`First Century. Judaism in Crisis'
Reveals the Life of Jewish Sage
By ALLEN A. WARSEN
Among the numerous
studies made of first cen-
tury C.E. Palestine -which
have enriched our knowl-
edge of that critical period
of Jewish history is Jacob
Neusner's "First Century
Judaism in Crisis"
(Abingdon Press, New York,
1975). Its subject matter is
the social, cultural and pol-
itical life of - Palestine, and
the clashbetween Rome and
Jerusalem over hegemony.
To ; Rome, it should be
pointed out, Palestine was
of imperial strategic im-
portance. To Jerusalem it
was also of imperial signifi-
cance, but with this differ-
ence, "The empire was
God's." .
The central figure of the
book is Rabban Yochanan
ben Zakkai. (The Aramaic
zakkai is equivalent to the
Hebrew tsadik and to the
English righteous.)
It is noteworthy that
according' to tradition
Rabban Yochanan ben
Zakkai was one of the four
tsadikim who lived 120
years. The others were
Moses, Hillel the Elder,
and Rabbi Akiba.
According to tradition,
too, Rabban Yochanan ben
Zakkai received the Torah
from Hillel and Shammai
who had received it from
Shemaiah and AVtalion.
As is the case with many
great men of antiquity, lit-
Ale is known of Yochanan's
childhood and youth. It is
not . even known where he
came from. But it is known
that he was the. youngest of
Hillel's 80 disciples.
Hillel's high regard for
Yochanan is reflected in this
legend: "As Hillel lay dying,
his students gathered at his
bedside to take leave of him.
But Yochanan did not enter
with them: Hill-el asked,
"And where is Yochanan?"
"There he is, standing out-
side the door," the students
answered. "Let him enter,
he is worthy," Hillel said.
When he had entered, Hillel
said to the students, "The
youngest of you is father of
wisdom and father of the
future."
It is curious to note that
though Josephus does not
mention Yochanan ben
Zakkai in any of his
works, numerous legends
about him, his teachings
and sayings are recorded.
The legends are evaluated,
clarified and presented in
their historical perspec-
tive by the author of the
book under review.
Rabban Yochanan, be-
sides being the master par
excellence, was also the
leader of the Pharisees. As
such he often had to disa-
gree with Temple priests
and Sadducees on matters
of ritual and religious con-
duct.
Here is a good example:
"The Sadducees say, "We
cry out against you, 0 Phar-
isees, for you say the Holy
Scriptures render the hands
unclean and the books of
Homer do not 'render the
hands unclean." Yochanan
retorted that the parchment
of a sacred scroll must be a
source of uncleanness in
order to protect it."
To the revolt against
Rome in 66 C.E. and its aft-
ermath the author devotes a
third of the book. Not only
does he describe the war, he
also analyzes its causes, the
internal tensions, the rea-
sons for Yochanan's escape,
and the outcome.
He even tries to answer
the questions: "Why did
the Romans burn the Tem-
ple? Was it their intention
to cripple the Jswish reli-
gion as M. P. Charles-
worth- maintains? Or was
it an accident of the war as
Josephus claims?"
The author seems to agree
with Josephus: "Assertions
to the contrary ignore the
events at Yavneh and
Rome's willingness to deal
with the authority of the
rabbinical court as well as
her support for the Palesti-
nian patriarchate."
This review would have
been incomplete had we not
recorded the last years of
Rabban Yochanan ben Zak-
kai's life which were his
most productive. Durin g
these years he presented a
comprehensive program for
the reconstruction of Jewish
social and religious life. He
died in 80 C.E.
"First Century Judaism
in Crisis" presents a good
review of an important era
in Jewish history andione of
its leaders, Rabban Yo-
chanan ben Zakkai.
The author Jacob Neus-
ner is professor of religious
studies at Brown University
- and author of "There We
Sat Down: Talmudik Juda-
ism in the Making."
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, March 14, 1975
-4-
Ethiopia War Danger to Israel?
WASHINGTON (ZINS)
— The civil war in Ethiopia
confronts the Ford Admin-
istration with a choice: Help
the military in Addis Ababa
crush a rebellion in Eritrea,
or — stay aloof and thereby
abet the breakup of a coun-
try that was America's clos-
est ally in Africa for many
years.
The
Arab
nations
strongly support- the Mos-
lem-oriented Eritrean ter-
rorists in their war against
the Ethiopian military gov-
ernment dominated by Cop-
tic Christians. A decision
by the U.S. to refuse to
help the embattled Addis
Ababa government could
lead to a rebel victory. The
consequences, as spelled out
by official analysts in
Divine Heights Washington: A shift in the
'balance of naval power in
Prayer does not seek to
affect any Change in God the area to the disadvantage
who is the-source of all that of the U.S. and Israel.
is eternal and beyond
The Eritrean ports of
change. It seeks rather to Massawa and Assab — now
raise the soul toward divine open to the American and
heights.
Israeli Navy — would come
—Abraham Isaac Kook under the control of a pro-
Arab, leftist government
and the influence of pro
Russian leaders would in-
crease in the Addis Ababa
regime.
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