The history of the Jews E-Book

Gotthard Deutsch

• Herausgeber: Librorium Editions
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Palestine, the buffer state between Egypt and Mesopotamia, the two rival powers of the ancient world, was an important base of operations for all conquerors, and its possession was eagerly sought. In 722 B.C., King Sargon of Assyria conquered the northern part, the kingdom of Israel. The southern part, the kingdom of Judah, was at that time protected by Assyria’s rising and already powerful rival, the Babylonian empire. When Babylonia had become the master of Mesopotamia, Judæa’s doom was sealed, and in 586 Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and made all of Palestine a province of his large empire.

Leseprobe

THE HISTORY OF THE JEWS

BYGotthard Deutsch

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, HEBREW UNION COLLEGE

© 2023 Librorium Editions

ISBN : 9782385743482

HISTORY OF THE JEWS

CHAPTER I FROM THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY (586 B.C.) TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THE SECOND TEMPLE (70 C.E.)

CHAPTER II FROM THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM (70) TO THE COMPLETION OF THE MISHNAH (200)

CHAPTER III ERA OF THE TALMUD (200-600)

RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF THE ERA

BABYLONIA

CHAPTER IV FROM THE RISE OF ISLAM (622) TO THE ERA OF THE CRUSADES (1096)

GERMANIC NATIONS

FRANCE

SPAIN

LITERARY ACTIVITY OF THE PERIOD

CHAPTER V THE JEWS OF EUROPE (1040-1215)

SPIRITUAL LIFE OF THE PERIOD

CHAPTER VI PERIOD OF OPPRESSION (1215-1492)

FRANCE

SPAIN

ITALY

HUNGARY

POLAND

THE EAST

JEWISH LITERATURE, THIRTEENTH TO FIFTEENTH CENTURY

TALMUDIC LITERATURE

CHAPTER VII THE PERIOD OF IMPROVEMENT (1492-1791)

INTELLECTUAL AND LITERARY LIFE

CHAPTER VIII THE PERIOD OF EMANCIPATION FROM 1791.

CULTURE

PREFACE

There are two main difficulties confronting the historian, when he attempts to write history. He must always ask himself, First: Are the facts which I find recorded really facts, and Second: Do I interpret them correctly? Thiers, in his “Histoire du Consulat,” Paris, 1851, Vol. XI, p. 71, speaks of the enthusiasm with which the Jews of Portugal, who numbered 200,000, received the French troops in 1809. There were perhaps not two hundred Jews living in Portugal at that time, and they played no part in public affairs. In an address to the convention of the Order Brith Abraham, Mayor Gaynor, of New York, said on May 15, 1910: “The great Frederick issued a general privilege, and declared it as a maxim, that oppression of the Jews never brought prosperity to any state, and Napoleon not only followed the same course but convoked the Sanhedrin.” The facts are in the main correct, but the presentation is all wrong. Frederick issued his “Revidierte Generalprivilegium” of April 17, 1750, for the Jews of Prussia, but it is based on the mediæval idea of restrictions in the most elementary rights of human beings. His sentiment with regard to the Jews is evident from a letter which he wrote to the Minister von Hoym, May 17, 1780, in which he says: “If the Jews were expelled and Christians would take their places as innkeepers, it would be for the good of the country, and we would have more human beings and less Jews” (Monatsschrift fuer die Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums, 1895, p. 379). Napoleon had by the convocation of the “Assembly of Jewish Notables” and the subsequent Sanhedrin, 1806-1807, insulted the Jews. The law of September 27, 1791, had declared them as citizens, and he asked them whether they considered France as their fatherland, and when these and similar questions were answered in the affirmative with emphatic protestation of loyalty, Napoleon nevertheless reintroduced the mediæval principle of Jewish disabilities by issuing laws restricting Jews in doing business on credit. The facts quoted by Mayor Gaynor prove the opposite of what he wished to prove by them.

These instances taken from Jewish history could be multiplied endlessly from every period and every section of the world’s history. Jewish history has to contend with two additional difficulties. It extends over every part of the civilized world, but it lacks chronological sequence, at least until we come to modern times. Another difficulty is that it deals with almost every known spiritual activity of mankind. The student, in order to understand Jewish history, should know the constantly shifting boundary lines of the Italian states from mediæval times until 1870, and he should know something of the morphological theories of Hebrew grammar and of scholastic philosophy.

These difficulties make themselves especially felt in a brief manual, and, no doubt, every teacher of Jewish history must have had such an experience. The Rabbis (Sanhedrin 93, b) find fault with Nehemiah for having spoken ill of his predecessors in office (Neh. V, 15). I do not wish to incur the same censure. It remains for the student and the teacher who use my book to judge whether I improved upon my predecessors. My object was to place in the hand of the student, who is guided by a capable teacher, a concise and yet readable manual of the whole post-biblical history. The biblical period I intentionally omitted, in order to avoid contested ground and to allow the book to be used in all schools regardless of dogmatic differences.

Gotthard Deutsch.

Cincinnati, O., July, 1910.

HISTORY OF THE JEWS

CHAPTER IFROM THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY (586 B.C.) TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THE SECOND TEMPLE (70 C.E.)

Palestine, the buffer state between Egypt and Mesopotamia, the two rival powers of the ancient world, was an important base of operations for all conquerors, and its possession was eagerly sought. In 722 B.C., King Sargon of Assyria conquered the northern part, the kingdom of Israel. The southern part, the kingdom of Judah, was at that time protected by Assyria’s rising and already powerful rival, the Babylonian empire. When Babylonia had become the master of Mesopotamia, Judæa’s doom was sealed, and in 586 Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and made all of Palestine a province of his large empire.

With the death of Nebuchadnezzar, the great Babylonian empire declined rapidly, and in 539, Cyrus, the King of Persia, captured the city of Babylon, and became the master of the whole of the Babylonian empire, and so of Palestine. He was favorably inclined to the Jews, and gave permission to the descendants of the exiles from Palestine to return to the land of their fathers. Only a few thousand made use of this, and returned under the leadership of Zerubbabel, a descendant of the House of David, and of Joshua ben Jehozadak, the high priest. Of the right to build the Temple they made no use for the time, but erected instead an altar on the site of the former edifice. The development of the new commonwealth, however, was slow, until Ezra, a man learned in the law, and, therefore, called the Scribe, returned from Babylonia in 458 B.C. and taught the people the law of God. He was joined in 445 B.C. by Nehemiah, the cupbearer of the Persian King Artaxerxes, who received permission from his ruler to go to Palestine and assist Ezra in his work. He succeeded, after many difficulties, in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and giving the new community a firm organization. In 432 B.C. he returned to his post at the King’s Court, but upon learning that the new community was suffering from many difficulties, he returned again to Palestine to finish his work there.

It seems that the Jews lived in peace, for during the following century, while they were under Persian rule, only two incidents are recorded. In the reign of Artaxerxes III, Ochus (358-337 B.C.), the Jews rebelled; but the king defeated them near Jericho and sent the rebels to Hyrcania into exile. About the same time the high priest, Johanan, killed his brother, Joshua, in the Temple, and the Persian governor fined the Jews very heavily.

Not long afterwards the mighty Persian empire was conquered by Alexander the Great (333 B.C.), and the Jews passed under the rule of the Macedonian king.

There are various legends about Alexander’s kindness to the Jews, especially one which states that he showed great respect to the high priest. There is also a report that he exempted the Jews from paying taxes in the Sabbatical year. His immense empire fell to pieces soon after his early death, and various generals fought for a portion of the inheritance, each expecting to become the successor of the great conqueror. Palestine with Syria was first occupied by Ptolemy, who founded the dynasty named after him in Egypt in 320 B.C. He lost it to another general, Antigonus (315 B.C.), who was defeated by Seleucus at the battle of Gaza (312 B.C.), after which the kingdom of Syria with Antioch as its capital was founded. The Syrians counted their era from this date and the Jews adopted this custom, keeping it up until late in mediæval times. The struggle continued until, in 301 B.C., the battle of Ipsus decided the issue in favor of Ptolemy and Palestine was united with Egypt until Antiochus III of Syria annexed it to his dominions in 198 B.C.

The Jews seem to have been treated with fairness until Antiochus IV, Epiphanes (175-164 B.C.), succeeded his father. The latter had been defeated by the Romans in the battle of Magnesia (189 B.C.), and Antiochus IV was sent as hostage to Rome. Knowing that the Romans watched the growth of the Syrian kingdom with great jealousy lest it should become a powerful rival, he tried to consolidate his states and for this reason wished to remove everything which kept the Jews apart from their neighbors. In his attempt to Hellenize the Jews he was supported by a party among them. Joseph, the son of Tobias, and the nephew of Onias II, the High Priest, had already under the Egyptian kings been appointed tax collector and was very powerful. He and his family supported the Syrian kings in their desire to Hellenize the Jews.

Simon, a member of this family, quarrelled with the High Priest, Onias III, and in order to revenge himself he informed the Syrian government that the Temple of Jerusalem contained large treasures. Heliodorus was sent to Jerusalem, but for some reason which legend has obscured by miraculous tales, he was prevented from looting the treasury. Onias was called to Antioch to answer certain charges of disloyalty, while his brother Joshua, or Jason as he called himself, took his place. Jason offered Antiochus a higher tribute than his brother had paid, and declared his willingness to support the king in introducing Greek customs among the Jews. He became high priest, but shortly afterwards Menelaus, another member of the family, offered Antiochus a still higher tribute and was made high priest in Jason’s place. Unable to pay the sum he had promised, he appropriated valuable pieces from the Temple treasury to bribe the King’s officials. Onias reproached him and was assassinated upon his order.

This fact embittered the Jews. Menelaus was charged with sacrilege, but as he possessed great influence the case was dismissed and his opponents were executed. These events enraged the Jews still more, and when in 170 B.C., Antiochus was in Egypt engaged in warfare, the Jews rebelled at the false report of his death. Antiochus returned and took bitter revenge, pillaging the city, and desecrating the Temple. Two years later he sent his general, Apollonius, to punish the rebels and the latter did it in the most cruel manner. At the same time a strong fort was built in Jerusalem and the practice of the Jewish religion, particularly the observance of the Sabbath and the dietary laws, and the study of the Torah prohibited, on the ground that they tended to keep the Jews aloof from their neighbors. At the same time an altar to Zeus was erected in the Temple and other heathenish altars placed in various cities. The Jews were compelled under penalty of death to offer sacrifices to the Greek gods.

The pious people fled from Jerusalem into the wilderness in order to escape the fulfillment of the king’s orders. Among the leaders of those who were determined rather to die than give up their religion was Mattathiah, an aged priest of the family of the Hasmonæans. In the little town of Modin he killed a Jew who made preparations to offer sacrifice on the heathenish altar, and an officer was sent to execute the king’s decree. This was the signal for rebellion. Mattathiah had five sons of whom Judah, called the Maccabee, was the leader in battle. Judah gathered a small number of the faithful around him and succeeded in defeating various generals and finally the viceroy, Lysias. Then he entered Jerusalem, removed all traces of idolatry from the Temple and rededicated it to the service of God in 165 B.C. Shortly afterwards, in 164 B.C., Antiochus IV died and was succeeded by his son, Antiochus V, still a boy, for whom Lysias governed as regent. The last having many difficulties to contend with, granted the Jews religious freedom. He and the young king, however, were soon killed, and Demetrius I, a nephew of Antiochus IV, came to the throne in 162 B.C.

Demetrius continued to give the Jews religious freedom, but he appointed a high priest named Alkymus, whom the people disliked, and so the rebellion started anew. Judah defeated the general Nikanor in 161 B.C., but a year later he fell in battle and was succeeded by his brother Jonathan. Meantime Syria was torn to pieces amid constant rebellion caused by various claimants to the throne, each of whom tried to win the Jews over to his side in order to obtain a free hand in fighting his rivals. Thus Jonathan was confirmed as high priest by the Syrian king (153 B.C.), but later on, being distrusted, was assassinated by the Syrian governor, Tryphon (143 B.C.) He was succeeded by the last surviving son of Mattathiah, Simon (143-135 B.C.). Simon drove the Syrian garrison from the fort at Jerusalem and was not only confirmed as high priest but also as ruler of the Jews. He manifested his sovereignty by issuing coins bearing his name.

The Romans, who were glad to see the power of the Syrian king weakened, formed an alliance with him, and so Israel was again an independent nation. Simon was assassinated by Ptolemy, his own son-in-law, and was succeeded by his son John Hyrcan (135-105 B.C.), who assumed the title of king and was at the same time the high priest. The Syrian kingdom became altogether dismembered, and John Hyrcan, aided by the Romans, united under his sceptre not only the Jews living in Palestine but also conquered those parts of the country which were inhabited by other nations. The Idumæans and the Samaritans were forcibly converted to Judaism. With the growing power of the new kingdom the religious life of the ruling classes became weakened and the king alienated those people who had formerly been the most zealous supporters of the Maccabæan rebellion. Two parties were formed, one called the Sadducees, after the High Priest Zadok, was in sympathy with the government while the other, the Pharisees, became its opponent. The Pharisees (separatists) believed in freedom only as a means of protection of their religious life, and therefore opposed the king, who wasted the resources of the country in wars of conquest.

Hyrcan was succeeded by Aristobul, his son, with whose reign a period of family feuds and palace intrigues began. He ordered his brother Antigonus to be killed and died soon afterwards, having reigned but one year (105-104 B.C.). His successor was his brother Alexander Jannai (104-78 B.C.). The latter’s highest ambition was to become a conqueror and he carried on constant but unsuccessful warfare with Arabic chieftains, and with the Egyptians and other neighbors. The people rebelled against him, but he quelled all uprisings with extreme cruelty, and on one occasion had six hundred pilgrims massacred in the courtyard of the Temple. The Pharisees were particularly the objects of his hatred.