Early Judaism- A Comprehensive Overview

the assumption that the Temple would be rebuilt and the priesthood re-

stored. In practice, however, Judaism became localized and centered on the

village synagogue. The local scribes, whose skill at interpreting Torah had

made them influential, filled the power vacuum, and some of these scribes

ultimately became the rabbis.

Rabbinic tradition tells of the fortuitous escape and surrender of

YoFanan ben Zakkai during the siege of Jerusalem. According to the story,

while other rabbis such as Simon ben Gamaliel participated fully in the re-

volt and defense of Jerusalem, ben Zakkai decided that resistance was fu-

tile. He therefore smuggled himself out of the city as a corpse and then

surrendered to the Romans. He impressed Vespasian by predicting his ac-

cession as emperor. Vespasian therefore granted ben Zakkai’s request to

found a new center of Jewish law at Yavneh (Jamnia). In the generations

following ben Zakkai, the rabbis continued to study Torah and attempted

to rebuild Jewish religious and cultural life. It is not entirely clear how

much political or religious power the rabbis actually possessed during this

early period, and it is likely that acceptance of their leadership by Jews was

gradual and perhaps only in its infancy when rebellion again broke out in

Judeain132c.e.

The Diaspora between the Revolts

Few Jews in the Diaspora had been inspired to join in the revolt of 66.

There was a brief uprising in Alexandria, but it was short-lived. Roman re-

taliation against the Jews also included the forced closure of the Oniad

temple at Leontopolis in 72 and its precincts in 73, even though it had

never been a center of unrest or disloyalty since its foundation in the mid-

second centuryb.c.e.Titus’s destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70,

however, severely strained Diaspora Jews’ loyalty. Further complicating

matters was the imposition after 70 of thefiscus Iudaicus,an annual pay-

ment made to Jupiter Capitolinus by all Jews, regardless of gender, in lieu

of payment of the Temple tax. This tax weighed heavily on the Jews, espe-

cially the poorer ones with large households, and its rigorous application

by the emperor Domitian only made conditions worse (Suetonius,

Domitian12).

In Alexandria, local conditions and grievances made the status of the

Jewish community quite unstable. A single papyrus, theActa Hermaisci,

recounts rival embassies from Alexandria to Emperor Trajan only a decade

63

Jewish History from Alexander to Hadrian

EERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:03:52 PM