n Maon D avid marries Abigail the
.
, ,

widow of N abal after h aving already marrie d

,

Ah inoam of J ez reel .

’ ’
I n spite of S aul s persecutions D avid s band of ,

followers incre ases to 6 00 ( by reinforcements from

Gad Judah and Benj am in ) and with these he pro
, , ,

te ets the southern districts from the attacks of the

Philistines Amale k ites etc At last he goes to
‘

.
, ,

Achish king of Gath who assigns to him the to w n

’

, ,

of Ziklag By taking part in a Philistine campaign

.

against S aul D avid clears himself from th e suspicion

,

with which the Philistin e lead ers regard him H e ,

.

avenges himself on the Amalekites who in his ,

absence have plundered Ziklag and divides his rich ,

spoil among the cities of Judah .

D efeat and death of S aul and his three sons o n .

M ount G ilboa ; almost the whole of the north and

central part of th e country is in the hands of the
Ph ilistines Abner escapes with Ish b o sh eth the
.
-

son of S aul to Mahanaim on the other side of

, ,

Jordan .

D avid is chosen k ing of the tribe of Judah and ,

takes H ebron for his dwelling place 1 05 8 -

, .

After several years of warfare between the

followers of Ish b o sh eth and those of D avid during
-

,
22 J EWISH H I STORY [ S E V EN T H

which Asahel is killed by Abner the latter offended , ,

by Ish b o sh eth goes over to D avid s side Joab

-
,
’
.

murders Abner to avenge the death of Asahel .

D avid mourn sfor Abner .

After I sh b o sh eth h as been m urdered by two

-

Benjamites D avi d is m ade king over all I srael 1 05 1

, , .

He conqu ers Jerusalem and takes up his abode

there Tyrian workmen build him a palace there
. .

After establishing his sovereignty by successful

wars against the Philistines D avid fetches the ark o f ,

the covenant from the house of Abinadab to bring ,

it in solemn procession to Jerusalem I n consequence .

of the misfortune that befalls U zzah he leaves the ,

ark for three months in the house of O bed edom -

after which he brings it into Zion with great rej oicing

and festivity H e gives up his plan of building a
.

tem ple at the bidding of the prophet N athan but ,

collects treasure for that purpose consisting prin ,

ci a
p yl l of the spoil taken in war A rrangements for .

divin e service Th e psalms of D avid

. .

Moab and Ammon become tributary ; the S yria n

districts Zobah and D amascus are conquered after
, ,

severe struggles in which Joab an d Abish ai dis

,
’
tinguish themselves D avid s sovereignty extends
.

from th e E uphrates t o the R ed S ea D avid .

’
maintain s Mephibosheth Jonathan s lame son ,
.

D avid sins against U riah and Bathsheba his

penitence S olomon son of D avid and Bathsheba
.
, ,

born 1 03 6
Joab is the commander of the host J eh o sh aph at is ,
24 J EWISH H I STORY [ SE V E N TH

J eb usite on Mount M oriah and builds an altar

, ,

there .

I n his extre m e old age his son Adonij ah assisted , ,

by J c ab and Abiathar attempts to seize the throne , .

D avid immediately has his son S olomon proclaimed

king by N athan Zadok and Benaiah Adonij ah is
, , .

temporarily pardoned .

D avid dies at the age of seventy in 1 01 8 .

S olomon puts to death Adonij ah J c ab and , ,

S himei the son of Gera and deprives Abiathar of his

, ,

o ffice He marries the daughter o f the king of E gyp t

. .
.

’
M agnific enc e of S olo m on s co urt H e builds .

splendid palaces H is wisdom (

. Proverbs and .

S ongs o f S olomon ) H is riches H e makes a league

. .

with H iram king of Tyre Th e latter is to supply

,
.

him with cedar and cypress wood while he is to ,

furnish H iram with corn and oil .

Th e building o f the temple ; it is begun 48 0

years after the departure from E gypt in the 2 nd ,
’
month of the 4th year of S olom o n s reign
and finished in the 8 th month of the 1 1 th year Th e .

utensils are made by Hir am son of a m an of Tyre , ,

and a wom an of th e tribe o f N aphtali .

A solemn feast of fourteen days in the 7 th month ,

1 007 at the consecration of the temple

,
.

S olomon builds himself a splendid palace and a

large arsenal His ships sail from E z io n geber to
.
-

O phir H orses are brou g

. ht to him from Egypt .

Th e queen of S heba visits S olomon ; they exchange

rich gifts .
P E RI O D ] . AND LITERA TURE . 25

’
S olomon s numerous wives ; they tempt him to
idolatry Signs of disco ntent among the p e ople
. .

Th e prophets I ddo and Ah ij ah ( in S hiloh ) D isturb .

an o es in Syria H adad rebels in E dom .

Jerobo am the son o f N ebat of the tribe of

, ,

Ephraim whom S olomon has made ruler over the

,

charge o f the house of J o seph is suspected of

’

rebellion and persecuted by S olomon He escapes

,
.

to S hishak ki ng o f Egypt ,
.

S olomon dies 9 7 8 after h aving reigned forty

years .

After his death J ero b o am returns from Egypt ,

places himself at the head of the disaffected and ,

calls on R ehoboam the son of S olomon to lesse n, ,

their burdens and taxes R ehoboam scornfully re .

“ ”
fuses and the northern tribes ( the ten tribes )
,

rebel against the house of D avid and make J ero b o am

king Jud ah and Benj amin remain faithful to
.

R ehoboam Th e division of the kingdom

. .

E IG H TH PE RIO D .

T h e K ingd o m s O f J u d ah and I s r ael .

A . T h e K i ngd o m O f I s rael ( Th e T e n T ri b es ) ,

9 7 8 -7 2 0 .

1Jeroboam ( 9 7 8 9 5 6 ) fo rtifies Shechem and

.
-
,

makes it his capital ; he sets up golden calves in

D an and Beth e] in order to prevent his subj ects
-
,
26 J EWISH H ISTORY [ E IG HTH

from go ing to sacrifice at Jerusalem ; h e institutes a

new feast and makes priests not of the tribe of L e v i .

W arnings of an unnamed prophet and of Ahij ah in

S hilo h whom Jeroboam consults respecting the ill
,

ness o f his son Abij ah .

2 N adab ( 9 5 6
. son o f J ero b o am is murder e d ,

after a reign of barely two years by Baasha of the ,

tribe of I ssachar L ong siege o f the Philistine city

.

Gibbethon .

3 Baash a( 9 5 5
. son of Ahij ah becomes king
.
, ,

destroys the whole house o f Jeroboam and estab ,

lishes himself at T irzah H e makes war against .

Asa king of Judah at whose instigation Ben had ad

, ,
-

king of S yria in D amascus ravages the no r thern pro ,

vinces so that Baasha is obliged to retreat Th e

, .

'

prophet Jehu son o f H a nani ,

.

4 E lah ( 9 3 2
. the son o f Baasha is murdered ,

in the second year of his reign by Zimri captain of ,

his chariots who destroys the whole house of

,

Baasha .

5 Zimri
. aft er a reign of seven days is ,

besieged in T irzah b y Amri whom the army under , ,

his command at th e siege of Gibbethon has pro ,

claimed king Zimri sets fire to the palace and

.

perishes in the flam es .

6 T ib ni in opposition to Amri soon dies

.
, , .

7 Amri ( 9 3 1 9 1 9 ) purchases the hil l S amaria of

.
-

S hemer builds thereon th e town o f S amaria

,

and makes it his capital H e conquers cities in .

Damascus .
P E RI O D ] . AN D LITER A TURE . 27

8 . Ahab son o f Amri marries Jezebel

( 9 1 9 , ,

daughter o f E thbaal k ing of Zidon and introduces , ,

th e worship o f Baal into the kingdo m Jezebel per .

sec utes the prophets S ummer palace in J ez reel .

-
.

Hiel o f Beth el rebuilds Jericho Th e prophet E lij ah

-
.
,

the Tishbite prophesies to Ahab lo ng continued ,

-

drought and takes refuge in the valley o f Cherith

, ,

then in Zarephath near Zidon in the house of a , ,

widow W hose son he restores to life I n the third

, .

year he return s to Ah ab Great j udgment on the .

prophets o f Baal on Mount Carmel E lij ah escapes .

to B eer S heba and thence to H oreb O n his return

-

,
.

from H oreb Elisha son of Shaphat j oins him as his

, , ,

disciple W ar between Ahab and Ben hadad kin g o f

.
-
,

Syria D efeat of the latter at Aphek

. Ahab makes .

peace with Ben hadad A hab causes N aboth to be -

.

stoned to get possession of his vineyard in J ez reel

, .

Jehoshaphat allies himself with Ahab in order to ,

take R am oth gilead from the S yrians Th e prophet

-
.

Micaiah son of I mlah Ahab is wounded in battle

, .
,

carried dying to S amaria and buried there Moab , .

frees itself .

9 Ahaziah ( 8 9 7
. son of Ahab an d like him ,

a follower o f Baal falls out of a high window and ,

dies of his inj uries .

1 0 Jehoram ( 8 9 5
. brother of Ah aziah re ,
,

no unc es th e worship of Baal E lij ah takes leave of .

E lisha who is now the acknowledged head of the

,
'

prophets Jehoram allied with Jehoshaphat ki ng

.

, ,

of Judah and with the king of E dom goes to w ar

, ,
28 J EWISH H ISTORY [ E IG HTH

against Moab E lisha and th e S hunammite woman

. .

N aaman the captain of the Syrian host is healed of

, ,
’
his leprosy Elisha s other miracles
. Ben hadad .
-

b es ieges S amaria ; the inhabitants suffer grievously

from famine until the S yrian army seized by a
, ,

sudden panic takes to flight E lisha in D amascus

,
. .

H azael murders Ben hadad and ascends the throne of -

S yria : he harasses I srael with war J c horam is .

wounded in the battle of R amoth gilead and slain in -

J ez reel by Jehu the captain of his host whom one of, ,

’
the disciples of E lisha had at the prophet s com ,

mand anointed king

, .

1 1 Jehu ( 8 8 3
. son of N imshi puts to death ,

Jezebel the whole house of Ahab all the priests and

, ,

p rophets of Baal and completely extirpates the ,

worship of Ba al H azael conquers the districts e ast.

of Jordan .

1 2 Jehoahaz ( 8 5 5
. son of Jehu is like his , ,

father beset by H azael and his successor Ben hadad

,
-
.

T h e army of I srael numbers only 5 0 horsemen 1 0 ,

chariots and ,
foot soldiers T owards the .

end o f his reign the state of things improves a ,

little
.

1 3 Jehoash ( 8 38
. son of Jehoahaz defeats ,

Am aziah king o f Judah at Beth Shemesh enters

, ,
-

Jerusalem the walls of which he partly destroys and

, ,

carries away much spo il E lisha dies greatly .

,

lamented by the k in g J eh o ash regains a portion ,

of the provinces conquered by the Syrians Th e .

prophet Jonah son of Amittai of Gath hepher , ,

-
.
PE RI O D ] . AND LITER A TURE . 29

14 J eroboam I I ( 8 2 2
. son of J eh o ash con
.
,

quers D amascus and H amath and restores the coast ,

of I srael He numbers the people in the recon

.

quered provinces east of Jordan A great earth .

quake Th e prophets H osea and Amos denounce

.

wantonness and luxury the worship of Baal and , ,

other idolatrou s practices Amos is compelled to .

escape to Judah .

( An interregnum of nearly ten y ears ) .

1 5 Zachariah
. so n of J ero b o am is murdered , ,

after a reign of six months by ,

’
1 6 Shallum son of Jabesh who after a month s
.
, , ,

reign is in his turn murdered by

,

1 7 Menahem ( 7 7 1
. son of G adi of Tir
zah . H e establishe s his kingdom by the help
of Pul king of A ssyria who enters the country
, ,

and lays a heavy tribute on the people L aw .

lessness and violence gain the upper hand in the

kingdom Th e provinces east of Jordan are taken
.

by Judah .

1 8 Pekahiah ( 7 6 1 7
. son of Menahem is mur -
,

dered by
1 9 Pekah ( 7 5 9 7
. son of R emaliah who allies
-

himself with R ezin king of S yria and makes war , ,

against Judah whic h he devastates for man yyears

, ,

without h o wever succeeding in taking Jerusalem

, , .

Th e prophet Ad ed T h e king of Judah Ahaz calls

.
, ,

in the aid of Tigl ath pil eser king of Assyria w h o -

, ,

conquers the provinces east of Jordan as well as the ,

north part of th o se west of Jordan and carries away ,

30 J EWISH H ISTORY [ E IG HTH

the inhabitants captive Pekah is murdered by .

H oshea .

2 0 H oshe a ( 7 2 0
. son of Elah becomes tribu ,

tary to Shalmaneser king of A ssyria but as he ,

secretly allies himself with S o king of Egypt Shal , ,

m aneser takes him prisoner subdues S amaria after a ,

’
three years siege and carries away the inhabitants
,

to the Assyrian and Median provinces .

End of the kingdom o f I srael .

'

I n the room of the captive inhabitants E sar ,

haddon king of Assyria brings settlers from Babylon

, , ,

Cuthah and other places to the land of I srael At

, , .

their request he sends them an I sraelitish priest who ,

teaches in Beth el Thus they found a religion con

-
.

sisting partly of heathenism and partly of the I srael

’
ites knowledge o f God Th e S amaritans . .

B . T h e K i ngd o m o f J u d ah , 9 8 7 - 5 8 6 .

1 R ehoboam (
son of S olomon at the
9 7 8
~

.
,

instigation of the prophet S hemaiah desists from ,

attempting to subdue th e ten tribes by force of arms .

Although he fo rtifies a number of towns in the south

west O f Judah S hishak king of Egypt enters Jeru
, , ,

salem ( 9 7 3 ) and plunders the treasures of the temple

and o f the royal palace I dolatry and corruption in .

Judea H ostilities with J ero b o am

. .

2 Abij am ( 9 6 1
. son of R ehoboam idolatrous ,

like his father d ies after an inglorious reign

, .

3 Asa . son of Abij am removes idolatry ,

and replenishes the temple treasure Zerah the king .

,
32 J EWISH H ISTORY [ E IG HTH

relationship with Ahab prepares the way for the

worship of Baal which rapidly increases in the king
,

d o m Afte r an inglorious reign Jehoram dies of a

.
,

painful disease .

6 Ahaziah
. son of Jehoram takes part in ,

the war carried on by J eh o ram king of I srael against , ,

H azael king of Syria

,
H e visits J c horam who is .
,

wounded and is slai n in S amaria with forty two of

, ,
-

his brothers by Jehu , .

7 Athaliah ( 8 8 2
. mother of Ahaziah usurps ,

the government and puts to death all the males of

,

the family of Ahaziah Th e only one s aved is J o ash .

,

his infant son who is secretly brought up by Jeh o sh a

,

beath the sister of Ahazi ah After six years the

,
.
,

high priest Jehoiada presents J C ash to the soldiers of

the guard and enters into a conspiracy with them
, ,

by means of which he succeeds in putting Athaliah

to death and proclaimn J o ash king .

8 Joash ( 8 6 5
. son of Ahaziah ascends the ,

throne at the age o f seven J eh o iad a governs in his .

name Complete uprooting of the Baal worship

. .

S olemn covenant between the king and his peop l e .

R epairs in the temple L aws for the payment of .

temple dues and offerings Joash remains faithful .

to the worship of God during the life of J eh o iad a ,

but after his death he permits t h e introduction of

various forms of idolatry and orders Zechariah the , ,

son of J eh o iad a to be stoned in the court of th e

, ,

temple H azael h av ing c o nquered Gath threatens

.
,
‘

to march upon Jerusalem but J o ash induces him to ,

P ER I O D ] . AN D LITER A TURE . 33

withdraw by bribes of gifts from the temple treasures .

After a reign of forty one years Joash is murdered -

by conspirators Th e prophet Joel describes a plague

.

of locusts .

9 Amaziah ( 8 3 6
. son o f Joash punishes his ,
’
father s mur d erers defeats the E domites is defeated
, ,

by Joash king of I srael and compelled to make a

, ,

disgraceful peace ; and is finally slain by conspirators ,

who foll owed him t o L achish .

1 0 U z z iah ( 8 07 7
. son of Amaziah energetic -

and prudent though only sixteen years of age at his

,

accession to the th rone defeats E dom conquers E loth , , ,

and rebuilds tha t important seaport H e subdues .

the Mehunims de feats the Philistines and destroys

, ,

the walls of Gath A shdod and Jab neh He , , .

strengthens the fortifications of Jerusal em builds ,

fortresses in different parts of the country found s ,

‘

halting places and cisterns in the desert lays out

-
,

vineyards and possess es numerous flocks and herds

, .

T h e provinces east o f J ordan become tribut ary to

him . A great earthquake in Jerusalem Th e pro .

phet A mos comes to Judea U zziah becomes leprous .

and h as to live apart the last years of his life H e .

dies after a reign of fifty two years Th e prophet

,
-
.

I saiah .

1 1 Jot h am ( 7 5 5
. son o f U zziah (who has
’
already been regent during his father s il ln ess ) in ,

creases the fortifications o f Jerusalem builds castles ,

and towers and makes the Am monites pay tribute

, .

Pekah and R ezin arm t h emse lves against Jud e a .

D
34 J EWISH H ISTORY [ E IG HTH

12 Ahaz ( 7 39
. son of Joth am introduce s ,

th e worship of M oloch and other forms of idolatry .

R ezin takes the city o f Eloth and threatens to ,

besiege Jerusal em with the help o f Pekah Ahaz .

bribes Tilgath pilneser with rich gi fts to bring an

-

army against R ezin I mitation of the altar which .

Ahaz has seen in D amascus ; other changes in the

temple Prophecies and admonitions of the prophet
.

I s aiah .

1 3 H ezeki ah ( 7 2 3
. son of Ahaz destroys all ,

the high places of idolatrous worship and also the ,

braze n serpent which Moses had made and which ,

the people had grown to worship strengthens the ,

walls of Jerusalem stops the watercourse of Gihon , ,

and brings it down to the west side of the city .

Victorious warfare against the Philistines S enna .

c h eri b king of A ssyria invades Judea takes several

, , ,

fortified places and in spite of rich pre sents from

, ,

H ezekiah sends his commander R abshakeh ag ainst

, , ,

Jerusalem Th e Assyrian army is destroyed by

.

pestilence and S ennacherib is murdered by his sons

, .

’ ’
H ezekiah s sickness I saiah s prophetic powers r e ach
.

their highest development Embassy of Bero d ac h .

baladan ki ng of Babylo n to H ezekiah Collection

, ,
.

’
of S olomon s proverbs at this time .

1 4 Manasseh ( 6 9 4
. son of H ezekiah twelve ,

years o f age on ascending the throne bloodthirsty ,

and idolatrous is long held in captivity by the king

,

of Babylon and then permitted to return to Jeru

,

salem H is penitenc e and improvement

'

. .
P E RI O D ] . AN D LITERA TURE . 35

15 . Amon ( 6 3 9 son of Manasseh is murdered ,

after a reign of two years .

1 6 Josiah ( 6 3 8
. son of Amon Th e prophets .

Zephaniah H abakkuk N ahum Jeremiah and the

, , , ,
’
prophetess H uldah After th e high priest Hilk iah s
.
-

finding th e book of the law Josiah abolishes all forms ,

of idolatrous worship an d d estroys every trace of it , ,

as well as the altar in Beth e] S olemn renewal of -

.

the covenant Celebration of the Passo ver Josiah

. .

falls at the battle of Megiddo against Pharaoh nec h o h -

king of Egyp t .

1 7 J eh o ah az
. son of Josiah is deposed ,

by Pharaoh nec h o h who taxes the land heavily

-
, .

Pharaoh nec h o h places J eh o iak im the brother of

-
,

J eh o ah az on th e throne
, .

1 8 J eh o iak im ( 6 08 5 9 7 ) is wicked and idolatrous

.
-
.

E xecution of the prophet Uriah T h e land suffers .

from the tribute exacted by th e king of E gypt and ,

from the attacks of northern and eastern trib es .

Neb uc h adnez z ar king of Babylon makes Judea trib

, ,

utary after having broken the strength of Egypt

, .

J eh o iak im after three years rebels against him

, , .

1 9 Jehoiachin
. son of Jehoiak im N ebu .

c h ad ne z z ar besieges Jerusalem J eh o iac h in submits .

him self to him and is carried away captive to Baby

,

lo n with one thousand of the principal inhabitants

,

( among them D aniel and h i

,
s companio ns and E zekiel
) ,

In h is stead N ebuchadnezzar places on the throne

2 0 Zedekiah ( 5 9 7
. formerly Mat taniah son ,
’
o f Josiah J erem iah s activity reaches its highest
.
 fl
36 J EW IS H H IST O RY 85 LITERA TURE .
[ 8TH P E RI O D .

pitch I n spite however of his urgent admonitions

.
, , ,

Zedekiah listens to atterers and false prophets and ,

is persuaded to rebel against N ebuchadnezzar Com .

m enc em ent of the siege of Jerusale m in the l 0th ,

month 5 8 8 Jeremiah is ill treated by his fellow

,
.
-

c itizens imprisoned as a traitor threatened with

, ,

death and his w riti ngs burned His scribe Baruch

,
. .

O n the 9 th day of the 4th month 5 8 6 Jeru salem is , ,

taken ; Zedekiah is seized in an attempt to escape ,

blinded and taken captive to Babylon His sons

, .

are put to death O n the 7 th day of the 5 th month

.
,

by command of N ebuzaradan captain of the guard , ,

the temple the royal palace and the principal houses

, , ,

are set on fire the walls of the city are thrown down
, ,

the high priest S eraiah is slain in Riblah and the

-

temple utensils are carried away to Babylon Th e .

larger portion of the inhabit ants are taken captive to

Babylon Jeremiah is well treated and permitted
.
,

to remain in the land Gedaliah the son of Ahikam .

, ,

is made ruler in Mizpeh by N ebuchadnezzar Many .

of th e dispersed inhabit ants including Jeremiah , ,

begin to collect themselves around h im when he is ,

murdered by I shmael the son of N eth aniah Th e ,

.

remaining people escape to Egypt against the advice

of Jeremiah whom they compel to acco m pany them
, .

End of the kingdom of Judah Commencement .

o f the Babylonian Captivi ty

 H I S T O RY O F TH E JE W S .

FR O M THE BABY L O N I AN C A PT I V IT Y T O T H E
D E S T R U C T I O N O F T HE K I N G D O M B Y T I T US .

586 B C
. .
—7 O A O
. .

F I RS T PE RIO D .

T h e J ew s u n d e r F o re i gn R u l e r s , 5 8 6 - 1 35 .

1 T h e B ab yl o ni an C ap t i v it y, 5 8 6 5 8 6
.
-
.

Th e folly O f the last king of Judah and his

advisers had led to the complete dissolution of the
kingdom . T h e greater n umber of the inhabitants
were carried away captive whole districts in Pales
,

tine lay waste and uncultivated while others were ,

seized upon by neighbouring tribes .

Th e exiles h ad portions of land given th em to

cultivate I n course of time the harsh treatment to
.

which th ey were at first subj ected became milder .

Th e prophets dwelling amongs t them did not cease

, ,

to teach and encourage them : Jeremiah in Egyp t ,

Ezekiel by the riv er Chebar and sever al unnamed,

prophets whose scattered writings have been incor

,
38 J EWI SH H I STORY [ F IR ST

p o rated with those o f the greater prophets ( I saiah

and Jeremiah ) .

After the d eath of N ebuchadnezzar J ehoiakim was ,

taken out of the prison in which he had S pent th irty

seven years and treated with kindness and consider
,

ation .I n 5 3 8 Cyrus o verthrew the Babylonian

empire and in 5 3 6 he gave permission to the Jews
,

to return to their own country .

N o trustworthy information has been preserved

respecting the inhabitants of the kingdom of I srael .

who were also carried into captivity As the greater .

number of subsequently known I sraelites belonged to

the kingdom of Judah the name of Jews for I sraelites
,

has come into use since the Babylonian captivity .

Th e distinctions of the di fferent tribes speedily dis

appeared and only the gen erations of the L evites
,

retained the knowledge of their descent .

2 Z e r u b b ab e l and J o s h u a
. T h e R e b u il ding .

o f th e T em p l e 5 3 5 5 1 6 ,
-
.

O nly a por t ion of the exiles ( about made

use of the permission to return At th eir head were .

Zerubbabel a descendant of the royal hous e and

, ,

Joshua grandson of the high priest S eraiah Cyrus

,
-
.

ordered the temple utensils that had been carried

away by the Babylonians to be handed over to them
and their fellow exiles who remained behind assisted
-
, ,

th em w ith money cattle and o fferings fo r the temple

, ,
.

In the seventh month t h ey again O ffered sacrifices

on a newly erected altar and celebrat e d th e feast of
,

tabernacles in the second year they laid the fo und a

40 J EWISH HI STORY [ FI R ST
’
queen in 47 9 ( after the king s return from Greece ) ,

the fall of H aman and the elevation of Mordecai in

4 7 4 and the instituti o n of Purim in 4 7 3
, .

I n the year 45 8 Ezra ( descended from the priestly

race) led a colony of Jews from Babylon to Palestine ,

where they arrived on the 1 st day of Ab Th e .

humane king of Persia Artaxerxes I had assis ted ,

.
,

them in various ways and had moreover endowed,

E zra with several privileges — amongst others the right

of appointing j udges accordi ng to his own will and
pleasure E zra set to work vigorously to improve
.

the condition of the young congregation and was ,

especially active in opposing the marriages with

heathen women which at that time were very ire
,

quent In an assembly on the 2 0th of Kislev he

.

succeede d in carrying the resolution that all marriages

with such women should be dissolved and that no ,

new ones should be contracted His beneficial .

ac tivity in spreading the knowledge of the M osaic

“
law gained for him the name of S opher or the ,
”
scribe and the foundation of the newly restored
,
-

congregation is rightly attributed to him .

N ehemiah the son o f H achaliah the cup bearer of

, ,
-

Artaxerxes I demanded— and received— from the

.
,
'

king leave of absence for a certai n time in order to ,

go to Jerusalem He was appointed governor of

.

Palestine and his services while holding office have

, , ,

won for him lasting approval H e came to Jeru .

salem in 444 and in spite of the opposition of the

,

S amaritans ( S anballat and others ) he succeeded in ,

P E RI O D ] . AN D LITERA TURE . 41

rebuildi ng the walls o f th e city and fortifying the ,

’
tem ple mount and the governor s house H e also
,
.

arranged that every tenth man from the surrounding

country should come and settle in Jerusalem and ,

prevailed upon the rich to give back the lands and

houses which the poorer in h abitants h ad mortgaged
to them H e returned to Persia in 4 3 3 but visited
.
,

Jerusalem again at a later period O n this occasio n .

he impressed upon the inhabitants the i m portan ce of

keeping the S abbath and avoidi ng marriages with
heathen women and arranged what dues were to be
,

paid to the priests and L evites and when the book ,

of the law was to be read to the people Malachi .

,

the last of the prophets w as a contemporary of Ezra

,

and N ehemiah .

To E z ra is asc rib ed th e transc rib ing o f th e P entateuc h fro m

th e o l d H eb rew ( Sam aritan ) c h arac ters to th o se in use at th e
present day and al so vario us o th er institutio ns and to N eh e
,

m iah th e fo und atio n o f a tem pl e l ib rary .

Th e sep aratio n b etw een th e J ew s and th e S am aritans w as

ren d ered final and ab so l ute by th e b uild ing o f th e S am aritan
t em pl e o n M o unt G eriz im in im itatio n o f th e o ne at J erusal em
, .

It w as b uil t by M anasseh so n o f J eh o iada th e h igh p riest and

, ,
-
,

so n in l aw o f S an ballat
- -
.

4 . Th e H i gh - p ri est s .

W e have no u hentic details o f the rest of the

a t

period during which Palestine was under the Persian

,

rule Th e r e established state which was of about

.
,

the same extent as the former kingdom formed a ,

part of the province of Syria and was under the ,

immediate rule of successive high priests These -

.
42 J EWISH H ISTORY [ F IR ST

were in succession from father to son : Joshua 5 3 6 ,

Jehoiakim 49 9 ; E liash ib 45 3 Jehoiada 4 1 0;

, , ,

J o c h anan 3 8 3 Jaddua 3 5 0
, , .

Th e at first scanty population of Judea was in

creased in the course of years by fresh arrivals of
returned exiles ; b esides which numerous Jewish
communities were to be found in E gypt in A sia ,

Minor etc ,
.

Th e tendency to idolatrous practices had dis

appeared all foreign elements were eliminated and
, ,

great care and attention were given to the develop

ment of religious institutions to exploring and ex ,

plaini ng traditional and transmitted precepts to ,

studying and publicly reading the Pentateuch and to ,

collecting ancient H ebrew writings This activity .

“
generally ascribed to the Men of the Great As
sem b l
y ( Anshe K enese t H a G e d-
o l a) the origin of ,

which is traced back to the time of E zra .

Th e H eb rew language grad ually assum ed an Aram aic c o l o ur

b ut w as still th e univ ersal language o f th e p eo pl e .

C o m m enc em ent o f th e M idrash Th e S o ph erim ( sc rib es)

. .

O rd inan c es fo r th e synago gues and th e rit ual date fro m th is

p erio d .

5 . A l e x an d e r th e G r e at , 3 32 . P t o l em y
L agu s , 3 2 0 .

dissolution o f the Persian e m pire by Alexander

Th e
the Great made no marked changes in the religious
and political condition of the Jews Th e fall of Tyre .

in 3 3 2 decided the fate of the whole coast Th e .

’
truth of the story of Alexander the Great s march
P E RI O D ] . AN D LITER ATURE . 43

ag ainst J erusalem and his peaceful interview with ,

the high priest is rightly considered to be extremely

-

doubtful .

Aft er th e death of Alexander Palestine became an ,

appl e of discord between Syria and E gypt during ,

the long wars amongst his co m manders who all ,

desired to succeed him Ptolemy I ki ng of Egypt . .

, ,

entered Jerusalem in 3 2 0 and carried away a large ,

number of the i nhabitants to E gypt where some ,

were sold as slaves and some entered the army , .

After the battle of Gaza Ptole m y again

visited Palestine ; many Jews voluntarily followed
him on his return to his native land High priest .
-

O nias I 3 3 0; his son S imon I 3 1 0

.
, ,
.
,
.

Commencement of the S el uc id an Era ( M injar

S c h taro t $ 1 3 c o ntrac tuum ) which remained in use
,
.
,

among the Jews for several centuries .

Th e S el euc idan E ra is red uc ed t o th e o ne rec k o ning fro m th e

C reatio n by add ing 3 448 and t o th e C h ristian E ra by sub trac t
,

ing 3 1 2 ; if th e S el euc idan E ra ex c eed s 3 1 2 that num b er ,

sh o uld b e sub trac ted fro m it .

6 . P to l e m y Ph il ad e l p h u s , 2 8 3 2 46 -
. Th e
S e p tu agint .

Th e mild rule which the Jews had enj oyed und er

Ptolemy 1 was continued by his successor Ptolemy
.
0 ,

Philad elphus T h e high priest S imon I was suc

.
-

, .
,

c e e d ed by his br o ther E leazar then came his

u ncle Manasseh
, and on the death of the
latter O nias I I
, the son o f S imon 1 Th e
. .

Greek translation of th e S criptures commonly called ,

44 J EW ISH H I STORY [ F I RS T

the S eptuagin t ( LX X ) is suppo sed to have bee n

made during the reign of P tolemy Philadelphus the
numerous Jews living in E gypt and lacking a suffi ,

ci ent kno w ledge of H ebrew no doubt felt the ,

necessity o f a translation for the purpose o f reading

the law and the prophets in the synagogues .

Th e h isto ry o f th e o rigin o f th e S ep tuag

int h as b een v ario usly
am plified I ts c h ief so urc e is th e so c all ed l etter o f Aristeus ;
.
-

th is narrativ e w as pro b ably w ritten at no earlier d ate than th at

o f th e la st c ent ury b efo re th e d estruc tio n o f th e tem pl e It .

rel ates h o w P to l em y P h il ad elph us sent an em b assy t o th e h i h

g
priest El eazar to ask fo r sev enty tw o l earn ed sc rib es ( six o ut o f
-

e v ery tri b e) and h o w th ese sc rib es at h is c o m m an d translated

,

th e S c rip tures and h o w m o reo v er th o ugh ea c h d id his w o rk

, , ,

separately th ei ,
r v ersio ns w ere nev erth el ess w o rd fo r w o rd th e
sam e . I t m ay hav e b een th at P to l em y P h ilad elp h us m erely
rec eiv ed a c o py o f th e H eb rew P entateu c h into h is lib rary Th e .

vario us p o rtio ns o f th e S c riptures have b een translated at

d ifferent tim es and by different w riters Th e S ep tuagint v ersio n
.

c o ntai ns a vast num b er o f d eviatio ns fro m o ur text and al so ,

suf fered m any sub sequent c o rruptio nsf

7 P t o l e m y E v e rge te s ( 2 46 2 2 1 ) an d
.
-
P hil o

p at o r ( 2 2 1 S im o n t h e J u s t
.

Th e high priest O nias I I would have drawn down

-
.

upon himself the anger o f Ptolemy III E vergetes .

,

by withholding the tax o f twenty talents due to

him had not his nephew Joseph the son of T obias
, , ,

skilfully managed to pacify the offended king For .

two and twenty years Joseph subsequently farmed

th e taxes of the whole of Palestine and occupied an
important position Ev ergetes is said to have
.

brought o fferings to the t e mple in Jerusalem aft er a

successful campaign .
PE RI O D ]. A ND LITERA TURE . 45

Th e fourth Ptolemy Ph ilo pato r also came to, ,

J erusalem during a war with Antiochus king of ,

S yria and sacrificed there ; it is said that on his

,

attempting to enter the H oly of H olies he was ,

seized with a sudden faintness and compelled to re

linquish his intention O n his return to Egypt he
.

determined to revenge himself on his Jewish subjects ,

and had elephants driven among them to trample

—
them to death the animals ho w e ver turned against , ,

their drivers and the Jews were saved Antiochus

, .
,

nevertheless succeeded in conquering Palesti ne

, .

Th e son of O nias II S imon I I is surnamed the

.
,
.
,

Just ; he is mentioned as one o f the last surviving

members of the great assembly and the history of his ,

life has been adorned by many legends of a later date .

He b eautified and fortified the temple and rebuilt ,

the walls that had been destroyed by Pto l emy I .

Th e latest w ritten b o o k s o f th e S c rip tures are c ertain

P sal m s E c c l esiastes J o nah E sth er C hro nic l es Th e grad ual
, , , , .

d isapp earanc e o f H eb rew as th e univ ersal language o fth e p eo pl e

, ,

in fav o ur o f th e Aram aic to ngue m ay b e dated fro m th is p erio d .

Th e ap o c ryphal b o o k o f B aruc h w ith J erem iah s l etter t o th e

’
,

c ap tiv es in B abyl o n w as p ro b ably w ri

,
tten at th is tim e Ab o ut .

th e y ear 1 9 0J esus th e so n o f S irac h w ro te in H eb rew a b o o k o f

, ,

pro v erb s parabl es and w ise say ings w hic h w as tran slated into
, , ,

G reek sixty y ears l ater by h is gran d so n al so nam ed J esus th e ,

Origi nal H eb rew v ersio n h as b een l o st .

T h e narrativ e o f Ph il o pato r s c ruel p ro j ec t against th e J ew s

’
,

th e truth o f w h ic h is no t in d eed h isto ric ally establ ish ed is to ,

b e fo un d in th e so c all ed th ird b o o k o f th e Mac c ab ees

-
.

S im o n th e J ust is al so m entio ned as th e first o f th e T annim

( teac h ers o f th e Mishnah ) J esus so n o f S irac h rec o unts h is
.
, ,

v ario us m erits at th e end o f h is b o o k .

46 J EWISH H ISTORY [ F IRS T

8 T h e S yri an R ul e r s
. . A nt i o c h u s t h e G r e at .

S e l eu c u s I V .

A ntiochus 1 11 .
(
surnamed the G reat
2 2 4 ,

showed hi m self mild and b enefic ent towards the Jews ;

the above mentioned b uildings were carried on with
-

his sanction Th e high priest at that time was O nias

.
-

III a God fe ari ng and universally respected man

.
-
.

S eleucus IV ( 1 8 7 .
1 7 son . and successor
-
o f
Antiochus — like his father of a peac eful disposition
, , ,

but compelled to pay to the R omans the tribute they

h ad imposed on the latter - endeavoured through , ,

Apollonius governor o f C elo syria to despoil the

, ,

temple of its treasure ; a J ew named S imo n who ,

had quarrelled with O nias III called the attention .

,

of Apollonius to the riches stored therein but the ,

attempt failed owing — according to the legend — to

,

a celestial appari tion which prevented the robbery , .

Th e l egen d is fo un d in th e third c hap ter o f th e sec o n d b o o k

o f th e Mac c ab ees .

A nt i o c h u s E p ip h an es , 1 7 5 1 6 3 -
.

The peaceful development of Judaism was m ean

while seriously endangered by the increase of Gre ek
culture which had become more and more powerful
,

in A sia ever since the reign o f Alexander the Great .

W hereas in Egypt it harmonised easily with the pre

vailing tendencies of the nation its adherents in ,

Palestine found themselves confronted by firm ly

established and widely d ifferent institutions As .

they were not able to break through them th ev ,

called in the assistance o f the Syrian rulers and ,

48 J EWISH H ISTORY [ FIR ST

city of D avid the lower part of the town ) was

th en fortified and manned by a Syrian garrison .

’
S acrifices were prohibited by th e king s command ;
service in the temple was appointed for Zeus and ,

altars for other Grecian gods were erected in

various towns Th e celebration o f the S abbath and
.

holidays the observation of the laws concerning for

,

bidden food and m any other important command

,

ments were forbidden to be observed on pain of

,

death and the S criptures were burned and destroyed

, .

O n the 2 5 th day of Kislev 1 6 7 sacrifices were ,

offered for the first time on the heathen altar in the

temple Many Jews fled to the neighbouring nations
.
,
’
many died the martyr s death ; those who adopted
heathen custo m s were rewarded wi th gifts and posts
o f honour .

Marty rd o m aged El eazar an d th e m o th er an d sev en

of th e
so n s kn o w n as th e Marty r m o th er d esc rib ed in th e sec o nd
“ ”
-
, ,

b o o k o f th e Mac c ab ees al so in W hat is c all ed th e fo urth b o o k o f

,

th e Mac c ab ees ( w h ic h h as b een inc o rrec tly asc rib ed to J o seph us) ,

and e sewl h ere .

11 . M at tath i as an d h is S o ns , 1 6 7 .

InModin a small town near Jer usalem th ere

, ,

lived a priest named Mattathias of the family of ,

the Asmoneans When he being a man of som e .

,

position was appointed by the Syrian comm ande r

,

to o ffer sacrifices on the heathen altar he ind ig ,

nantly refused to obey Filled with pious zeal he .

slew a Jew w h o had stepped forward to perform

,

th e sacrifice overthrew the altar called on those who

, ,
P E RI O D ] . AN D LITER A TURE . 49

though t as he did to follo w him and fled from th e ,

town accompanied by his five sons J o annan called ,

Caddis S imon called T h assi Judas called Maccabeus

, , ,

E leazar called Avaran and Jonathan called Apph us , .

Th ey wandered through th e country raisi ng the ,

standard of rebellion and were soon j oined by many ,

Wh o ,
like thems elves had remained true to their ,

faith After havi ng determined to de fend them

.

selves even o n the S abbath should they be attacked ,

on that day they defeated the S yrians who pursued

,

them destroyed many of the heathen altars and re

, ,

established th e authority o f the law Mattathias .

died 1 6 6 after havi ng given the chief command to

,

his heroic son Judas his so n S imon he appointed as

the one to whom his brothers were to apply for
advice in time of need .

12 . J u d as M ac c ab e u s , 1 6 6 1 60
-
.

Judas showed himself worthy of the confidence his

father had placed in him H e defeat e d the hostile .

leader Apollonius ( who fell in the bat tle ) and soon ,

after S eron who had the command in S yria at Beth

, ,

horon An tiochus who at that time ( 1 6 5 ) had to

.
,

undertake a cam paign against the nor th east parts o f -

his kingdom gave L ysias the command against the

,

Jews with instructions to destroy the whole nation

, ,

and make Jerusalem level with the ground L ysias .

sent infantry and 7 000 cavalry under the ,

comm and o f Ptolemy N icanor and Gorgias to , , ,

subdue th e Jews Al though fear deprived h im of

.

’
m any of his followers Jud as attacked Nic ano r s ,
50 J E W IS H H ISTORY [ F I RS T

division at E mmaus wi th a force of 6 000 men and ,

completely d e feated h im th e same fate be fell Gorgias ,

who had separated himself from N ican or in order to

attack th e J e ws in the rear L ade n with spoil .
,

Judas returned to Judea held a service of thanks , .

giving d istribut ed por tions o f the booty among the

,

wido w s and orphans and laid in a stock of arms for

,

his followers .

1 3 Th e F e as t o f D e d i c at i o n ( H anu c ah )
. .

I n the year 1 6 4 Lysias himself with , ,

infantry and ,
cavalry advanced into Judea , ,

an d came as far as Beth sura south of Jerusalem , .

H ere Judas attacked him w ith men and ,

compell e d him to take to flight and to retreat to ,

Antioch I n the autum n of the same year Judas

.

entered Jerusalem and though the fortress was still

,

garrisoned by the S yrians he at once proceeded to ,

restore the temple removed everything that bore

,

traces of heathen worship and erected a new altar o f,

unhewn stone T hen the sanctuary was solemnly

.

consecrated and illuminated on the 2 5 th of Kislev

1 6 4 sacri fices were again offered according to the
,
’
law and an eight days festival ( called the feast of
,

D edication H anuc ah ) to commence on the 2 5 th of

, ,

Kisl ev w as appointed to be held annually

,
.

14 S u b s e q u e nt H i s t o ry o f J u d as M ac c a
.

b eu s, 163 .

Judas erected strong walls to protect Mount Zion

against th e attacks of the S yrian garrison in the fo rt
ress and for further safety proceeded to for tify Beth
,
PE RI O D ] . AN D LITER ATURE . 51

sura he and his brothers S imon and Jonathan also

gave frequent aid to those of their compatriots who
were settled among the neighbouring peoples and ex ,

posed to oppressions of various kinds Many of them .

were transferred to Judea ; H ebron was reconquered ,

and the powerful coast town Ashdod humbl e d -

.

After the death of Antiochus Epiph anes

Judas had a brief time of peace in consequence of ,

the disputes which arose concerni ng the guardianship

of the you ng son of the former Antiochus Eupato r ,

and he emp loyed that time ( 1 6 2 ) in besieging th e

fortress Th e garrison applied for help to the ki ng of
.

Syria who accordingly entered Judea with an army

, ,

led by L ys 1 as consisting of
,
infantry ,

cavalry and 3 2 well trained war el ephants Judas

,
-
.

was compelled to raise the siege and in spite of the ,

heroism of the Jews they were unable to preven t

the Syrians taking B eth sura and besieging Mount ,

’
Zion Judas brother E leazar fell in the course o f
.

this campaign Fortunately fo r Jud as threat ened ,

disturbances in S yria made Lysias inclined for peace ,

and terms were o ffered which the former accepted , .

Mount Zion surrendered on condition of the Jews

receiving permission for the free exercise o f their
religion and Antiochus left Jerusalem not without ,

h aving broken part of his agreement by pulling dow n

t h e wal ls which surrounded the temple mount -
.

15 . Al c im u s ,
161 .

W hen A ntiochus E upato r and L ysias had been put

to death in 1 61 by D emetrius son of , S eleucus
52 J EWISH H I S TORY [ F I RS T

Phil o pato r, Al c im us,

who had previously been ap
pointed high priest but was hated by the Jews on
-
,

account of his idolatrous practices applied to him for ,

an army fo r his support T roops were accordingly .

sent to him under command of Bacchides Judas

,

fled from Jerusalem an d sixty learned scribes who , ,

trusted the hypocritical assurances of Al c im us were ,

shamefully murdered Bacchides however could .

, ,

not long contend against Judas and was compelled ,

to return to Syria .

I n the following year D em etrius sent N icanor to

Jerusalem H e at first was apparently anxious to
.

remain on good terms with Judas but news of this

having been brought to D e m etrius by Al c im us he ,

sh owed himself suddenly hostile and war re c o m ,

m enc ed N icanor was completely defeated at Beth

.

horon th e greater part of h is army was destroyed

, ,

and he himself was slain T h e 1 3th day of Adar .

was long afterwards cele b rated by the Jews as the

”
D ay of N icanor .

Th e treac h ero usly m urd ered b

sc ri es are s aid to h av e inc l uded
J o se b en J o ez er o f Z ereda w h o se m o th er w as th e sister o f
, ,

Al c im us . J o se b en J o ez er is m entio ned w ith J o seph b en

J o c h anan o f J erusal em as h av i ng b een d isc ipl es o f Antigo nus
o fSo c ho .

’
16 . J u d as D e ath . J o nath an , 1 6 0 1 42 -
.

Judas sent an embassy to R ome in hopes of gaining ,

help from that powerful state but though his envoys

were kindly r e ceived and an alliance conclud ed it , ,

led to no further result .

PE RI O D ] . AN D LITERA TURE . 53

’
O n hearing of N ic ano rs
defeat D emetrius com ,

m and ed Bacchides and his army to return to Judea

in 1 6 0 he stood before Jerusalem Judas unh esi .

tatingly attacked him w ith a far smaller force and ,

in spite of most heroic efforts the Jews were defeated .

Judas himself fell on the battlefield his body how ,

ever remained in the hands of his followers and was

, ,

buried in the sepulchre o f his fathers in Modin .

T h e part isa ns o f S yria already believed their cause

was victorious as Jerusalem and all the fortified
,

’
towns were in the hands of the Syrians when Judas ,

brother Jonathan placed himself at the head of the

national party His strategic powers as well as his
.
,

valour enabled him to resist the great numerical

,

superiority of his foes H is brother J o annan lost

.

his life in an attack made by a small hostile tribe ,

but his death was followed by the defeat o f his

assail ants .

After the sudden death of Alc im us Bacchides

’
returned to S yria and th e land had two years rest
, .

I n 1 5 7 he returned at the request o f the S yrian

party ; but Jonathan and S imon opposed him so
vig o rously that he preferred to make peace with
them Jerusalem remained in the hands of the
.

Syrians but Jonathan was suffered to dwell un

,

molested at M ac h m as .

17 J o n ath an b e c o m e s H i gh p riest
. 152 -
, .

H is D e at h ,
1 42 .

contentions for the throne of S yria broke

In 1 5 2
out between D emetrius and Alexander Balas ( a pre
54 J EW ISH H ISTORY [ F IRS T

tended son of Antiochus Epiph anes) and both parties ,

applied to Jonathan for aid Jonath an to ok the .

part of Alexander entered Jerusalem fortified , ,

Mount Zion and assumed the robes of the high

,

priest H e continued faithful to Alexander even

.

’
a fter D emetrius death when his son D emetrius ,

Nic ato r conquered Ptole m ais and s eized the whole ,

of the sea coast Jonathan and S imon defeated his

-
.

comman d er Apollonius and took all the fortified ,

places except the fortress in Jerusalem

,
.

After the death of Alexander Balas Jonathan suc ,

c eed e d in obtaining the favour of D emetrius came to ,

his assistance w ith 3 000 m en and saved his throne ,

and life in a revolt in Antioch D em etrius never

“

th el ess failed to keep his promise of delivering up

the fortress in Jerusalem Jonathan consequently
took the part of Tryph o n ( who proclaimed the you ng
son of Alexander Balas as king under the name of ,

Antiochus Theos ) and subdued for h im th e whol e

,

co untry on both sides of th e Jordan But his ser .

vices w ere reward ed by the basest ingratitude for

wh en Tryph o n found th at he no longer required the
support of the Je w ish hero he lured him into Pto le ,

mais and murdered him

,
.

1 8 S i m o n as H i gh p ri e s t and P ri nc e 1 42
.
-
,

1 35 .

’
Tryph intention of possessing himself of Judea
on s
’
was defeated by S imon s resolution and courage .

H e the last remaining brother of the five her oic

,

Maccabees at once garrisoned th e mos t importa nt

,
56 J EWISH H ISTORY [ F IR ST

in Palestine left th eir c o religionists in E gyp t almos t

-

untouched H ere th e tendency to Grecian habits

.

and customs met with no such obstacles as in the

original home o f Judaism Th e E gyptian Jews .
,

especially the very numerous community in Al ex

andria not only took an active part in trades and
,

commerce but h ad also engaged in Greek science

, ,

and held a by no means ignoble posi tion amo ng the

Greek writers of their time Th e translation of the .

Bible into Greek had spread a kno w ledge of its con

tents into non Jewish circles -
Th e necessity of .

explaining misunderstandings and removing false

conceptions gave rise to a number of works w h ich
treated S cripture history according to the ide as of
the times or put biblical views and opinions into the
,

mouths of ancient Greek authorities ( O rpheus the ,

S ybils ) Besides their commercial and literary

.

undertakings the Jews also made themselves useful

,

to the E gyptian rulers as courageous and trust

worthy soldiers .

2 0 T h e T e m p l e b u il t b y O n i as 1 6 0
.
, .

—
Th e son of the high priest O nias III also called .
,

O nias had fled to E gypt during the S yrian tyranny

, ,

entered th e army of the Egyptian king and rend ,

ere d him importan t services In return for these .

he received permission from King Ph ilo m eter ( 1 6 0)

to build a temple in the neighbourhood o f H elio
polis ( O n in the Bible) north east of Memphis ,
-
.

Th e building resembled th e one in Jerusalem less

in its outer than in its inner arrangements ; priests
P E RI O D ] . AN D LITER A TURE . 57

and L evites also officiated in it T h e revenues .

granted to O nias by the king were devoted to

defraying the expenses o f the temple which soon ,

attracted numero us settlers I t remained in exist .

ence th ree years later than th e one in Jerusalem ,

but does not seem to have been thought of much

importance T h e sons of O nias H ilkiah and H a na
.
,

niah subsequently distinguished themselves as valour

,

ous sol diers .

S E C O ND PE RIO D .

T h e J ew s u nd e r th e i r ow n R ul e r s , 1 3 5 .

A . T h e A sm o ne ans .

21 . J o h n H yrc anu s , 1 3 5 - 1 06 .

had at firs t to contend ag ainst numerous

H yrc anus
difficulties Antiochus S id etes ravaged the land
.
,

threatened Jerusalem itself and compelled the Jew s ,

to pay a heavy tribute as well as to remove the ,

battlements on the walls of Jerusalem

After the death of Antiochus civil war again
broke out in S yria and Hyrc anus was consequently
,

left more free to ac t for himself H e subdued the .

provinces east of Jordan and destroyed the town ,

of S ichen and the so called S amaritan temple on -

Mount Gerizim H e completely conquered the

I dumeans and compelled them to adopt Judaism in
, ,

which their identity was henceforward lost He .

also regained Jes er and Joppa of which the m uch ,

58 J EWISH H I S TORY [ S ECO ND

frequented harbour was a source of considerable

profit. T h e R omans subsequently confirmed his
conquests which increased his kingdom almost to
,

the dimensions to which it had extended during the

reigns of D avid and S olomon D uring another war .

with the S amari tans their capital S amaria was taken

,

’
after a year s siege and completely destroyed .

2 2 P h aris e e s and Sad d u c e e s

. .

Th e prosperity which the country enj oyed under

the rule of H yrc anus was disturbed towards th e end
o f his reign by opposing factions whose actual com ,

m enc em ent may be traced back to earlier times but ,

who only then ass umed any d istinctive features O f .

these factions (incorrectly called s ects ) the best

'

known are th e Pharisees and the S adducees Th e .

fo r m er probably originating among th e S opherim

, ,

occupied themselves wi th the propagati o n and study

of the law and were chiefly intent on observing its
,

manifold precept s they indeed may be said to have

-

planted the afterwards far spreading tree of T almudism -

and R abbinism T h e S adducees who belonged to the

.
,

aristocratic circles rebelled agains t strict obedience to

,

the letter of th e law and against the absolute exclusion

,

of e verything non Jewish T hese originally religious

-
.

motives w ere however after a tim e driven into the

, ,

background by political ones T h e E ssences another .

,

faction formed communities whic h met after the

, , ,

fashion of religious orders for the observance of ,

certain rules such as community o f goods sim plicity

, ,

of food partial avoidance o f marriage etc

, , .
PE RI O D ] . AN D LITERATURE . 59

’
23 . H yrc anu s Q u ar re l w ith t h e P h ari s e e s .

H is D e at h ,
1 06 .

At a great banquet given by Hyrc anus a Pharisee , ,

scrib e observed to him that he ought to conten t him

self wi th the royal crown and give up the high
priesthood as his mother had been a prisoner in
,

Modin in the hands of the S yrians O ffended by .

this statement especially as on investigation it was

,

found to be untrue the k ing who had until then , ,

adhered to the Pharisees attached himself to the ,

S adducees who now filled the most important offices

,

o f the state T h e people who mostly supported

.
,

the Pharisees becam e greatly dissatisfied

,
Jo h n .

Hyrc anus di e d after a prosperous reign of t h irty

years —
and left five sons Judas Aristobulus ,

Antigonus A lexa der

,
n A —
bsalom the name of the ,

fifth is unknown H e appoin te d his wife to succe e d

.

him on the throne and his eldest son in the sacer ,

dotal office .

24 J u d as A ri s t o b u l u s 1 06 1 05
. A l e x an d e r ,
-
.

J ann eeu s 1 05 —
79
,
.

Aristobulus immediately dispossessed his mother

o f the throne and thre w her and three of his brothers
,

into prison where she is said t o have died of hu ng er

, .

H e then assumed the title of king His brother .

Antig o nus who accompanied him on a successful

,

campaign against o ne of the north eastern tribes w as -

put to death by his orders on an un founded suspicio n .

He did not however long survive him but died in

, , ,

the second year o f h is rei gn 1 05 . .

60 J EWI SH H ISTORY [ SECO ND

Alexander J annaeus who now came to the throne , ,

was of a luxurious cruel and warlike t emperament ;

, ,

he attached himself to the S adducees and en ,

deavo ured to wide n t h e borders of his kingdom .

Though he su ffered many losses by Ptolemy

’
L ath urus invasion o f Palestine he succeed ed in ,

taking the flourishing town of Gadara the im ,

portant seaport of Gaza and others N evertheless ,

.

he was hated by the people and when the latter ,

gave expression to this feeling by pelting him with

—
citrons when he was officiating as high priest on the
occasion of the Feast of T abernacles he caused nearly ,

6 000 of them to be cut to pieces W hen a campaign .

against the Arabs which had at first been victorious

, ,

threatened to end in defeat a rebellion broke out in ,

Jerusalem which became an actual civil war and

, ,

lasted nearly six years By terrible cruelties he was

.

at last enabled to restore civil peace and by success ,

ful wars to increase the extent of his kingdom O n .

his return fro m his victorious campaigns he was

’
honourably received but died aft er a three years
, ,

illness not yet fi fty years of age Contrary to his

,
.

own inclinati o ns he advised his wife S alome Alex

,

andra to trust herself and her chil dren to the

Pharisees rather than to the S adducees .

25 . S al o m e 79 70 ,
H yrc anu s an d A ri s
-
.

to b ul u s .

After
the death of Alexander his widow S alome ,

Alexandra took the gov ernment o f the kingdom into

h er own han ds and ruled for nine years prosperously
,
P E RI O D ] . AN D LITER A TURE . 61

and wisely S h e appointed her eldest son Hyrc anus

.
,

a w eak indolent man to th e office of high priest

, ,
-

her youngest son Aristobulus an active ambitious ,

youth she kept as far as possible from the throne

, ,

and sought for help and advice from the Pharisees .

But the n ow d egraded and persecuted S adducees

attached themselves to Aristobulus and he succeeded ,

in collecting an army and possessing himself of

several for tified places At this time the queen fell .

ill and died and w ar broke out between Hyrc anus

,

and Aristobulus T h e former was defeated at

.

Jericho and ma d e peace with Aristobulus the

,

younger brother was to ascend the throne the elder ,

to live quietly and unmolested in Jerusalem .

2 6 A nt i p at e r t h e I d u m e an
. P o m p e y in .

J e ru sal e m 6 3 , .

Wh il e the n aturally indolent Hyrc anus re m ained

well satisfied with this arrangement Antipater the ,

I du m e an an active ambitious and crafty man was

, , , , ,

on th e other h and disappoin ted in th e hopes with ,

which his friendship with Hyrc anus had i nspired

him H e did n ot cease working o n the weak mind
.

of H yrc anus u ntil th e latter consented to fly from

,

Jerusalem to Aretas the Arabian ruler and to gain , ,

his help against Aristobulus in return for certain

t erritorial concessions Aretas agreed to his terms .
,

defeated Aristobulus and besieged Jer usalem wh ich , , ,

however obstinat ely held out although the people

, , ,

led by the Pharisees were in th e main opposed to ,

A ristob ulus .
62 J EWISH H ISTORY [ S ECO ND

About this time ( 6 4) Pompey was m aking war

against Mithrida tes and Tigranes ; envoys from the
two Jewish combatants were sen t to his general ,

S c aurus at D amascus
,
He firs t decided in favour o f
.

Aristobulus who after w ards succeeded in defeating

,

Aretas W hen however Pompey himself came to

.
, ,

D amascus there appeared before him besides the

, ,

envoys of the two brothers a deputation from the ,

people who desired the ab o lislrm ent of th e

,

mo narchy Pompey postponed his decision and

.
,

called for witnesses for the t w o parties But as .

Aristobulus left D amascus without awaiti ng the de ,

cisio n,
Pompey advanced to Jerusalem and after , ,
’
three months heroic resistance took possession of ,

the city He insisted on entering the H oly o f

H olies in the temple but left the treasure untouched
,
.

H e punished the rebels made H yrc anus high — ,

priest
and prince ( Ethnarch ) without the ti tle of king de ,

stroyed the walls of Jerusalem and reduced Judea to ,

the dimensions it had occupied before the time of

the Maccabees An tipater carried on the govern
.

ment instead of the incapable Hyrc anus .

2 7 W arfar e in J u d e a
. .

Aristobulus and his two so ns Alexander and ,

An tigonus were taken prisoners to R ome Alexander

,
.

escaped on the way hurried back to Judea and,

collected an army but he was defeated driven to

, ,

seek refuge in the fortress o f Alex and rio n and ,

finally compelled to submit In o rder to lessen the .

influence of th e capital o n th e rest of the country ,

64 J EWISH H ISTORY [ S EC O ND

28 . J u li u s C aes ar .

A ray of hope once more dawned for Aristobulus

when enmity broke out between Pompey and C aesar ,

and he received from the latter two legions to subdue

S yria and Judea But Aristobulus died — some said
.
,

h e was poisoned —and his son Alexander was b e

,

headed by command of Pompey .

’
After C aesar s triumph w as secured Antip ater who , ,

till then had been an ally of Pompey succeeded easily ,

in gaining the favour o f C aesar W hen C aesar found .

himself in E gypt in a d angerous positio n wi thout a ,

su fficient force he ( Antipater) provided the troops

,

with which Mithri d ates was comi ng to his assistance

with all they required and hurried thither himself ,

with an army of 3 000 picked men Antigonus the .

,

youngest son of Aristobulus in vain petitioned C aesar ,

for an interview ; Hyrc anus was confirmed in the

high priesthood and Antipater was re w arded with
-

the R oman citizenship freedom for all his family ,

from imposts and the command of the whole of

,

Judea B esides this C aesar s h owed his gratitude

.
,

and goodwill to the Jews of Palestine and Alexandria

in various ways ( such as permitting the rebuil d ing
of the walls of Jerusalem ) so that their grief for his ,

murder was sincere and w ell founded .

2 9 H e ro d so n o f A nt i p at e r
.
, .

Antipater now ruled with almost ki ngly power .

H e m ade his eldest son Ph asael governor of Jeru ,

salem and its neighbourhood and appointed Herod , ,

his second son to the command over Galilee T h e

,
.
PE RI O D ] . AN D LITER ATURE . 65

latter earned the gratitude of the R omans by over

coming various predatory bands who at that time ,

infested Galil ee O n the oth er hand he in doing

.
, ,

this infringed the rights of the S an h edrim in Jeru

,

salem by sentenci ng the captives to death on his

,

o w n responsib i lity Hyrc anus was reluctantly com

.

ell ed to summon him before the S anhedrim and

p
he appeared indeed but not as an accused clothed
, ,

in purple and attended by armed follo w ers T h e .

judges lost courage at sigh t o f him an d only the ,

aged Sh emaiah preserved the dignity of the supreme

court Hyrc anus fearing bloodshed dissolved the
.
, ,

assembly ; and H erod withdrew to D amascus w here ,

he was w ell received by the R oma n governor S extus ,

C aesar .

After the murder o f C aesar Cassius imposed a

’
heavy tribute on Judea and H erod s merciless ex
to rt io n of it raised h im still higher in favour with
the R omans though it drew upon him the hatred of
,

his countrymen Th e anti R oman party did not

.
-

remain inac tive Antipater was poisoned by one

.

Malich ; H erod lured th e murderer to T yre and ,

’
there had him executed by Cassius soldiers Th e .

revolt which broke out after the departure of Cassius

was easily quelled by Ph asael and H erod H erod .

then betroth e d himself to Mariamne the grand ,

daughter o f Aristobulus and daughter of Al exander

, .

3 0 D o w nfall O f t h e A sm o n e an R ul e r s
. .

Antigonus the son of Aristobulus was however

, , , ,

still alive and was des tined once more to endanger

,

F
66 J EW I SH H ISTO RY [ SEC O ND
’
H erod s ambitious undertakings After the battle of .

Philippi Mark Antony came to Palestine but he

, ,

sided so entirely with H erod and Ph asael that he

caus ed numbers of their opponents who brought ,

complaints against them to be put to death After , .

his departure however th e Parthians invaded Syria

, ,

and Antigonus bribed them with a promise of

1 000 talents and 5 00 slaves to assist him T hey .

succeeded in e nteri ng Jerusalem and got possession ,

of Hyrc anus and Ph asael the latter killed himself

in prison the former h ad h is ears cut o ff by Anti
,
’
g o nus order ( so as to make him incapable of holdi ng

the h igh priesthood ) and w as then carried captive to

'

Parthia Whil e Antigonus thus rose to power Herod

.
,

and his followers withdrew not without danger to , ,

the fortress Massada south of the D ead S ea The nce

,
.

he hurried to the Arabian chi ef Malchus who h o w , ,

ever refused to assis t him and thence to R ome

, , ,

wh ere he speedily succeeded in being proclaimed

king of Judea while Antigonus was declared an
,

enemy of the R omans I n the year 3 9 he returned

.

to Palestine with a large army , but it took him

’
nearly three years hard fighting before he finally

mastered his opponent T h e war was carried on .

with th e utmost bitterness and cruelty I n th e

su m m er of the year 3 7 th e siege of Jerusal em com
m enc ed Th e besieged defended themselves h
.

ally but the fact of the sabbatical year being at

,

made it difficult for the besiegers to ob tain provi

At last both the city and the temple fe
PE RI O D .
] AN D LITER A TURE . 67

hands of the besiegers — o n th e sam e day as they had

been taken by Pompey twenty six years before -
.

Antigonus who had surrendered himself to the

,

’
R oman general was executed at H erod s request
, .

Th e latter also ave nged himself on several learned

men ( who had been among his adversaries ) by having ,

them put to death Th e only remaining male mem

.

bers of the Asmonean family were now the aged

Hyrc anus and the you ng Aristobulus whose siste r , ,

Mariamne H erod had married duri ng the war

,
.

B . T h e H e r o d i an s .

31 . H e r o d L , K ing o f J u d e a, 3 7 4 B C -
. .

Bloodshed and violence had b een the means by

which H erod had reached the throne he was now
compelled to maintain himself on it in the same way .

I n spite of his remarkable ability his intelligen ce and ,

energy his increasing ac tivity for the benefit of the

,
’
country and even of the people s great wish for rest
,

and quiet he was unable to remain at peace either

,

with his subj ects or with his own family He b e .

liev ed himself compelled to show the great est tyranny

towards those he most loved and was obliged to be ,

constantly on the alert to maintain the favour of the

R omans D uring a reign of thirty four years he did
.
-

not succeed in giving any stability to his dynasty .

He could not make the people forget h is non Jewish

-
-

descent although he destroyed the genealogical re

,

c o rds and in consequence of this th e existence of

the young Aristobulus was a constan t source of un
68 J EWISH H ISTORY [ S ECO N D

easiness to him He had appointed a certain Ananel

.

to the high priesthood but in compliance par tly

-
,

with the urgent entreaties of his mother in law - -

Alexandra and partly with the wish of Antony he

, ,

deposed him and put Aristobulus in his place But

, .

before the latter had lo ng enjoyed his new dignity

’
he was treacherously murdered by H erod s command .

Antony summoned Herod to R ome to answer for the

murder but he succeeded in justifying himself before
,

his R oman judges H e believed however that Al ex

.
, ,

andra and his wife Mariam ne regarded h im with

suspicion and in this belief he w as confirmed by his
,

sist er S alome .

W hen the power of Antony was overthrown at

the battle of Actium H erod feared his own fall
m ight be near : this fear w as sufficient for him to
order the execution of Hyrc anus H e then tem p o r .

arily placed the government in the hands of his

brother Ph ero ras while he hastened to present him

,

self to O ctavian W hose favour he speedily obtained

, .

O n his return the intrigues of S alome agai n aroused

,

his suspicions of Mariamne he began to doubt her

—
fidelity and at last ordered her execution an act of
,

cruelty which was no sooner carried out than repented .

H erod fell into a state o f the deepest remorse and .

melancholy from which he o nly roused himself to

,
;

put to death some of the most eminent men in the

kingdom His moth er in law Alexandra the sons of
.
- -
,

Baba and his faithful servant C o sto b ar also fell $

, ,

vic tim s t o his rage .

PE RI O D ] . AN D LITER A TURE . 69

’
32 . H e ro d s R e s t o r at i o n o f th e T e m p l e .

Th e introduction of public games and figh t s of

wild beasts in Jerusalem and also the erecti o n of a
,
’
theatre increased the hatred which H erod s subjects
,

already felt for him all these heathen customs were

detestable in their eyes A conspiracy again st him
.

was discovered and gave rise to tortures and ex ec u

,

tions as well as to fortifying Jerusalem and other

,

places in the kingdom especially C aesarea which

, ,

soon bec ame one of the most important to w ns in

Jude a
2 —
A succession of misfortunes ( ) dro ugh t famine
4 , ,

and pestilence — gave H erod the opportunity of earn

’
ing his subj ects gratitude by his energetic acti vity
and generosity to the sufferers But he especially .

endeavoured to make hi m self popular by a m agnifi

cent restoration o f the temple in the course of which ,

he followed minutely the ordinances of the scribes

and priests Th e rebuilding lasted a year and a
.

half and its completion was celebrated with great

,

solemnity eight years were required to com plete

the surrounding halls and courts and no expense ,

was spared to make the whole one of the most splen

did buildings o f the time N ot less magnificent was
.

the palace which H erod built for himself ; he also

erected marble monuments on the graves of D avid
and S olomon .

He was so high in the favour of Augustus and

Agrippa that they not only secured to him certain
north east provinces on the other side of Jordan but
-
,
70 J EW ISH H ISTORY [ SECO ND

also agreed to maintain the privileges of those Jews

who were living amongst the heath en Thus in an .
,

assembly of the people he was able to boast of his

,

care for the Je w s in all parts of the earth and his ,

rul e seemed likely to become a prosperous one h ad ,

not events in his own family again aroused his wild

est passions and darkened his intellect .

’
3 3 H e ro d s D e at h ( 4 B C )
. .

Th e three sons o f H erod and Mariamne were being

educated at R ome ; one died there and H erod sent
,

for the other two to return to Jerusalem But S al o me .

and his eldest son Antipater ( by another wife ) roused

his suspicions against the two youths and made h im

,

believe that they were plotting to avenge their mother .

T hese intrigues and accusations went on for years ;

at last he had them both put to death .

’
After M ariam ne s execution H erod had married
,

eight other women ; he appointed the father of one

of them the priest S imon to the high priesthood
, ,
-
.

’
About this time the death of H erod s brother
,

Ph ero ras caused investigations to be m ade in the ,

course of which it was discovered that Antipater

h ad sent him poison intended for the king and ,
’
the latter s suspicions against his eldest son became
so strong th at he sent for him from R ome threw ,

him into prison and only awaited th e permission of

,

Augustus to put him to death M e anwhile he

( H erod ) fell ill ; never theless he was still powerful
enough to put down the increasing disquiet in th e
kingdom ; the prisons filled rapidly chiefly w ith ,
 fl
72 J E W I S H H ISTORY [ SECO ND

royalty w as his gigantic size and streng th attained ,

some temporary power and were with d i ic ulty sub ,

’ ’
dued Augus tus decisio n at last confirmed H erod s
.

will in all importa nt points but Archelaus was only ,

to bear the title of E thnarch R epeated and well .

grounded complaints against him led to his being

deposed and h is dominions ( Judea and S amaria )
,

becam e a R oman province ( A O Philip ruled his . .

tetrarchy wisely and justly for thirty seven years ; -

he rebu ilt the town of Paneas near the source of the ,

Jordan and called it C aesarea

,
His half brother -

Antipas also exerted himself for the improvement of

his dominions and founded the town of T iberias on
, ,

the nor thern ban k of L ake G ennez areth Both .

brothers died childless .

3 5 J u d e a b e c o m es a R o m an P ro v i nc e ( 7
.

37 A O . .
)
J udeaand S am aria were now R oman provinces ,

governed by procurators who w ere in their turn ,

subj ect to the proconsuls of Syri a Th e government

of Jerusalem was distinct from that of S amaria ; the
procurator s residence was ge nerally in the port of
’

C aesarea He had po w er over life and death and

.
,

appointed the high priests and other o f ficers of the -

state while the internal administratio n was left to

,

the S anhedrim Besides the annual temple tax of .

-

t w o drachm ae the Jews had also to pay a property

,

tax house tax percentage on pr o duces and other

,
-

, ,

duties Complai nts of the heavy duties were con

.

stantly heard and the farmers of the taxes and the

,
P E RI O D ]. AN D LITERA TURE . 73

collectors were considered dishonest and extortionate .

I n order to discover the amount of taxes which each

individual shoul d or could pay the inhabitants were ,

numbered and their property valued but this could

not take place without encountering some resistance
on the part of the Jews But the revolt headed .
,

by Judah of Galilee w as soon suppressed and the

, ,

census taken .

T h e best known of the procurators who succeeded ,

each other very rapidly are Valerius Gratus ( who ,

appointed four high priests in succession the last

-
,

being Joseph Caiphas ) and Pontius Pil ate who was

, ,

hated for his extortions and his tyranny and who , ,

it is said killed himself Jesus of N azareth the

,
.
,

founder o f C h risti anity was crucified by his order

,

36 . R e li gi o n and L i t e ratu re in P al e st i ne .

D uring this time of political confusion and

all

oppression the religious institutions of the Jews

,

had not s uffered but had on the contrary further

, , ,

developed themselves Th e services in the numerous

.

synagogues assumed a more settled form and a ,

corresponding portion from th e prophets ( H aphtarah)

was added to the usual reading from the Pentateuch .

Since th e time of the S yrian rule the Ar amaic tongue ,

had more and more banished the H ebrew from the

mouth of the people an d an Aramaic translation
,

( T argum ) was therefore adde d to the readings from

the S criptures Th e language of the upper classes
.

was Greek H ebrew was only used by the learned

.
74 J EWISH H ISTORY [ SECO N D

and the scribes and it gradually assu m ed that weak

,

ened form mingled with many Aramaic elements

, ,

and containing many Greek and L atin words which ,

is known as the new H ebrew or R abbinical to ngue .

Th e explanations of the text of the Bible especially ,

of the Pentateuch began to take a fixed form decided

, ,

by certai n acknowledged rules ( M edd o th ) ; all laws

and statutes were settled by fixed ordina nces ( H ala
c h o th ) and an endless variety of historical and leg end
,

ary anecdot e s illustrated the text and were called ,

Hagad o th N either T argum H alacha nor H agada

.
, ,

were to be written down against the w il l of the

scribes .

O n the other hand Palestine was no place for the

,

development of science T h e calendar the drawing .

,

up of which was considered the exclusive right of

th e president of the S anhe d rim ( N asi ) was founded ,

chiefly on empirical observatio ns aided by rules ,

handed down by tradition from Greek astronomers .

A belief in demons and sorcerers was current among

the people and conjurors wandered about the country
, ,

made so called miraculous cures and professed to

-
,

drive out evil spirits .

As historians may be mentioned N icolas of D a

’
mas o ns King H erod s secretary whose work has been
, ,

made use of by Josephus and who possibly was not ,

a Jew ev en by descent .

37 . T h e J ew s in E gyp t .

E gypt had at this time a very numerous Jewish

pop ul ation ( about a million ) consisting chiefly of ,
P E R I OD ]. AN D LITER A TURE . 75

handicraftsmen and merchants I n Al exandria .

,

where they o ccupied tw o parts of th e city they had ,

long since endeavoured to obtain and th en to pre ,

serve th eir social and legal equality with the Greeks

,
.

T hey possessed numerous synagogues formed separate ,

communities with senators and presidents and a

, ,

common head or ruler w h o bore the title of Alabarch

, .

From Egypt the Jews extended themselves westwar d ,

especially to Cyrena Besides slight disturb ances b e

.

tween the Jews and the Greeks a violent quarrel , ,

that almost rose to open warfare in the city broke ,

out between the two parties during the reign of

Caligula whose portrait the Jews refused to hang I n
,

their synagogues A petition against the R oman

.

governor Fl ac c us who had behaved with great in

,

j ustice towards the Jews was presented to the Em ,

ero r by a deputation headed by the philosopher

p
Philo I t was not howev er until the reign of the
.
, ,

E mperor Claudius that the Jews were granted their

j ust demands .

3 8 T h e A l e x and ri n e s
. P h il o . .

I n strong contrast to the Jews in Palestine the ,

Jews in Alexandria c ul tivated science and philosophy ,

but in spite of their attachment to Judaism they ,

were less well acquainted with the H ebrew language

and literature Th e Greek translation of the S crip
.

tures w as incre ased by legendary additions Jason .

of Cyrene wrote a history o f the wars of the Mac

c ab ees of which the second book of the M accabees is
,

an extract Th e so —. called third book of the Maccabees

76 J E W IS H H ISTORY [ SECO ND

is a legendary account of a persecution of th e Jews ,

supposed to have taken place during the reign o f

Ptolemy Philo pato r .

Th e Book of W isdom which is common ly called ,

“ ”
the W isdom of S olomon presents a noble exp o si ,

tion of ancient Jewish theology clothed in Grecian ,

garb and animated by the most earnest conviction

, .

At the summit of Jewish Alexandrian learning -

stands Philo born about the year 1 A O of a dis

, . .
,

tinguish ed family his nephew Al exander occupied

,
-

the position of Alabarch Philo was perfectly con .

versant with the philosophy of Plato and at the same ,

time full of enthusiasm for Judaism As already .

mentioned he headed a deputation of his c o religion

,
-

ists to petition Caligul a at R ome His numerous .

G reek writings disti nguished by their brilliant style

, ,

treat of the history and ethics of Judaism in a mystic ,

allegoric al form .

T h o se
b o o ks w hic h app ear in th e G reek b ut no t in th e ,

H eb rew B ibl e — nam ely th e Mac c ab ees th e th ird b o o k o f E z ra

, , , ,

To b ias J ud ith S irac h B aruc h J erem iah s L etter add itio ns t o

’
, , , , ,

Daniel and E sth er etc —are c all ed th e Ap o c rypha

, .
, .

39 . A gri p p a I .
( 37
Th ereigns of Tiberius and Caligula had on the ,

whole passed tranquilly for the Jews in Palestine ;

,
’
the excitement caused by Caligula s desire to have
his po rtrait hung in the temple was fortunately ended
by the assassination of the insane and ferocious tyrant .

O nce more Judea was to enj oy the semblance of a

king After a youth spent in adventures and dissi
.
PE RI O D ] . AN D LITER A TURE . 77

p atio n,Agrippa grandson o f H erod I and son of

,
.

Aristobulus had received from Caligul a the provinces

,

previously governed by Philip and Antipas and ,

’
subsequently Claudius Caligula s successor gave , ,

him rule over the whole land with the title of king , ,

W ithdrawing moreover the R oman governors

,
H is
,
.

brother Herod was made king of the province of

’
Chalcis Agrippa endeavoured to w in his subj ects
.

love by generosity and affability as well as by a ,

careful adher ence to the O bservances of Judaism .

L ike his grandfather he was fond of building and he ,

began to erect a third wall round the much enlarged

capital— an undertaking which was however put an , ,

end to by the Syrian governor H e reigned barely .

seven years and died of a painful disease at the age

,

of fifty three leavi ng several da ughters and a young

-

son also named Agrippa who was bei ng educated in

, ,

R ome .

40 A grip p a I I
. T h e R ev o lt F l av iu s
. .

J o se p h u s .

Claudius did not immediately fulfil his promise of

’
app o inting Agrippa I I as his father s successor as he
.
,

was only seventeen years of age and Palestine was ,

again governed by procurators Th e first of these .

was C uspus Fadus d uring whose administration a

,

certain T heudas appeared as a self declared prophet -

and ann o unced his intention of passing dry shod -

through Jordan H e was captured and beheaded by

.

the command o f Fadus T h e next procurator was .

T iberius Alexander who though the son of ,

 78 J EWISH HISTORY [ S ECO ND

Alexander the Jewish Alabarch of Al exandria had

, ,

forsaken the faith of his fathers No t until the .

death of H erod of Chalcis ( 49 ) did Agrippa receive

his little kingdom which w as afterwards somewhat
,

enlarged .

T h e history o f the last procurators is chiefly a suc

cession of oppressions and extortions on the one side
’
and sedi tions and revolts on the other Th e Jews .

uncontrollable love of freedom and the severe

‘

measures and avarice of the R oman rulers kept the

land in a constant state of ferment which increased ,

to open revolt under th e cruel and violent G essius

Florus Agrippa was compelled to le ave Jerusalem
.
,

where violent disturbances broke o ut amo ng the

v arious parties Th e R oman garrison in Jerusalem
.

w as put to death th e governor C e stius Gallus de

,

feat ed by the insurgents and the revolt organised

,

throughout the kingdo m T hey possibly coun ted on

.

the assistance of the Parthians am o ngst whom lived ,

a large number of Jews T h e government of Galilee

.

and the fortress Gamala was intrusted by the Jews

to Joseph son of Mattathias better known as the
, ,

historian Flavius Josephus This re m arkable man .

,

whose works form an important though not al w ays ,

wholly trustworthy source of information for the

,

history of the last two centuries was born in the year ,

37 was early acquainted with th e various parties

( P harisees ,
and was in R ome in 6 3 where he ,

was very favourably received by the Empress Po pp ea .

Al though he was himself opposed to the revolt yet , ,

80 J EWISH H ISTORY [ S E CO ND

happily distracted by the quarrels of the various

par ties who were no less violently opposed to each
,

other than to the common foe Th e Zealots who .

,

were determined to resist to the last and whose ,

leaders were Eleazar son of Simon the priest John

, ,

of Giscala and Simon ben G io ras called in the

, ,

I dumeans to help them against the moderate party ,

to which belonged the priests and most of the mem

bers of the S anhedrim A terrible massacre was the
.

result and whoever was suspected of an incli nation

,

to surrender was in danger of his life S oon famine .

,

with all its terrible co nsequences appeared in th e ,

city ; but nevertheless every inch of ground was de

fended with unexam pled heroism In reve nge for
.

his repeated heavy losses Titus crucified several hun

,

dreds of prisoners and fugitives before the eyes of

the besieged— others were sent back mutilated to , ,

the city Meanwhile one rampart after another fell

.

into the hands of the besiegers soon the strong

to w er of Antonia was taken the sacrifices ceased on
’
the 1 7 th day o f T ammuz but never theless T itus
,

frequent proposals of surrender were decidedly re

refused Th e galleries which connected the temple
.

with Antonia were destroyed and the R omans turned

,

their various machines against the temple ci tadel for

some time without much result O n the 1 0th day.

of Ab the besieged made a desperate sallv but were ,

repulsed and pursued O n this occasion a R oman

.

threw a burning brand into the temple and the ,

sacred building— it is said against the will of T itus

P E RI O D ]. AN D LITER A TURE . 81

—w as soon in flames A desperate struggl e con

.

tinned for some time amidst the burning ruins and ,

ended at last in the com plete victory of the R omans .

T h e other parts of the town were now taken in spite ,

of a valiant resistance and the defenders already , ,

weakened by hunger were put to death even those , ,

who surrendered sharing the same fate T itus .

ordered the temple and city to be made level with

the ground ; nothing remained but a piece of the
western wall with its three towers Hippic o s Ph asae
, , ,

lis and Mariamne

,
.

Joh n of Giscala and S imon ben G io ras adorned

’
T itus triumphal entry ; the triumphal arch erected
for him still shows designs representing the various
temple ute nsils .

4 3 D i s s o l u t i o n o f t h e K i ngd o m
. .

M assada the last fortress in the hands of the

,

Jews fell in 7 2 a fter the garrison had slain first

, ,

their wives and children and then themselves Th e .

country was partly divided among the R oman

soldiery partly sold in separate lots ; numbers of
,

the inhabitants were treated as slaves Th e hitherto .

a nnual temple tax had to be paid to the emperor

( fisc us jud aic us
) A grippa
. spent his large fortune in
R ome — his sister Berenice was for many years the
favourite of T itus Josephus received large tracts of
.

land in J udea and an annual pension and adopted ,

the name of Flavius after tha t of the imperial

family I n R ome he wrote his historical works
. Th e
” “ ”
Jewish W ars Th e Antiquiti es of th e Jews ( a history
,

G
82 J EWISH H ISTORY AND LITER A TURE .
[2 D PE RI O D .

of th e Jewish people from the earliest times) a de ,

fence o f the Jews against their foe Apion and his ,

own autobiography T hese are all written in Greek

.

his H ebrew writings have not been preserved .

T h e year o f his death is unknown .

na
T h e O i s tem pl e in Egyp t l d
w as c o se in th e y ear 7 3 .
84 J EWISH H ISTO R Y [ F IR ST

Th e dispersion did not actually begin with the

dissolution of the kingdom but much earlier with ,
-

the end of the kingdom of I srael since when it con ,

tinued an d increased At the time of Titus numer

.
,

ous Jewish communities were already established in

the countries bordering the E uphrates and the Tigris ,

in Asia Minor on the nor th coast of Africa in

, ,

Greece and in I taly the Jewish community in R ome

,

w a s large and influential even a hundred years before

his reign I n that century too Judaism had gained

.
, ,

many adherents among the heathen nations N ever .

th el ess for the foll o wing two hundred years our ,

attention is chiefly turned towards Palestine .

45 C o n d i t i o n O f th e J e w s aft e r t h e D i ss o l u
.

t i o n o f t h e K i ngd o m .

In the midst o f the terrible calamity that h ad

befallen the Jews there were fortunately still some
,

men left who did not despair but endeavoured to ,

save what they could especially their intellectual

,

treasures J o c h anan ben Zaccai w h o had with d iffi

.
,

culty escaped the s uspicions of the Zealots and fled ,

from the city assumed the leadership of the S anhe

,

drim after the death of S imon ben Gamaliel the ,

great grandson o f Hill el who had fallen during the

,

war W ith the permission of the R omans he re

.
,

moved the S anhedrim to Jamni a and m ade various ,

n ew ordinanc e s to suit the alterations of time and

place All political activity was laid aside and th e

.
,

members of the S anhedrim occupied themsel v es solely

with th e precepts of the traditional l aw Th e com .
PE R I O D ] . AN D LITER ATURE . 85

p ilatio n of the oral law w as called Mishna ( teach

‘

ing) in contrast to th e written law as found in the

,

Bible which was called Mikra

,
T h e sages learned .

”
in th e Mishna were called T annaim and S imon the ,

Just was already distinguished as one of them O f .

the m any d iscipl e s who s urrounded J o c h anan ben

Zaccai five are mentioned as the most celebrated
,

E leazer b Arak E liezer b Hyrc ano s Jose h a Cohen

.
, .
,
-
,

S imon b N a thaniel J oshua b H ananiah

.
,
. .

46 G am alie l I I in J am nia
. A q u il a 9 0
. .
, .

Aft er J o c h anan b Zaccai Gamaliel II . son of , .

,

”
Simon b Gamaliel (called
. Gamaliel in Jamnia to ,

distinguish him from his grandfather) became leader

of the S anh e drim Besides the already mentioned
.
-

disciples of J o c h anan his contemporaries and fellow ,

labourers were — Eliezer b Asarja who traced his .

,

descent from E z ra J o c h anan b N uri J o c h anan b

, .
, .

Bero k a S amuel H ak ato n C h al afta and others

, , , .

Gamaliel himself was favou rable to the study of

Gre ek ; during his lifetime and with th e approval of
'

E liezer and Joshua a new Greek translation of the ,

Bible w a s undertaken by a heathe n named A uila

q ,

who had become a convert to Judaism O nly frag .

m ents remain of this tra nslation as well as of those ,

of S ymmachus and Th eo d o tio n .

Th e G reek fo rm Ak yl as ( A q uil a) w as p ro no unc ed Ank el o s

$

by th e B abyl o nian J ew s and th enc e Ank el o s w as nam ed as th e

,

w riter o f th e Targum used by th e B abyl o nian J ew s w h ic h w as ,

no t w ritten d o w n b efo re th e t h ird c entury T h is tran sl atio n .

,

it m ay b e add ed d if fers m aterially fro m th e o ne used by th e

,

J ew s in Pal estin e .
86 J EWISH H ISTORY [ FI R ST

47 . A k ib a an d h is C o n t e m p o rari e s , 1 2 0 .

Inthe following generation we have p rincip ally

to
notice Akiba b Joseph w h o after a youth spent in
.
, ,

idleness and ignorance rose by dint of intelligence

,

and activity to be one of the highest authorities and ,

whose peculiar method has had a lasting influence on

H alac h ian studies He laid the foundation fo r the
.

compilation of the M ishna which afterwards became

the one in general use Besides Akiba we may also
.
,

mention— Tarph o n of Lydda I shmael Eliezer of , ,

Modim Jose o f Galilee and H ananiah b Teradio n

, , . .

48 . B arc o c h b a, 1 3 2 .

P alestine e nj oyed scarcely half a century o f the

repose which it so much needed and which was so ,
’
necessary for its mental development Traj an s cam .

p g (
a i n 1 1 4) against the Parthians among whom were ,

also many Jews caused various disturbances in

,

Palestine which were suppressed by the R oman

,

general Q uietus D uring the reign of H adrian

.

( 1 1 7
-
1 3 8 ) a revolt caused by edicts
,
of violence and
O ppression broke out among th e Jews in almost the
,

whole R oman e m pire — a revolt in which Akiba is

also said to have taken part H opes for the .

restoration of an independent kingdom wer e enter

tained a talent ed adventurer Barc o c h b a placed , ,

himself at the head of the rebellion and was con ,

si d ered to be the promised Messiah After com .

m enc ing with brief successes he was compelled to ,

retreat before the R oman commander Julius S everus ,

and had to take refuge in B ettar After a desperate .

88 J EWISH H ISTORY [ FIRS T

T annaim ( the third since the destruction of the

temple) and are the authorities most frequently
,
-

quoted in the Mishna Jose b Hal efta laid the

. .

foundation of a chronicle ( S eder O lam ) J eh ud a b ,

.

Illai of a commentary ( Midrash ) on the book of Le

“ ”
vi tic us called
,
S ifra and S imon b Y o c h ai of another
, .

commentary on N umbers and D euteronomy called ,

”
S ifree These works have been elaborated and
.

written out by later rabbins N one of the T annaim .

left any written works ; Kabalistic writings have

subse quently been incorrectly ascribed to I shmael ,

Akiba S imon b Y o c h ai and others

,
.
, .

5 0 J e h u d a H a N as i
. T h e M i s h na 1 9 0 2 2 0
-
.
,
-
.

After the house o f H illel had already produced six

patriarchs it reached its highest glory in the seventh
, ,

J eh ud a son of S imon III

,
known as Jchuda .
,

H a N asi or J eh ud a Hak o d esh ( the H oly ) H e resided

-
.

first in Tiberias afterwards in S epph o ris and was on

, ,

friendly terms with the Antonines D istinguished as .

he was by birth position and learning he was able

, , , ,

to undertake to collect sift and arrange all the , ,

existing H alachoth and to have this collection ac

,

knowledged as the authorised Mishna or second

code ( the oral law) I t is uncertain whether he .

himself removed the ancient prohibition of writing

down H alachoth or whether even after his ti m e they
, , ,

were still handed down by word of mouth and were ,

not com m itted to writing till a la ter period ; at all

events certain passag e s have been added at different
,

t imes afterwards Th e Mishna contains all those re

.
P E RI O D ]. AND LITERA TURE . 89

ligio us laws which have been handed down by oral

tradition and by the labours of the S oferim and
,

T annaim T h e varying opinions of older authoritie s

.

are frequently placed side by side without any de ,

ci sio n being given the style is brief and concise dis

, ,

eussio ns are generally avoided and the arrangemen t ,

sometimes shows m ore attention to the similarity of

the traditional forms than to the subj ects of the
H alachoth although the latter is the most important
,

point in the arrangement Th e whole is divided into .

six general classes ( S edarim) namely Zeraim ( or , ,

seeds) Moad (festivals) N ashim ( women ) Nez ek in

, , ,

( civil and criminal laws ) K ad a sh im

( sacrifices
,
and
food) T ah aro th ( laws of cleanliness ) I t is written
,
.

in rabbinical H ebrew .

Eac h S ed er is d iv id ed into treatises ( Mesik to th ) eac h treatise ,

in to c h ap ters ( P erak im ) and eac h c hap ter into p aragraph s

,

( Halak o th ) .

51 . S u c c e ss o rs o f J e h u d a H a- N as i , 2 1 9 2 8 0 -
.

Th e splendour of the patriarcha te faded more and

more under the successors of J eh ud a his son ,

Gamaliel III and his grandson J eh ud a II w h o

.
, .
,

e qualled him neither in learni ng nor in moral ex

c elle nc e besides this the Babylonian schools now
began to flourish and R ab a favourite disciple of
, ,

J eh ud a I transplanted th ither the study of th e

.
,

Mishna .

Th e compilation of the Mishna by J eh ud a H a N asi - .

was completed by the addition of those H alachoth .

which he had not included but which were collected ,

90 J EWISH H ISTORY [ FIR ST
“
by his disciples under the name of T o sefto th or
B arath o th L ike the already mentioned c o m m en -

taries to the Pentateuch the S ifra and S ifree they

, ,

served to complete and elucidate the Mishna itself ,

without being considered equal to it in authori ty .

Th e Mishna remained th e groundwork for the studies

in all the schools o f learning in Palestine and as the ,

“
most celebrated Amoraim ( as the successors o f
the T annaim were called) we may mention H anina b .

Hama J o c h anan b Naph c h a S imon b L akish

,
.
,
Th e . .

E mperor D iocletian who is reported to have per

,

se c uted the Christians does not seem to have been

,

unfavourably disposed towards the Jews .

52 . T h e T al m u d J e ru s h al m i H il l e l I I . .

E x t i n c t i o n o f t h e P atri arc h at e .

T h e commentaries and discussions of the schools

of Palestine on the Mishn a were collected in the
beginning of the fourth century ; the collection is
called Gemara ( traditional teaching) or together w ith , ,

the Mishn a the T almud T o distinguish it from a

,
.

later work of a similar kind compiled in Babylon it , ,

is called the T almud J erush alm i the T almud of Pales ,

tine o r the VYestern T almud Contemporary with the

,
.

insignificant patriarchs Gamaliel I I and J c huda III

,
. .
,

were the following distinguished A m r

o aim z— Ami
and Asi E leazar b Pe d at Abab u Chaia and S imon
,
.
, ,

b Abba Th e T almud J erush al m i included the com

. .

ment ary on th e greater part of th e first four S edarim

the commentary to the fifth is probably no lo nger
extant and none was written for the sixth
,
.
92 J EWISH H ISTORY [ S ECO ND

restoring the temple in Jerusalem but after a brief

reign he fell in battle against the Parthians .

U nder the emperors who succeeded Julian the ,

Jews only occasionally found protection against the

increasing fanaticism of the Christian bishops Am .

brose of Milan ( 38 4) and Cyril of Alexandria

especially distinguished themselves in this particular
it was reckoned an act o f v irtue to plunder and
destroy the synagogues E ven Hieronymus who
.
,

owed his knowledge of H ebrew to Jewish teaching ,

expresses in strong terms his hatred of the Jews .

U nder such circumstances and amidst the con ,

fusion of th e migration of many nations that in ,

augurated a fresh era of barbarism every new ,

intellectual movement ceased the schoolhouses were

deserted Th e writings of that period w h ich are
.
,

still extant show nothing but collections o f tradi

,

tio nal precepts and explan ations .

S E C O ND PE RIO D .

T h e J ew s in th e n e w P e r s i an E m p i re .

54 . Th e J ew s in th e L an d s o f th e Eu

p h rat e s .

Th e
lands on the borders of the E uphrates had
long numbered a large proportion of Jews among
their inhabitants and their numbers had increased
,

during the unsuccessful wars against the R omans as ,

the Parthians who possessed those districts were

PE R I O D ] . AND LITERA TURE . 93

able to maintain their independence In the fertile .

and well cultivated district that lies between the

-

Tigris and the E uphrates at the point where these ,

two rivers draw near e a ch other certain towns such , ,

as Apamea N ares Neh ard ea Firuz S habur Pumba

, , ,
-
,

d ith a S ora ( or Matha Mab asia ) M ac h usa contained

, , ,

a large number o f Jews Th ey were governed by .

E xilarc h s ( R esh Galutha ) —supposed to be descended

from D avid — who presided over the affairs and
interests of their people an d paid fealty to and were ,

recognised by the Parthian and Persian kings .

5 5 T h e B ab yl o nian S c h o o l s
. .

An active int ellectual life and the historical exist

ence of the Babylonian Jews begins with R ab ( Abba
Arek k a died ,
a scholar of J eh ud a I who first .
,

introduced the study of the Mishn a into the school

of S ora S uccessive schools were rapidly founded in
.

the surro unding towns and the Mishna was studied ,

there with an energy and activity that threw the

schools of Palestine into the shade although the su ,

preme authority of the latter was still recognised in

matters of doubt Th e schools in S ora and Pum ba
.

d ith a were for centuries the most important of all .

Th e students assembled in S ora in the months o f

Adar and E lul these assemblies were called Kalla ”
,

“ ”
th e lec turers
o
R oshi Kalla and the schoolhouses ,

themselves Jeshiba ( Aramaic : M etib ta) or S idra

“ ”“ ”
, .

O f th e first generatio n o f B abyl o nian Am o raim , w e m ay nren

tio n b esid es Rab , h is frien d Sam uel ( Ario c h ) , kn o w n as an
astro no m er, d ied 2 5 3 o f th e sec o n d generati n ( 2 6 0
o H una
94 J EWISH H I STORY [ SECO ND

in S o r a J elrud a b
,
. E z ek iel in Pum b ad ith a, Nac h m an b J ac o b .

in S h ek ar
rz ib th e T igris,on Rabb a b Ab uh a C h asd a S h esh et .
, ,

o f th e th ird ge er tio n a n
( 32 0 Rabba b Nac h m an J o sep h .
,

n
th e Bl i d , Ab b aji and c hm Na an b I saac in Pum b ad ith a Raba.
,

in Mac h usa, Papa b C hanan in Nares . .

56 . T h e B ab yl o n i an T al m u d .

Ashi the president of the school in S ora from 3 6 7

,

42 7 distinguished equally by his piety and his

learning was the first to atte m pt the revision and
,

co m pil ation o f the enormous mass of commentari es

and treatises w hich the Babylonian study of the
,

Mishna had accumulated .

At each of the two Kalla months ( t e the months .

in which the students met ) one o f the treatises of the

Mishna was revised an d studied with all its T almudic ,

explanations and commentaries so that in the course

of thirty years all the sixty treatises were gone ,
'

through and set in order T h e whole was then .

again revised by Ashi and thus the Babylonian ,

T almud was we may almost say created ,

Al thoug h ,
.

Ashi was for nearly sixty years at the head of th e

school o f S ora he was not able e ntirely to complete
,

his gigantic undertak ing and it was continued and ,

concluded with the exception o f a fe w additions by

, ,

Mar E m ar R abina Mar b R Ashi and their con

, ,
. .
,

temporaries Th e next written revision was caused

.
,

as it seems by the persecutions which the Jews

,

suffered under the Persia n rulers J esd igerd III ,

.

( 43 6 ) and Firuz About the year 5 00 t h e

Babylonian T almud was finally completed although ‘

,
96 J EWI SH H ISTORY [ SEC O N D

time of R abba and Ab b aji are specially noted as the

place and period at which this keenness of reasoning
w as most highly developed But in fact the want of .

political interests or other literary labour caused the

Jewish mind to seek its chief occupation and nourish
ment in these discussion s — besides the fact that they
were considered as meritorious from a religious point
o f V ie w Thus de spite the danger of S inki ng into
.
,

o ne sidedness and barren subtleties the Jewish mind

-
,

kept itself fresh and k e en ready in more favou rable ,

c ircumstances to tur n successfully to other branches

o f human activity .

T h e long and serious discussions were often inter

rupted by incidental anecdotes ( Hagad o th ) employed ,

as illustrations by moral expositions by proverbs

, ,
.

sayings and parables containing some moral truth

, ,

under a quaint and fanciful form by oriental ,

romanc es fables and legends by remarks on events

, , ,

of the times and by facts of natural history and

, ,

medical science etc in so far as those subj ects wer e

,
.
,

then understood Few were free from the belief in

.

demons and such like superstitions and those few ,

more advanced minds could do but little against the

evils of the time .

Th e language of the T almud is partly rabbinical

H ebrew and partly Ar amaic ; in the latter portion s
the t w o dialects become less and less distinct from
each other .

Th e decisio ns of the Babylonian T almud are con

-

sid ered a higher authority than those of th e T almud

R am o n ] AN D LITER A TURE . 97

J erush almi ; the former was in fact much more care

fully studied and compiled than th e la tt er .

58 . T h e S eb o raim , 5 00 6 00
-
.

Th e name o f S eb o raim ( opinionists or as some , ,

say casuists ) was given to the teachers in th e lands

,

on the borders of the E uphrates during the six th

century after the T almud had been completed A
,
.

few additions to its pages are almost all that can be

ascribed to their literary labours T h e political state .

of th e Persian kingdom was at that t ime very un

fortunate ; the Jews had to endur e a series of per
sec u tio ns and many of the synagogues and schools
,

were closed wh il e the buildings of those institutions

,

were made over to th e Persian priesthood Th e .

young E xilarch Mar S utra was taken prisoner in

5 1 4 and executed together w ith his grandfather Mar
,

H anina Be tter t imes came under the rule of the

.

w ise and cultivated N ushirva n the schools were

again open ed and many add itions were made to the
,

T almud But disturbances again broke out caused

.
,

in some meas ure by the struggles between the families

o f B astanai and Neh i lai fo r th e o ffice of E xil arch and ,

betwee n various Pe rs ian candida tes for th e thron e ;

and it was not until the ris e o f I slamism and its ,

development in Persia that a more tranquil and ,

satisfactory state of a ffa irs was inaugurated .

59 L at e r C o ll e c ti o n s o f H al ac h o t h an
. d
H agad o t h .

V arious treatises intended to complete and illus

,

trate th e T almud , were about this time added to its

H
98 J EWISH H ISTORY [ S E CO N D

already voluminous pages Among these we may

.

mention M assek eth S oferim ( concerning d ivine

“ ”

“ ”
service and the scrolls of the law ) D erek E r e th
“ “
( on social customs ) S em a
,
k o th or E bel R ab ,
”
bathi ( funeral ordinan ces ) and a commentary on ,

“ ”
the treatise Av o th by R abbi N athan Th e so
,
.

“
call e d little treatis e s in most of the editions of the
T almud are printed at the end of the fourth S edar ;
it is unkno w n by whom where or at what time they
, , ,

were composed O f a later date ( probably) are similar

.

treatises upon Gerim ( prosely t es ) K ut h im ,

( S amaritans ) ,
E retz I srael ( ordinances relati ng to
life in Palestine ) and others ,
.

Th e H agad o th as well as the H alachoth were con

nec ted with different parts of the Bible ; th e most

ancient of the collections of H agad o th Midrashim

collections ) is the Beresh ith R abba which as its , ,

name implies is a co m men tary on Gen esis I n course

, .

of time the rest of the Pentate uch and other parts of

the Bible were provided with S imilar commentaries ,

and the whole collection wh ich was not completed ,

“
till the beginning of the mid dl e ag es is called Mid ,

”
rash R abba .

6 0 D i v i ne S e r v i c e
. .

Si nce the destruction of the temple the syna ,

gogue ritual in which prayers had now taken the

,

place of sacrifices was especially attended to and

, ,

was constantly enlarged and developed First cor .

,

“ ”
responding to the sacrifices came th e Tefillim , ,

which were repeated three or four times daily and ,

 1 00 J EWISH H ISTORY [ TH IRD
°

called Masoretic studies were especially cultivated .

I n the same way as Babylonian T argums and T almuds

sprang up side by side with those of Palestine so also ,

the system of vowels and accents called the Tiberian ,

( which is the on e n ow universally accepted ) was ,

followed by a Babylonian o ne which was however , , ,

but little used or known .

TH IRD PE RIO D .

Th e J ew s in A s i a an d A fri c a u nd er
I s l am i t e R ul e .

62 . J ew s in A r ab i a .

Colonies o f Jews had probably settled in Arabia at

a very early date ; they were no doubt especiall y
numerous after the second dissolution of the king
dom In the first ce nturies Of the Christian era
.

there were several free J ew iSh Arabian tribes in -

Jath rib in the province of C h aib ar

,
I n S outh . .

Arabia they traded with I ndia Persia and the , ,

Byzantian empire while the N orth Arabia n Jews led

,

a nomadic li fe An Arabian king of Y emen is said

.

to have adopted Judaism and to have persuaded his ,

subjects to d o the same A t all events there is no .

,

doubt that the Jews in Arabia e njoyed perfe c t

freedom and it is also certain that their higher
,

state of civilisation exercised great influence on the

heathen Arabs Mahomed himself o w es much to his
.

acquaintance with Jews and Judaism the Koran is

PE RI O D ]. A ND LITERA TURE . 1 01

filled with reminiscences —

often much altered and
d isfigured— o f th e Bible and the H agada .

Th e great changes which the rise and spread of

I slamism brought to the nations who adopted it are
of special importance for J ewish history bec ause it ,

so happened that those were the very countries in

which the greater number of Jews were then living
parts of Asia N orth Africa and subsequently the
, ,

S panish Peninsul a .

6 3 Th e G e o ni m
. .

E ven during the lifetime of Mahomed and after ,

his death during the reign of th e Caliph O mar

, ,

several of the Jewish tribes in Arabia were com

ell ed to adopt the tenets of I slam ; others while
p ,

permitted to retain their religion were compelled to ,

accompany the Arabs on their victorious campaigns ,

which were inspired partly by r eligious enthusiasm ,

and partly too by love of conquest Palestine was .

soon tor n from the Byzantine rule and a mosque was ,

erected in Jerusalem on the sit e of the temple Th e .

S assanide kingdom was dissolved with the help of

the Jews who lived there in a co nstant state of
,

oppression ; and B stanai a descendant of the E xil

,

archs of the house of D avid was recognised as ,

E xilarch W hen Firuz S habur was taken by

-

th e Caliph Al i ,
Jews assembled led by the ,

head of the school Mar I saac who was well received

, ,

and confirmed in his o ffice by the Caliph Th e .

schools o f S or a and Pum b adith a flourished anew ;

their chie fs from that time assumed th e title of
1 02 J EW ISH H IST O RY [ TH IR D

Gaon ( plural Geonim ) and stood at the head of

,

all religious and legal matters while the E xilarch ,

( R esh Galutha ) was at the head of all political a f

f airs ,

and was immediately subj ect to the emperor .

Q uestions of every kind were submitted from far

and near to the decision of the Geonim whose ,

schools were the centres o f T almudic learning ; the

answers t o these questions ( which were afterwards
collected together) formed the whole of the literary
activity of the Geonim until the middle of the eighth
century J eh ud a the Blind Gaon in S ora ( about
.
,

composed a compendium called H alachoth “

”
K etuo th which was afterwards j oined to and ampli
,

fied by a similar work by S imon of Kaira ( Cairo ) ,

”
which was called H alachoth G ed o l o th
“
Achai o f
.
‘

Shach a ( who emigrated to P alestine in 7 6 0 in

’

indignation at bei ng passed over at the election of a

“
Gaon in Pum b ad ith a) is the author of the S efer
”
Sh ea l o th a s eries of qu estions and answers divided
, ,

into 1 9 1 treatises on subj ects in the H al ac lra and

,

H ag ada .

6 4 T h e K ar ai t e s
. .

About the middle of the eigh th century there

originat e d a sect which caused a division in Jud aism
,

la sting unto the present day— nam ely th e sect of th e,

Karaites Its first appearance is wrapt in unc er

.

tainty An an b D avid is said to have first appeared

. .

as the oppone nt of T almudism in indignation at not

,

receiving the post o f E xilarch or Gaon he is sup °

“
posed to have denied the oral tradition supported
 J EWISH H ISTORY [ TH IR D

and a Mohammedan and finally adopted the tenets

,

of Judaism T h e Jewish sage who conducted th e

.

argu m en t on behalf of his religion is named S angari .

O ne of the later ki ngs w as called J o seph — h e was in

correspondence with C hisd ai b I saac of Cordova .
.

Jud aism may h ave probably prevailed for two or

three centuries among this nation .

D oubt ful reports of the supposed descendants of

the ten tribes in Ethiopia and S outh ern Arabia were
spread by the traveller Eldad h a D ani about the -

time of the Gaon Zemach

66 . S aad ja G ao n , 8 9 2 9 42 -
.

Th e ninth century numbers among its Geonim

Amram in S ora 8 09 8 3 1 whose prayer book ( S iddur
,
-
,
-

Am ram) was much used in Europe ; Zem ach in

P um b ad ith a 8 7 2 8 9 0 who compiled a T al m udic
,
-
,

lexicon N achman in S ora 8 8 1 — 889 But the most

,
.

celebrated of all was S aadja b Joseph bor n 8 9 2 in .

, ,

Pithom ( Al F ium ) in Egypt and appointed Gaon in

, ,

S ora 9 2 8
, Q uarr
. e ls soon arose between him and
j
14 the E xilarch D avid bar Z ac l ai a proud obstinate , ,

man who end eavoured in vain to make the Gaon

,

consent to an unj ust sentence T h e strife into .

,

which even the Caliphs were drawn lasted m any ,

years and it is said that S aadja finding his life in ,

’
d anger spent several years in hiding from Z ac hais
,

persecutions Th e insults and humiliatio ns he h ad

.

endured caused his death at the early age of fifty

H e was one of the most many sided writers -

which Judaism has produced His writi ngs include .

P E RI O D ]. AN D LITER A TURE . 1 05

commentaries and Arabic translations of the Bible ,

an important r eligious and phil osophical work ,

S efer h a E m unah ( on th e articles of faith ) a com

-
,

“ ”
mentary on the S efer J etsira grammatical chrono , ,

logical and T almudical treatises and synagogal poems

,
.

H e was a m rrc h dreaded oppo nent of the Kar aites .

H is im m ense literary activity is scarcely yet known

to its full extent .

6 7 T h e l as t G e o nim 1 040
.
, .

By the beginning of the tenth century th e decay

of the Babylonian schools became apparent ; they
had ceased to be th e centre and summit o f intellectual
ac tivi ty Th e active life which developed itself in
.
,

Arabia under the rule of th e Caliph H aroun al R ashid

and his successors was instrumental in turning the
,

Jews fro m their one sided devotion to the T almud

-

so as to call their atten tion to other branches of

learning as well as to commercial int erests Th e .

school in S ora soon fell into complete decay ; four

learn ed T almudists w h o were sent o ut to collect
,

contributions for the schools were taken prisoners ,

by th e Arabian admiral Ib n R o m ah is and were sold ,

—
as slaves one S h am aria to Alexandria the secon d
, , ,

H ush iel to Cyrene the third Moses to Cordova

, , ,
.

H ere the rabbinical knowl edge of Moses who made ,

h is way into th e synagogue clad in the most wretched ,

garments was soon rec o gnised an d appreciated Th e

,
.

’
chief rabbi N athan vacated his o ffice in the stranger s
favour and th e Caliph gl adly encouraged the growth
,

of T almudical learni ng in his dominio ns so that the ,

1 06 J EW ISH H ISTORY [m um

Jews there might become independent of th e Baby

l o nian schools .

T h e more the knowledge of th e T al m ud increased

in S pain the greater and the more rapid was the
,

decay of the college in Pum b ad ith a but before its

complete downfall t w o celebrat e d men occupied the
office of G aon These two were S h erira, son of
.

H anina and his son H ai who for a time occupied

, ,

the h igh o ffice tog ether S h erira became Gaon in

.

9 6 8 and in 9 8 7 his son H ai was appointed C o gaon

,
-

at the early age of eighteen Both father and son .

were voluminous writers Sh erira composed an im .

“ ”
portant T almudical work called Megilloth S etarim
( on the meaning of H agad o th ) ; his “
I ggeret h

( epistle ) gives a valuable list of the Geoni m H e .

died at an advan ced age in 9 9 8 H ai was a cul ti .

v ated ,
scientific man well acquainted with Arabic ;
,

he was averse to Kabalistic superstiti o ns and end eav ,

o ured to promote a ratio nal comprehension both of

the Bible and of the T almud H e composed o ommen .

ta ries on some portions o f the Mishna various legal ,

works and an exposition of the Pentateuch in Arabic

,

His father —
”
verse called Musar H askal in law .
-

S am uel b H o fni was Gaon in S ora at the time when

.

Hai filled that O ffice in Pum b ad ith a H e was the .

author of a philosop h ical commentary on th e Penta

teuch and some T al m udical w orks H e died in 1 03 4
,
.
,

and Hai four years later Hisk iah the great grand .
,
-

’
son o f D avid b Z ac hrai was app o inted to succeed the
.
,

latter but after t w o years he was deposed in 1 040

,
1 08 J EW ISH HIS T ORY [ TH I R D

69 . M i d r ash . K ab al a . S ynago gal P o e t ry .

Th e contributions o f this period to Hagad istic

—
literature are certain portions of th e “
M idrash
” “
R abba the Midrash Y el am d enu or Tanc h um a
,

( a H aga d i an commentary on the Pentateuch ) the ,

“ ”
Pesik to th ( or portions of treatises for the S crip
“
ture readings on special S abbaths) the T ana debe ,

E liahu ( in which instruction of various kinds is put

into the mouth of the prophet Elijah ) and many ,

other smaller Midrashim .

Th e Kabala ( secret d octrine ) w hich was at first ,

not permitted to be written down had by this time ,

also a literature of its own Among the works of .

the early Kabalistic school we may mention the

”
S efer J etsira in which the creation is connected
,

with a symbolical syste m of numbers and letters ,

” ”
the Pirk e of R abbi E liezer the books H ek al o th
“ “
, ,

“ ” “ ” “
R aziel S hiur Komah
,
Bahir in many of which
, ,

the D eity is represented under a material form and ,

oth er equal ly strange views are set forth Th e .

authors of these works are unknown and the date ,

of their composition c an o nly be approximately de

term ined .

Th e development of divine service brought with it

th e introduction of various forms of poetry such as ,
” ”
H o sh ano th and S elichoth ( hymns of praise and
penitence ) S oon diverging from its former simplicity
.
, ,

the contents of th e H agada began to be treated in a

more or less artificial form S uch compositions are .

called Piut ( plural Piutim ) and their authors Pei t ,

P E RI O D ] . AN D LITER A TURE . 1 09

or Peitan O ne of the most ancient of these poets is

.

Jose b Jose of rm k no w n date and nationality who

.
, ,

took as his subject for a Piut the M usaph of the N ew

Y ear s service and also composed an A voda ar
’
, ,

ranged alphabetically but without rhyme Th e most , .

celebrated and influential writer of syn agogal poetry

was however E l eazar Kalir ( about
, ,
the author
o f more than two hundred poems for divine service .

His style is terse crowded with images often com , ,

plicated by new forms of words and phrases and ,

here and there rendered artificial by involved v ersifi

cation rhymes and acrostics but full of truly poetic
, , ,

fervour and enthusiasm H e took h is subj ects from .

the H agada and H alacha and h as adorned almost all ,

the festival rituals with his Piutim His way of .

treating the H ebrew language has bee n frequently

imitated and as often blamed and disapproved of
, .

7 0 G e ne r al S u m m ar y
. .

At the time of the downfall of the Geoni m the ,

c entrep o int of Judaism was n o longer to be found in

Asia although a large Jewish population still in

,

habited the dominions of the Caliph But the .

southern countries of E urope and Africa alre ady

contained a large number of flourishing Jewish com
m unities whose br anches found their way into the
,

middle of E urope and it is with these E uropean ,

communities that our history is now chiefly concerned .

T h e Bible had been long completely provided with

vowels accents and signs of all kin ds ; the Baby
, ,

l o nian system of pun c tuation w as forgotten by the

110 J EW I SH H ISTORY [ FOU R TH

R ab b anites, an d followed only by a por tion of th e

Karaites Th e M id rash th e latest additions to which
.
,

date from the tim e o f the Geo ni m was set aside ,

more and more in favour of rational explanations ;

gram m ar and philology began to be cul tivated with
especial success in S pain and the nort h of Africa .

Th e Karaites have the merit o f having given an im

pulse to these studies ; their own early productions
exceed those of th e contemporary rabbins in bulk and
number but not in their real value and in successive
, ,

centuries they appear only as the followers and im i

tato rs of the o ther Jews .

Th e T almud was at this time definitely concluded .

J c huda and S imon in C airo Nissim b Jacob Zemach

, .
, ,

and H ai introduced grammatical philo l ogical and

, , ,

other studies Th e T almud J erush alm i was little

.

noticed .

F O U RT H PE R I O D .

T h eJ e w s in E u r o p e t ill to w a rd s th e e nd

O f th e M i d dl e A ge s .

71 . T h e J ew s in S p ai n u n d e r t h e V i s i go t h s .

Th e history of the Jews in S pain has a sp eci al

interest duri ng the whole of th e Middle Ages T h e .

emin ent an d many sided intellectual culture of th e

-

S panish Jews which reached its climax about 1 2 00

, ,

has had an important influence on the w hole of

Judaism .
1 12 J EWISH H I STORY [ FOU R TH

which was almos t everywhere conceded to the Jews ,

enabled them to take part in the ac tive scientific

culture among th e Arabs to even a greater extent
than they had don e in Bagdad under the Caliphate .

Philosophy philology and po etry were the special

, ,

subj ects of noble rivalry between the t w o nations ,

and produced the faire st fruits of Jewish learning

and Jewish culture Fort unately the tenth and .

eleventh centuries each produced a man who em

ployed h is high o fficial position and great w ealth
chiefly for the promotion of the interests of science .

These two men are C h isd ai b I saac and S amuel .

Ha nagid
-
.

73 . C h is d ai b . I s aac .

of the family of Sh aprut was a

C hisd ai b I saac , .
,

physician and philologist and occupied the imp o rtant ,

position of Minister of Finance both under the

Caliph Ab d errah m en III and his successor Alh ak im .

( 9 6 1 H is impor tant servic e s especi ally t o th e ,

former of these rulers obtained for him great and ,

‘

lasting favour and the appointme nt to the pos t of

N asi or secular head of all the Jews in the Caliphate
, ,
.

Benevolence and generosity and a stro ng attachment ,

to his c o religionists and their literature were his chie f

-

characteristics O ne O f his contemporaries was Moses

.

b H ano c h w h o was sold as a slave to Cordova by

.
,
'

the admiral I b n R o m ahis Besides th e T almud

-

much attention was also given to poetry and the

study o f the H ebrew language Menahem b S erach . .

of T o rtasa whom C h isd ai summoned to Cordova

, ,
P E RI O D ] . AN D LITER A TURE . 13

compiled th e first complete H ebrew lexicon he was

opposed by D unash b L ab rath w h o was in his turn
.
, , ,

disputed w ith b y the scholars of Menahem C h isd ai .

also corresponded with Joseph the Jewish king of ,

th e K h o z ars ; his great qualities have bee n grate

fully celebrated both by contemporary and later
poets .

7 4 E n o c h an d A b i t u r
. C h aiu g an d Ib n
.

G e n nac h .

After the death of Moses his son Enoch became,

chief rabbi ; the powerful protec tion of C h isd ai

enabled him to hold his own against his no less
’
worthy rival Joseph b Abitur one of his father s
.
,

scholars Th e latter translated the Mishna into Arabic

.

for the Caliph Alh ak im w h o was interested in liter

,

ature o f all kinds After th e death of C hisd ai a

.

quarrel broke o ut in the cong regation between the

followers of E noch and those of Abitur Th e Caliph .

d ecided against the latter who thereupon left Cor

,

d o va and made his w ay to the E ast .

’
D uring the reign of Hisham Al h ak im s feeble suc ,

cessor th e government w as carried on by his grand

,

vizier Al m anz o r the latter appointed Jacob ibn

Gav th e own er of a large silk manufactory to be
, ,

head of the Jews in secular matters Enoch was de

riv e d of his office o f chief rabbi and Abitur invited
p ,

t o re turn But Abitur re fused to do so and himself

.
,

acknowledged the merit of E noch who in couse ,

c e retained his position which he filled most

q u en (
worthily ) until his death in 1 01 4 J eh uda ibn .
114 J EWI SH H ISTORY [ FO UR TH

C h aiug ( about 1 02 5 ) wrote treatises on some por

tions of the H ebrew grammar ; Jo nah ibn G annac h
was however by far the most distinguished in that
, ,

field o f learning his works written in Arabic have , ,

been much used by later authors and have only lately ,

been duly valued and kn own .

7 5 S am u e l h a N agid 1 02 7 1 05 5
.
-
,
-
.

I n the early part of th e eleventh ce ntury the ,

Caliphate in consequence of frequent civil wars was

, ,

divided into m any little states and Cordova was ,

ravaged by S oliman of Barbary T h e most important .

Jewish families left the city and settled in S aragossa ,

T oledo and other places

,
S amuel h a L evi fled to
.
-

M alag a and supported himself there by petty com

merce H is beautiful Arabic handwriting made him
.

known to the vizier of the king o f Granada ( to whose

dominions Malaga belo nge d) and afterwards to Ki ng
H abus himself Th e latter appreciated the great
.

intellect of the Jewish trader and promoted him to

-

the o ffice of Katib ( or m inister of state) His .

cleverness and modesty disarmed the envy of the

Arab s an d his learni ng and piety benefited his c o
,

religionists over whom he ruled as Nagid or N asi

,

H e provided copies of the Bible and th e

T almud for poor congregations and scholars not only ,

in h is native land but also in Palestine and Babylon

,

he was himself learned in the T almud is said to have ,

understood seven languages and was not without ,

poetical gifts He maintained his ministerial dignity

.
,

with which he combined th e rabbinical fu nctio ns

116 J EWI SH H ISTORY [ F O UR TH

ibn Bakoda author of the much read Chobot h a

,
-

L eb ab o t ( D uties of the H eart ) w hich was likewise ,

translated from Arabic into H ebrew ; the poe t ,

Joseph b C h isd ai and t h e daring Bible crit ic I saac

.
,

b Jasus called J iz c h ak i of whose work s o nly some

.
, ,

fragments h ave been preserved .

7 7 Th e F iv e I s aac s 1 05 0 1 1 00
.
,
-
.

In spite of the misfortune which had befallen th e

Jews of Granada numerous Jewish commu ni ties
,

began to flourish in other parts of S pain Je w ish .

viziers and secretaries were to be found at many Mo

h am m ed an cour t s and even the successes of the
,

C h ristian forces did no t at first m ake any difference

in this respect .

T h e study of the T almud received a special impetus

through the labours of five learned Talmudis ts who ,

happened all to bear the name of I saac I saac b . .

Baruch Al b alia ( 1 035 h aving happily escaped

the massacre at Granada settled first at Cordova ,

under the protection of S amuel and Jos eph h a Nagid -

and then removed to S eville where he became court ,

astronomer under the ruler o f S eville Al m utam ed , .

Besides T almudic and astronomical studies he also ,

cultivated philosophy with considerable success .

I saac b Juda ibn Giat of L ucena ( who was at the

.

head of the congregation of that town ) is known as ,

a composer of religious poems and treatises on the

T almud — h e died 1 08 9 I saac b R euben of Barce
. .

lona who lived in D ania also wrote T almudic

, ,

treatises I saac b Moses ibn S ak ni migrated to the

. .
PE RI O D ] . AND LI T E RA TURE . 117

east and became Gaon in Pum b adith a Th e most

,
.

celebrated T almudist of the five I saacs is I saac b .

Jacob Alfasi ( o f Fez) H e was a scholar of Nissim .

and H ananel an d devoted himself entirely to th e

,

study of the T almud He composed a series of .

H alachoth and his compendium of a certain portion

,

of the T almud which is generally called after him

, ,

Alfasi is one of the principal rabbinical authorities

, ,

and has been much com m ented on H e died at .

L ucena in 1 1 03 at nearly ninety years of age ; his

,

epitaph was written by Moses ibn E sra and J c hud a

h a L evi
-
.

Meanwhile Christianity was getti ng more and

more the upper hand in S pain Alfonso V I king . .
,

of Castile who employed several Jewish d iplomatists

, ,

and continued to do so in spite of the remonstrances

of Pope Greg o ry V I I had taken possession of To .
,

ledo in 1 08 5 Al m utam ed applied for help to the

.

Al m o rav ian prince J ussuf ( from the north of Africa)

but though the latter defeated Alfonso he at the ,

same time put an end to the power of the native ‘

Moslem rulers and Al m utam ed himself lost both his

,

crown and his life Th e Jewish inhabitants of the .

south of S pain suffered considerably during these

wars but their social freedom was not diminished
, ,

and Jewish doctors and ministers o f state were em

ployed at the court of the Alm o rav ian rulers Abra .

ham b C h ijja of Barcelona ( 1 06 5 1 1 3 6) occupied th e

.
-

post of Z ac h ib al Sh o rta ( minister of police) : he

- -

composed a voluminous work on th e various subj ects

1 18 J EWI SH H ISTORY [ F O UR TH

of arithmetic geometry astronomy and chronology

“

, , , ,

of which only a small portion is at present known .

He and his contemporary J eh ud a b B arsillai author of .

,

”
the T almudic work S efer h a I ttim afterwards lived - -
,

in Marseilles Joseph ibn Migash rabbi in L uce na

.
,

till 1 04 1 was a more learned T almudist than either

,

o f the preceding ; amongst his pupils was Maimon ,

the father of the Maimonides .

About this time the Jews in the north of Afric a

,
.

suffered terrible persecutions at the hands of th e

Almohades followers of the fanatical Abdallah ibn
,

T um art ; thousands were compelled to feign an

outward compliance with Moslemism U nder the .

leadership of Ab dul m um en the Almohades crossed

over to Spain took Cordova ( where the v enerable
,

Joseph ibn Zadik was rabbi ) in 1 1 48 and spent ,

their proselytisi ng fury on Jews and Christians alike .

J eh ud a ibn E sra governor of Calatrava sheltered

, ,

and protected many fugitives .

7 8 M o se s ib n E s r a
. J e h u d a H al e v i A b ra. .

h am ib n E s r a .

Moses ibn E sra brother of the already mentioned

,
-

Jchuda ibn E sra and the friend and contemporary

,

of J c huda H alevi occupies an important place ,

among the Jewish poets of S pain H e was a .

profound thinker as well as a fluent and eloquent

,

writer and he composed a large number of religious

,

an d secular songs also a book on Jewish poets and

, ,

p oetry H is S elichoth or penitential hymns are

.
“

greatly esteemed He died 1 1 3 8 . .

1 20 J EW ISH H ISTORY [ F O UR TH

works m ay be m en tioned a metrical treatise on the

game of chess Many of his writings are still un
.

edited .

7 9 A b rah am b D av i d
. B e njam i n O f T u d e l a
. . .

Abraham b D avid ( Ib n D avid ) H alevi who

.
,

must not be confused with Abrah am b D avid of .

Beaucaire was the author of the historical work

,

S efer Hak ab al a of which the part which

treats of the tenth and eleventh centuries is of
special value Th e history of the R omans and of
.

the second temple which it includes is marred by

, ,

many errors H e S h ows himself to be an ind epend

.

ent and original thinker in a philosophical work

which has been translated from the Arabic under the
” ’
title of Em una R ama H e died the martyr s death
.

in 1 1 8 0 .

Benj amin b Jona of T udela devoted himself

.

chiefly to researches on the state of the various

Jewish colo nies in th e E ast and W est H e left .

S aragossa in 1 1 6 0 and travelled thro ugh S outhern

,

E urope and parts of A sia and Af rica H e mentions .

the name o f the chief rabbi and learned men of

every town he came to so that the account of ,

his travels M assano th is of great interest not

only fo r the i nform ation concerning the state of
the Jewish communities but also for th e i nsight ,

it gives into th e general geographical knowle d ge of

his time I t has been oft en printed and h as
.
,

been translated into German L atin French and , , ,

E nglish .
PE RI O D ] . AN D LITERA TURE . 1 21

8 0 M o s e s M ai m
. o ni d e s ( R am b am ) , 1 1 3 5 1 2 04 -
.

Th e scientific development of Judaism in Spain

reached its climax in Moses M aimonides This .

great m an Was born March 3 0 1 1 3 5 in Cordova , , ,

.

I n early youth he alrea d y showed S igns of u nusual

capacity and his learned father Maimon soon began
,

to lead him in th e paths of science His mind was .

unusually clear logical an d systematic his w ill of

, , ,

iron and his character blameless His youth was

,
.

spent in sad times D re ading the tyranny of the

.

Almohades who as has alre ady been mentioned in

, , ,

sti at ed a cruel persecution of the Jews m any of

g ,

whom died as martyrs for their faith Maimon fled

.

with his children to Fez where for many years they ,

were obliged to conceal their religion H ere Moses .

associated with Mahommedan doctors and ph ilo so

h ers and became t horoughly acquainted with the
p ,

Aristotelian p h ilosophy which was the leading spirit ,

of th e Mid dle Ages an d w hich he studied in the,

works o f Jewish and A rabic commentators but he ,

was no l ess careful to study all w orks relating to

Judaism I n 1 1 6 5 Maimon and his fam ily were at
.

last able to leave Fez ; after a stormy passage t h ey

reached Acre and thence j ourneyed by way of Jeru
,

sal em and H ebron to Egypt w here they settled in ,

F o s tat ( O ld Cairo ) H er e Maimon died and Moses

.
,

and his bro ther supported themselves b y tradi ng in

j ewels But new misfort unes befell him : h is brother

.

died and his small for tune was lost so that for a
, ,

long w hile his life was a comfortless one H e next .

1 22 J EWI SH H I S TO R Y [ F O U R TH

devoted himself to medicine but his reputation as a

rabbinical authority soon extended to distant lands ,

though j ealousy and fanaticism attacked him even in

his own com mu nity H e subsequently Obtained the
.

’
post of physician to S aladin s successor and the ,

duties of his position combined with those of chie f

,

rabbi of Cairo made his life unusually active and

,

well employed H e died D ecember 1 3 1 2 04

.
,
.

8 1 T h e t h re e gr e at W o rk s O f M ai m o ni d e s
. .

After Maimonides had written a little book on the

calendar and another on the terms used in logic
(
“
M l
i o th in his twenty third year he-

published nothing more till 1 1 6 8 when he produced ,

his first great work a commentary on the Mishna

, ,

the fruit of many years of labour I t was written .

in Arabic but has been several ti m es t ranslated into

,

H ebrew .

His next great work ( 1 1 7 01 1 8 0) which may -

indeed be called his greatest is his Mish neh T orah

,

( repetition of the law ) whic h has since

,
been called
Y ad H ac h az ak ah ( the strong hand ) It is a mag .

nific ent exposition of the whole o f the Jewish l aw ,

written in fourteen books and will always be a last

,

ing memorial O f the immense comprehen siveness of

T almudic learni ng and of the mastery obtained by a
,

keen and philosophic mind over such vast material .

T h e work its elf is written in H ebrew but it was ,

preceded by a small Arabic introduction c alled S efer ,

”
Ham m itsw o th o n the 6 1 3 precepts of the law
,
.

His third great work w as written in Arabic It .

1 24 J EWISH H I ST O R Y [ F O UR T H

and mentions several instances of misfortunes that

have been caused by that belief .

— i
( )
3 Maamar T ec hi j a t h am -
et m on the ,
r e surn ec

t ion of the dead in which he defends himself

against the misunderstandings caused by his c o nc ep ,

tio n of that article of faith .

( )
4 An epistle to the learned of Marseilles
who had asked his opinion as to the i m portance of
astrology In it he says that a belief in astrol ogy
.

borders on superstition and that m an ought to be

,

guided only by the three following truths — ( a) T hose

proved to us by the senses ( 6) T hose discovered by
science ( 0) Those announced to us by revelation and
the prophets .

’
M aim o nid es s c o rresp o n d en c e h as b een c o m p il ed in sev eral
c o ll ec tio ns H is m ed ic al w o rk s and so m e few T al m ud ic treat
.

ises are o f l esser v al ue .

W
’
83 . T h e F at e Of M aim o n id e s s o rk s .

Th e writings of M aimonides had an extraordinary

effect on his c o religionists and contemporaries T en
-
.

years after the appearance o f the M ish neh T orah it

was known and read by almos t every Jewish com
munity By some it was received with e nthusiasm
.
,

and praised up to the skies By others it was thrown .

aside contemptuously or attacked wi th violent con

troversy I t was said to have bee n writ ten with the
.

intention of superseding the study of the T almud and

of putting a stop to the development of the H alacha .

Amongst its opponents we find the names o f Abra

“

ham b D avid in Provence S amuel b Ali the head

. .
,
 om
pr o ] AN D LI TERA T U R E . 1 25

of the college in Bagdad Mar S ec h arja in Al eppo ,

who feared the rivalry of Josep h ibn Ak nim the ,

favourite scholar o f M aimonides M aimonides re .

p ell ed all attacks that came to his notice with calm

ness and di gnity ; in his rep lies it w as his habit
never to mention his opponents by name .

8 4 T h e J e w s in P r o v e n c e
. .

Pol itic al condi tions as well as the influence of

-

climate tended to unite the Jews o f the south o f

France w i th those Of S pain and to increase the dis ,

tance betwee n them and those in the north of the

former Country After the persecutions of the Al mo
.

hades 7 7 ) had gone far to crush Judaism in the

south of S pain we find it concentrated in Castile
,

and Catalonia and in const ant in tercourse with th e

,

so uth of Fr ance .

T h e political condition of the Jews in this fertile

land had on the whole been a favourable one Th e .

hostile attitude o f the Bishop Ago b art ( 8 3 0) had had

no evil results and it was not until the downfall of
,

the C arlovingians that the fate of the Jews became

dependent on the nobles and priests Aft er the .

tenth century T almudic studies were actively carried

on in several commu nities Machir a learned Jew .
,

of Babylon who was sent by H aroun al R ashid to

,
- -

Charlemagn e — it is said at the request of the latter

, ,

—had alread y founded a school in N arbonne Moses .

Had arsh an flo urished there as an exp ound er of H aga

doth in 1 06 0 and in 1 1 4 0 the learned Abraham b
,
.

I saac called Ah bet din the author of the book E sh

,
- -

,
1 26 J EWI SH HISTORY [ F o um n

kol which has o nlylatelyb een published Meshullam

, .
,

with his five learned sons J o nath an h a Cohen who ,

- -

e m igrated to Palestine in 1 2 1 1 and S erac hja b , .

I saac H alevi of Gerona all belo nged to the school of ,

L unel T h e latter w as noted for his keen intellect

.

and comprehensive learning his commentary on the

”
T almud called Maor shows unusual boldness and
, , ,

opposes the views of Alfasi and other authorities H e .

died about 1 1 8 5 J c huda ibn Tib b o n also a mem

.
,

ber of the L unel school has furnished careful and ,

scholarly translations o f many Arabic works in ,

’ ”
cluding B ac h ja s C lro b o th H all eb ab o th and I b n
“

’ “
G eb iro l s M idd o th h a nefesh his son S amuel and
- -

his grandson Moses continued this useful labour and ,

’
translated some of M aim o nid es s co m mentaries on the
Mishna .

Th e greatest T almudic authority in this part of

France was Abraham b D avid o f Beaucaire son .
,

ih law of the above mentioned Abraham b I saac

- -
.
,

author of many T almudic works and well kn own for ,

his violent O pposition to the M ish neh T orah of

“ ”

Maimonides and his still more veheme nt attacks on

,

S erac hja Halevi H e died in 1 1 9 8

. Prosperous .

and more or l ess cul tivated and learned co ngrega

tions also flourished in Montpellier T oulouse and , ,

Marseilles .

8 5 T h e F am il y O f t h e K i m c h i s 1 1 6 0 1 2 3 0
.
,
-
.

T h e family o f the Kimchis ( of S panish origin ) o c c u

pied a high position amo ng th e Jews of Proven ce .

Joseph b I saac Kimchi of N arbonne composed a

.
1 28 J EWI SH H ISTORY [ FOU R TH

science but without result Then unhappily S olo

,
.
, ,

mon and Jonah took the ill advised step of calling in -

the help of the D ominicans who were at that time ,

acting as inquisitors against the Albigenses in Pro

vence and the wri tings of Maimonides were publicly
,

burned in Montpellier and it is said also in Paris

, , ,
.

T his caused universal indignation — the more cultured

opponents of Maimonides were silent Abraham b . .

C h isd ai of Barcelona himself a p h ilosophic writer

, ,

expressed this feeling in an epistle addressed to the

S panish co ngregations .

T h e poet J eh ud a b S alomo Al c h arisi ( 1 1 7 01 2 3 0)

.
-

of T oledo also belongs to this perio d H e travelled .

in the south of France Egyp t Palestine S yria and

, , , ,

Persia his principal poem S efer T ac h k em o ni , ,

treats of his travels and adventures and also follow , ,

ing the Arabic fashion introduces many other sub

,

s on all of which he touches wi th admirable wit

je c t , .

spirit and fluency H e also turned his attention to

,
.

more serious subj ects and translated some of Mai

,

’
m o nid es s Arabic works .

86 . M o ses b . N ac h m an ( N ac h m anid e s ) .

Amo ngst the first authorities of N orthern S p ain is

to be reckoned Moses b N achman ( Nac h m anid es) a
.
,

man of penetrating intellect and great T almudic

learning combined with mildness of disposition and
,

unaffect ed pie ty H e was an intelligent comm entator

.

of the Pentateuc h but was no t entirely free from an

,

inclination to the mysticism which had the n already

found many secret adherents in Provence A l though .
P E RI O D ] . AND LITER A TURE . 1 29

u nable entirely to accept the opinions o f Maimonides ,

h e did not join in the entire condemnation of s eien

tific studies and endeavoured to bring about a com
,

promise He addressed a long epistle ( Iggereth ) to

.

the French rabbis and a shorter one to those of

,

Spain exhorting them to consider the matter with

,

calmness and deliberation and not to decide until ,

both S ides had been heard His commentary on the .

Pentateuch is of considerable value ; he has also

composed a series of expositions of T almudic law ,
”
called C h adush im and a work on the customs and
,

“
ordin a nces to be observed in death called T o rath ,
”
h a Adam besides treatises in defence of the author
-
,

”
of H alachoth G ed o l o th an d of Alfasi also a sermon ,

and conference with a D o minic ian

’
8 7 N ac h m anid e s s C o nfe r e nc e
. .

Meanwhile it appeared fully time for the Jews

to suspend all disputes among themselves in order ,

to defend their life and faith against the foe Th e .

oppressive la w s of the Popes especially the fanat ,

ical Innocent III ( 1 1 9 8 .did not fail to press

heavily on the Jews Agai n and again they were .

prohibited from taking interest or occupying any

o ffices of state and the taxes to the clergy as well
, ,

as the distinctive dress and many other measures ,

were strictly enforced N or were they any better .

of f in the north of S pain and the Balearic I sles ,

which had been conquered from the Moslems in the

thirtee nth century Th e aged king of Aragon
.
,

James I was completely under the influence of the

.
,

K
1 30 J EWISH H ISTORY [ F OU R TH

D ominicans and their superior R aimund da Penna

,

forte fille d with zeal for the Church of R ome caused

, ,

Nac h m anid es to be summoned to Barcelona to hold

a public disputation with th e apostate Pablo ,

I t lasted four days and its only result was of co urse

,

to increase the fanatical attempts at conversion of

the Jews Nac h m anid es himself left S pain and
.

emigrated to Palestine the melancholy state

of which filled him with grief T here he remained .

for the rest of his life Alfo nso X of Castile ( 1 2 5 2

'

. .

however afforded a striking contrast to James

,

I and proved a powerful and b enefic ent patron of

.
,

the Jews ; Jewish soldiers assisted him at the con

quest o f S eville D on Meyer di Malea was his
.

minister of finance Jeh ud a b Moses Cohen his phy .

si cian D on Zag ibn S aid drew up the astronomical

tables which w ere called after Alfonso .

8 8 S al o m o ib n A d rat h
. .

Th e most disti nguished of the numerous scholars

of Nac h m anid es w as S alomo b Abraham ibn Ad .

rath rabbi of Barcelona ( died

,
known al so
by the name o f R ashb a N ext to Maimonides and .

Al fasi he is the highest rabbinical authority of the

,

Middle Ages Th e number of decisions given by him

.

on all points of T almudic law can only be counted

by thousands and there is scarcely a country in b ah
,

ited by Jews to which some o f them have not been

addressed At his instigation a great portion of
.

’
Maimonides commentary o n the Mishna was trans
lated from Arabic into H ebrew Though not strictly .
,
1 32 J EWI SH H ISTORY [ FO U R TH

Th e broader and more liberal interpretation of

Bible history and religious precepts was represented
in Provence by L evi b Abraham in S pain by I saac
.

Alb al ag whom later writers have unhesitatingly pro

,

no unc ed a heretic and by the learned S h em to b b

,
.

Joseph Palk era who has commented the Mekor

,

C h ajim of I b n G eb iro l I n O pposition to the more

.

rationalistic views of this school stood other w riters ,

who without being absolutely hostile to science yet

, ,

foresaw the consequences to w hich the theories of

Maimonides on the reasons of the S cripture com
m and m ents and the allegoric al interpretation of
Bible narratives must lead T hey saw with alarm .
,

and dismay how the Bible narrative and the divine

,

co m mandments were transformed into allegories

and philosophic al categories and how miracles were ,

reasoned away into natural phenomena .

O ne of the most zealous of those who endeavoured

to avert these supposed dangers was Abba Mari b .

M oses b Joseph J archi a man philosophically edu

.
,

c ated but minutely faithful to traditional Judaism

, .

I n 1 3 04 he applied to S alomo b Ad rath and en .

,

d eavo ured to induce him to use the weight of his

reputation against the so c alled heretics S alomo-
.

consented re luctantly and only on condition that the

,

congreg atio n of Montpellier should be found willing

to j oin th e proposed form o f excommunication But .

’
when S alomo s letter to Abba Mari and his follower
T o d ro s of Beaucaire who had been actively engaged
,

in s ecuri ng a numerous body of adherents was read ,

PE RI O D .
] AN D LITERA TURE . 1 33

out in Montpellier a violent opposition to it arose

,

among th e m o re cultured part of the community .

At the head of the O pposition was Jacob b Machir . .

H e and his fol lowers addressed a letter to S alomo b .

Ad rath in w hich they protested again st the reproach

,

of heresy and published a declaration in which they

,

excommunicated everybody who spoke insultingly o f

Maimonides J ediah b Abraham B ed arsh i Penini
. .
,

who was noted for his elegant style o f composition ,

produc e d a lengthy defence of scientific stu dies

generally Th e opposition party however obtained
.
, ,

powerful allies among the N arbonne congregation ,

arid at last S alomo b Ad rath was persuaded to pro .

nounce a solemn form of excommunication against

anybody who studied any scientific w ritings except ,

those on medicine under the age of fiv e and twenty

,
- -

( July 2 6 ,
T h e form of excommu nication was

al so sent to Germany Th e resistance o f the scientific

.

party was no t broken by these means ; but p olitical

events took place which put a melancholy end to the
controversy King Phil ip the Fair issued an edict
.

which compelled every Jew to accept Christianity or

to quit France Their property was confiscated the
.
,

edict put into force and the active intellectual exist

,

ence of the Jews in Provence was ended at one blow .

J ediah Penini is th e auth o r o f th e m uc h read B ac hinat “

O l am ( m editatio n o n th e w o rld) and o f a c o mm entary o n th e

,

H agada .

Ab o ut 1 3 00I saac Ah o ah c o m p o sed th e w ell k n o w n M eno -

“

rath h a Ma o r a c o ll ec tio n o f H agad o th treated fro m eth ic al

, ,

and re ligio us p o ints o f view .

1 34 J EWISH H ISTORY [ FOU R TH

9 0 T h e Z o h ar
. .

In opposition to the philosophical tendencies of ,

which mention has j ust been made the Kabalistic ,

school whose chief home we find in I taly and the

,

south of France became more and more influential

, .

After the mystical chiefly anonymous wri tings men

,

tio ned above we find Nac h m anid es w h ose ,

teachers in this subj ect were E zra and Asriel already ,

introducing into his works this secret doctrine which ,

“ ”
was distinguished by the n ame of Kabala or ,

ancient tradition in spite of its being in reality a

,
’
wholl y modern invention Bac hja b Asher s com . .

mentary on the Pentateuch is a mixture of mysticism

and rationalism T h e Kabalistic system was elabo
.

rated and commented o n by To dras b Joseph H a .

levi Ab ulasia nephew of Meyer H alevi

,
a
well known and much respected man ; by I saac ib n
-

L ativ who ende avoured to make the Kab a la

harmonise with philosophy ; by the en thusiastic ,

fantastic Abrah am Ab ul asia in whose writings the ,

childish toyin g with combinations and permutations

of letters and numbers already plays a considerable
part ; by Joseph C hiquitill a author of
”
G enath Ego z Sh earey C rab
,
and Sh earey
,

Zedek ( the l atter containing the ten Sefiro th or

principles which have become the foundation of the
whole complicated unreal system) and by Moses da
,

L eon Th e latter is in all probability the

”
author of th e book Zohar which is represented to ,

be the work of S imon b Y o c h ai ( or J o c h ai) written

.
,
1 36 J EWISH H ISTORY [ FOU RTH

a
tre tise) h ere are b esid es
t , ,
v al
se er ot h ers o f v ario us d ates and
by unkno w n auth o rs .

91 . A sh e r b . J e c h ie l , 1 3 06 1 3 2 7 -
.

S hortly before the expulsion of the Jews from

Provence hostile measures had also been taken
against them in G ermany in consequence of which ,

Asher b J ec h iel ( called R osh) a pupil of Meyer

.
,

of R othenburg left Germany and settled in S pain

, .

H e was kindly received by S alomo b Ad rath and .

,

became chief rabbi in T oled o the largest congrega ,

tion in Spain numbering ,

souls in the
thirteenth century After the death of S alomo b . .

Ad rath Asher b J ec h iel became the chief rabbinical

, .

authority in S pain To his great learning he united .

a clear and penetrating intellect true piety and , ,

earnest philanthropy but he was a determined foe to

philosophy ( he thanked God that he had learned
nothing of it) and he showed severity and even
,

harshness towards those who transgressed the law .

I t is however evident that he w as not hostile to

, ,

ever y branch of science as he incited I saac I sraeli ,

”
( 1 3 1 0) to compose his “
Y eso d O lam an excellent ,

work on geo m etry and the calendar: After the death

of Asher his son J eh ud a succeeded him in his
o ffice H e died of the plague in 1 3 49 and w as
.
,
’
again succeeded by his son who suffered a m artyr s ,

death in 1 3 9 1 Another son of Asher named Jacob

.
, ,

w h o it seems returned to Germany was the author o f

, , ,

a commentary on the Pentateuch and of the Arbaa ,

”
T urim a grand compendium of ritual and legal
,
P E RI O D ] . AN D LITER A TURE . 1 37

rabbinical prescrip tions which is made additionally ,

impor tant by the fact that Joseph Karo used it as

the groundwork of his great code S h ul c h an Aruk ,

92 . L ev i b . G e r sh o m . J o se f b . C asp i . M o se s
N arb o ni .

T hough
the hostilities of the clergy threatened the
Jews wi th continual danger the more so when ao ,

c usatio ns were brought again st them by apostates

such as Abner O f Burgos ( Alphonse ) and others the ,

Christian kings nevertheless found it to their ad

van tage to trust the m anagement of their affairs to
Je w ish ministers and the rest of the community en
,

j oyed the protection of their favoured c o religionists -

.

Among these we find Joseph B env enisto and S amuel

ibn W akar who were employe d by Ki ng Alfonso
,

X I of Castile
. .

Th e first hal f of the fourteenth century passed

away tolerably peacefully for the Jews in S pain with ,

the exception of a popular outbreak against them in

the northern provinces in 1 3 2 8 o f which Menachem ,

b Aaron ibn S erach has given us an account

. .

After the Jews had r eturned to France by permis

sion o f L ouis X Provence again became the seat of
.
,

Jewish learning Gershom b S olomon author of a

. .
,

work o n natural history was the father O f L evi b ,

.

Gershom a bold and keen minded thinker whose

,
-

philosophical work M il c h am o th Adonai met with

, ,

much disapproval among the strictly orthodox ; his

commentaries on the Pentateuch and other works
1 38 J EWISH H ISTORY [ F O UR T H

are of slight importance Moses N arboni a com .

,
”
m entato r of th e
“
Moreh Neb uc h im has also been
censured by the orthodox party and we may also ,

mention Joseph Caspi of Argentierre a prolific but ,

unimportant writer W e may further mention

.

J eruc h am ben Meshullam of Provence a T almudic ,

authority ; the celebrated J o m to b b Abraham of .

“
S eville ; Vidal of T oledo author of the ,
Maggid
M ish neh a commentary on a portion of the Mish
,
”
neh T orah ; D avid Ab ud arh am who wrote
on the ritual and the calendar .

T h e sufferings which the Jewish communities in

the south of France endured at the hands of the fana
tical hordes who began their crusades by murdering
,

Jews will be alluded to on a subsequent page At

,
.

“
the time of the horrible plague know n as the black ,
”
death which began to devastate E urope about 1 3 48
, ,

many Jews in Cataloni a and Aragon were falsely ac

c use d of hav ing poisoned the wells and were i n c o nse ,

q u en c e murdered by the populace ; these persecutions

did not however reach the height of those taking
, ,

place in Germany at the same time ; the disease

itself was as fatal among Jews as among Christians .

9 3 S am u e l Al L av i
.
-
N as s im b R e ub e n
. . .

T h e sunshine o f royal favour once more fell upon

the Jews in Spain during the reign of Pedro the
Cruel at whose court S amuel b Meyer Al L avi
,
.
-

Ab ul afia occupied a high position Th e splendid .

synagogue which the latter b uilt in T oledo in 1 3 5 7

still adorns the town though it is now used as a
,
1 40 J EWISH H ISTORY [ FOU R TH

who officiated as rabbi in S aragossa Valentia and , ,

T ortosa and subsequently in the north of Africa

, ,

where he died about 1 406 and the somewhat ,

younger S imon b Zemach D uran At the death of

. .

H enry II who was succeeded by his son H enry III

.
, .
,

a child of eleven the power of the clergy rose to the

,

highest pitch Th e populace in S eville incited by

.
,

serm ons and exhortations to that e ffect fell upon ,

the Jews in the town and a large number

were put to death ; many accepted Christianity ,

amongst them S amuel Abravanel who was hence ,

forth called Juan o f S eville From S eville the butch

.

ery spread like an epidemic to Cordova B urgos , ,

Ascalona Valencia Barcelona L erida Gerona and

, , , , ,

even to the Balearic I slands I n many c ongrega .

tions not a single Jew was left Many feigned to .

adopt Christianity ; S imon D uran and I saac b .

Sh esh eth fled to the north of Africa .

9 5 T h e D u ran F am il y in A fri c a
. .

T h e migration of the Jews from Africa to S pain ,

which began in the eighth century with the rule O f

the Arabs was now turning in the contrary direction
, .

Those who escaped from the slaughter in 1 3 9 1

“

scattered themselves over the whole of the north

coast of Africa I saac b S h esh eth was made chief
. .

rabbi in Al giers with judicial authority over all the

,

other congregations H e occupied this post for

.

twenty years His successor was S imon b Zemach

. .

D uran ( died whose fourte enth work was

written at the advanced age of seventy nine W e -
.
PE R I O D .
] AND L ITE RAT URE . 1 41

may mention his Tash b ez a collection of T al m ud i ,

”
cal and R abbinical dictates and his Mazen Ab o th , ,

a religious and philosophical work the second part ,

of which is polemical and directed against Chris

tianity and Mosle mism I n various passages of his
.

writings he laments the corrupt morals of his c o re -

ligio nists which he attributes to the constan tly in

,

creasing want of adherence to the faith of their

fathers A similar complaint is made by S olomon
.

”
Al ami in his I ggereth Musar written in Portugal ,

in 1 4 1 5 S olomon b S imon D uran who succeeded

. .
,

his father as chief rabbi was a philosophical and ,

learn ed writer and published a polemical disquisition

,

against the apostate H ieronymus de S anta F é H is .

sons Zemach and S imon were also well kn own Tal -

m ud ists and indeed descendants of the family of

, , ,

D uran which counts men like L evi b Gershon and

,
.

Nac h m anid es among its ancestors continued to dis ,

tinguish themselves till into the eighteenth century .

9 6 T h e N e w C h ri st i ans
. .

Th e numerous body of converted Jews called

”
N ew Christians were looked upon with suspicion
both by Je w s and Christians Many of them sought .

to allay any doubts as to the sincerity of their con

version by vindictive accusations against their former
c o religio nists
-
A certain Paul Burgos ( or D e S anta
.

Maria) formerly S olomon L evi especially distin

, ,

g u ish ed himself in this manner H is extensive .

rabbinical knowledge and the high ecclesiastical posts

,

to which he was promoted after his con v ersion to

1 42 J E W IS H H I ST O RY [FO U R T H

Christianity wer e alike employed by him in his

,

attacks against Jews and Judaism Th e cause of .

Judaism was defended against him and others like ,

him by Joshu a L o rk i C h isd ai Crescas

, ,
and
Pro fiat D uran distinguished as a physician astro no
, ,

mer philosopher and gram m arian w h o had at one

, ,
'

time feigned conversion but afterwards returned to ,

Judaism .

Th e hum anely disposed monarch He nry II I was -

.

then still alive and protected the Jews against the

,

practical consequences of these accusations ; he ap

pointed his own physician Meyer Alguav ez who ,
’
translated Aristotle s Ethics into H ebre w to be chief ,

rabbi of al l the congregations in Castile But under .

his youthful successor John II for whom his mother .

,

and the I nfant Ferdinand carried on the government ,

the clerical party got the upper hand O ld anti .

Jewish l aws were sought for and put into practice ,

and at the instigation chiefly of Paul Burgos Meyer ,

Alguav ez was brought to trial and executed .

Am o ng th e w o rk s o f Pro fiat D uran w e m ay m entio n

Maaseh E ph o d ( a H ebrew gram m ar) S h esh eb h a E ph o d ,
“ - -

( an astro no m ic al treatise) a c o m m entary o n th e M o reh “

,

neb uc him a p o l em ic al treatise against C hristianity entitl ed

,
”

K el em ath h a go j im and a satiric al ep istl e to h is frien d

“ ”
- -
,

Dav id B o net ( w h o had b ec o m e a C hristian ) in w hic h w ith , ,

sp arkl ing iro ny h e app ears to c o m m en d h is c o nv ersio n c o n

, ,

stantl y rep eati ng th e title Al teh i k a ab o tec h a ( Be no t l ike - - -

th y fath ers) .

97 . T h e P o l em
i c al C o ntro v e r sy in T o rto sa .

Th e condition of the Jews in S pain became more

1 44 J EW IS H H ISTO R Y [ FO U RT H

were brought into full operation such as distinctive ,

garments co m pulsory attendance at sermons etc

, , .
,

and a war of extermination commenced against the

T almud Fortunately Benedict X III was deposed
.
,
.

at the Council of Constance and his successor Martin ,

V was somewhat better disposed towards the Jews

. .

Ferdinand of Arago n the queen mother and V in , ,

cente Ferrer died within three years of each other

,

( 1 41 6
Th e increas ing persecution and forced conversions
of the Jews were not likely to be accompanied by
much intellectual prosperity ; as was al w ays the
case in times of misfortune Kabalistic views found ,

exponents and supporters S h em to b b Sh em to b . .

”
( died 1 43 0) was one of these his E m un o th ( S tudy
of Faith ) supported the Kabala and attacked Mai ,

—
m o nid es I b n E zra L evi b Gershon and others Th e
, ,
. .
,

Kabalist Abraham b I saac of G ranada is a some .

what earlier writer Moses B o tarel ( 1 409 ) wrote a

.

commentary on the book J etsira in which he ,

quotes a number of imaginary authors and their

works .

J o seph b S h em to b and S h em to b b J o seph so n and gran d

. .
,

so n o f S h em to b b S h em to b w ere z eal o us supp o rters o f M ai

.
,

m o nid es w h o m th eir fath er and gran d fath er h ad attac k ed

,
.

98 . T h e J ew s in P o rt ugal .

Little is known for certain of the early history of

the Jews in Portugal Th e founder of the family .

J ac h ia Jachia ibn J aish is said to have rendered

, ,

important services to Count H enry of Portugal

PE R I O D .
] AN D L ITE RATUR E . 1 45

one of his descendants S olomon by name

and , ,

is reported to have fallen in battle against the Arabs ,

under S ancho I ( 1 1 8 5 . Th e history of t h e

Jews in Portugal differs little in its general tenor
from that of their c o religionists in S pain
-
Their .

statesmanlike qualities led the kings to employ them

in diplomacy and finance and they lived at peace
,

with the people in general except when their riches

,

excited the envy of the latter or w hen the clergy ,

became unusually powerful Th e reign of S an cho I I

. .

( 1 2 2 3 1 2-
45 ) and that (
o f the wise D ionys 1 2 7 9

who made the chief rabbi Judah his minister of fin

ance are mentio ned as especially prosperous epochs
,
.

I t was at that time indeed customary for the king

himself to appoint one man chief rabbi over the
whole of Portugal and to invest him with almost
,

princely powers under him were the provincial

rabbis in the ch ief con gregations of the seven pro
vinces At the time of the S panish persecution
.

( 1 3 9 1 ) many Jews found a refuge in P ortugal T heir .

last period of prosperity was under the humane and

enlightened Alfonso V .

O f writers in Portugal we may mention — D avid ibn

Biliah p h ilosopher ; Joseph S arco Kabalist ; Judah
, ,

and Joseph of the Jachia family S olomon Alami .

9 9 I s aac A b rav an e l
. .

Amongst the S panish Jews who fled into Portugal

we find th e family of Abravanel whose ancestors had ,

resided in S eville as early as the twelfth century and ,

one of whose members S amuel Abravanel has already

, ,
 '

1 46 J E W ISH H ISTO RY [ F o unm

been mentioned in these pages L ike many

other families they traced their descen t from th e royal
,

h ouse of D avid T h e most celebrated m ember of this

.

family is I saac ( b Judah b S amuel b Judah b J o seph

. . . .
'

b Judah) Abravanel w h o was born in L isbon 1 4 3 7

.
, ,
.

His varied knowledge great riches and wide reputa , ,

tion gave him a distinguished position and he was

, ,

in great fa vour with Alfonso I king of Portugal .

,

nor did these honours make him forget his su ffering

c o religionists whom he vigorously assisted whenever
-

occasion offered But when John II came to the. .

throne 1 48 1 Abravanel found himself obliged to

, ,

escape into Spain having lost his entire fortune H e

,
.

then began to devote himself once more to his literary

labours but soo n received and accepted the o ffer of
,

the post of minister o f finance at the court of Ferdi

nand and I s abella ; he occupied this position for
eigh t years D uring this period he wrote a portion
.

of his Bible commentaries and minor religious philo

sophical works .

Contem porary with Abravanel were Gedaliah b .

D avid a descendant of the Jachia family and I saac

, ,

Ab o ab ( author of comm entaries and sermons ) who ,

also had to escape from Portugal .

1 00 E x p u l s i o n o f t h e J e w s fr o m S p ai n 1 49 2
.
,
.

T h e I nquisition which had been in troduced into

,

S pain in 1 48 0 turned its attention in th e first place

,

to the immense number of converted Jews ( called

N ew Christians) m any of wh o m occupied important
,

offices of state but th e sincerity of whose conversion

,
1 48 J E W I SH H ISTO RY [ F O U RT H

To th is p erio d b el o ng th e Tal m ud ists, I saac C am panto n,

Isaac d e L eo n, Sam uel V al ensi, J o sh ua Hal ev i, and th e ph il o so
h ers, Ab rah am Bi b ag o ( auth or of D erec h Em unah and
p
I saac Aram a .

1 01 . E x p ul s i o n o f th e J e w s fr o m P o rt ugal ,
1 49 7 .

W hile m any of the S panish exiles sought refuge on

the coast of Africa in I taly and Turkey a considerable
, , ,

number under the guidance of I saac Ab o ab appealed

, ,

to John II to permit them to settle in Portugal

. .

T his was granted them in return for the payment of

a large tax but only for a period of eight months at
, ,

the end of which time the unhappy wanderers their ,

numbers already lessened by hardships and sickness ,

were compelled to resume their j ourney Those w h o .

ventured to remain behind were sold as slaves their ,

children were torn from them and conveyed to the

I solas Perdit as ( lost isl ands) to be brought up as
Christians .

A slight improvement in the condition of the Jews

’
took place under John I I s successor Manuel At .
, .

his court lived Abrah am S ac uto who had been pro ,

fess er of astronomy in S alamanca and was the author ,

of a perpetual almanac of the planetary motions H e .

retired to T unis to escape from religious O ppression ,

and there wrote his best known historical work ,

S efer Juc h asin He died some time befo re

1515 But after Manuel m arried the S panish I nfanta
.

the Portuguese Jews suffered the same fate

as those of S pain and were cruelly expelled from the
,
PE R I O D .
] A ND L ITE RAT UR E . 1 49

c o untry Many avoided this fate by temporarily

.

adopting Christianity intending to return to the

,

faith of their fathers at a safer time .

Am o ngst th e P o rt uguese exil es b esid es Ab rah am S ac uto

, ,

w ere Ab rah am S ab a J udah C h ajut J c huda Isaac K aro th e

, , ,

un c l e o f J o seph K aro and o th er l earn ed w riters

,
.

1 02 . Th e J ew s re m ai ning in S p ai n an d

P o rt u gal .

Th e condition of the Jews in S pain and Portugal

was now— o n a much larger scale — similar to that
from which the invasion of the Arabs had delivered
them Judaism was outlawed the least sus
icio n of adherence t o its tenets led to the dungeon
p
and the stake And yet in spite of the countless
.
,

victims of religious persecution — in S pite of the ever ,

present terrors of the I nquisition and its torments ,

the memory and love of Judaism still lived for

centuries among the descendants of the converts .

S ome few more fortunate than th e rest succeeded in

, ,

evadin g the watchful eyes of the I nquisitio n and ,

escaped to more tolerant countries such as England , ,

T urkey and the N etherlands

, .

Th e exp ulsion of the Jews from S pain and Portugal

was a terrible blow to Judaism its intellectual
development was retarded for centuries Although .

the S panish literature h ad passed its most flourishing

stage with the end of the twelfth century the Spanish ,

Jews at the time of their exile had reached a higher

, ,

pitch of cultivation than their c o re ligionists in any -

other European co untry T h e century before their .

1 50 J E W I SH H I STO RY [ FO U R TH

fl
expulsion had produced intellectual results that could
lay claim to serious value and that have in fact ,

spread on all sides the germs of a higher develop

ment In spite of th e dangers and d i ic ulties of the
.

last few years H ebrew printing presses had been

,

established in various towns of S pain ( G uad al axara ,

Ix ar Zamora ) and Portugal ( Lisbon L eiria Fara)

, , ,
.

Judaism has at last slowly recovered from this

heavy blow ; the Peninsula so richly endowed by ,

nature seems now on the other hand to have

,

awakened to the consciousness of the irreparable

inj ury that religious intolerance has inflicted on h er
during the last four centuries .

As m o st of th e exi
l es w h o t o o k refuge in th e no rth o f
E uro p e c am e th ither by w ay o f P o rtugal, th ey are generally

c all edP o rtuguese J ew s

“
in th e East th ey are kno w n as
nam e fo r b o th S panish an d P o rtu
.

S panio l as ; th e H ebrew
guese J ew s is S eph ardim
”
.

1 03 . Th e J e w s in th e B yz ant i ne E m p ire .

L ittle is known of the Jews in the Byz antine

empire during the first centuries o f the Middle Ages,
except what can be gathered from the Justinian code
respecting the social and civic restrictions laid upon
them— such as for instance that Jewish witnesses
, ,

wer e not to be believed when testifying against

C h ristians etc T h e edict issued by H adrian for
,
.
,

bidding the Jews to enter Jerusalem was renewed ,

by the E mperor H eraclius not long before

Palestine S yria and Egypt fell into the h ands o f
, ,

the Moslems .
1 52 J E W IS H H IS T O R Y [ F O U RT H

Aaro n b J o seph
. in C o nstantino pl e ( 1 3 30) com p o sed th e
S eph er Il a Mib c h ar, h er b ibl ic al and gram m atic al
-
”
and ot

w o rk s and Aaro n b E l i
,
j ah o f N ic o m ed ia th e E z C h ajim
.
“ -

b o th o f th ese w riters w ere K araites .

1 04 . T h e J ew s in I t al y .

I taly already numbered many Jews among her

inhabitants even before the destruction of the Jewish
,

kingdom T heir condition was tolerably prosperous

.

under the Gothic king Th eo d eric and they assisted ,

vigorously though fruitlessly at the defence of

, ,

N aples against Belisarius T h e conquest

of I taly by the Byzantine monarch brought the
anti Jewish edicts of Justinian into operation ; but
-

the rule of the L ongobards and the first Popes

gave the Jews a more honourable position in the
country In the south of I taly ( which however
.
, ,

remained a province of the Byzantine empire) they

occupied themselves with scientific matters S abb a .

thai D on e lo of Averse celebrated as a botan

ist physician and astronom er wrote an astronomical
, , ,

“
commentary o n the book J etsira an unknown
’
author continued J o seph us s history mingling it , ,

however with legends and doubtful traditions ; this

,

book written in H ebrew is called J o sipp o n or

, , ,
”
the H ebrew Josephus
“
Th e legendary “
S eph er .

”
h a Jashar
-
is of later date and unknown author
,

ship Bari Atranto and L ucca are mentioned as

.
,

centres o f T almudic learning ; in the latter town l

—
lived the well known Meshullam b K alo nym o s a .
,

T almudist and author of several syn ,

agogal hym ns ,
PE R I O D .
] AN D L IT E RATUR E . 1 53

a descendant and ancestor of the learned famil y

of that name which subsequently emigrated to L or
,

raine Th e fam ily Mansi belonged to the ancient

.

R oman congregation — one of their descendants was

N athan b J ec h iel compiler o f the celebrated T al
.
,

“ ”
mudi e lexicon Aruch S olomon Parch e n
of S alerno published a H ebrew lexicon ,

founded on the work o f J o h ah ibn G annac h ; he was

—
a friend of Judah h a L ev1 and Abraham b E zra
-
. .

1 05 J e w is h M e n o f L e arn i ng an d P o e t s in
.

I t al y
Th e ecclesiastical laws were nowhere less strictly
observed than in I taly where the Papal court and ,

its surroundings were best known I n consequence .

of this the condition of the Jews there was fairly

,

satisfactory and actual persecution was rarer in I taly

,

than in any other country Cultured princes and .

sovereigns valued learning and learned men without

'

distinctio ns o f creed Jacob Anatoli 8 9 ) was in the

.

service of Frederic II ; the physician Farragut .

( F er radjio b S alem ) translated

. A r abic works into
L atin for Charles of Anj ou and K al o nym o s
b K al o nym o s of Provence ( author of I ggereth Baale
.

”
M assec h et Purim ) under
” “ ” “
C h ajim E ben B o c h an
, ,

took similar t asks for R obert of Anjou king of N aples ,

T h e works of Maimonides were carefu lly

studied ( as for instance by Hillel of Vero na 1 2 7 5 and
, , , ,

S erac hja b I saac b Sh al tiel who had come thither

. .
,

from Spain ) and the accusation of heresy was not

,

su ffered to be applied to that great man Biblical .

1 54 J E W IS H H I S TO RY [FO U RT H

studies were also vigorously undertaken Th e most .

celebrated J ew ish I talian poet is I mmanuel b S olo

-
.

mon of R ome H e is the author of a colle e

tion of poems tales parables and chants called
, , , ,
“
M ac hb ero th Immanuel —a witty talented and , ,

elegantly written work disfi gured however by ill , , ,

timed levity Th e latter portion of it entitled

.
,

“
Paradise and H ell an imitation of the D ivina
,

Commedia of D ante ( whose friend he is said to have

been ) is o f special interest and has been translated
, , .

As Tal m udists in I taly n n Isaiah d e Trani

w e m ay m e tio
and h is g ran d so n o f th e sam e nam e al so Z ed ek iah b , .

Ab rah am a m em b er o f th e M an si fam ily

,
I n th e b egin
ning o f th e fo urteenth c entury th e b o o k Z o har b ec am e kno w n
in I taly and w as c o m m ented o n by M enac h em Rec c anate
,
.

1 06 . M e s ser L e o n . J o sep h K o l o n . E lijah b .

M e d i go .

Th e
newly founded universities of I taly w ere
eagerly attended by Jewish students and the newly ,

revived classical authors zealously studied L atin .

formed an ordinary branch of learning in every

educated Jewish family M oses R ieti ( 1 3 8 8 ) imi.

’
t ated D ante s D ivina Commedia in his M ik d ash
” “

Meath he was the first to introduce regular stanzas

into H ebrew poetry
-
Abraham F arisso l of Avignon
.

( b . wrote a geographical work I gg ereth ,

Arc h o t 01am
”
in which Columbus is mentioned
,
.

He was still living in 1 5 2 6 Judah b J ec h iel called . .

,

Messer L eon a physician in Mantua

,
was the
au thor of various grammatical and philosophical
1 56 J E W IS H H IS TO RY [ FO U RT H

about 1 47 5 principally it appears from German

, , ,

sources Th e S oncini a family of printers ( called

.
,

after their native place the li ttle town of S oncino) , ,

who erected printing presses at N aples Brescia Fano -

, , ,

and other places were originally o f German descent

, .

Th e island of Candia forming a part of the Vene ,

tian dominions was much frequented by learned Jews

, ,

who had emigrated thither chiefly from Germany .

E lij ah del Medigo grandson of the philosop h er E lij ah

,

Cretensis was professor of philosophy in Padu a

, ,

received high honours from the senate and reckoned ,

amo ng his scholars the celebrated Pico di Mirandola .

H is clear and comprehensive in tellect well versed in ,

the works of Aristotle and Maimonides made him a ,

decided adversary of the Kabalistic system which ,

w as then being extensi vely studied not only by Jews

( J )
o c h anan Al c mani but also among Ch ristians Pope
(
S extus IV ) At the instigation of his pup il and
.

countryman S aul C ohen Ash k enasi he composed a

, ,

small but thoughtful treatise Bec hinat h a— D ath on”

,
-
,

the true principles of religio n H e returned to his .

native land and died there 1 49 3 in early manhood

, , ,
.

Th e earl iest p rinted H eb rew w o rk s are— Rash is C o m m ent

’

ary o n th e P entateuc h p ubl ish ed in R eggie 1 47 5 and Arbaa

” “
, , ,

Turim in P iev e di S ac c o ( a to w n in th e no rth o f I taly ) at ab o ut

th e sam e tim e I n th e c o urse o f th e fifteenth c entury H eb rew
.

p rinting p resses w ere erec ted in o th er I tal ian to w ns viz

-

‘
, .

B o l o na B resc ia Casal e Maggio re Ferrara Mantua Napl es

g ,
i, , , , ,

So nc 1 no .

1 07 . T h e J ew in F ran c e and G e r m any

s .

N ext in historical interest to the S p anish Jews are

PE R I O D .
] AND L ITE RATURE . 1 57

those residing in France and Germany T owards .

the end o f the Middle Ages this interest is con een

trated in the German Jews who were destined to be
,

th e intellectu al heirs of their S panish brethren .

D uring the first centuries of the Christian era the

history of the German and French Jews can scarcely
be separated from each other and of the former the ,

only information we possess is respecting the Jews in

the west o f Germany Th e most noteworthy eve nts
.

were the crusades 1 1 1 1 1 2 ) and the great plague

,

1 1 7 ) in the middle of the fourteenth century Th e .

uniting of the French provinces into one kingdom w as

the signal for the expulsion of the Jews and a fter ,

this process had been imperfectly carried out several

times it was at last accomplished and the history o f
, ,

the Jews in that country w as at an end Th e

fact of Germany being composed of numerous small
states did not indeed protect the Jews from frequent
persecutions but it nevertheless saved them from
,

total expulsion .

Th e literary labours of th e Franco German Jews -

showed nothing of the lofty variety of their S panish

c o religionists
-
Of science they knew little or nothing
.

their time w as entirely occupied w ith the study of

the T almud Bible commentaries of the more ad
.

v anc ed kin d and H ebrew grammatical studies were

almost entirely neglected T heir poetry is not with

.

out range of though t and lo ftiness of aim but it ,

has no graces o f style and is a faithful picture o f

,

those unh appy times O n the other hand the Ger

.
,
1 58 J E W IS H H IST O RY [ F O U RT H

man Jews rose above their S panish and Portuguese

c o religionists in the strictness of their morality and
-

their domestic virtues .

1 08 M e ro v i ngi ans an d C arl o v ingians

. .

Jews had probably settled in France even before

the times of the R omans I n the Frankish and .

Burgundian kingdoms they occupied themselves with

commerce and agriculture nor did they neglect the ,

art of war It was only after repeated decrees that

.
,

a hostile spirit began to spread against the Jews

under the Merovingians they were excluded from
offices of state and from the army N or w ere com .

u l so ry conversions wanting especially when Ki ng

p ,

D agobert ( about follow ing the example of the

king of the V esigo th s ende avoured to make all the
,

Jews in his kingdom adopt Christianity .

W ith Charlemagne came brighter times for the

Jews in his vast dominions L ike all really great .

statesmen he saw the advantages which must accrue

, ,

to his lands from the intelligence and activity of

that nation H e even employed Jewish ambassadors
.

wh en he found them likely to prove of service to

him It was in his reign and it is said at his in
.
, , ,

sti a tio n that a learn ed Jewish family Meshullam

g , ,

emigrated from Lucca to Mayence descend

ants o f this family distinguished themselves for
'

m any generations L ouis the Pious also extended

-
.

his protection to th e Jews ; Christians visited the

synagogues and are said to have tak en mor e interest
,

in the sermons of the rabbis than in those of their

1 60 J E W IS H H IST O RY [ F O U R T II
'

ance of the Jews ; the best known of these is one

forbiddi ng p olygamy among the European Jews A .

contemporary of his S imon b I saac b Abun is , . .

,

known as a prolific writer of synagogal hymns in ,

which he like all his countrymen takes E leazer

, ,

Kalir 6 9 ) as his model Both S imon and Ger .

shom who also wrote S elichoth complai n in their

, ,

poems of the exorbitant taxes and forced conver

sions one of the latter cost Gershom his own son .

S o m e o th er c o ntem p o raries o f G ersh o m w ere— h is b ro th er

Mac h ir w h o b egan a Tal m udic d ic tio nary and th e syno go gal
, ,

p o ets E l ij ah h a Z ak en and J o seph b S am uel To b El em

,
-
,
. .

1 1 0 S al o m . o b . I saac , ca ll e d R as hi, 1 040

1 1 05 .

Th e most celebrated personage in this epoch is

S alomo b I sa ac called R ashi ( incorrectly Jarchi ) born
.
, ,

in Troyes 1 040 died in W orms 1 1 05 His teachers

, , , .

were Jacob b Jakar I saac H alevi in W orms and.

, ,

I saac b Judah in Mayence

. H e w as a nephew of .

’
S imon b I saac R ashi s commentaries on the
.

Bible h ave not indeed quite freed themselves from

the H agad istic element but they show a clear h ealthy ,

mind and decided leaning to ration al interpretations

,
.

His commentary on the T almud is a model of precision

and methodical clearness and an immense improve ,

ment in th e study of the T almud dates from his time

.
.

Like most of his conte m poraries he led a simple life , ,

content with slender means and quiet surroundings

all his works show forth the candour and modesty of
his disposition H e had no sons but three daughters
.
, ,
PE R I O D .
] AND L ITE RAT UR E . 1 61

one of w hom married Judah b N athan and another .

,

Meir b S amuel sh e became the mother of three

.

celebrated sons — S amuel I saac and Jacob , ,

Rashis c o m m entaries o n th e Bibl e hav e b een p rinted o v er

’

and o v er again and si n c e h is tim e no editio n o f th e Tal m ud h as

,

been publish ed w ith o ut th em H is disc ipl es in quo ting th em

.
, ,

c all th em o nly Th e C o m m entary

”
.

Am o ng h is l earned c o ntem p o raries w e m ay m entio n— El iez er

th e G reat S im o n Kara and h is so n th e c o mm entato r J o sep h
, , ,

K ara M enac h em b Ch elb o and o th ers As Talm udists ere

,
.
,
. w

distinguish ed — J udah h a C o h en M eshull am b M o ses (in May

-
,
.

enc e),
S o l o m o n b S am so n ( in W o rm s) Sim eb a o f V itry no t
.
, ,

t o b e m istak en fo r Sim eb a o f S p ey er and o th ers .

111 . T h e F ir st C ru sad e , 1 09 6 .

T owards the end of the eleventh century the Jews ,

in the Rhine lands suffered a persecution the like of

which Germ any had not yet seen Th e lawless hordes .

o f the Crusaders thought they could begin their exp e

dition in no better way than by plundering and mur

dering the Jews Th e bishops and j udicial authorities
.

in the various towns would not o r co ul d not protect

them T hus the same terrible fate suc cessively befell
.

the congregations o f Mayence Metz Treves S peyer , , , ,

W orms Cologne and many smaller places

, , Th e .

m ajo ritv o f the Jews died for the ir faith many

killed themselves and the ir children set fire to their ,

houses and synagogues and perished in the flames or ,

threw thems elves into the R hine only a few feigned

conversion to Christianity Th e slaughter extended .

to R egensb urg and even to Pragu e U pwards of

,
.

Jews are said to have perished in the months

M
1 62 J E W IS H H IST O R Y [ F O U RT H

of May and June 1 09 6 Th e survivors were placed .

in a somewhat better position after H enry I V re .

turned from I taly he was on the whole favourably

disposed towards them and to the great annoyance , ,

of the Pope the feigned converts were allowed to

,

return to Judaism while some few of their oppressors

,

were brought to j udgment .

Th e rev o l ting c ruel ties o f th is p ersec utio n are d esc rib ed in

S el ic h o th and o th er w o rk s o f Dav id b
“ ” “
th e Piyutim
, , .

M eshullam Kal o nym o s b J udah Sam uel b J udah and o th ers

,
.
, .
, .

1 12 . Th e S e c o nd C r u s ad e , 1 1 46 . P e rs e c u
t i o n in E ngl an d .

When the Crusaders in Palestin e sent home eu

treaties fo r further assistance L ouis V I I of France , .

himself took the cross ; Pope E ugene III remitted .

the interests on debts due to the Jews to all those ,

who took part in the holy war Bernard of Clair .

vaux and Peter of Clugny preached a similar doctrine

and thus the Jews in France were indeed plundered ,

but at least escaped with their lives T heir unhappy .

c o religionists
-
in Germany however su ffered the , ,

same kind of persecution as on the occasion of the

first cr usade though it did not reach th e same height
, ,

as th e bishops and other authorities made more

endeavours t o check it Arnold Archbishop of .
,

Cologne even gave the Jews of that town the fortress

,

o f W olkenstein in which to t ake r efuge and there ,

the y made an armed and successful defence Ber .

nard of Clairvaux himself attempted to stem the

torrent of persecution but with only slight success ,
.
1 64 J E W IS H H IS TO RY [ FO U R T H

hands of the mob S uch scenes were repeated in .

N orwich Y ork and other English towns

, , After .

manifold su fferings under King John the Jews were ,

finally banished from E ngland by an e d ict pro m ul

gated by E dward I 1 2 9 0 .
,
.

I n Germany the rest of the twelfth century passed

away without any further sp ecial calamities but the ,

general condi tion of the Jews was o ne o f constant

petty molestations They were supposed to be under .

the special protection and therefore in the special

service of their sovereign ( to whom they had to pay
a poll tax as h ad been the case
-

,
4 3) in the time of
the R omans) but this supposed privilege only resulted
,

in reducing them to a half servile condition As for -

.

the protection extended to the Jews by every prince

and potentate beginning with the emperor himself
, ,

such as it was it only lasted as long as they were able

,

to pay for it there was no question of their possessing

any judicial rights to ensure the safety of life liberty , ,

or property Impecunious emperors sold the right of

.

keeping Jews to towns or princes pledged them ,

as security gave them aw ay made use of them as

, ,

loans etc This terrible st ate of things w as of course

,
.

a gradu al process and it w as not until the persec u

,

tions towards the middle of the fourteenth century

that the Jews themselves became thoroughly aware o f
their helpless and unprotected condition .

1 13 . Th e T o s afi st s .

sadder the politic al and social condition O f the

Th e
Jews became the greater was the admirable zeal
,
 PE R I O D .
] AN D L ITE RAT UR E .

with which they pursue d the study of th e T al m ud .

For more than two centuries a fter the publication O f

’
R ashi s comment ary a series O f highly cultivat e d and
int elligent m en devoted themselves to the continua
tion of his undertak ing ( as his commentary did not
treat o f the whole Bible ) their works generally bear
th e modest name of
“
T o safo th
”
( additions ) O nly .

a few have written original works Am o ng th e .

’
earliest so called To safists were R ashi s already men
- -

tio ned sons in law and the three sons of one o f the
-

latter O ne of these S am uel ( called R ashb am ) c o m$

.
, ,
’
am e ntat ed his grandfather s T almudic w or ks and also ,

some portions of the Bible ; another Jacob ( call e d ,

T am ) was celebrated as a keen thinker and learned

,

T almudist H e lived in R ameru wrote a Tal m udic

.
,
”
Work ,
S efer h a Jashar carried on a poetical corre
-
,

spo nd enc e with I b n I zra and busied himse lf with

,

grammatical studies H e died June 9 1 1 7 1

.
, .

B esid es th ese w e m ay m entio n E liez er b Nathan o f M ayenc e .

,

J o seph P o rat Isaac b S ainuel and m any o th ers

,
.
, .

1 1 4 B ib l e C o m m e nt at o rs an d M o r ali s t s .

T h e incessant study of the T alm ud d id no t pre

c l ud e that o f the Bibl e although the want of any
,

scientific knowledge of grammar the absorption in ,

the H adadistic writings and the inclination to the ,

mystical teachings of the Kabala hindered the pro ,

gress of Biblical learning As Biblical ex egesists we .

—
may mention T obias b E liezer author of the L ekach
.
“
,

To b Joseph Bec h o r S hor the unknown author of

a commentary on Chronicles ; the also unkno w n
 1 66 J E W IS H H IST O R Y [ F O U RT H
“ “
author of the work Gan T o safo th to the Pen
tateuc h which contains the commentaries of several
,

writers under the collective title of D aat S ek enim

,

C h isk iah b Manoah ( 1 2 6 0) I saac h a L evi b Judah

.
-
.
,

and others .

Th e two last mentioned and several others less

known have chiefly devoted themselves to Hagadistic
lore and mystical combinations o f numbe rs Ge
and consequently have left little of any real

value .

T h e polemical side o f theology also had its sup

”
porters Th e old Niz z ac h o n in which the so called
.
,
-

Messianic passages in the Bible are explained from a

Jewish point of view dates from the middle of the
,

thirteenth century As an active champion of Juda

.

ism w e may mention N athan O fficial .

N ot less numerous and O f greater and more lasting

value are the didacti c works of this period of which ,

some take the form of commentaries on the Talmud

l
etreatise Axi
i/
“
o th
”
and so me appear as original w orks
, .

Judah the Pious ( son of S amuel th e Pio us ) about ,

1 2 00 was the composer of the well known “

,
S efer -

”
Chasidim which was collected by his disciples and
, ,

which contains a number of excellent moral precepts ,

along with not a little superstition He also wrote .

an account of the travels of Petac h ia whose wander ,

ings extended over the east of E urope and part of

Asia . O ne of his disciples Eleazar b Judah of, .

W orms whose wife and children were put to death

,

by the crusaders in 1 2 1 4 was disti nguished by his

,
 J E W IS H H ISTO R Y [ FO U R T H
M & W tq
were r
*

/
c an v w

said publicly burned in it is ,

Paris forty days after the works O f Maimonides h ad

su ffered the sam e fate at th e instigation of Jonah of
Gerona Th e study of the T almud was not however
.
, ,

totally suppressed ; cunning and bribery frequently .

blinded the eyes of those appoi nted to search out

and destroy its traces N or was the attempt success .

ful to exclude Jews from the m edical profession inas ,

much as the wish for health proved stronger than

obedie nce to ecclesiastical decrees T h e fanatical .

king L ouis I X ordered the expulsion of the Jews

,
.
,

from France but the decree was soon rescinded

, .

Th e covetousness o f Philip I V ( in 1 3 06 ) led h im .

suddenly to expel all the Jews about in ,

number from his dominions with a view to seizing

, ,

their property and c o nfisc ating their debts His son .

and successor L ouis X however allowed the m to re .

,

turn though under very unfavourable conditions and

, ,

these were again confirmed by Philip V D uring .

’
the latter s reig n in 1 3 2 0 the Jews in the north O f ,

Fra nce suffered great persecutio ns at the hands of

lawless hordes who proposed undertaking a crusade
, ,

and like most of their predecessors commenced by

, ,
’
attacking the Jews T his was called the S hepherds .

”
persecution and was soon followed by another in
,

Guyenne the oste nsible cause of which was the false

,

accusation of well p oisoning Th e great plague -

.

brought its train of persecution to the Jews in

France although their numb ers there were but
,

scanty About 1 3 6 9 their condition somewhat im

.
~
PE R I O D .
] AN D L ITE RAT UR E .

proved ; M atath ias b Joseph fo unded a T almudic .

school in Paris and was acknowledged as a sOrt of

,

j udicial head of the Jews by Charles V After the .

death of M atath ias quarrels broke out fo r the post of

chief rabbi to which his son J o c h anan and one of his
,

pupils I saiah b Abba Mari both laid claim Chis

,
.
, .

dai Crescas and I saac b S h esh eth who were appointed .

,

umpires decided fo r J o c h anan In 1 3 9 4 the Jews

,
.

were again exp elled from France by Charles V I ; .

this time however they were not deprived of their

, ,

possessions J o c h anan went to I taly

. S ome few .

Jews still remained in France ; for instance in the ,

towns of Avignon and Carpentras where to this day ,

they have preserved a peculiar ritual differing both

from the S panish and German forms .

J ec h iel o f Paris afterw ard s em igrated to Palestin e ; h e w as

o ne o f th e m o st c el eb rat ed Tal m u d ists o f h is tim e H is so n in .
-

l aw I saac O f C o rb eil ( d ied

,
w as th e auth o r o f th e Am “

m ud eh G o lah ( 6 1 3 c o m m an dm ents) w h ic h w as c o mm entated ,

b y Perez b Elijah .

1 16 . M e ir b B ar u c h
. O f R o th e nb e rg .

Th ereign o f the E mperor Frederic I I was on the .

whole favourable to the Jews as the fre quent h o stili ,

ties between himself and th e Pope led h im to d isre

gard the anti Jewish edicts o f the latter I n the
-
.

year 1 2 2 3 a large rabbinical assemblage was held in

Mayence fo r the purpose of discussi ng taxes and other
subj ects con nected with the various congregations .

It was attended by D avid b K al o nym o s Baruch b .

,
.

S amuel S im eb a of S peyer Eliezer b Joel h a L evi

, , .
-
,

E liezer b Judah and others . A similar smaller

, .
 1 70 J E W IS H H IS TO RY [FO U RTH

assemblage was held in 1 2 45 and amongst oth er ,

things it was decreed that the rabbi should have no

power to pronounce the sentence of excommunication
without the consent o f the congregation nor the latter ,

without the consent of the rabbi .

T h e greatest rabbinical authority of that time was

Meir b Baruch of R othenberg on the T auber called
.
,

“
the great light born at W orms a disciple of
, ,

S amuel o f Falaise and I saac b Moses o f Vienna In . .

his youth he lived at W iirz b urg afterwards in France , ,

N uremberg Augsburg and Mayence and sub se

, , ,

quently became chief rabbi of the Franco G erman -

Jews H e proposed emigrating to Palestine in com

.

pany with sever al other Je w ish families and reached ,

L ombardy in 1 2 8 6 on his way to the H oly L and .

I n L ombardy however he was taken prisoner by

, ,

order o f the E mperor R udolph and conveyed to the ,

fortress of Ensisheim in Al sace Th e Jews O ffered .

large sums for his ransom but Meir himself refused ,

to purchase his liberty by such means so tha t their ,

oppressors might not adopt it as a ne w plan of ex

to rtio n H e died in prison April 2 7 1 2 9 3 and was
.
, , ,

buried in W orms fo urtee n years after his death .

M eir o f R o th enb erg c o m p o sed th o usan ds o f rabb inic al pre

c epts w h ic h h av e b een p ubl ish ed i
,
n v ario us c o ll ec tio ns T o sa ,

fo th ( add itio ns) t o th e Tal m ud c o m m entaries o n a p o rtio n o f

,

th e Mishnah a treatise o n fun eral c erem o nies etc

,
H is el egy , .

o n th e T al m ud b urni ng in Paris
-
1 1 5 ) is t o b e fo un d in th e
ritual fo r th e 9 th day o f Ab .

Am o ng M eir s c o ntem p o raries w ere— C h aj im b I saiah Ab ig

’
.
,

d o r h a C o h en o f V ienna H ez ek iah b J ac o b and o th ers

-
,
.
,
.
1 72 J E W IS H H I S TO R Y [ FO U R T H

tolerant zeal which was fanned to a still higher

,

p itc h by wandering bands of F l agel l ant monks It .

is painful to enumerate all the congregati o ns that

fell victims to the popular fury ; the same massacres
were repeated in Breslau in R egensburg in H anover
, , ,

in Vienna Thousands of innocent people su ffered

.

death and O ften tor ture worse than death at the

, ,

hands of those whose religious intolerance is a last

ing disgrace to the Christianity of the Middle Ages ,

and of Germany in particular I n m any places the .

Jews took up arms in th eir own defence and sold ,

their lives dearly ; in others they killed their wives

and children with their own hands and perished in ,

the flames which they themselves k indled to escape

a still more dreadful fate In vain did the Pope .

issue the strongest admonitions fo r their protection

in vain were the endeavours of Charles I I and some .

other princes to restrain the tide of persecution : it

was impossible to control it and fire and sword ,

raged unpityingly among the unhappy v ictims .

Th e condition o f the Jews in the east of Ger

many and especially in Poland was somewhat better
, , .

Kasimir III of P oland was favourably disposed to

.

wards them — it is sai d at the instigation of his

Jewish favourite E sth erk a It was probably at this
.

period that a large number of German Jews settl ed in

Poland and carried th e G erman language into R ussi a
,

1 1 8 T h e E n d O f t h e M i d dl e A ge s
. .

T h e conviction that th e banishment O f the Jews

had i nj ured the towns whence they had been driven ,
PE R I O D . AN D L ITE RAT UR E . 1 73

led the princes and magistrates not only to permit

their return but in some cases to apply to the em
,

p e ro r
,
wh ose S pecial property they were supposed to
“ ”
be for leave to keep Jews as it was called But
, ,
.

this did not prevent a frequent recurrence of per

sec uti o ns For instance in Prague in 1 3 09 thou
.
, , ,

sands of Jews perish ed and many more were im ,

o v erish ed as th e E mperor W enceslas iss ued a decree

’

p ,

cancelling all debts due to the J ews and ordering ,

them to return all pledges of security they happened

to hold at the time Agal n l n the middle of the .
,

fift eenth century the wandering preacher Capistran

,

traversed Germany thundering denunciations against

,

the Jews and followed everywhere by plunder and

,

massacre In 1 45 3 forty one Jews were burned in

.
-

Breslau similar atrocities took place in Silesia and

the neighbouring countries and they were altogether ,

expelled from S tyria in 1 49 6 I n S outhern Germany .

the Franciscan mo nk Bernardus produced the sam e

e ffect in T rient the accidental death of a Christian
child caused the expulsion of the Je w s ; the same
thing happened in Mayence N uremberg and ,

elsewhere .

I t was no wo nder that the literary activity of the

Jews in the times we have been d escribing was not
very great I n fact it consisted chiefly in selections
.
,

o f and commentaries on the T almud and collections ,

of various rituals Amongst the latter we may

.

“
mention th e S h aareh D urah of I saac of D uren
( 1 3 2 0 and th e A gg ud a of Alexander ,
1 74 J E W IS H H ISTO R Y [ FO U RT H

S usslein C ohen of Cologne Meir H alevi

of Vienn a de creed ( 1 3 7 0) that nobody should ex er
cise the rabbinical functions without being em po w
ered to do so by an already acknowl edged rabbi .

His contemporaries were —Moses of Zurich Mena ,

chem O f Merseburg I srael of Kre m s S amuel of

, ,

S h lettsted t Abrah am Klaus ner of Vienna S alman

.
,

S tein and I saac of Tyrnau collected synagogal

, ,

forms and rituals ; Jacob H alevi of Mayence was

especially active at similar labours As T almudists .

are to be n o ted — Jacob W eil in Nuremberg

and E rfurth I srael Bruna in R egensburg S eligman
, ,

O ppenheim in Bingen at whose instigation a rab ,

b inic al synod was held in that town and espe

c ially I srael I sserl ein a native of M arburg in S tyria
,

( died H is collection of dec isions “

T erum at ,
”
h a D eshe h
-
was highly esteemed as also his explana
, ,
’
tions of R ashi s commentaries His school sent forth .

numerous rabbis to the congregations of Austria ,

Bohemia Bavaria S ilesi a etc

, ,
As an instance of
,
.

many sided learning and cultivation remarkable for

-

the fifteenth century we m ay mention L ipman of,

”
Muhlha usen the author of Niz z ac h o n a defence
,
“
,

of Judai sm against Christi anity .

T o th e latter hal f o f th e fifteenth c entury b el o ngs th e d ev el o p

m en t o f th e m uc h bl am ed so ph istic al m eth o d s o f Tal m udic al
-

study w h ic h are c all ed

,
P ilpul “
Th e c usto m o f m entio ning
.
”

th e nam es o f m artyrs ( and sub seq uently o f th e d ead in gen eral )

‘

d uring divine servic e o n Sabbath s and festival s ( H ask arath

Nesh am o th ) and th e rec ital o f th e Kadd ish by m o urn ers d ate
, ,

fro m ab o ut th is tim e .
1 76 J E W IS H H IS T O R Y [F1 FTH

Jew compelled to O bser ve an outward subservience

, ,

inwardly despised h is proud oppressors whom he ,

excelled in intelligence and quickness O f app reh en

sion ; where might was held to be right craft and ,

cunning had to give strength to the weak And in .

every congregation there was an inexhaustible spirit

of unity and mu tual assistance ; nothing but a
willing heart for sacrifice and brotherly love could
o ffer resistance to the common fee Th e synagogue .
,

while it re echoed with th e harsh so unds of prayers

-

repeated in the uncouth and corrupt dialect O f the

time w as filled with the spirit O f piety and devotion
, ,

and domestic life was adorned with the virtues of

truth temperance and industry ; these formed a

, ,

dam against which the waves o f reli gious intolerance

,

dashed themsel ves in vain and behind which th e

,

germs of a bet ter age lay protecte d ready for the , ,

time which sh o uld bid them ripen and bear fr uit .

F IF TH PE R IO D .

A ft e r t h e M i d d l e A ge s .

1 2 0 T h e J ew
. s in T u r k e y.

W h en the Jews were banished from Spain and

Portugal , thousands of these homeless wanderers

found places O f refuge in the European as well as
in the Asian provinces of T urkey They formed .

separate co ngregations in nearly all the large towns ,

PE R I O D .
] AN D L ITE RAT UR E . 1 77

and these co ngrega tions retained much of the lan

guage and customs o f their former home T rade and .

commerce flourished in the seaport towns and th e ,

comparatively favourable condition of th e Jews there

caused a continual influx of fugitives Th e congrega .

tions in Constantinople S alonic a and S myrna were , ,

especially numerous .

L iterary activity received a great impulse from the

number of highly educated S panish and Portuguese
fugitives although the T almud and Kabala were the
,

chie f subj ects of study to the exclusion of poetry and

,

science Moses Kapsali ( 1 48 0) was made chief rabbi

.

over all the Jews in T urkey by Mahomed I I and .

,

took his place among the mufti in the divan H e

-

is chiefly known by his controv ersy with Joseph

Kolon E lias Mi—
srac h i his somewhat
younger contemporary was known as a T almudist ,

and mathematician and also as a comme ntator of

,

R ashi An excellent com m entary O n the latter

.
,

author was composed by Abraham Bo k rath H alevi

of Tunis : it is known as the S efer h a— Zik k aro n
”
-
.

In E gypt we have to mention I saac Cohen S h o l al

( died chief rabbi N

( g )
a id of the Jewish com
munity there also S amuel S erilla and the celebrated
, ,

T almudist D avid Abi S imra ( R ad b as) the latter is

said to have reached the age O f 1 1 0 years and to ,

have spent the last twenty years o f his life in J eru

salem and S afed .

121 . D o n J o se p h N asi
.

During the reigns of the early T urkish mo narch s ,

1 78 J E W IS H H IS TO R Y [ F I FT H

whose sagacity and courage raised the kingdom to its

greatest power s everal Jews occupied important posts
,

as physicia ns statesme n and finan ciers S elim and

, ,
.

S oliman I employed Joseph and Moses H amon as

.

their physicians ; the latter published the Persian

translation of the Pentateuch by T avus and in ,

various ways used his wealth and influence for the

benefit O f his c o religionists T h e same may be -
.

said o f S olomon N athan Ash k enasi who acted as ,

a skilful diploma tist on behalf of the S ultan in ,

his intercourse with the Venetian republic But .

the highest dignities were obtained by D on Joseph

N asi who h ad been named John M iquez duri ng
,

his feigned temporary adoption O f Christianity .

H is mother in law D onna Gracia M end esia ( who

- -

also at one t ime feigned to adopt Christianity ) ,

a woman distinguished for h er intelligence culti ,

v ated m ind noble nature and wealth had been

, , ,

compelled to wander from Antwerp to Venice and .

Ferrara whence after m any adventures she reach ed

, , ,

Constantinople T here Joseph N asi married her

.

daughter R eyna and soon after his wealth and ,

commanding intellect brought him into favour wit h

S olim an and h is successor S elim Th e latter made .

him D uke of N axos and he was also to have been ,

king of Cyprus had he succeeded in conqueri ng that

,

island This however h e failed to d o nor was he

.
, , ,

successful in his attempt to rebuild T iberias which ,

he had intended to people wi th Jews L earned men .

were always welcom e in his castl e of B elvedere his

1 80 J E W IS H H I S T O RY [ F I FT H

finally took up his abode in S alonica where he ,

publicly returned to Judaism and where he died in ,

1 562 .

122 . J o se p h K aro .

Th e greatest T almudic authority of the sixteenth

century is Joseph ( b Ephraim ) Karo ( 1 48 8 1 5 7 .
-

When a child he and his parents were exiled from

,

S pain and settled at di fferent times in N icopolis

, ,

Adrianople and Palestine ,

H e was an extremely .

prolific and learned writer ; h is best known works

“ ” “
are Beth Josef ( a commentary on the Turim of
Ben Asher ) and the S h ul c h an Aruk ( the table
arranged ) a compendium O f rabbinical laws and
,

customs which is composed on the model of the

,
”
already mentioned Turim and has been universally ,

acknowledged as one of the highest authorities on

the subject H e is also the author of a comm entary
.

’ “
on M aim o nid es s Mish neh T orah a treatise called
”
,

“
Ab k at R ochel etc I t has been justly do ubted
,
.
.

whether Karo is the author of the K abalistic work ,

Maggid M esh arim ”

.

T h e troubles of the times and the disuse of

philosophic studies led to the prominence given
to the Kabala and caused the minds of the more
,

fanatical and enthusiastic men to look forward to

the advent o f the Messiah as to a rapidly ap
p ro ac h ing event D avid R ubeni who
. called him ,

self the brother of Joseph king of the two and a ,

half tribes east of Jordan travelled through Europe ,

and Asia S pread wonderful reports about the ten

,
PE R I O D .
] AN D L ITE RAT UR E . 1 81

tribes and had audience of many crowned heads

, ,

whom he tried to persuade to undertake th e con quest

O f Palestine H e was accompanied by S olomon
.

M o l c h o who had been baptised but r eturned to

, ,

Judaism M o l c h o who also preached the coming of

.
,

the Messiah had an audience of the Pope to whom

, ,

he endeavo ured to prove the tr uth of Judaism .

Charles V had them both impris o ned ; M o lc h o was

.

burned and R ubeni sent to S pain where he died in

, ,

prison .

Th e inc reased num b er o f p rinting p resses th e large J ew ish -

,

p o p ulatio n in T urk ey and th e lib erality o f th e ric h c aused an

, ,

im m ense in c rease o f literary ac tivity w h ic h did no t h o w ev er , , ,

pass th e b o un d s o f Talm udic st udy W e m ay m entio n a fe . w

o f th e b est kn o w n nam es In Sal o nic a th e largest J ew i

. sh ,

c o ng regatio n Sam uel di M edina ( R ash d am ) 1 5 0

: 5 1 589 J ac o b ,
-

b Ghab ib and his so n L evi ; S o l o m o n and J o seph Taytasak ;

.
,

M ey er Aram a ; I saac Ad arb i ; S o l o m o n b Ab rah am C o h en ; .

S o l o m o n L evi In Arta B enj am in b Matath ia

. : I n Egyp t . .

B ezal eel Ashk enazi and Jac o b Castro .

I n th e sev enteenth c ent ury w e fin d in S al o nic a J o seph ib n

Ezra afterw ards rabb i in S o fia J o sep h and David Pard o and
,

many o th ers I n B russa J o seph G anso

. In S m yrna S o l o m o n . :
“
Al gasi and C h ajim B env eniste ( K eneseth h a In
Hal eb : Sam uel Laniad o In Egyp t : M o rd ec ai . L evi ,
and his
so n Abrah am Levi .

123 . Th e J ew s in P al e st i ne .

It
had for centuries been considered a meritorious
action to undertake a pilgrimage to Palestine at an
advanced age in order to die there W ith the in .

creasing persecutions of the Jews in Europe suc h ,

pilgrim ages increased lik ewise and filled Palestine ,

with swarms of people most O f them excessively ,

1 82 J E W IS H H IST O R Y [ F I F TH

poor and all subj ect to the extortions of the Turkish

,

O fficials . Jewish communities in other parts o f the

world considered it their duty to support the poor in
the H oly L and and many of the larger c ongregations
,

devoted special funds to the purpose Messengers .

were sent from Palestine from time to time to collect

these sums ; b ut this arrangement (which continues
to this day ) did no t serve to remo ve the misery of
,

the Jews in Palestine Th e number of pilgrims was

.

perpetually increasing and n o attempt was made to

,

cultivate any sort of trade or industry of any kind ,

as devotional exercises together with th e study of

,

the T almud and Kabala entirely occupied their ,

attention Complaints soon arose concerning the

.

misuse and abuse of these system atic alms but no ,

improvement in the method of distribution followed .

Jerusalem where the Jewish population rapi dl y

,

inc re ased after their exile from Spain was inhabited ,

in 1 48 8 by the well known commentator of the -

Mishna O badiah Bertinoro

, S everal learned men .

settle d in S afed in the north O f Galilee Thither

,
.

came Jacob Berab ( died who entered into a

controversy with L evi b C h ab ib of S alonica ; S olo
.

m o n S erillo commentator of the Jerusalem T almud

,

Moses b Joseph Trani ( died

. a contemporary

of Joseph Karo also living in Safed, T h e study .

of the Kabala w as carried on in S afed by S olomon

Alk ab iz ( L ech a D odi
“
and Moses Cordovero
“ ”
ardes R immonim )
( P similar tendencies are dis
played in the writings of Moses Alsh eic h the sub ,
184 J E W IS H H IS TO R Y [ F I FT H

fo r centu ries maintained the fame of the Hurwitz

fam ily in T almudic learning .

Th e seventeenth century also numbers amongst its

men o f learning C h isk ia de S ilva of L eghorn ( Pri
“

C h ad ash Jacob C h agis ( born 1 6 2 1 died ,

a native of I taly who settled in Palestine and his son

, ,

Moses C h agis born 1 6 7 0 Th e latter led a wandering

,
.

life and died at an advanced age in S afed after having

, ,

taken part with great interest in the controversies aris

ing in the eighteenth century with respect to S ab b atai
Zevi whose followers long after his death still , ,

upheld him aa th e promised Messiah l Ch ajim

Joseph D avid Asulai another wandering T almudist
, ,

born about 1 7 2 7 in L eghorn traversed almost the ,

whole of E urope to collect alms fo r the poor in the

H oly L and He died in 1 8 07
. His histories of .

”
“ —
rabbinical literature S hem h a G ed o lim and Vaad “ -

la—C h ac h am im
”
contain rich treasures O f bibliograph
,

ical knowledge .

1 24 . S ab b at ai Z ev i, 1 6 2 6 1 6 7 6 -
.

T owards the end of the seve nteenth century the

life of the Jews in the E ast which was generally ,

spent quietly and uneventfully amongs t T almudical

and Kabalistic studies experie nced a stir and move ,

ment the tide of which flowed on until near our own

,

times S ab b atai Zevi of S myrna was born in 1 6 2 6

. .

H e was extraordinarily gi fted both in mind and ,

body and from an early age devoted all his energies

,

to the mystic study of the Kabala Gradually he .

became more and more ascetic in his daily life and ,

PE R I O D .
] AN D L I TE RAT UR E . 1 85

as early as 1 6 48 he announced himsel f as the Messiah

to his friends and followers H e w as ex c o m m uni .

c at ed by the rabbinate O f S myrna

( to which his
teacher Joseph I sk affa belonged) and was compelled ,

to leave the city in 1 6 5 1 After wandering hither .

and thither for some time he found support and ,

followers in C airo W hile there h e heard of and

.

sent for a certain girl named S arah o f Jewish de ,

scent who had escaped from a convent where she

,

was being educated and was leading a wandering

,

kind of life A pseudo prophet N athan of Gaz a

.
-
, ,

then announced that he had had visions in which

S ab b atai had been proclaimed as th e Messiah and ,

the messianic fervour o f the credulous people soon

rose to such a height that in S myrna ( whither S ab
batai had returned in triumph ) the community turned
against his O pponent th e rabbi A aron L apapa and
, ,

compelled him to leave the city Th e belief in the .

so call ed Messiah spread rapidly to the congregations

-

of Asia Minor T urkey and I taly ; in several places

, ,

fanatical v isionaries appeared who proclaimed the ,

approaching messianic age and th e voices o f indi ,

vidual sober minded men s uch as Jacob S asportas of

-
,

Am sterdam were lost in the crowd

,
E verywhere .

preparations were made for the journey to Palestine ,

which was to be once more in possession of the Jews .

I n 1 6 6 6 S ab b atai who received almost divine honours

,

fro m his disciples betook himself to Constantinople

, ,

but there he was taken prisoner and conveyed to the

castle o f Abydos on the D ardanelles In spite of his .
1 86 J E W IS H H IS T O R Y [ F I FT H

imprisonment h owever the number o f his followers

, ,

continued to increase the r eport of his miracle

working powers spread through E urope and im ,

pressed even Christians S ab b atai himself led a life

.

of princely splendo ur in his so called captivity until -

,

the T urkish government became alarmed at the

possible results O f this fanaticism S ab b atai was .

sent for to Constantinople where he was introduced

,
’
into the S ultan s presence became converted to ,

Moslemism under the name o f M eh em ed Effendi

, ,

and was appointed doorkeeper ( K apid sc h i Basha) .

A portion of his disciples followed his example and

became Mahommedans B ut only a small nu m ber o f
.

his followers were thus undeceived S ab b atai even

continued to preach in different places and to appear ,

sometimes as a Jew and sometimes as a Mab om

medan At last he w as exiled to Albania and died
.
,

there in solitude in 1 6 7 6 In spite of this pitiable

.

endi ng o f the supposed Messiah the fantastic belief ,

in him lasted for a century after his death Apostles .

of the new faith such as Abraham Michael Cardoso

,

( 1 6 2 2 1-
7 06 ) and N ehemiah Chij a Chaj on ( 1 6 5 0
wandered about from place to place preached ,

about the new Messiah and managed here and there

,

to obtain credence even with otherwise sensible

men .

1 2 5 Th e J e w s in It al y
. A b rav an e l Elia
. .

L e v ita .

It is a pleasing task to consider the intellectual

activity of the Jews of the six teenth century in I taly ,
1 88 J E W IS H H I STO RY [m m

stance R euchlin Pico della Mirandola F agius and

, , , ,

others ) chiefly in order to study the mysteries o f the

,

Kabala was considerably facilitated by the labours of

,

E lias L evita (h a Bachur) of N eustadt on the Aisch

-

( born 1 46 5 died, whose H ebrew grammar

and dictionary are j ustly celebrated O n the ex pul .

sion of the Jews from his native city he went first to

Venice and Padua and then to R ome where the
, ,

cardinal E gidio di Viterbo had him to live in his

, ,

own house for the purpose of learning H ebrew from

him — E lias meanwhile taking the opportunity of
studying the classics T h e greater number of Elias
.

’
di L evita s works have been translated into L atin .

— “
S efer h a Bachur
”

$
l ”
most celebrated are ( a -

e rew grammar) ; H ak arb a ( on I rregular Hebrew

“ ” “
forms) ; Tuv T aam ( on the accents ) ; Masoreth
-

h a masoreth ( on the Masora )

-
“
M eturgem an ( dic
”
tio nary for the T argums ) Pirk e E liahu ( a H ebrew
“
grammar in verse ) ; Tish h i ( explanation of 712
Talmudical expressions) etc His contemporary
,
.

Abraham de Balmes composed a H ebrew grammar ,

”
M ik neh Abraham and translated several ph ilo so
,

h ic al works from the Arabic H e died about 1 5 5 0

p . .

Th e I talian Jews were specially celebrated as

physic ians and in spite o f all the canonical laws for
,

bidding it their sk ill was in great demand even for

,

the popes themselves T hus we find th e learned

.

Jacob M antino in attendance on Paul I II Bonet di .

,

L attes with Al exander V I and L eo X and S imon . .

,

Zarfati with Julius I I Further we may mentio n

.
,
PE R I O D .
] AN D L ITE RAT URE . 1 89

among m any others O badiah Sf rno Joseph b , ,

D avid ibn Jac h ja D avid Vital and Joseph Jabez, , ,

all of whom were learned writers and commentators

as well as sk ilful physicians .

1 2 6 T h e T al m u d p ro h i b i t e d
. .

Th e increasing numbers of Jews settling in I taly ,

as well as the study of H ebrew by Christians natur ,

ally encouraged the establishment o f H ebrew printing

presses A specially famous one was o pened in
.

Venice in 1 5 1 6 by D aniel Bomberg of Antwerp .

Besides Venice and other cities mentioned above ,

Hebrew printing presses were erected in the -

following I talian town s z— Cremona Fano Ferrara , , ,

Genoa L eghorn Padua R imini R iva di T rento

, , , , ,

R ome Sab io netta V erona Bomberg published the

, , .

first complete edition of the Talmud ( 1 5 2 01 5 2 6 ) -

and the first rabbinical Bible ( 1 5 1 6 Jewish

men of great learning —as fo rinstance the grammarian , ,

S amuel Arc h ev o l te J o c h anan Treves the commentator

, ,

of the M ac h so r and others — gave their servic es as

”
,

correctors editors etc , ,

.

But evil times came with the founding o f the

order o f the Jesuits and the introduction of the In
u isitio n into the Papal states Popes Julius I II
q . .
,

Paul I V and Pius V issued the strictest l aws for

.
,
.
,

the treatment even of the N ew Christians and the ,

severest and harshest edicts agains t the Jews While .

’
Auto da F es were being held in the Peninsula and
- -

numbers of converted Jews who had returned to

Judaism perished at the stake the priestly rage in ,
1 90 J E W IS H H I S TO RY [F I FT H

I taly was at first chiefly directed against Jewish

writings At the denunciations of individual rene
.

gades chiefly the J e w s were suddenly deprived of

,

their books principally the T almud itsel f and T al

,

mudi e works and thousands o f these volumes were

,

publicly burned S uch bonfires were erected in and

.

after 1 5 5 3 in R ome Venice Ancona Bologna Can , , , ,

dia and Cremona

,
.

Th e printing presse s were closed even in Venice

-
, ,

where they were not re opened till 1 5 6 4 after the -

Council of T rident had submitted the Talmud to an

examin ation the result of which was th at permission
,

w as given to print it but without the distinctive ,

name . O ther writings which had been left in pos

session o f the Jews were submitted to a similar cen
so rshi p and any
,
passages that were disapproved of
were struck out W arned by this the Jewish printers
.

and publish ers took care themselves to remove any

similar passages in s ubsequent works Meanwhile .

oppression continued and the restrictive laws became

,

m ore and more severe Venice was the first ( 1 5 1 6 )

.

to confine her Jewish inhabitants in a Ghetto or ,

Jewish quarter of t h e town O ther ci ties such as .

,

R ome Mantua and Padua followed her example

, , ,
.

Many Jews fled to T urk ey and the E ast Fortunately .

,

however the number of small states into which I taly

,

was divided prevented anything like the general

persecution that had taken place in the S panish
peninsula .

T h e troubles o f the times bro ught into existence

1 92 J E W IS H H I S TO RY [ FI FT H
’
J ac hja Asarja s younger contemporary son of Joseph
, ,

“
is the aut h or of the historical work S hal
sh el eth h a Kabala
- -
His want O f critical power
.
,

trustworthiness an d scientific knowledge together

, ,

with his leaning to astrological superstition s m ake ,

his writings contrast forcibly with those of Asarja .

Amon g st other contemporaries of the l atter we m ay

mention D avid de Po m is born in S poleto 1 5 2 5 , ,
”
author of Zemach D avid a H ebrew L atin and
“
, , ,

I talian lexicon and of a treatise entitled D e Medico

,

Heb raeo enarratio apologetica Abraham Porta

leone b orn in Mantua 1 5 42 doctor of medicine and
, ,

of philosophy author of a well known and highly

,
$

“
valued work on Je w ish antiquities called Shilteh ,

G ib b o rim I saac L eon ibn Zur in Anco na of S panish , ,

”
descent ( M egillath E sther in which he takes the
“
,

part o f Maimonides against Nac h m anid es) D eborah

’
Asc arelli ( about who translated Moses R ieti s
hymns into I talian verses S arah Copi a S ullam also ,

a poetess distinguished both by great beauty and

,

intellectual gifts .

1 2 8 It aly in t h e S ev e nt ee nth an d E i gh t e e nt h
.

C e nt u rie s .

Th e Jews in I t aly did not indeed either in learn , ,

ing or in their social and political position S ink to ,

the depth of their c o religionists in some other parts

-

o f E urope but neither did they at any period rise

,

above the level of mediocrity They were worst o ff .

in the Papal states but history tells but little of out

,

breaks o f popular fanaticism or general expulsio ns .

PE R I O D .
] AN D L I T E R AT UR E . 1 93

The long list of T almudic Kabalistic and poetical

, ,

works published at Venice and L eghorn shows not

a Single name of any special celebrity .

Th e censorship of the press and general discourage

m ent of intellect did not fail to produce the usual
result— hypocrisy and mediocrity This is very char .

ac teristic ally S hown in the writi n gs of Judah Ari da

Mode na who was born in Venice in 1 5 7 1 and died
, ,

ther e as rabbi in 1 6 48 H e was a most prolific

.

writer and treated every variety of subj ect without

,

acco m plishing any work O f special note Amongst .

his writings we m ay mention a H ebrew lexicon a ,

system o f artificial memory and a warning against ,

gambling ( to which he was himself passi o nately

devoted ) —the latter has been translated into L atin
and German His writings against the Kabala ( Ari
.
“

” “ ”
No h em ) and the T alm ud ( S h aagat Arje ) have
only lately been published His younger colleague
.

S im c h a L uz z ato is the author of a treatise “

D isco r so
”
circa il stato degli E brei etc Greater efforts
,
.
,

although external circumstances prevented their

attaining corresponding results were m ade by Joseph ,

S olomo n Medigo of Candia born 1 5 9 1 ,

H e studied .

medicine in Padua wrote treatises on mathematics

,

S efer E lim and the Kabala ( No b lo th C h o c h m a

“

took part w ith c re dit in a mathematical controversy

'

with a Mahommedan m athematician in Cairo was ,

appointed ph ysician to Prince R adziwill at W ilna ,

lived subsequently at Ham b ro ugh G liic k stad t Am , ,

sterd am Frankfort o n Maine and finally at Prague

,
- -

, ,

0
1 94 J E W I SH H ISTO RY [ F IFT H

where he ended his wa ndering life in 1 6 5 5 L ike .

Judah da Modena his real O pinion of the Kabala

.

has only beco m e known in later times by the publi

“ ”
cation of his Appeal to a Karaite .

W e have also to mention S olomon No rz i of Man

tua whose celebrated masoretic work
,
“
M inc h at ,

S hai
”
was publish ed in 1 7 2 6 j ust a ce ntury after
, ,

it was written E manuel Ah oah of Venice ( 1 6 2 5 )

.

”
is the author of No m o l o gia a treatise on the ,

trus tworth iness of tradition S amuel Ab o ab ( born

.

in H amburg 1 6 1 0 died 1 6 9 4) began h is career as an

,

author at th e age of eleven In 1 6 5 0 he became .

rabbi in Venice and subsequently he took part in

,

the attacks against the fanatic S ab b atai Zevi and

the pseudo prophet N athan 1 2 4) his son Jacob
studied n atural history and Biblical antiquities Th e .

highly cultivated and poetical Moses C h ajim L uz z ato

strayed into the mazes of the Kabala became a ,

visio nary quarrelled with his family and the congre

,

g ati o n in Venice ( whose rabbis excommunicated him

and compelled him to frequent recantations ) led an ,

unsettled wandering life and died in Palestine in

,

1 7 4 7 at the age O f thirty ni ne -

.

1 2 9 T h e J e w s in P o l an d
. M o s e s I sse rl e s
. .

Th e condition of th e Jews in P oland at the com

men cement O f the modern era was better than in
Germany as is s till the case at th e present day they ,

formed an indispensable element and represented the ,

middle classes which in Poland had no existence

,
.

They occ upied themselves with agriculture trade , ,

1 96 J E W IS H H I STO RY [ F I FT H

Poland Great Poland

, ,
R auss, and L ithuan ia) sent
deputations .

1 3 0 T h e C o ss ac k P e r sec u t i o n u nd e r C h e l m
.

ni c k i, 1 6 48 —1 6 5 1 .

T hese
comparatively favourable circumstances ,

which were only disturbed by occasional clerical

accusations or by the hostilities of German settlers
, ,

were suddenly ended by the rebellion of the Cossack

leader C h elm nic k i against the republic O f Poland .

As early as the spring of 1 6 48 Jewish massacres ,

began e ast of the D nieper and many thousands per

, ,

ish ed .A still larger number were taken prisoners

by the T artars and sold in T urkey where their ,

c o religionists ransomed
-
them D uring the inter .

regnum of several months which followed the death

of King L adislaus endless hordes of uncivilised ,

barbarians Spread themselves over the provinces of

U krania V o lh ym ia and Podolia ; all the inhabitants
, ,

suffered more or less but especially the Jews Whole , .

congregations were extirpated and the prosperity o f ,

the above named provinces w as completely destroyed

-
.

T hese horrors were repeated in the years 1 6 49 and

1 65 1 .In 1 6 5 4 and 1 6 5 5 C h el m nic k i allied with ,

th e R ussians devastated the western provinces and

,

L i thuania an d they were fortunate who managed to

,

escape into Prussi a and Germany Th e consequence .

of the total impoverishment and the su fferings O f the

Polish Jews is seen to the present day in the con
stant stream O f emigrants who for th e last two
hundred years have taken refuge in Germany and
PE R I O D .
] AND L ITE RAT UR E . 1 97

H olland ,carrying w ith them their peculiar method

o f T almud study P o lish rabbis and T almudists
.

were everywhere made welcome but their exclusive ,

devotion to the T almud has not b een conducive to

the general culture and intellectual development O f

fl
th e Jews .

Th e d ay o n h ic h th ese p ersec utio ns b egan ( 2 oth o f S ivan)

w

is still k ep t as a fast in P o land .

Th e c el ebrated Tal m ud ists and m en o f l earningw h o ed fro m

P o lan d during th e sev enteenth and eigh teenth c enturies are to o
num ero us to m e tio n n .

131 . Th e J ew s in H o ll and
After the N etherlands had freed themselves from
the Spanish rule a large number of Portuguese N ew
,

Christians led by Jacob Tirad e found their way

, , ,

after many adventures to Amsterdam There they , .

wholly returned to Judaism and although at first , ,

persecuted as papists they were enabled to consecrate,

the first synagogue in Amsterdam in 1 5 9 8 T hey .

were soon followed by increasin g numbers of their

c o religionists
-
who had succeeded in escaping the
,

watchful eye O f the I nquisition A second synagogue .

was built in 1 6 1 0; other towns O pened their gates

to the Jews and H olland soon became for them an
,

asylum of religious freedom In the beginn ing O f .

the seventeenth century the Jewish community in

Am sterdam possessed as many as 3 00 houses with ,

4 00 families Besides th e Portuguese congregation

.
,

which was distinguished by its prosperity and culture ,

and took an active part in the growing commerce of

1 98 J E W IS H H ISTO RY [F I FT H

the N etherlands ( th e kings of S p ain and Portugal

had Jewish consuls in Amsterdam) there was also a ,

German congregation of which the Polish fug itives,

formed a large contingent .

1 32 . M anasseh b . I s rael .

Am ongst the founders o f the community in Am

sterd am were — Jacob I srael Belmonte ( v S c h o o nen .

berg ) ; R euel Jesh urun Joseph I srael Pereira ; I saac

de R ocamora ; Elijah M ontalto ( died physician
to Q ueen Maria de Medici ; Abraham Z ac uto ( died
grandson of the historian of that name ; Jacob
U ziel fro m Africa ( died
,
grammarian poet , ,

mathematician and preacher Abraham ( formerly

,

Al onzo ) da H errera ( died a Kabalist Th e .

first rabbis of the S panish congregation in Amsterdam

were — D avid P ardo ; S aul L evi M o rteira of Ve nice ,

( died 1 6 00 ) I saac b M attathi a A b o ab da Fonseca

.
,

who w as born in Portugal in 1 6 06 lived in Amster ,

dam from 1 6 1 3 to 1 6 42 then emigrated to Brazil ,

( which the D utch had taken from Portugal ) with 6 00

families returned to Amsterdam in 1 6 5 4 and died
, ,

there in 1 6 9 3 Manasseh b I srael whose father .

, ,

Joseph b I srael had escaped from the dungeons of

.
,

. 6 4—
the I nquisition Manasseh ( 1 0 1 6 5 7 ) was deeply
learned in the Bible and the T almud and could both ,

S peak and write ten di f ferent languages ; his wife

was a great granddaughter of I saac Abravanel His
-
.

Writings in S panish L atin and H ebrew give proof

, ,

O f his acquaintance with profane literature and Chris

ti an theology but are not free from superstitious

,
2 00 J E W IS H H IST O RY [F I FT H

Co n c il iad o r ( th e rec o nc il iatio n o fapparen t d iff r n c es o r c o ntra e e

d ic tio ns in th e S c rip tures) w ritten in S pan ish and translated

, ,

into Latin and E ngl ish

”
( 2 ) Nish m ath C h ajim ( o n th e im
m o rtal ity o f th e so ul ) w ritten in H eb rew ; ( 3 ) Mikv e Israel
”
,

( o n th e t en trib e ) w ritten in Latin and translated into D utc h

s , ,

G erm an and H eb rew ( 4) Teso ro d o s D inim ( o n th e ritual ) ,

”
,

w ritten in S p ani sh ; ( 5 ) P eni Rabbah an ind ex to th e ,

”

M id rash im o n th e P entateuc h ; ( 6 ) Treatises o n th e c reatio n ,

th e resurrec tio n th e d estiny o f m an h um an fallibil ity

$

, ,

( 7 ) V ind ic iae J ud aeo rum w ritten fo r th e purp o se o f dispro v

”
,

ing m any o f th e fal se ac c usatio ns b ro ugh t against th e J ew s ,

esp ec i ally that o f using C hristian bl o o d at th eir festival s This .

latter w as w ritten in Engl ish as w as al so h is app eal to C ro m

,

w ell enti
, tl ed ,
An h um b l e add ress to th e L o rd P ro tec to r o n
“

b ehalf o f th e J ew ish Natio n H e h as al so l eft m any o th er

.

w o rk s o f l ess im p o rtanc e .

1 33 . U rie l A c o s t a an d B aru c h S p ino z a .

W hile Amsterdam in the seventeenth century he

came a safe asylum fo r the Jews who had been
fortunate enough to escape from the S panish and
Portuguese I nquisition all leanings to heresy that ,

chanced to appear in the congregation were severely

punished by the Jewish authorities Melancholy in .

stances o f such intolerance which their own sufferings ,

should have taught the Jews to avoid are to be found ,

in the lives of two celebrated men — U riel Acosta and

Baruch S pinoza Uriel Acosta ( da Costa ) was born in
.

O porto about 1 5 9 4 O f a N ew Christian family H e .

was in fact brought up as a R oman Catholic but like ,

many o thers he fled to Amsterdam wh ere he became ,

a convert to Judaism U nfortunately however he .

, ,

disagreed with the rabbinical interpretation O f the

S criptures and was thrown into prison for having
,
e ne m a ] AN D L IT E RAT URE . 2 01

published a book in which he denied the immort ality

of the soul H e recan t ed at first but then relapsed
.
,

into his antagonism to Judaism was excommunicate d , ,

and finally compelled to perform a humiliating public

penance and recantation in consequence O f which he
,

is said to have put an end to his own life about 1 6 40 .

Baruch S pinoza 1 6 32 1 6 7 7 the -

,
“
father O f modern phil osophy was also of ,
N ew
Ch ristian descent and like U riel Acosta was un
, , ,

able to satisfy the rabbis of Amsterdam He was .

likewise excommunicated and withdrew from Am ,

sterd am to the solitude of a little village w here he ,

support ed himself by the work o f his hands as a

glazier refusing every offer o f assistance Al though
,
.

completely estranged from Judaism he was never ,

baptiz ed His celebrated T ractatus th eo l o gic o

p o lit ic us
( published without his name ) was wri t ten
in 1 6 7 0 Th e position he holds in the rank s of
.

E uropean philosophers can scarcely be overrated .

1 34 J e w ish P o e t s an d M e n o f L e ar ning in
.

H o l l and .

T h e great wealth of individual Jews in Amsterdam

was O f advantage both to charitable institutions and
the state Francisco Melo an d I saac S uasso for in
.
,

stance lent W illiam o f O range two millions without

, ,

interest for his exp edition against James II

,
Pinto .

left several millions to Jewish and Christian charit

able institutions Abraham and D aniel de Pinto
.

founded the congregation in R otterdam and ap ,

pointed D avid Pardo to the school erected there .

2 02 J EW IS H HIS TO RY [ F I FT H

Th e Portuguese synagogue in Amsterdam was c o nse

crated in 1 6 7 5 and its members were called upo n
, .

far and near for every variety of communal labours .

They numbered among them many intelligent and

“
highly educated men mostly of N ew Christian
,

descent . Besides those already named we may ,

mention — Benj amin ( D ionys) M usafia ( died

physician and naturalist in G liic k stadt H amburg , ,

“
,
—
and Amsterdam author of M usaph h a Aruk and ”

“
S echer R ab Jacob Judah L eon T emplo author ,

”
Of
“
Tab nit Hec h al a description o f the temple of
,

S olomon ; D avid Cohen de L ara lexicographer who , ,

w as at one time rabbi in H amburg Balthazar .

“
Aro b io a member of a
,
N ew Christia n family ,

lived for some time as professor of medicine and

philosophy at S eville and T oulouse then fled to ,

Amsterdam and made open profession of his ad h er

,

ence to Judaism Jacob Ab end ana who was one of

.
,

the first rabbis O f the congregatio n in L ondon com ,

posed a commentary on the Bible L echet

translated the Mishna and the Kusari into Spanish ,

and corresponded with many learned Christians His .

brother I saac taught H ebrew at O xford and trans ,

lated the Mishna into L atin S olomon O liveira ( died

.

1 7 08 ) was known as a poet and grammarian .

“ ”
Many of the N ew Christians chose Spanish ,

Portuguese or L atin for their writings especially

, ,

for poetry .W e may mention — D avid Ab enatar

Melo ( a translation O f the Psalms) ; the already
mentioned I saac U ziel ( a Spanish epic D avid
2 04 J E W IS H H I STO RY [ F I FT H

was not improved by the great events that

heralded and brought about the coming of our
modern times ; the darkness of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centu ries shows but few gleams O f light .

Frederick II I had a Jewish physician Jacob L oans

.
, ,

whom he ennobled Joseph L oa ns ( called Jossel

.

R osheim ) was appointed by Maximilian I to repre .

sent the Jews at the German parliame nt and was ,

called by his c o religionists the great mediator or

-

interceder A lthough the matter n aturally was one

.

of interest to them the Jews rem ai ned p assive during

,

the great literary contest for and against the preser

vation of the T almud in which Haagstraak en of,

Cologne the apostate Victor v K arben and espec i

,
.
,

ally the in famous Pfefferkorn advocated its d estru c ,

tion and which was decided in favour o f the T almud

,

by the le arned R euchlin T h e gradual extension of

.

the R eformation brought no change in the manifold

O ppressions and annoyances which the Jews had to

endure Accusations of kidnapping and murdering

.

Christi an children of desecrating the sacrament etc

, ,
.
,

continued to be brought against them I n Frankfo rt .

an assembly of deputies from various sovereigns and

cities w as held in 1 5 1 6 fo r the purpose of taking
measures to expel the Jews Fortunately however .
, ,

th e meeti ng was not unanimous Joachim II . .

,

E lector of Brandenburg had a Jewish physician , ,

named Lippold whose advice he frequently took in

,

m atters o f finance as well as o f health After the .

death of the E lector Lippold who was hated by the

, ,
PE R I O D .
] A ND L ITE RAT UR E . 2 05

people was accused of having poisoned him : a con

,

fessio n was extorted from h im by torture ; he was

executed and all the Jews expelled from Brandenburg
,
.

T h e same fate befell them at Frankfort in 1 6 1 4 ,

whence they were banished in consequence of a re

’
volt O f the trades guilds against the town authorities .

T w o years later however they were permitted to

, ,

return and th e leader o f the revolt Vincenz Fett

, ,

milch was executed T h e Jews in W orms were

,
.

si m il arly treated but found a protector in th eE l e c tor

,
’
Frederic T h e terrible T hirty Y ears W ar a ffected
.

the Jews n either more nor less than their Christian

count rym en .

1 36 . T h e J ew s in A u s t ria . D av id G anz .

Th e Jews in Bohemia were at that time com ,

arat iv ely speaking in a tolerably satisfactory c o n

p ,

dition T h e congregation of Prague possessed a

.

H ebrew printing press — established by Gerson Cohen

-

b S olomon ( G erso nid eS) — in 1 5 1 3 earlier than any

.
,

other German congregation and this was followed by ,

many others Th e most celebrated T almudists of

.

Pra gue were — Jacob P olak ( died 1 5 3 0) I saac Mar

goles Mordecai Gaffa ( died 1 6 1 2 ) and L Ow e b
, .

Bezaleel ( called the great R abbi L Ob who was a

learned mathematician as well as a T almudist— h e died
1 6 09 . Better known than any of these is D avid Ganz
( born in W estphalia in 1 5 4 1 died in Prague in ,

Besides his T al m udical labours he studied history ,

math ematics geography and astronomy and was per

, , ,

so nally acquainted with Kepler and T ycho d e Brah e .

2 06 J E W IS H H IST O RY [ F IFTH

He is the author of a valuable history of the Jews ,

”
Zemach D avid and of a geographical and astro no
,

M ordecai Meisel
”
mical work Nec h m ad V e naim ,
-
.

( 1 5 2 8 1 6 0
-
1 ) was distinguished alike by h is riches
and his benevolence : he bu ilt th e Meisel synagogue ,

which still bears his name and on one occasion wh en ,

the Ghetto o f Prague was burned down in 1 5 9 0 he ,

presented thalers to the impoverished com

munity .

D uring the T hirty Y ears W ar the Jews enj oyed the

’

protection of the Emperor Ferdinand I I and his .

successor Ferdinand I II in return for which they .

,

were called upon to assist in filling the imperial

treasury Th e rabbis of Prague at that time were
.

I saiah H urwitz 1 6 1 4 1 6 2 1 and his contem -

,

p o r ar ies S olomon,
E phr aim L en ts c h utz and L ipman

H eller 1 6 2 7 1 6 3 0 D avid O ppenheimer of W orms

,
-
.
,

rabbi of Prague from 1 7 04 till his death in 1 7 3 6 ,

founded an im portant library which in consequence “

, ,

of th e censorship he kept in H anover instead of

,

in Prague This library after many adventures has

.
, ,

been incorporated with the celebrated Bodleian

library at O xford In 1 7 48 an imperial edict was
.

published expelling the Jews from Bohe mia it was ,

however rescinded the following year

,
.

Y o m to v L ipman H eller ( born 1 5 7 9 died 1 6 5 4) ,

officiated as rabbi in Vienna and afterwards in Cra ,

cow where he died H e was a learned T o safist and

,
.
,

h is commentary on the Mishna is distinguishe d by

“

its clearness and brilliancy of style His life presents .

2 08 J E W I S H H IST O RY [ F IFT H

twice printed in spite of t h e e ffo rts of the Jews to

,

prevent it had no effect 011 the favourable disposition

,

o f the Government towards them .

In 1 7 5 0 Frederick the Great published a sort of

code fixing and legalising the position of his Jewish
,

subj ects Certain privileges were granted them

.

they were placed under the care o f the magistrates

and although they had still to pay hea vy taxes and
were annoyed by many petty restrictions their lives ,

and property were made secure and this co m parative ,

peace produced a gradual improvement in their

general con ditio n .

In Fr ank fo rt -
on- O d er tw o ditio ns
e of th e T al m ud w ere

p ubl ish ed o ne in 1 69 9 th e o th er in 1 7 2 1
, , .

E ph raim M o ses K uh th e first J ew ish p o et w h o se w o rk s

, ,

w ere w ritten in G erm an i nstead o f th e J ew ish G erm an dial ec t -

,

w as b o rn at B resl au in 1 7 3 1 .

1 38 . C o ndit i o n o f th e G e rm an J e w s b e fo re
M e nd e l ss o h n .

It is needless to detail the social and political con

dition of the Jews in the various German states .

Th e history of each of the numerous communities

was only a repetition of petty restrictions and o p
pre ssive taxes T ime for sel f culture was wholly
.
-

wanting for since money alone could purchase

,

toleration it was necessary to devote all energies to

,

making money in every way permitted by the l aw .

A fe eling of exclusiveness was on the increase and ,

large congregatio ns obj ected to receiving new mem

bers ; many abuses gradually crept in and general ,
PE R I O D .
] AND L I T ERAT UR E . 09

knowledge even that of the Germa n language was

, ,

at the lowest ebb T h e instruction of the young

.
,

Wh ich was confined to the study o f the T almud was ,

chiefly in the h ands of emigrant Poles w h o despised , ,

or pronounced heretical everything they did not

,

understan d D ivine service though not devoid of

.
,

inward fer vour and piety was disorderly and even, ,

indecorous in its outward form and caused the non ,

“
Jews to look on the Juden schule ( synagogue ) with -

scorn and contempt Th e rabbis mostly o f Polish

.
,

descent collected round them a circle of T almud

,

students ( B o c h erim ) who for the most part live d

, , ,

entirely on the generosity O f their wealthier brethren .

Th e c ongregation of Frankfort o h Maine was - -

especially numero us and important— almost all the

learned rabbis of Germany and Poland officiated
there at one time or another : for instance I saiah ,

Hurwitz his son S ab b atai ( died and

his grandson I saiah ( died 1 6 8 9 ) N aphtali Cohe n ,

in whose house in 1 7 1 1 a fire broke out which ,

destroye d th e greater part of the Ghetto Abraham

Broda Jacob Cohen 1 7 1 8 1 7 40 and o thers
, , .

R aphael L evi of H anover ( died 1 7 7 9 ) w as person

ally acquainted with L essing and was the author of ,

“ ”
an astronomical handbook T ec h unath h a S h em ajim
,
- -
.

Th e same subj ect fills th e writings of Jonathan b .

Joseph who died in 1 7 2 5

,
.

H amburg contained both a Portuguese and a

German congregation In 1 6 9 2 S olomon M irel s
.
,

one of the exiles from Vi en na officiated as rabbi o f ,

P
210 J E W IS H H IS TO RY [ F I FT H

the latter H e was su cceeded by his son in law - -

Zevi Hirsch Ashkenazi then came E zekiel

K atz enel lenb o gen K eneseth J ec h esk el and then

Jonathan E yb esc h iitz ( born a man of great

intellect and learning H e was accused by Jacob
.

E mden rabbi of E mde n ( 1 6 9 8 1 7 7 6 so n of the

,
-
,

above —mentioned Zevi H irsch Ashkenazi) of being a

follower of S abatai Zevi and this accusation gave ,

rise to voluminous literary controversies in which ,

nearly all the rabbis O f E urope took part Among .

’
E mden s numerous writings some of which b e ,

printed himself we may mention

,
M itpac h at
”
S efarim ( against the Zohar ) and commentaries on ,

” “ ”
Ab o th ,
S eder O lam etc ,
.

N umerous printi ng presses were established in the

-

west and south of Germany after the end of the seven

teenth century .First in Frankfort o n Maine where a - -

valuable edition of the T almud was published then

in small places in the neighbourhood such as H anau , ,

O ffenbach H o m burg as in Frankfort itself th e law

, , ,

reserved this lucrative trade for the Christians I n .

the same way printing presses were transferred from

-

Prague to VV ilm ersd o rf and S alzbach wh ere an edi ,

tion o f th e T almud appeared An e specially pro .

d uc tiv e establishme nt was that O f F iirth a tow n ,

near N uremberg where there was a large congrega

,

t ion o f Jews who had been ba nished from th e latter

place .

S ab b atai b .Joseph called S ab b atai Bassista

, ,

author O f the biographical handbook “

S ifté J es ~
212 J E WIS H H I S TO R Y [ S I XT H

1 69 1 (
Surenh usius
died who translated the
whole o f the Mishna into L atin ; Trigl and ( died
who corresponded with the Karaites ; Johann
“
C hristian W olff ( died author of the Biblio
theca H eb raea ; V itringa ( died 1 7 author of
“ ”
D e Synago ga vetere and many others After the
, .

middle of the eighteenth century however a know , ,

ledge O f Jewish literature became rarer and rarer

even among learned Christians many of whom de ,

s ised what they did no t understand

p .

S IX TH PE R IO D .

F ro m M e nd e l ss o h n t o t h eP re se nt T im e .

1 40 M o se s M e nd e l ss o h n
. .

For the third time Jewish history connects the

“
name of Moses with a fresh development of its
spiritual life Moses Mendelssohn ( son of Mena
.

chem Mendel ) generally called Moses D essau by his

-
,

Jewish contemporaries was born at D essau in 1 7 2 9

, .

His childhood was passed in poverty but from ,

his earliest years he was led to the study of

philosophical writings besides the usual course O f
,

Talmudic learning Th e “
Moreh Neb uc h im
.
”
by
M aimonides more than any other work proved a
, ,

guiding light to his aspiring mind His incessant .

intellectual labour in early youth perm anently

weakened his health and inj ured the growth of his
PE R I O D .
] AN D L ITE R ATURE . 213

spine At the age of thirt een he m ade his way to

.

Berlin whither D avid Frankel the learned rabbi of

, ,

D essau had been transferred the same year In

, .

spite of the most absolute poverty and its consequent

’
suffe rings Mendelssohn s passion for learning en
,

c o ura ed him to remain in Berlin and store his mi nd

g
with the treasures of knowledge H e learned mathe .

mati es from I srael S am o sc z a Polish exil e the , ,

eleme nts of L atin from D r Kisch and French and .

,

E nglish from D r G um p ertz Better days began for

. .

him when the silk manufacturer I saac Bernh ardt , ,

employed him as tutor to his chil d ren and sub se ,

quently g ave him a place in his firm as an ac

c o untant ; being thus freed from the pressure of
poverty he was able to devote himself more and
,

more to his favourite study of philosophy .

An important event in his life was his acquain t

ance with L essing which soon ripened to an int imate
,
’ “
friendship I n L essing s great drama N athan the
.
,
”
W ise he has erected a lasting memorial to his
,

Jewish friend O ther celebrated German authors

.

gradually became intimate with Mendelssohn such as ,

N icolai R eimarus H aman H erder Gleim W ieland ,

, , , , ,

Jacobi and L avater His writings which were dis

, .
,

tinguish ed by be a uty and correctness of style as

much as by the largeness of intellect and wisdom dis
played in them caused his reputation as an author
,

to spread far and wide ; his amiable disposition his ,

modesty and uprightness won for him the love and

, ,

esteem of all who knew him Th e attempts made .

214 J E W IS H H I ST O RY [S I XT H

occasionally by his Christian friends to convert him

were foiled by his quiet an d steadfast adherence to
his religion and he remained t h rough life strictly
,

obedient to the rabbinical precepts in which he had

been educated H e received the highest honours
.

from the heads of the synagogue ; the chief rabbi

Hirsc h el and his son S aul were among his intimate
friends an d a circle of young and old c o religionists -

listened to the words of their beloved master and ,

carried away with them the germs of future in

tell ec tual fruit O n the 4th of January 1 7 8 6 Moses
.
,

Mendelssohn wh ose health had never been good

, ,

peacefully ended his life .

Th e R o y al Ac ad em y O f S c ienc es in B erlin h ad el ec ted M en d el s

so h n as a m em b er in 1 7 1 1 b ut th e k ing refused to ratify th e
,

el ec tio n.

’
O nl y o ne o f M e n d el sso h n s so n s surv iv e d h im — J o seph ( died
fath er o f Al exan d er( died h ead o f th e bank o f M en
’
d el sso h n and C O M en d el sso hn s still liv ing d esc en dants hav e
.

all em b rac ed C hristianity .

’
1 41 . M e nd e l s s o h n s T ran s l at i o n O fth e P e nt a
t eu c h .

’
Th e best known of Mendelssohn s philosophical
“ ”
works is Ph a d o n or the Belief in Immor tality
e
, ,

which has its place among the classics o f German

lit erature For the Jews his translation of the
.
,

S criptures and other H ebrew writings are of im

mense value especially his careful and intelligent
,

translation of the Pentateuch which had an influence ,

on German Judaism only to be compared to that of

’
L uther s translatio n of the Bible on German Chris
2 16 J E W IS H H IS TO R Y [ S I XT H

the Power of R eligion ( 1 7 8 3) he also contrib uted

articles to the Jewish periodical M easef
’
1 42 M e n d e l sso h n s F ri e n d s an d D i sc i p l e s
. .

T h e above mentioned H artwig W essely ( born in

-

H amburg in 1 7 2 5 ) had at that time a very unusual

, ,

knowledge of foreign languages besides German he ,

understood D utch D anish and French

, ,
H e was .

also well read in Jewish literature and wrote H ebrew ,

both correctly and poetically In 1 7 7 4 he entered .

into partnership w ith Joseph V eitel in Berlin and ,

made acquaintance with Mendelssohn Th e bene .

volent exertions O f the E mperor Joseph I I o n behalf .

of his Jewish subj ects caused W essely to publish an

epistle D ibre shalom v e emet
- -
in which he sought
-

to impress on his c O religionists the necessity of pro

-

vi d ing be tter education fo r the young This was .

followed by three similar epistles all four met with

opposition in ultra— orthodox quarters H is last years .

were embittered by the cares of poverty ; he died in

1 8 05 . Th e m ost important of his numerous works
were — Gan N aul ( a collection of H ebrew synonyms
“ ”

and philosophic studies) R uach Chen

, ( a com
mentary 011 Th e W isdom of S olomon S efer h a
”
M id d o th ( ethics ) and above all his S hire Tifereth
, ,
“
,
”

( an epic poem on the life of Moses ) .

S ince the time of Men d elssohn the Berlin com ,

munity h as taken the lead of all other German con

r
g ge ati o ns .I mmediately after his death his numerous ,

admirers and disciples endeavoure d to perpetuate his

influenc e and teaching by translati ng and c o m m en
PE R I O D .
] AN D L I TE RAT UR E
. 21 7

tati ng the remaining books of the Bible and by ,

diffusing enlightened views on th e education O f the

y oung o n
,
scienti fic culture and on the study
,
of
antiquity Among these we may reckon the
.

following z— D avid Friedl ander ( born in Konigsberg

'

in 1 7 5 0 died at Berli n in
,
who w as chiefly
“
ins trumental in erecting the Jewish F ree S chool
in Berlin ; Joel L Ow e ( died who was sub se
l f sso r at the Jewish school at Breslau
'

q u ent yp ro e

H erz H omburg ( born 1 7 49 died who for

,
’
some time was tutor in Mendelssohn s family and ,

afterwards filled the post of superintendent of all the

Jewish schools in the province of Galicia Aaron
W o lffso h n ( born 1 7 5 6 died
’
who like Joel
, ,
’
LOw e carried h is master s O pinions to his professor
,

ship at the Bresla u school I saac E nc h el ( 1 7 5 6

who translated the prayer book Marcus H erz ( 1 7 47 -

’
who was Mendelssohn s physician and intimate
friend his wife was the celebrated Henriette H erz ,

distinguished alike for her beauty and her intellect ,

in whose house the two Humboldts Count Bernstorf , ,

Genz and B Orne were constant guests and who

, , ,

becam e c o nv erted to Christianity thirty years before

'

her death in 1 8 47 at the age of eighty three All

,
-
.

the above mentioned and many others were contri

-

butors to the H ebrew paper H a M easef “ ”

I saac -
.

S a tanow ( 1 7 3 2 1 8 05 ) and S olomo Mai mon ( died

-

1 8 00) publishe d in “
Th e O riental Printing press OI -
,
$ ‘

”
Printing press of the Jewish Free S cho ol fresh
-

editions O f such works as the K h o z ari” M oreh

“ “
,
21 8 J E W IS H H I STO R Y [S I X T H

h a M id d o th ,
etc S alomo Maimon
-
.

was the author of several philosophical works and a ,

lively and interesting account of his own varied and

adv enturous life .

1 43 P o l i tic al C h ange s
. .

I n France meanwhile the R evolution of 1 7 8 9 had

, ,

put an end at one blow to all the restrictions of the

Middle Ages In 1 7 9 1 the N ational Assembly
.

declared all Jews who took the oath of citizenship

to be citizens of the state —an e xample which was
followed by H olland in 1 7 9 6 I n 1 8 06 the E m .

p er o r N apoleon summoned a meeting of Jewish

deputies to Paris to answer a series of questions ;
,

and subsequently the S anhedrim composed of seventy ,

O ne members was est ablished and held its first

, ,

S itting in 1 8 0 7 under the presidency of the rabbi

,

D avid S inzheim Amo ng its most important labours

.

was the discussion respecting the code which still ,

defines and secures their municipal rights and privi

leges . Th e complete equality of the French Jews
with their fell ow citizens da tes from the R evolution of
-

July 1 8 3 0 .

I n I taly an edict of King Charles of N aples and

S icily gave the Jews in 1 7 40 the liberty o f resettling
in that kingdom with the privileges of unrestricted
,

commerce Since that time their position there has

.

steadily i mproved and they now enj oy absolute,

equality with their fel lo w countrymen -

.

“
I n Austria the well known T oleration E dict of -

the Emperor Joseph 1 1 in 1 7 8 2 brought about some .

,
2 20 J E W ISH H I S TO R Y [S I X T H

schools and synagogues To raise the synagogue .

from the condition into w hich it had fallen through

centuries of abuses was a task the completion of
which remain s one of the labours of the present day .

I t soon however became an acknowledged fact that

, ,

the living word the synagogal instruction —the ser

,

mon in S hort — must be the centre of the ritualistic

reforms Although at first S ight the sermon appeared
.

to be a novelty in the synagogue it was soon dis

.

covered to be on the contrary an ancient Jewish

, ,

institution . German sermons were preached in

D essau ( by J W olff) in Berlin ( by Zunz ) in Ham
.
, ,

burg ( by G otthold S alomon in L eipzig ( b y ,

Auerb ach ) in Vienna ( by Mannheimer

,
and in ,

m any other places .

V arious other re forms introduced by some com ,

m unities caused considerable resistance and in

,
r ,

t ai n cases ( as for instance in H amburg) even led to

, ,

decided schisms in the congregation In Pr ussia the .

state interfered took the side of those who considered

,

any changes un Jewish closed a private synagogue in

-
,

Berlin in 1 8 1 5 prohibited the introduction of singi ng

,

and preaching in the great synagogue and acted in a ,

similar manner toward s other large congregations .

S uch interference could not but have a most pre

j udicial e ffect on the development of the life of the
community Many highly cultivated men whose
.
,

education had already estranged them from the then

existi ng forms of Judaism cast aside the spirit ual ,

part of their faith at the same time as its external

PE R I O D .
] AND L ITE RAT UR E . 22 1

abus es T hey felt isolated in the midst of their c o

.

religionists who still clung to all their O ld institu

,

tions then too now that civil rights had been

, ,

conceded their political disabilities seemed to weigh

,

on t h em more heavily than in the time when both

civil and political e quality had been deni ed them ;
’
and thus it came to pass that nearly all Mend e lssohn s
descendants and disciples as well as such eminent ,

personages as E dward Gans L o uis Borne H enry , ,

H ein e R achel v B arnh agen and others were en

,
.
, ,

tirely estra nged from Judaism .

W ith the commencement of the reign of Frederick

William IV the stream of intellect began to flow
.
,

afresh and the Jews recovered their footing in its

,

course Th e larger congregations en deavoured to

.

appoint rabbis whose education had kep t pace with

the requirements of th e day and to further develop ,

their religious institutions on the already existing

foundations Th e numerous important changes that

.

w ere made in almost all communal insti tutions could ,

not take place without much excitement and indigna

tion that in some congregations resulted in actual
,

schisms nor could they be accomplished with o ut

m any errors and false steps owing to the interfer ,

ence of uncalled fo r intruders and the assembli e s of

rabbis and synods which were frequently held after
,

1 8 44 and then again after 1 8 6 8 produced no very

, ,

great results Th e W ithdrawal of outward restric

.

tio ns and disabilities and the admission into every

,

fo r m O f m odern culture w e akened th e feeling of con

,
222 J E W IS H H I S T O RY [ SI X T H

re ati
o nal attachment and unity I n fact it is not
g g .
,

too much to say that indifference towards religious

interests and ignorance of the value of religion form
, ,

the dark side of a period which appears destined ,

at last to win for Judaism its due acknowledgment

and appreciation .

Another very unfortunate circumstance is the

“ ”
spread of the so called Chassidism among the
-

Jews of Poland Galicia and R ussia T his tendency

, , .
,

connected with the teachings O f the K abala and ,

“ ”
supposed to originate with I srael Baal S hem is ,

not only hostile to the T almud but to every kind of ,

intellectual progress ; while on the other hand it , ,

encourages superstition and many other un Jewish -

views Th e belie f in the prO ph etic gift and mirac u

.

“
lous powers of some rabbi or Zaddik brings
thousands of su fferers and large sums o f money to
the supposed miracle worker Greed of gain on-
.

the one hand and b lind superstition o n the other

constantly increase the evil against which the ,

energy of Elias Wilna and in later times , ,

the satire o f I saac F rter have vigorously exerted

,

themse lves .

1 45 J e w ish S c h o o l s and T e ac h e rs
. .

For fully half a century after the death of Men

d el sso h n the study of th e Talmud was carried on
wi th undiminished energy though in a gradually ,

narrowing circle W e may mention the names of

.

I saiah Berlin Jos eph T eo m im S olomon Cohen

, , ,

Jacob L issa Mordecai B enet Akiba E ger Moses

, , ,
224 J E W IS H H IS T O R Y X
[ THSI

who founded a tr aining school for them which ,

existed from 1 8 40 till 1 8 5 2 under the mastership of ,

D r Zunz
. I t was afterwards reopened by the re
.

newed exertions of D r Veit and his friend D r M . . .

S achs and pla c ed under the directio n of the rector

, ,

A H orwitz who is also sup erintendent of the re

.
,
’
o rganised boys schoo l Training schools for teachers .

were also established in various places ( H anover ,

M iinster D iisseld o rf Cassel ) and most congregations

, , ,

have ende avoured to found and support schools both

for the secul ar and religious education of the you ng
of the community .

1 46 . S . J . R ap p ap o rt . L . Z u nz .

A scientific and exhaustive study of Jewish anti

uities has contributed not a little to consolidate the
q
inner consciousness of Judaism and to answer m any ,

doubts and questions o f the last half century As .

founders o f this study we may mention — S alomo

Judah R appa port and L eopold Z unz R appaport .

( born 1 7 9 0) w as rabbi in T arnopo l and subsequently ,

in Prag ue where he died in 1 8 6 7 H is vast know

,
.

ledge o f Jewish history his keen intellect and power ,

of amassing facts are displayed in his biographies of

,

eminent Jewish writers such as S aadja Gao n R ab , ,

benu N athan H ai Gaon and others whic ap peared

“
,
h , ,

in the periodical entitled l

Bik ure h a I im H e - -
.

also contributed a series o f learned articles to an

“ ”
other periodical Kerem C h em ed ,
H e also com .

m enc ed a T almu d ic lexicon E rek Mil lin of which , ,

only one volu m e h as been published An oth er .

PE R I O D .
] A ND L IT E RAT UR E . 225

learned but less voluminous writer is N Krochmal .

o f Brody 1 7 8 01 8 40
,
-
.

L eopold Z unz ( born at D etmold 1 7 9 4) stan d s ,

unrivalled for his immense knowledge his critical ,

acumen and his lofty and comprehensive intellect

, .

Besides numerous smaller treatises and articles in

’
periodicals etc Z unz s most important works are
,
.
,

D ie gottesdienstlichen Vortrage der Juden historisch

”
entwickelt ( the homilies of the Jews treated histo r
ic ally) 1 8 3 2
,
“
Materials for t h e H istory and Liter
” “
ature of the Jews ( 1 8 45 ) Th e Synagogal Poetry of
the Middle Ages which was followed by the
“
R itual of the Synagogue ( 1 8 5 9 ) History of
”
Synagogal Poetry H e was editor of the
periodical started in 1 8 3 2 in Berlin by th e S ociety
for the Promotion of Culture and S cience among the
Jews an d also of th e translation of the Bible in which
, ,

latter undertaking he was assisted by H Arnheim .

( 1 7 9 6 S achs and J F ii rst J,

M Jost ( 1 7 9 3
. . . .

1 8 6 0) was the author of the well known H istory of

“ -

”
the I sraelites ( in nine volumes 1 8 2 0 of a ,

smaller historical work and O f the H istory of Juda

“
,
”
ism ( in three volumes ) H e was at one ti m e a teac h er .

in Berlin and afterwards in Frank fort o n Maine - -

.

1 47 M o d e rn J e w is h L i t e r at u r e
. .

Besides the above named writers a number of -

learned men within the last century have contributed

to the development and study o f Judaism — J S . .

R eggie 1 7 8 4 1 8 5 5
, Michael S achs ( 1 8 08
-
an .

“
eloquent preacher author of Th e R eligious Poetry
,

Q
22 6 J E W ISH H ISTO R Y [ SI X T H

Transla tion of the M ac h so r

” “
of the Jews in S pain ,

and the Prayerbo o k etc ; S amuel D avid L uz z atto

,

( 1 8 0 0 professor in P adua whose extensive ,

acquaintance with H ebrew literature equalled his

thorough mastery of the H ebrew language and whose ,

teachi ng and influence w as felt in the most various

directions ; S alomo M unk ( died in Paris a ,

“
celebra ted orie ntalist who translated the,
Moreh
Neb uc h im and was the auth or of several important
,

works on the learn ing of the past such as Pales “ -

” “ ” “
tine ,
N otice Sur R abbi S aadia Gaon N otice sur ,

Ab o ul W alid M erw an etc all of which w ere pub

”
-
.
, ,

lish ed at Paris Joseph Z ed ner ( 1 8 04 author

ofa Catalogue of the H ebrew W orks in the British
”
Museum etc J Fiirst ( 1 8 05
,
. . grammarian
A 0 —
and lexicographer ; braham Geiger ( 1 8 1 1 8 7 4)
was rabbi in VViesb ad er1 Breslau Frankfort and
-

, , ,

Berlin an eloquent preacher an acute Biblical critic

, , ,

a frequent contributor to various learned Jewish

“
periodicals and editor of the
,
S cientific Jewish
Journal Zacharias Frankel ( 1 8 01 rabbi in
T eplitz and D resden and subsequ e ntly director of
,

the Jewish Theological S eminary in Breslau and ,

“
editor of and frequent co ntributor to the J ournal o f
the R eligious I nterests O f Judaism ; L eopold L OW
“
( 1 8 1 1 editor of Ben C h ananiah F L eb rec h t .

( 1 8 0 0 1
-
8 7 an eminent philologist
Among still living writers we may mentio n R aphael
Kirchheim born 1 8 04 in Frankfort o n Maine ; J H
,
- -
. .

S chorr of Brody ,born 1 8 1 3 M oritz S teinschneider ,

2 28 J E W IS H H ISTO RY X
[ TH
SI

either occupied entirely with the political condition

”
of the Jews ( such as for instance Th e Jew edited
“
, , ,

by G abriel Riesser 1 8 06 , or that treat also of

their social religious and scientific interests is a fact
, , ,

of very great i m portance Th e mos t noteworthy of .

the H ebrew periodicals are M easef

“ — ”
0 “ ”
Bik ure h a I ttim
-

( 1 8 2 Kerem C h e m ed
“ ”
( 1 8 33
-
1 8 4 3 and 1 8 5 4 Zion ( 1 8 4 0

j
K o c h b e I t éh ac k / ( 1 8 45 and others ; S ince
which H ebrew political newspapers Ha Maggid
”
-

,
” ”
“
Carmel ,
H a L ebanon -
Ha efire ,
etc ) have ,
.

been started Amongst the numerous German papers

.

specially devoted to Jewish matters we may mention

”
the Allgem eine Zeitung des J ud enth um s edited ,

by L Ph ilippso n now rabbi in Bonn w hich has

.
, ,

”
existed since 1 8 37 the Present D ay N eus
Zeit edited by S zanto of Vienna the I sraelite ”
,

edited in Mayence by L ehmann th e I sraeli tish

.

” “
W eekly Paper ; the Jewish Press etc ; the now , .

“ ”
no lo nger continued I sraelitish Annals edited b y ,
”
Jost ( 1 8 40 1 8 4 2 ) and the O rient edited by
-
,

F iirst ( 1 8 40 O f monthly and quar terly pub

“
lic atio ns there are Journal of the R eligious I nte
rests o i Judaism ( 1 8 4 4 1 8 46 ) and a monthly -

periodical for history and literature first edited in

/
,

1 8 5 1 by Z Frankel and since 1 8 6 9 by H G rat z

.
,
A .

scientific j ournal for Jewish theology existed from

1 8 35 to 1 8 48 and another similar periodical from
,

1 8 6 2 to 1 8 7 4 both edited by Abraham Geiger

,
.

Th e chief Jewis h papers in France are — Archives

“
PE R I O D .
] AND L ITE RATUR E . 2 29

“ ’
I sraelites an d L Univers in England Th e ,

”
Je w ish Chronicle and the Jewish W orld ; in
” “
Th e H ebrew L eader
“ ”
America Th e O ccident
, , ,

and others .

Th e w o rk s o f a great num b er o f an c ient w riters ( m any hith er

to un publis h ed ) h av e b een edited c o ll ated transl ated and c o m
, ,

m ented sp ec ial so c ieties h av e b een establish ed to p ro vid e fun d s

f r th e p urp o se suc h as th e L iterary Unio n estab lish ed by
o ,

Phil ippso n th e M ek iz e Nird am im

,
establi sh ed by S ilb erm ann
and o th ers D uring th e last ten y ears fresh editio ns o f th e
.

Tal m ud hav e b een p ub lish ed in v ario us plac es ( Prague V ienna , ,

Warsaw W ilna B erlin ) a c irc um stan c e w h ic h affo rds a pl easing

, , ,

pro o f o f th e energy w ith w h ic h th e study o f th e Tal m ud is

c o ntinued .

1 49 Th e J ew s o f P al e st i ne and o t h e r no n
.

E uro p e an C o u n tri e s .

W hile the condition of the E uropean Jews h as

been secured by the laws o f their respective countries ,

— while the numerous congregations in America and

Aus tralia enj oy a liberty which has never been the
subj ect of special legislation —th e Jews in the de ,

spo ti c al ly governed -
lands o f A sia and A frica find
themselves in a condition S imilar to that of their
ancestors in th e middle ages O ur scanty informa .

tion respecting the Asiatic Jews has been made some

wh at more complete by the accounts o f travels by
Jacob S aphir published in 1 8 6 6 and 1 8 7 4
, .

Th e consciousness of a universal brotherhood

among the Jews of all nations has called into exist
“ ”
ence the Al liance I sraelite in Paris which has more 1
,

1
Th e Angl o J ew ish Asso c iatio n in Engl an d h as b een al ready
-

sp o k en o f
2 30 J E W ISH H I S TO R Y [S I X T H

than once exerted itself with good e ffect in favour of

its suffering c o religionists in distant lands Especial
-
.

interest has been taken in the condition of the H oly

L and and numerous e fforts have been made to raise
,

its Jewish inh abitants from the condition of poverty

and ignorance into which they have fallen Am ongst .

those who specially exerted themselves on their b e

half we may mention Baron James de R othschild in

Paris ( 1 7 9 2 and his philanthropic almoner ,

Albert Cohen ( 1 8 1 3 1 8 7 who had already been

-

commissioned by the French Government to im

prove the position o f the Je w s in Algiers and ,

who paid three separate visits to P alesti ne in the

endeavour to ameliorate the ir condition there ; also
Madame E lise Herz who founded a school in J eru
,

salem .

Th e Jewish history o f the present day mentions

with respect the name of Moses M o ntefio re ( born
who has devoted his large fortune and well
earned reputation to the benefit of his c o reli gionists -
.

After having visited P alestine in 1 8 2 7 and 1 8 38 ,

accompanied by his wi fe ( died he made an

expedi tion to E gypt in 1 8 40 in company with
Cremieux S olomon Munk and others Th e O bj ect
, , .

of his j ourney was to intercede with M eh em et Ali ,

V iceroy of Egypt on behalf O f several unfortunate

,

Jews of D amascus who had been thrown into prison

,

and tortured in consequence of false accusations that

had bee n brought against them H e succeeded in.

obtaining the release of the innocent captives and ,

 THE J E W S IN E NG L AND .

1 . Th e R e tu rn o f th e J ew s to E ngl and .

Th e successful efforts of Manasseh ben I srael and

other D utch Jews during the Protectorate of Crom
well for the settlement o f Jews in England have
already been mentioned N ot many Jews ,

however crossed the wa ter till the R estoration in the

,

year 1 6 6 0 T h e first notice of a synagogue d ates

.

from 1 6 6 2 It w as fitted up in a small house in King

.

S treet Aldgate
,
T h e congregation was a section of
.

the S panish and Portuguese Jews know n as the ,

S eph ar d im L arge numbers of the Jews of the Pen

.

insul a after their expulsion at the end of the fifteenth

,

century had migrated to H olland and it was chiefly

, ,

D utch settlers who now sough t a home in E ngland .

A history of E nglish Judaism since 1 6 6 2 like the ,

history of Judais m elsewhere has two main sides ,

-
first the process O f internal development
,
and
secondly the advance of political and social enfran
,

ch isem ent A brief outline of these t w o sides is all

.

th at can here be given .

2 T h e S e p h ar d i m
. .

Th e S ephardic congregation after the first settle ,

ment about 1 6 6 0 rapidly increased in numbers and

,
 J EW ISH H ISTO RY AND L ITE RATURE . 2 33

importance I n 1 6 7 6 a larger synagogue had to

.

be erected and a third was built three years later

,
.

This w as the large building in Bevis Marks which ,

remains to this day substantially unchanged and is ,

still used for public wors hip Th e young community .

was soon able to secure eminent and efficient rabbis

for their H ah am im or ecclesiastical chiefs Jacob .

Ab end ana and D avid N ieto ( died 1 7 2 8 ) were both

fine scholars according to the scholarship of that age ,

and wrote several learned theological works Th e .

establishment of a school soon followed the establish

ment O f a synagogue according to the well known
,
-

anxiety o f the Jews to supply good education to th e

young NO E nglish or secular subj ects were how
.
,

ever taught for some time I n 1 7 3 0 a school for

,
.

girls was organised and endowed by I saac da Costa

’
Villareal and was called after its founder s name
, .

I n 1 7 3 5 an elementary school in which some pro ,

vision was made for instruction in English and secular

subj ects was added chiefly owing to the m unific enc e
, ,

of R uez L amego For some time however the edu

.
, ,

cation both in English and H ebrew which was pro

, ,

vi d ed in the S ephardic schools remained insu fficient

and unsatisfactory Various attempts to improve it
.

were made and in 1 8 2 1 the existing schools were

,

once more re organised Th e pfesent Gates of H ope

-
.

”
S chool for boys was then established and since that ,

time the standard of efficiency has been steadily

raised to keep pace with the educational requirements
of the pres ent day .
2 34 J E W IS H H ISTO RY

E arly in their English his tory the S ephardim

began to provide for their poor by founding charit
able institutions Th e O rp h an S ociety was set on
.

foot in 1 7 03 the H ospital ( Beth H olim ) which is

,
-
,

no w s ituated in M ile End R oad in 1 7 47 and many , ,

smaller charities sprang into existence in the course

of the eighteenth century .

Th e internal affairs of the community were chiefly

m anaged by the wardens and the council of elders .

Th e council exercised a very stern despotism over

the congregation and any lapses or neglect of O fficial
,

or religious duties were severely punishe d T o this .

cause may partly be ascribed the large number of

—
desertions some from distinguished families which—
the Portuguese Jews sustained during the latter half
of the eighteenth an d the beginning of the nineteenth
century Since the first half of the eightee nth cen
.

tury the S ephardim have no t much increased in

numbers It is even stated that their numbers in
.

1 7 5 3 were as great as in 1 8 7 3 Besides their syna

.

gogue in Bevis Marks they have only established

one other in L ondon This is a small build ing in
.

Bryanston S treet erected for the reception of those

,

of their community who live in the west of L ondon .

There is also a S ephardic synagogue in M anchester .

Th e E nglish S ephardi m sustained a great loss in

the premature death of their last able and eloquent
”
“
Hah am D r Benjamin Arto m which took place
, .
,

in 1 8 7 9 NO ecclesiastical chief h as since been

.

Q
‘
ap pointed GU M lf
[ JJR ‘
'

.
L
2 36 J E W IS H H IS TO R Y

only served to S well the difficulties of the congre ga

tion as they were not only exceedingly destitute but
,

also exceedingly ignorant and thus rather sunk than

,

raised the tone and position of the body which they

j oined Th e rabbis of the Ashkenazim d uring the
.

eighteenth century were not as learned or as capable

as the ecclesiastical chiefs of the S ephardi m P ulpit .

instruction was very rare in both congregations till

quite a modern date O wing to the continual dis
.

inclination of the best English Jews for the rabbini

cal o ffic e due probably to the somewhat ham pered
,

position of the Jewish clergy the posts had to be ,

filled up by foreigners D r S olomon Hirsc h el ( died

. .

who was appointe d Chief R abbi of the Ger

m an community in 1 8 02 and D r Meldola ( died ,
.

appointed H ah am of the Portuguese Jews in

1 8 04 were both men o f talent le arni ng and piety

, , , ,

but they were neither of them masters of the English

language T hus t h ey could not by pulpit exhorta
.

tions ( even had the opportunity fo r these been at

hand) increase the waning attendances at the sy na
gg o u es or infuse f
,
resh vigour and life into the ser
vices It is perhaps scarcely necessary to add that
.
, ,

pulpit discourses now habitually form part of divine

service in the majority of the L ondon synagogues .

I n t he nineteenth century the Ashkenazi m began ,

as far as sc h ools and charities were concerned to ,

’
cope wi th the necessities of the time Th e Je w s .

”
Hospit al for the reception and support o f aged poor ,

and for the educatio n of a limite d nu m ber of poor

 A ND L I T E R AT UR E . 2 37

c h ildren was founded chiefly by Abraham and Ben

,

j amin G o ld sm id in 1 8 06 T h e huge Free S chool

.
“ ”

was established on a large scale in 1 8 1 5 the large

Q
“
I nfant S chool now situated in Commercial S treet ,

W hitechapel was started in 1 8 4 1

,
O ther chari table
.

institutions followed on apace and at present the ,

Ashkenazim community possess an admirably organ

ised system of schools and charities .

4 T h e B o ard o f D e p u t i e s an d t h e A ngl o
J e w ish A ss o c i at i o n
.

T owards the close of the eighteenth century a body

was formed which gave the Jews an O pportunity of
expressing their wishes and aims in an official manner
to the English Government and which serve d as a,

representative link between the Jews of E ngland and

those of other countries This body was the Board
.

”
of D eputies In 1 7 6 0 certain D eputadas of the
.

Portuguese community were elected to O ffer the co n

gratulations of the English Jews to George III on .

his accession to the throne and these deputies soon

,

aft er became a fixed institution Th e meetings of .

the deputies were at first held only at rare intervals ,

as some special occasion demanded But in the .

early years O f the nineteenth century th e meetings

became more frequent and in 1 8 1 2 an important
, ,

change in the constitution of the Board was made by ,

which members of the German communities were

admitted on wholly equal terms with the Portu
g u ese Jews . S ince then the Board has played an
important and most useful part in Jewish affairs and
2 38 J E W IS H H IS TO RY

has frequently aided distressed Jews of other coun

tries either by pecuniary support or by representations
made to the English G overnment .

Th e A nglo Jewish Association was establis h ed in

-

1871 This institution being a bran ch of the

.
,

Alliance I sraelite U niverselle the headquarters of

”
,

which are in Paris has intimate relations with the

,

various Jew ish communities over the whole world ,

and has been able to achieve excellent results in th e

work of ameliorating the poli tical and educational

condition of the Jews in foreign lands .

5 . Th e R e fo rm M o v em e nt .

In the first half O f the nineteenth century the

state of the public services at the synagogues was
exceedingly lamentable There was no attemp t to
.

meet the religious requirements of the time decorum

w as ill maintained
-
and the services beginning at
, ,

inconveniently early hours were far too long Pul ,

.

m n —
pit instruc tion w as al ost u known a spasmodic
attempt to i nstitute it among the S ephardim in 1 8 2 8
soo n coming to an untimely end As a legitimate .

consequence the a ttendances grew m ore and m ore

meagre More than one inquiry into the matter was
.

set on foot by the Portuguese congregation but ,

owing to the unyieldi ng tempe r of the council

and the maj ority of the members who saw in any ,

pr eposed improvement an infringement of the

letter of the l aw these in quiries and the rec o m
, ,

m end atio ns resulting fro m them invariably came to ,

nothing .
2 40 J EW IS H H IST O R Y

ally subsided and has no w vanished altogether At

, .

the present time while both S eph ardim and Ash k ena
,

zim have materially reformed their public worship the ,

R eformers the mselves remain in a passive and qui

esc ent condition Besides their one large synagogue
.

in L ondon they have also one in M anchester and

,

on e in Bradford but the movement has not S pread

,

further in E ngland and does not at present S how

,

many S igns of active vitality .

6 Th e E m anc i p at io n o f t h e E nglis h J e w s
. .

Th e Jews of E ngland remained for a long while

without political municip al or social liberties They
, , .

were precluded from securing university education ,

from practising the liberal professions and from ,

taking any part in the administration of the capital

or the empire E ven in commercial pursuits they
.

were not wholly unfettered for as late as 1 8 2 8 only ,

twelve Jewish brokers were allo w ed in the city of

L ondon Th e Jews were for some time regarded as
.

resident aliens not as British subj ects belonging to

,

the Jewish faith In 1 7 2 3 however a step in ad

.
, ,

vance was taken I t was then enacted that when

.

’
( f
my 0ne 0 h.is M ajestys
j f sub ec ts p ro essing the J ew ish
”
religion S hall present himself to take the oath o f

abj uration ( against the Pretender) he shall be allowed

to omit the words on the true faith of a Christian .

In 1 7 5 3 the important N aturalization Ac t was passed ,

by which though the Jews were still excluded from

,

civil offices all of them who h ad resided in England

,

for three years without h aving been absent for

,
 AND L ITE RATURE . 2 41

more than three months at a time might acquire ,

naturalization But this liberal measure was much

.

ahead of the spirit of the times and in the fol ,

lowing year a Bill had to be passed by which it was

repealed .

I n this conditio n matters stood for m any years .

I t was not til l 1 8 2 8 that the first of the links which

made up the chain of Jewish disabilities w as broke n .

I t was in that year as has already b e en m e ntioned

, ,

that the limitation on the number O f Jewish brokers

was done away with In 1 8 3 2 th e Jews were ad
.

m itted to the freedom of the city of L ondo n so th at ,

they could now open retail shops within the city

precincts Meanwhile an agitation had been set on
.

foot to secure a more complete emancipation In .

1 8 3 0 Mr R obert Grant brought in a Bill for the

.

”
R epeal o f the Civil D isabilities of th e Jews .

This Bill was thrown out by a maj ority of 1 6 3 in a

house of 3 9 3 O ther fr uitles s attempts were made
.

’
in subsequent years In 1 8 39 the S heriffs D eclara
.

”
tion Bill was passed which enabled Jews to become
,

S heriff s and S ir D avid S alomons was the first Jewish

,

sheriff and L ord Mayor In 1 8 44 the T ory peers

.

allowed a Bil l to pass ( which they had rej ected in

1 8 4 1 ) by which the Jews were made eligible for
municipal offices Already in 1 8 3 3 Mr afterwards
. .
,

S ir F H G o ld sm id had been admitted as the first

. .

’ 1
Jewish barrister to the society of L incoln s Inn .

1
Fiftyy ears later ( 1 8 8 3) Sir G eo rge J essel d ied hav ing fo r ,

m an y y ears o c c up ied th e h igh p o sitio n o f M aster o f th e R o ll s .

R
2 42 J E W ISH H ISTO RY

T hen came the struggle for the admission to Parlia

ment Th e L iberal maj ority in the H ouse of Com
.

mons from the year 1 8 47 onwards passed continual

, ,

Bills for the political emancipation of the Jews but ,

they were as regularly rej ected by the Conservative

maj ority in the H ouse of L ords It was not till .

1 8 5 8 that the question was finally settled and in ,

th at year Baron L ionel de R othschild took his seat

fo r the city O f L ondon as the first Jewish member
of the H ouse of C o mmons S ince that time the .

universities have O pened their doors to the Jews by

the repeal of the T est Act in 1 8 7 1 an d the enfran ,

c h isem ent O f the Jews in E ngland may now be

regarded as complete They take their part in all
.

th e various S ides O f E nglish life and Without ceasing ,

to adhere to their own religious faith they are in ,

their aims and interests entirely identified with

E nglishmen O f other creeds T h e increase in their
.

num bers has been steady though not in excess of

,

the oth er inhabi tants of the country I t is esti .

mated that the present Jewish population o f Great

Britain and Ireland together amounts to about

7 . E m i n e nt I n d i v i d u al s .

A few words must be added here S O as to men ,

tion some of th e se English Jews who from one cause ,

or another have won celebrity and deserve to be re ,

membered First on the list in point of time come

.
, ,

the names O f eminent Jewish capitalis ts and financiers .

2 44 J E W IS H H ISTO RY

this excelle nt cause as did also Baron L ionel de

,

R othschild ( died who as h as bee n already ,

mentioned w as the first Jew who actually took his

,

se at in the H ouse of Commons in 1 8 5 8 S ir Francis .

( th en Mr F. H ) G.o ld sm.id was elected for R eadi ng

in 1 8 6 0 Th e latter and his father Sir I saac L
.
, .

G o ld sm id ( died were for many years among

the foremost in the struggle for the removal of
Jewish disabilities S ir Francis G o ld sm id was more
.
,

over able to help the Jews by his pen and wrote

, ,

several pers uasive pamphlets upon the em ancipation

question He sat in Parliament without interruption
.

from 1 8 6 0 till his death in 1 8 7 8 and was always ,

ready to plead the cause o f distressed or persecuted

Jews in other lands wh ile by his E nglish patriotism
, ,

combined as it was with his S incere devotion to

Judaism he w o n the regar d s of men of every creed
,

and every politic al party .

S omewh at ap art stands the name of S ir Moses

M o ntefio re H e was born in 1 7 8 5 and is still living
.

T h e deeds O f this great philanthropist are

well known to everybody D amascus Constantinople .
, ,

S t Petersburg M orocco and Jerusalem have all o n

.
, , ,

various occ asions known his presence he has always

had the same end in view — that of aiding the
oppressed Jews in these different places and this ,

end has always been secured by his personal inter

venti o n w ith th e authorities I n this way apart .
,

from his widespread charity at home he has un ,

 AND L ITE RATURE . 2 45

q uestionably done a large amount of good to the

Jewish pop ul ation O f the wo rld .

English Judaism has not produced any very im

portant contribution to specifically Jewish literature .

I s aac D israeli and his greater son belong to English

and not to Jewish literary history D avid L evi .

( born 1 7 42 ,
died 1 8 0 1 ) wrote some controversial
treatises in defence of Judaism and translated ,

the liturgy of both the Portuguese and Germ an

Jews into E nglish Michael Josephs ( born 1 7 6 3
.
,

died 1 8 49 ) compiled a useful H ebrew and Eng

lish lexicon besides many other occasional pieces
,
.

Arthur L umley D avids who died prematurely at

,

the age o f twenty in 1 8 2 2 might had he lived

, , ,

have produced some lasting literary work He .

gave a lecture on the philosophy O f the Jews which

S howed great learning and research but this was ,

only the blossom of an expec ted fruit which had ,

no time to ripen .D A de S ola ( died

. a
minister o f the S ephardim congregation achieved a ,

considerable literary reputation His most important

.

work was a translation ( brought out in conj unction

with D r R aph all) of some o f the treatises o f the
.

M ishna . E H L indo ( died 1 8 65 ) pub lished in 1 8 48

.

a useful and conscientious H istory of the Jews in

“

”
Spain and Portugal .A little volume entitled A “
,

Few W ords to the Jews issued in 1 8 5 3 and written

, ,

by Charlotte M o ntefio re ( born 1 8 1 8 died ,

should not be passed over in silence even in an out

2 46 J E W IS H H ISTO R Y AND L IT ER ATURE .

line of this kind bec ause though slight it is never

, , ,

th eless a unique book in A nglo Jewish literatu re

-
.

For pure and delicate style deep and noble religious

,

fervour and above all for an unflinching exposure o f

, , ,

the m aterialistic and sordid tendencies of the age it ,

Stands alone : the spirit which inspire d its authoress

h as as yet inspired no successor to her work .
252 I ND E X .

Al fo nso XL , 1 3 7 A sarja d e o ssi, 1 9 1 R

Al h ak im , 1 1 2 , 1 1 3 A sh er b J
ec h iel , 1 3 6
.

Al i ( C al ip h ) , 1 01 Asm o neans, 48 -6 7
All ianc e I sr , 2 2 9
. Asi, 9 0
Al m anz o r, 1 1 3 Ash i, 9 4
Al m o h ad es, 1 1 8 , 1 2 1 A shk enaz im , 2 35
Al m o ranid es, 1 1 7 A sriel , 1 3 4
Al m utam ed , 1 1 7 Ath ro nges, 7 1
A m atus L usitanus, 1 7 9 Auerb ac h B erth , 2 2 7 .

Am b ro se, 9 2 J 220
A m i, 9 0 Augustus, 6 9 , 7 0
Am o raim , 9 0 , 9
3 Avic eb iro n, 1 1 5
Am ram G ao n, 1 04
’
Anan, 1 02 B A B A S so ns, 68
Ananel , 6 8 B ac c h id es, 5 2 , 5 3
-
J
Anglo ew ish Asso c iatio n, 2 38 B ac h ja b Ash er, 1 3 4
.

Ansh e K eneseth h a G ed o l a, 42 -
J
b o seph , 1 1 5
.

Antigo nus o f S o c h o , 5 2 B al th asar Aro b io , 2 02

so n o f H yrc anu s, 5 9
so n o f Aristo b ul us, 6 2 , 6 4
A ntio c h us E p iph anes, 46 5 1
E up ato r, 5 1
th e G reat, 46
S id etes, 5 5 , 5 7
B arc o c h b a, 8 6
B arw al d , 2 2 3
-
B aruc h b S m uel , 1 6 9
. a
S p ino z , 2 00, 2 01a
B astanai, 9 7 , 1 01
B ened ic t XI I I , 1 43 .

T h eo s, 5 4 B enj am in b M atath i , 1 8 1
. a
A ntip ater, 6 1 6 5 -
b Mo ses, 1 03
.

so n o f H ero d , 7 0 M usafia, 2 02
Anto ninus Pius, 8 7 o f T ud el a, 1 2 0

A nto nio d i M o ntesinio s, 1 9 9 B envenid a, 1 8 7

Anto ny , 6 8 B erac h ja, 1 6 7
A p io n, 8 2 B ernard us, 1 7 3
Ap o ll o nius, 46 , 47 , 49 B ernard o f C l airvaux, 1 6 2
A quil a, 8 5 B ernh ard t, I , 2 1 3 .

Arab s, 6 0 ,
1 00 ,
111 B ernstein, 2 2 7
Arc h el aus, 7 1 B ez al eel A shk enaz i, 1 8 1
Aretas, 6 1 B o ard o f eputies, 2 3 7D
Arius M o ntanu s, 2 1 1 B orne, L , 2 1 7 , 2 2 1
.

A risteas, 44, 1 9 1 B o m b erg, D , 1 8 9 .

Aristo b ul us ( ud as) , 5 9 J B o net d e ates, 1 8 8 L

( so n o f A 6 1 64
.
-
B ul an, 1 03
( so n o f Al exand er) , 6 7 , 6 8 B uxto rf, 2 1 1
Arto m , D r B , 2 3 4
. .

Arm l ed er, 1 7 1 CE S AR , J ul ius , 6 3, 6 4

Arnh eim , H 225
. S ext us, 65
Arno ld, 1 62 C al endar, 9 1
Artaxerxes I , 40 . C al igul a, 7 5 , 7 6
 I ND EX .
253

C am b yses, 3 9 D ante 1 5 4
,

C ap istran, 1 7 3 Dariu H ystasp es 39

s ,

C assius, 6 3, 65 D avids A L 2 45
, . .
,

C enso rsh ip , 1 9 0 David Ab natar M el o e , 202

C estius G allius, 7 8 Ab ud arh am , 1 38
Ch ajim B env eniste, 1 8 1 B iliah , 1 45
b I saiah , 1 7 0
. B o net, 1 42
J o sep h D
avid A sul ai, 1 8 4 C o h en d e ara, 2 02 L
V id al C al ab rc se, 1 8 3 F rank el , 2 1 3
'

C h al afta, 8 5 G anz , 2 05
C h arl es ( E m p ero r) , 1 7 2 b K al o nym o s, 1 6 9
.

V ( E m p ero r) , 1 8 1
. K im c h i, 1 2 7
V I ( o f F ranc e ) , 1 6 9
. b Meshull am , 1 6 2
.

VI II , 1 8 7 . Nieto , 1 9 9 , 2 3 3
o f Anj o u , 1 5 3 O pp enh ei mer, 2 06
C h arl em agne, 1 2 5 , 1 5 8 P ard o , 1 8 1 , 1 9 8 , 2 01
C h assid ism , 2 2 2 Po m is, 1 9 2
C h aia, 9 0 Rub eni, 1 8 0
C h intil l a, 1 1 1 S im ra, 1 7 7
Ch isd a, 9 4 Vital , 1 8 9
C hisd ai C resc as, 1 39 , 1 42 , 1 69 b Z aeb ai, 1 04
.

b I saac , 1 04, 1 1 2 , 1 1 3
. D eb o ra Asc arel li, 1 9 2

Ch isk iah b M ano ah , 1 66

. D em etr ius, 5 2 , 5 3
d i Silva, 1 8 4 Nic ato r, 5 4, 5 5
C h el m nic k i, 1 9 6 D io c l etian, 9 0
Christina, 1 9 9 D io nys, 1 45
Cic ero , 1 5 5 D omi nic an, 1 2 8 , 1 3 0 , 1 67
C laudius, 7 5 , 7 7 D rusius, 2 1 1
C o h en, A l b ert, 2 30 D unash b L ab rath , 1 07 , 1 1 3
.

C o nstantin e, 9 1 D unin, 1 6 7
C o nstantius, 9 1
C o ssac k s, 1 9 6 E DW A R D I , 1 6 4 .

C o sto b ar, 6 8 V
E gid io d i iter o , 1 8 8 b
C rassus, 63 E isenm enger, 2 07
C rem ieux, 2 30 l d
E d a h a- D ani, 1 04
C ro m w ell , 1 9 9 l z
E ea ar ( H ig - r hp
iest) , 44
C rusad es, 1 6 1 1 6 3 -
b A ra , 8 5
. k
C uspus F ad us, 7 7 k
A s ari, 1 8 3
C yril , 9 2 ( Asm o nean) , 49 , 5 1
C yru s, 3 8 , 3 9 b J h
ud a , 1 6 6
.

b K l
a ir, 1 0
. 9
D A G O B E R T, 1 5 8 y
( M art r) , 48
l
D anie A l k o m si, 1 03 bPed at, 9 0
.

d e Pinto , 2 01 bS im o n, 8 0
.

J ud ah , 2 0 3 l Lv
E ias e ita, 1 8 8
Lv e i d i B ar rio s, 2 03 Misrac hi, 1 7 7
2 54 I ND E X .

El ias Vidas 1 8 3 ,
F rederic k II ( th e G reat) , 2 08
.

Wilna 2 2 2 , I II ( E m p ero r) , 2 04
.

El iash ib 42 , W
ill iam ( El ec to r), 2 07
El iez er b A sarja 8 5.
, IV , 2 2 1 .

Ashk enaz i 1 7 9 , J
F urst, ulius, 2 2 5 , 2 26
b H yrc ano s 8 5
.
,

b Isaac 1 6 1
.
, G A B I NI U S , 63
b J o el H al evi 1 6 9
.
, G all us, 9 1
of Mo d im , 8 6 G am al iel I , 8 5 .

b Nath an
. 1 65 , II , 8 5
.

E lij ah ( Pro p h et),

1 08 III , 8 9 .

C retensis, 1 5 6 V , 91
.

Med igo , 1 5 6 G ans, E , 2 2 1

.

Mo ntal to , 1 9 8 G ao n, 1 02
h a Z ak en, 1 6 0
-
G az a, 43
E m anuel Ab o ab , 1 9 4 G ed al iah b D
av id , 1 46
.

G o m ez , 2 03 ib n J ac hja, 1 9 2
E m m aus ( b attl e o f), 5 0 G eiger, A b rah am , 2 2 6, 2 2 8
E nrique E nriq uez , 2 03 G eo nim , 1 02 1 07 -

E p h raim o f B o nn, 1 63 G eo rge I I I , 2 3 7 .

E ssenc es, 5 8 G ersh o m b J

udah , 1 5 9
.

E sth er, 3 9 G erso n Ask enaz i, 2 07

E sth erk a, 1 7 2 C o h en b S al o m o , 2 05
.

h
E t narc , 7 2 h G essius Fl o rus, 7 8
E uc h el , I saac , 2 1 7 G ideo n, S am p so n, 2 43
E ugene I II , 1 6 2 . G h etto , 1 9 0
l h
E xi arc , 9 3 G l eim , 2 1 3
E e ie ( Pro
zk l et ) , 3 7 ph G o ld sm id , Ab rah am , 2 3 7 , 2 43
K atz enel l enb o gen, 2 1 0 B enj am in, 2 37 , 2 43
z
E ra, 40, 41 S ir F ranc is, 2 39 , 2 41 , 2 43,
K b l
( a a ist) , 1 3 4 2 44
Sir I saac L , 2 3 9 , 2 43 .

F A G IU s, 1 8 8 G o rgias, 49
F arragut, 1 5 3 G rac ia M end esia, 1 7 8
F erd inand II , 2 06 . G rant, 2 41
I I I , 2 06
. G ratz , H , 2 2 7 .

( I nfant ) , 1 42 G rego ry V I I , 1 1 7 .

o f A rrago n, 1 43 G um p ertz , Dr , 2 1 3 .

th e C at o ic , 1 46 h l
z h b
F iru S a ur, 1 01
-
H AB U S , 1 1 5
J
F isc us ud aic us, 8 1 H ac h am Z ev i, 2 03
l
F ac o ns, 7 5 H ad rian, 8 6 , 8 7
kl
F ran e , Z , 2 2 3, 2 2 6 . H aggai, 39
F ranc esc o M e o , 2 01 l H ai, 1 06 , 1 1 0
l
F ried and er, D , 2 1 7 . H am an, 40, 2 1 3
d k
F re eric 1 1 ( Em ero r) , 1 3 1 . p H auaniel , 1 07
256 I ND E X .

l
I srae B aa S em , 2 2 2 l h J ed iah B d arshi Penini 1 33
e ,

B runa, 1 7 4 J eh o iak im 38 ,

I sserl ein, 1 7 4 J c h ud a ib n Alfak ar 1 2 7 ,

K
rem s, 1 7 4 b S al o m o Al c h arisi, 1 2 8
.

Nagara, 1 7 9 b A sh er, 1 3 6
.

S am o sc z , 2 1 3 b B arsill ai, 1 1 8
.

S aru , 1 8 3 k th e Bl ind , 1 0 2, 1 1 0
C h aing, 1 07 , 1 1 4
J C O BI 2 1 3
A , b M o ses C o h en, 1 30
.

Ja b o n 2 2 3
co s ,
ib n E sra, 1 1 8
J add ua 42 , b Ez ek iel, 9 4
.

J ac h ia b J aish , 1 44. H ad assi, 1 5 1

J ac o b A b end ana, 1 9 9 , 2 0 2, H al evi, 1 1 8 , 1 1 9
Ab o ab , 1 9 4 H a Nasi ( P atriarc h ) , I , 8 8
-
.

Anato l i, 1 3 1 II , 8 9 .

b A sh er, 1 36
. I II .
,
90
B erab, 1 8 2 b I llai
.
,
87
C astro , 1 8 1 ib n Tib b o n, 1 1 9 , 1 2 6
ib n G h ab ib , 1 8 1 J ek utiel , 1 1 5

C h agis, 1 8 4 J elli nek , 2 2 7

C o h en, 2 09 J h
erem ia , 37 , 45

E m d en, 2 1 0 J er b
uc h am Mes u am , 1 38 . h ll
ib n G av, 1 1 3 J hb
es i a, 9 3

I srael B el m o nte, 1 9 8 J Nz
e sus o f a aret , 7 3 h
b ak ar, 1 6 0
. J b
Sirac , 45
. h
L
and au, 1 5 5 J ew s ( T h e Nam e o f) , 38

H al evi, 1 7 4 J ew G erm an, 1 7 5

-

L
issa, 2 2 2 J ez d i gerd , 9 4
L
o ans, 2 0 4 J h
o ac im I I , 2 0 4 .

b M ac hir, 1 3 1
. J o annan, 49
M antino , 1 8 8 J o c h anan ( H i g
-
riest) , 42 hp
b M eir, 1 63, 1 6 5
.
( Am o ra), 9 0
b Nissim , 1 6 7
. Al c m ani, 1 5 6
P o l ak, 2 05 b
B ero k a, 8 5
.

S asp o rtas, 1 9 9 b
M atath ias, 1 6 9
.

T am ( O rl eans) , 1 6 3 b
Nuri, 8 5
.

T em pl o , 2 02 v
T re es, 1 8 9
Tirad o , 1 9 7 b Z
ac c ai, 8 5
.

W
ei l, 1 7 4 J h
o n H , 1 42 .

J am es I ( Arrago n) , 1 29
. o f G isc a a, 8 1 l
I I , 2 01 . H yrc anus, 5 5 , 5 7 , 5 9
J arc h i, 1 6 0 Miq uez , 1 7 8
J aro sl av , 2 1 5 K
ing o f E ng and , 1 6 4 l
J aso n, 47 K ing o f P o rtuga , 1 46 l
o f C yrene, 7 5 R
o d rigue , 1 7 9 z
J e c h iel o f P aris, 1 6 7 , 1 6 9 J o h o iad a, 42
 I ND E X . 257

J h iak im ( H igh pri t) 42

e o -
es ,
J o se p h N asi 1 7 8 ,

J m t b b Abrah am 1 38
o o .
,
Pard o 1 8 1 ,

J nah Ab ravan l 2 03
o e ,
Pereira 1 9 8 ,

ib n G annac h , 1 1 4 Po rat 1 6 5 ,

o f G ero na, 1 2 7 , 1 2 8 b S am uel 1 6 0

.
,

J h
o nat an ( A sm o nean) , 49 5 4 -
S arc o , 1 45
h
h a- C o en, 1 2 6 , 1 5 1 b Sh em to b , 1 44
.

E yb esc h iitz , 2 1 0 S o l o m o n M ed igo , 1 9 3

b J o se
.
, 20 9 ph T aytasak , 1 8 1
J o se o f G a i ee, 8 6 ll T eo m im , 2 2 2
h a- C o en, 8 5 h b T o b ias, 44
.

b H al afta, 8 7
. V erga, 1 7 9
b J o ez er
.
, 52 b Z ad d ik , 1 1 8
.

J o se, 1 09 J o sep h s, M , 2 45 .

J o se ph ( K h o z ar) , 1 04, 1 1 3 J o sep h us, Fl avius, 7 8 , 7 9 , 8 1

II 2 1 6, 2 1 8
.
,
J o sh ua H al ev i ,
1 48
b . b
A itur, 1 1 3 ( H igh p riest) , 42 -

b v
A ra ane , 1 8 7 l J
( aso n) , 47
Ak nim , 1 2 5 b H ananiah , 8 5
.

Ath ias J , 2 07 . L o rk i, 1 42 , 1 43
B ec h o r S o r, 1 6 5 h J o sip p o n, 1 5 2
B env enisto , 1 3 7 J R
o ssel o sh eim , 2 0 4
th e B ind , 9 4 l J J
o st, M , 2 2 5, 2 2 8
. .

C as i, 1 38 p J uan o f S evi lle, 1 40

C ai as, 7 3 ph J a
ud h Ab rav anel , 1 8 7
C h iquitill a, 1 3 4 ( C h ief abb i), 1 45 R
b .C h isd ai, 1 1 6 C h ajut, 1 49
b . l z
E ie er, 1 3 9 C h assid ( th e P io us) , 1 6 6
ib n E sra, 1 8 1 h a C o h en, 1 6 1
-

G anso , 1 8 1 b M eir h a C o h en, 1 5 9

.
-

H am o n, 1 7 8 b H ez ek iah , 7 1
.

I sk affa, 1 8 5 J
ac h ia, 1 45
b .I srae , 1 9 8
’

l . J
b ec h iel, 1 5 4
Jbz
a e , 1 89 o f M el un, 1 6 7

b D v
. a id ib n J ac hja, 1 8 9 M inz , 1 5 5
J h
ac ia, 1 45 o f M o d ena, 1 9

b J . o c h anan, 5 2 M o sc ato , 1 9 1
K ara, 1 6 1 b Nath an, 1 6 1
.

K aro , 1 8 0 ,
1 95 P ro venz al e, 1 9 1
K him c i, 1 2 6 S ark o , 1 7 9
K lo o n, 1 5 5 , 1 7 7 V erga, 1 7 9
b .L eb , 1 7 9 J ud as M ac c ab eus, 49 5 3 -

L o ans, 2 0 4 Aristo b ul us, 5 9

M end e sso n, 2 1 4 l h Jul ian, 9 1
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S anh edrim , 6 5 , 7 2 , 8 4 o f C ai ro , 1 02
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