Nadene Goldfoot
Judea: 47 BCE 
- Battle at Mount Tabor in Judea: Roman troops, commanded by Gabinius, defeat the forces of Alexander, son of Aristobulus II of Judea, who is attempting to re-establish Judean independence. Some 10,000 Jews die at the hands of the Romans.
- Ever making improvements in keeping up with time, Rabbi Hillel the Elder was born in the 1st century BCE but some time before Jesus. He was a scholar and founder of the school known as the "House of Hillel" and ancestor of a dynasty of patriarchs which held office until the 5th century. Hillel was born in Babylonia in a family that was taken as slaves there in 597 and again in 586 BCE from Judah by King Nebuchadnezzer. He was able to move to Palestine and was a manual labor worker while a student with the famous teachers, Shemaiah and Avialyon or Avtalion.
- The basic form of the rabbi developed in the Pharisaic (167 BCE – 73 CE) and Talmudic (70–640 CE) eras, when learned teachers assembled to codify Judaism's written and oral laws (Sanhedrin). The title "rabbi" was first used in the first century CE.
- King Herod the Great (73 BCE-4 BCE), killer of his own family...killer of many....
- King of Judea, son of Antipater the Idumean by his Nabatean wife, Cypros, appointed governor of Galilee by his father, and immediately executed dissidents.As to Herod's family line, Idumea was also on the land that Simeon was given by Joshua. Simeon was surrounded by Judah. Nabatea was on the land of Moab. Moab was on the eastern side of the Dead Sea. So Herod was not Jewish by birth but by living in Judah. No doubt he lacked any preliminary education on Jewish thought. He was a product of Rome.
- For this Herod was brought up by the Sanhedrin and saved from a death decree himself by Hyrcanus and Sextus Caesar, governor of Syria. During his escapades he had fled to Rome and was appointed king of Judea by the Roman Senate.
- He captured Jerusalem in 37 CE with the help of a large Roman force. Earlier that year he had married Mariamne, granddaughter of the high priest, a Cohen, Hyrcanus. Herod received a free hand in internal affairs, but was stopped from conducting an independent foreign policy. The people were attached to the Hasmonean rulers, their own people and dynasty, so he did a lot of suppressing his opposition, most likely a lot of killing, his style in solving issues.
- Because of Palace intrigues, he put to death his wife, Mariamne, their 2 sons Alexander and Aristobulus, and in the end, his firstborn, Antipater, who was his son by his 1st wife, Doris in 5 BCE. Herod killed his own sons Alexander and Aristobulus in 7 BCE and Antipater was to succeed him but on discovering a plot to poison him, Herod ordered Antipater's execution 5 days before his own death.
- They lived in the troubled times of Herod's reign. Shammai foresaw the dangers of Roman hegemony and therefore enacted many rules intended to keep the Jews from mixing with the heathen. He took a rigorous point of view in moral and religious matters, while at the same time, being of a friendly nature, teaching "receive everyone graciously."
His school of Shemaiah/Shammai was famous for its disputes with the School of Hillel. Shammai himself differed on only 3 points with Hillel. Very few halakhic teachings have survived in his name. Shammai is possibly identical with the Pharisee Sameas who rallied the Sanhedrin against Herod's attempt at intimidation in 47 BCE.
Hillel became a great scholar, working his way with his school upward and was appointed president of the Sanhedrin, a body of 71 scholars who were the Supreme Court of their day. At the same time, he had made a friend who was his ideological opponent named Shammai who was his debate partner. They were the last of the pairs, called Zugot, of scholars in Debate, which was very popular at the time. As partners, Hillel was noted for his humility and tendency to leniency. What did they debate about? Points in the Torah and the extended additional pages making up the Tanakh or Bible. The Sanhedrin ended before the end of the 4th century CE. The thought was there to revive it in 1948, but dismissed.
The two men differed in their decisions only on a few halakhot; their schools ("House of Hillel) and "House of Shammai") diverged in many instances, but legal practice ultimately went in almost all cases according to the decision of the House of Hillel who laid down 7 rules of bible interpretation. Many stories illustrate his virtues and he is credited with the authorship in its negative form of the so-called GOLDEN RULE which is: "Do not do unto others that which you would not have them do unto you." Today on many campuses, we have a Hillel House for Jewish students. It was said to many people who wanted to know about Judaism while standing on one foot; who wanted a very short synopsis about our religion in how it was different from other religions like Christianity. Added to this quip was "and all the rest is commentary." It is the heart of Judaism. Hillel may have been called Rabbi Hillel.
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By the year 132-135, Aluf Bar Kokhba (Simeon ben Kokhba) had stepped up with his army to take back Jerusalem which he did for these 3 years, then was killed in battle. He was the nephew of Rabbi Eleazar of Modiin and of Davidic descent, meaning he was a Cohen. He led the revolt against Hadrian, said to be the Messiah for doing this, but not taken seriously. The revolt came about because Romans were rebuilding Jerusalem differently as a Roman colony; the prohibition of circumcision, with feelings against the Romans fermenting for a long time. Romans came after them with army of 35,000 under Hadrian and Julius Severus. Judaea fell into desolation; population was annihilated, Jerusalem became a heathen city, barred to Jews. Bar Kokhba had fought for 3 years against the best and largest army in the world.
Rabbi Rashi (Rabbi Solomon Yitzhaki ben Isaac (1040-1105) came along over a thousand years later in France with new insights. He had to do his studying in the Rhineland but returned to his native Troyes where his school rapidly achieved a wide reputation. He earned his livelihood from his vineyard while teaching in his school. His chief contribution to Judaism was his lucid commentary on the Bible and Babylonian talmud. The commentary on the bible, particularly the Torah (5 books of Moses) became universally popular, while his notes on the Babylonian Talmud were responsible for making that writing like an open book.
His style was simple and concise, and his object, to present the direct rational meaning of the text, nevertheless the popularity of his commentary on the Torah can be partly attributed to the admixture of Midrash. His commentary on the entire Talmud made several outstanding contributions. His commentaries served as the basis for later scholars such as Nahmanides and Ibn Ezra in their interpretation of the Torah.
Rabbis of the 1st century CE
- Shimon ben Gamliel (Gamaliel) (the Elder), was a sage and served as the nasi of the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. (c. 10 BCE–70 CE), was grandson of Hillel. He corresponded with Jewish communities in Palestine and the Diaspora and framed several regulations at social improvements. He wanted a better legal position for women.
Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089-1164) scholar and poet, born in Spain, until 1140, journeyed visiting Italy, France, England, and maybe even Palestine; wrote in Hebrew, biblical commentary, close to biblical criticism. A Hebrew grammarian of importance, translated works from Arabic. A scientist and author of several studies on astrology in which he firmly believed.
Maimonides (Maimon ben Joseph)(1110-1165) scholar, father of of Maimonides, born in Cordova, Spain, author of Arabic commentary on the Bible, left Spain in 1148 because of persecution.
Abraham ben Moses ben Maimon (1186-1237) son of Moses Maimonides, Court physician to Sultan Alkamil, wrote encyclopedic work on Judaism--and commentaries on the Torah, the Talmud and his father's books. Acted as Nagid of Egyptian Jewry, in succession to his father, he issued ordinances to strengthen the community.
Nahmanides (Moses ben Nahman) (Rambam) very well known Rabbi, (1194-1270) a Rabbi in Gerona -Aragon, Spain; his range of knowldge was unrivaled in his day. Known as the foremost Spanish talmudist. He was opposed to the study of philosophy, athough not to Maimonides.
- Yohanan ben Zakkai (1st century CE) 1st-century sage in Judea, key to the development of the Mishnah, the first Jewish sage attributed the title of rabbi in the Mishnah.The Mishnah was the legal codification containing the core of the Oral
- Law. It was compiled by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi on the basis of previous
- collections and arranged logically, divided into 6 Orders dealing primarily
- with 1. the religious laws pertaining to agricultures and 2. dealing
- with the laws of Sabbath, festivals, etc and 3. dealing with the laws of
- marriage and divorce and vows; 4. treating of civil and criminal
- legislation, 5. describing the laws regulating ritual slaughter, sacrifices
- and consecrated objects, and the 6th laws of ceremonial purity. Orders
- are divided into tractates, and tractates are divided into chapters, that are
- divided into mishnayyot. It's amazingly well-organized.
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