Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-08-20
EDIT0R'SB00K- TABLE
PROFESSOR H. oRAsTz's HISTORY or
THE JEWISH PEOPLE.
Philosophical Detective Stories - The
Bound Volumes Of the Century
Magazines, sc.


| Vol III. PROM the reign of HYzc II
| (t35 h. G. e. 10 the Completion Of the
/ Babylonian Talmud 900 q. E.) Ph...-
delphia: The Jewish Publication Society
of America. 1888. Pages $50. SO.
This IS the second volume OF the new
! English translation of Graetz's History
of the jews" published under the au-
spices OF the Jewish Publication Society
of America, organized in Philadelphia five
years ago. The first volume brought tho
history of the peculiar people down to
the death of Simon. the Maccabee. IN the
second century before the Christian era.
! The second has an especial interest be-
cause 1t pictures JUDAISM in the century
before the advent OF Christ, deals neces-
sarily with the origin of Christianity and
the early disciples and apostles and
! fathers of the Church, and extends
to the division OF the Roman en-
pire (when the middle ages pro-
/ perly begin) after Christianity had gained
the ascendancy in Rome. and while Juda-
ism. lost TO It's native bills, was working
out the Talmud in BAbylonis.
| The contents OF this volume may be
]
! ing with the destruction of the Temple by
Titus IN the year 10 of the Christian era ;
the second reaching, after the dispersion
and prosecutions attendant upon these
wars, to the year 800, when the Talmud
was practically completed. This second
period is fittingly called the Talmudio
epoch. The reign of John Hyrcanus
| (,or 1oc u n Ia tho ekartipr DoiDt for m a
| volume. being lat once the pinnacle and
the turning point of this period" Just as
! Gibbons great work on the Roman em-
| pire begins with the power of the An
TONNES IN the second century after Christ
IN order thence to picture the coming desc
| lation. With Hyrcapus the Hasnonean
| dynasty in Judea reached It's apex.
IL was the period, too, of the origin of
| the sects. soon so famous in the history of
! Jewish thought and polity-the Essences,
| the Pharsees, nnd the Sadducees. The
| Essences withdrew from public affairs and
! lived 10 the desert an ascetio and, for the
most part. q celibatc life characterized by
the strictest piety. Separate from these
were the Pharisees. equally intent upon re-
| EhIuluH
serving and transmitting Judaism unscl-
lied, taking part in public affairs as a
| duty, but judging everything by the
standard of religion. The third party
were the Sadducees, those manly at the
! head of military and diplomatic affairs,
who, seeing the difficulty of always deal
| ing with political matters, according 10
the strict claims Of their faith. while not
forsaklng their religion, yet made the IN
/ terests of the nation, as superior 70 tho
/ law, their chief care. 10 was from tho
ranks of the Essences. the more lowly and
least ambitious of the three. that John
/ the Baptist and the spirit of Christianity
sprung. The mass of the nation were
Pharisees in belief, upholding the validity
of the law. explaining the Scriptures IN new
meanings. and obtaining new laws by
/ these interpretations. To the view OF the
Sadducees that the existence OF the state
and the fate of the individual dependedso Sole
/ IL on the policy Of the one and the action OF
/ the other, the Pharlsees offered the tenet
/ that Divine Justice would manifest itself
/ not during life but after deRth-the belief
l in the resurrection OF the dead. Naturally
| these two scots could not dlIer simply IN
| doctrInes-as the one or the other gained
/ ascendsncy in the State and influence
! with the ruler, persecution ensued.
! The later rulers OF the Hasmonman
: house could not retain the territory and
! liberty beQueathed by Hyrcanus. 1t was
/ intestine quarrels IN Judea itself that
| caused the Roman eagles to pounce upon
] her prey, and Jude9 became, like the rest
of the world, Roman province. but
/ Jewish religion, Jewish culture. JEWISH
thought, Jewish traditions made the new
( province too restless, created dlnerence
! IN this and all other Roman possessions,
| and out of this difference III race, IN re-
| liglon. IN feeling. sprung the germs OF the
! centuries of bitter persecution which
/ Judaism received at the hands or
Roman rulers. 1t was through this
same difference in religion and thought
! that Rome itself was 10 be conquered IN
! time; that ultimately the spirit OF both
! Judaism and Christianity (Which sprang
| from Judaism) were TO be carried through
| out the whole worlds Bat this conquest
| was very gradual and won only after the
most stubborn resistance. Pompey was
| the first 70 be attracted 10 Judea. Mark
| Anthony ana Augustus treated with 1t,
aud after O century Of much inter-
meddling, finally Vespasian aud his son
| Titus destroyed the temple in Jerusalem,
| about which all Judean thought. and feel
! q.
| to the most wsnton butchery ana cruelty.
| 1t was nerod. of foreign Idum@an ex-
! traction, who Is regarded in the relations
| between Judea and Rome as the evil
! genius of the Judean nation. 3" lt was he
| who brought her as bound captive to
| Rome; It was he who placed his feet
| triumphantly upon her neck The story
| of his reign in Galllee and Judea Is one
! filed with dlshouor and horror aud CRIME
] on poOa His OWn wife Marianne.
! OF the Jewish royal house, fell victim TO
| his jealousy and rage. Strange. with all
| this history. il was likewise he who rebuilt
| the Temple aud made &c the magnificent
| structure Of the New Testament.
IL was at such time. suffering under
| the gall Of the Roman yoke and oppressed
| by the ssyerest cruelty at home, that
! there possessed the whole people except
/ those bRsking IN tho sunshine OF court ia
vor and those who looked to Rome an in
! tense longing for the Messiah and full ex-
| pectation OF his coming. Various views
! were held. The Republican Zeaiots pic
/ tured the Messiah as delivering Israel
! from bis enemies, destroying the authority
! of Rome. and restoring the golden era OF
David. 1t was the spirit OF the Essences
who pictured the Messiah as one having q
pure and spotless life and renounclng the
! world aud its vanItIes. 1t was TO these
! that the mission of Jesus of Nazareth spe-
/ cIally appealed.
For brief period under King Agripps,
| friend of the Emperor Claudlus, Judea
recovered the extent it possessed under
! the Hasmon3an princes and under Herod
| and for a short, as we'll as for the last, time
enjoyed a space OF undistufbed happiness.
! Though on the best of terms with Rome,
/ Agripd gave Jerusalem the Notifications
which q quarter of q century later
served such good stead against the
| legions of Titus. IL was a time,
too, whom expositions of religion
and philosophy were springlng up
among the Judeans in all the colonies IN
the Roman aud eastern worlds whlsher
they had wandered. Hillel the Babylon
ian, president of The Synhedrion. had al
ready laid down the principles which the
| Interpretation of Jewish law was TO follow,
and his successors were putting these
I into system which ultimately ended in
the formulation of the Talmud.
The essence of his views. which
held good for 600 years, was that law to
be valid must be based upon scriptural
authority. but in determining this author
! ity not only the dead letter, but the gene
raj spirit must be taken into account.
Philo the Alexandrian. living in a centre
whore Greek art and culture were at their
height since the decay of Athens, sought
to bring the truths Of Judaism within the
province of philosophy and make them
/ accountable tn tho ltiVatAl Greeks. In