HISTORY OF THE JEWS
HISTORY OF THE
JEWS
BY
PROFESSOR H. GRAETZ
VOL. III
FROM THE REVOLT AGAINST THE ZENDIK (511 C. E.) TO
THE CAPTURE OF ST. JEAN D'ACRE BY THE
MAHOMETANS (1291 C. E.)
[Illustration]
PHILADELPHIA
THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA
COPYRIGHT, 1894,
BY THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE DECAY OF JUDÆA, AND THE JEWS IN DISPERSION.
The Zendik Religion--King Kobad and Mazdak the Reformer--Revolt
of the Jews--Mar-Zutra--Revival of the Schools--The Saburaïm--
The Talmud committed to writing--Tolerance of Chosru II--The
Christianization of Judæa--The Jews under Byzantine Rule--
Justinian--Persecution of the Samaritans--Benjamin of Tiberias
--Attack on Tyre--The Emperor Heraclius _page_ 1
500-628 C. E.
CHAPTER II.
THE JEWS IN EUROPE.
Growth of the Jews in Europe--The Communities in Constantinople
and Italy--Theodoric--Isidore of Seville--Pope Gregory I--The
Jews of France--Chilperic and Dagobert--Avitus--The Jews in
Spain--Controversies between Jews and Christians _page_ 24
510-640 C. E.
CHAPTER III.
THE JEWS OF THE ARABIAN PENINSULA.
Happy condition of the Jews in Arabia--Traditions as to their
original settlements--Yathrib and Chaibar--The Jewish-Arabic
tribes--The Benu-Nadhir, the Benu-Kuraiza, and Benu-Bachdal--
The Benu-Kainukaa--The Jews of Yemen--Their power and
influence--Conversion of Arabian tribes to Judaism--
Abu-Kariba, the first Jewish-Himyarite king--Zorah Dhu-Nowas--
Samuel Ibn-Adija--Mahomet--His indebtedness to Judaism--
Mahomet's early friendliness to the Jews and subsequent breach
with them--His attacks on the Jewish tribes--The War of the
Fosse--The position of the Jews under the Caliphs _page_ 53
500-662 C. E.
CHAPTER IV.
THE AGE OF THE GEONIM.
The Conquests of Islam--Omar's Intolerance--Condition of the
Jews in Babylonia--Bostanaï--The Princes of the Captivity
and the Geonim--Dignity and Revenues of the Prince--Communal
Organization--Excommunication--Julian of Toledo and the Jews--
The Moslems in Spain--The Jews and Arabic Literature--The
Assyrian Vowel-system--The Neo-Hebraic Poetry: José ben José--
Simon ben Caipha--Employment of Rhyme--Jannaï--Eleazar Kaliri
--Opposition to the Study of the Talmud--The False Messiah
Serenus, the Syrian--The Jews in the Crimea and the Land of
the Chazars--The False Messiah Obadia Abu-Isa _page_ 86
640-760 C. E.
CHAPTER V.
RISE OF KARAISM AND ITS RESULTS.
Anan ben David, the founder of Karaism--His life, writings,
and influence--Hostility to the Talmud--Anan's innovations--
Karaite reverence of Anan--The Exilarchate becomes elective--
Adoption of Judaism by the Chazars--King Bulan and Isaac
Sinjari--Bulan's Jewish successors--Charlemagne and the Empire
of the Franks--The Jews and Commerce--Jewish Envoy sent to the
Caliph Haroun Alrashid--Spread of the Jews in Europe--The
Caliphs and the Jews--The study of philosophy--Sahal--The
Kalam--Mutazilists and Anthropomorphists--Judah Judghan--The
_Shiur Komah_--The Akbarites--Moses the Persian _page_ 127
761-840 C. E.
CHAPTER VI.
FAVORABLE CONDITION OF THE JEWS IN THE FRANKISH DOMINIONS,
AND THE DECAY OF THE EXILARCHATE IN THE EAST.
The Jews under Louis le Débonnaire--The Empress Judith
and her Veneration for Judaism--Agobard, Bishop of Lyons--
Conversion of Bishop Bodo--Amolo's effort against the Jews--
Charles the Bald--Troubles in Béziers and Toulouse--Decree
against the Jews in Italy--Boso of Burgundy--Basilius--Leo the
Philosopher--Decline of the Exilarchate--The Geonim acquire
Additional Influence--The Prayer Book of Amram--Mar-Zemach--
Literary and Scientific Activity of the Jews--Decay of Karaism
--Dissensions at Pumbeditha _page_ 160
814-920 C. E.
CHAPTER VII.
THE GOLDEN AGE OF JEWISH SCIENCE: SAADIAH AND CHASDAÏ.
Judaism in the Tenth Century--Saadiah, the Founder of Religious
Philosophy--Translation of the Bible into Arabic--Saadiah
opposes Karaism--The Karaite Solomon ben Yerucham--Saadiah and
the School at Sora--Saadiah retires from Sora--His Literary
Activity--Extinction of the Exilarchate--Sahal and other
Karaite writers--Jews in Spain--The School at Cordova--Dunash
ben Tamim--Chasdaï--His services to Judaism--Menachem ben
Saruk--Chasdaï and the King of the Chazars _page_ 187
928-970 C. E.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE RISE OF JEWISH-SPANISH CULTURE, AND THE DECAY OF
THE GAONATE.
The Gaon Sherira and his son Haï--Sherira's Historical Letter
--The Jewish Congregations in Spain--Jewish Culture in
Andalusia--The Disciples of Menachem and Dunash--Jehuda Chayuj
--Contest between Chanoch and Ibn-Abitur--Jacob Ibn-Jau--The
Jews of France--Nathan the Babylonian and Leontin--The Jews of
Germany--Gershom and his Ordinances--The Emperor Henry II--The
Caliph Hakem--The Jewish Communities of Northern Africa--
Chananel, the Son of Chushiel, and Nissim bar Jacob Ibn Shahin
--The Jerusalem Talmud--Haï Gaon--His Character and Importance
--Samuel bar Chofni--Chiskiya, the Last Gaon--Samuel
Ibn-Nagrela--Jonah Ibn-Janach _page_ 231
970-1050 C. E.
CHAPTER IX.
IBN-GEBIROL AND HIS EPOCH.
Solomon Ibn-Gebirol--His early life--His poems--The statesman
Yekutiel Ibn-Hassan befriends him--Murder of Yekutiel--Bachya
Ibn-Pakuda and his moral philosophy--The Biblical critic
Yizchaki ben Yasus--Joseph ben Chasdaï, the Poet--Death of
Samuel Ibn Nagrela--Character of his son Joseph and his tragic
fate--Death of Ibn-Gebirol--The French and German communities
--Alfassi--Life and works of Rashi--Jewish scholars in Spain
--King Alfonso _page_ 265
1027-1070 C. E.
CHAPTER X.
THE FIRST CRUSADE.
The position of the Jews in Germany previous to the Crusades--
The community of Speyer and Henry IV--The Martyrs of Treves
and Speyer--Emmerich of Leiningen and the Martyrs of Mayence--
Cruel persecutions at Cologne--Suffering of the Jews in
Bohemia--Pitiful death of the Jews of Jerusalem--Emperor
Henry's justice towards the Jews--Return of Converts to
Judaism--Death of Alfassi and Rashi _Page_ 297
1096-1105 C. E.
CHAPTER XI.
ZENITH OF THE SPANISH-JEWISH CULTURE: JEHUDA HALEVI.
The Jews under the Almoravides--Joseph Ibn-Sahal, Joseph
Ibn-Zadik--Joseph Ibn-Migash--The Poets Ibn-Giat, Ibn-Abbas,
Ibn-Sakbel and Ibn-Ezra--Abulhassan Jehuda Halevi--His Poems
and Philosophy--The Chozari--Incidents of his Life--Prince
Samuel Almansur--Jehuda Halevi's Pilgrimage to Jerusalem--
His Death _page_ 311
1105-1148 C. E.
CHAPTER XII.
PERSECUTIONS DURING THE SECOND CRUSADE AND UNDER
THE ALMOHADES.
Condition of the Jews in France--The Second Crusade--Peter the
Venerable and the Monk Rudolph--Bernard of Clairvaux and the
Emperor Conrad--Protectors of the Jews--Persecutions under the
Almohades--Abdulmumen and his Edict--The Prince Jehuda
Ibn-Ezra--The Karaites in Spain--Jehuda Hadassi--The historian
Abraham Ibn-Daud and his Philosophy--Abraham Ibn-Ezra--Rabbenu
Tam _page_ 347
1143-1170 C. E.
CHAPTER XIII.
SURVEY OF THE EPOCH OF MAIMUNI (MAIMONIDES).
The Jews of Toledo--Ibn-Shoshan, Ibn-Alfachar--The Poet
Charisi--Sheshet Benveniste--Benjamin of Tudela--The Jews of
Provence--The Kimchis--The Communities of Béziers,
Montpellier, Lünel, and Toulouse--Persecutions of Jews in
Northern France--The Jews of England--Richard I--The Jews of
York--The Jews of Germany--Ephraim ben Jacob--Süsskind--
Petachya the Traveler--The Jews of Italy and of the Byzantine
Empire--Communities in Syria and Palestine--The Jews of Bagdad
--Mosul--The Pseudo-Messiah, David Alroy--The Jews of India--
Conversion to Judaism of Tartars--The Jews of Egypt _page_ 382
1171-1205 C. E.
CHAPTER XIV.
MAIMUNI (MAIMONIDES).
Early years of Maimuni (Maimonides)--His journey to Fez--Letter
of Consolation of Maimun (father of Maimonides)--Maimuni and
the Jewish Converts to Islam--The Maimun Family in Palestine
and Egypt--Maimuni's Commentary on the Mishna--Saladin and the
Jews--Letter of Maimonides to Yemen--The _Mishne-Torah_ of
Maimuni--Controversies with reference to this Work--Joseph
Ibn-Aknin--Maimuni as a Physician--Maimuni attacked by Samuel
ben Ali--Maimuni and the Jews of Provence--The _More Nebuchim_
and its importance--Death of Maimonides _page_ 446
1171-1205 C. E.
CHAPTER XV.
NEW POSITION OF THE JEWS IN CHRISTIAN LANDS AT THE
BEGINNING OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.
Effects of the Death of Maimuni--Abraham Maimuni, the son of
Maimuni--Hostility of the Papacy against the Jews--Pope
Innocent III--The Albigenses--Emigration of Rabbis to
Palestine--The Lateran Council and the Jewish Badges--Synod of
Rabbis at Mayence--The Dominicans and the Rise of the
Inquisition--King Jayme of Aragon and his Physician Benveniste
--Stephen Langton and the Jews of England--Gregory IX and
Louis IX of France--The Jews of Hungary _page_ 494
1205-1232 C. E.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE MAIMUNIST CONTROVERSY AND THE RISE OF THE
KABBALA.
The Opposition against Maimuni--Maimunists and anti-Maimunists
--Meïr Abulafia--Samson of Sens--Solomon of Montpellier--
Excommunication of the Maimunists--David Kimchi's energetic
Advocacy of Maimuni--Nachmani--His Character and Work--His
Relations to Maimuni, Ibn-Ezra, and the Kabbala--Solomon of
Montpellier calls in the aid of the Dominicans--Moses of Coucy
--Modern date of the Kabbala--Azriel and Ezra--Doctrines of
the Kabbala--Jacob ben Sheshet Gerundi--The Bahir--Three
Parties in Judaism--Last flicker of the Neo-Hebraic Poetry--
The Satirical Romance: Al-Charisi and Joseph ben Sabara
_page_ 522
1232-1236 C. E.
CHAPTER XVII.
PUBLIC DISCUSSIONS, AND THE BURNING OF THE TALMUD.
Pope Gregory IX--Emperor Frederick II and the Jewish Scholars,
Jehuda Ibn-Matka and Jacob Anatoli--The Jewish Legislation of
Frederick of Austria--The Martyrs of Aquitaine and Gregory IX
--Louis IX of France and his Enmity to the Jews--Attacks on
the Talmud--The Apostate Nicholas-Donin--Disputation at the
French Court between Yechiel of Paris and Nicholas-Donin--Judah
of Melun--The Talmud burnt at Paris--The Church and Jewish
Physicians--Moses Ibn-Tibbon and Shem-Tob Tortosi--Papal Bull
acquitting Jews of the Blood-accusation--The Last French
Tossafists--The Jews of England--The Jewish Parliament--Alfonso
the Wise and the Jews of Spain--Meïr de Malea and his Sons--The
Jewish Astronomers Don Judah Cohen and Don Zag Ibn-Said--The
Jews of Aragon--De Penyaforte and the Apostate Pablo Christiani
--The First Censorship of the Talmud--Nachmani's Disputation
with Pablo--Influence of Nachmani--The Karaites _page_ 563
1236-1270 C. E.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE AGE OF SOLOMON BEN ADRET AND ASHERI.
Martyrs in Germany--The Jews of Hungary and Poland--The Council
at Buda--The Jews of Spain and Portugal--Solomon ben Adret, his
character and writings--Raymund Martin's anti-Jewish Works--New
antagonism to the Maimunist Philosophy--David Maimuni--Moses
Taku--Meïr of Rothenburg--The Jews of Italy--Solomon Petit--
Rudolph of Habsburg--Emigration of Jews from the Rhine
Provinces--Sufferings of the English Jews--Expulsion of the
Jews from England and Gascony--Saad Addaula--Isaac of Accho
_page_ 610
1270-1306 C. E.
HISTORY OF THE JEWS.
CHAPTER I.
THE DECAY OF JUDÆA AND THE JEWS IN DISPERSION.
The Zendik Religion--King Kobad and Mazdak the Reformer--
Revolt of the Jews--Mar-Zutra--Revival of the Schools--
The Saburaïm--The Talmud committed to writing--Tolerance of
Chosru II--The Christianization of Judæa--The Jews under
Byzantine Rule--Justinian--Persecution of the Samaritans--
Benjamin of Tiberias--Attack on Tyre--The Emperor Heraclius.
500-628 C. E.
Hardly had the Jews recovered from the long and horrible persecution to
which they had been subjected by King Firuz, when they were overtaken
by fresh storms, which subverted the work of three centuries. Firuz
had been followed by his brother, who reigned a short time, and was
succeeded by Kobad (Kovad, Cabades). The latter was a weak king, not
without good qualities, but he allowed himself to become the tool of a
fanatic, and was prevailed upon to institute religious persecutions.
There arose under this monarch a man who desired to reform the religion
of the Magi and make it the ruling faith. Mazdak--for that was the
name of this reformer of Magianism--believed that he had discovered
a means of promoting the promised victory of Light over Darkness, of
Ahura-Mazda over Angromainyus. He considered greed of property and
lust after women the causes of all evil among men, and he desired to
remove these causes by introducing community of property and of women,
even allowing promiscuous intercourse among those related by ties
of consanguinity. In Mazdak's opinion it was on the foundation of
communistic equality that the edifice of Zoroaster's doctrine could
most safely be raised. As he led a virtuous and ascetic life, and was
very earnest in his endeavors to reform, he soon succeeded in gaining
numerous adherents (about the year 501), who availed themselves of
these advantageous liberties, and called themselves Zendik, or true
believers of the Zend. King Kobad himself became Mazdak's faithful
disciple and supporter. He issued a decree commanding all the
inhabitants of the Persian Empire to accept the doctrines of Mazdak,
and to live in accordance therewith. The lower classes became the
most zealous of Zendiks; they promptly appropriated the possessions
of the rich and such of the women as pleased them. Thus there arose a
confusion of the ideas of right and wrong, of virtue and vice, such as
had never been known in the history of nations. Finally, the Persian
nobles dethroned this communistic king, and threw him into prison;
but when Kobad escaped from confinement and, by the aid of the Huns,
was again placed in possession of his dominions, they were unable to
prevent Mazdak's adherents from renewing their licentious conduct. Many
children born during Kobad's reign were of doubtful paternity, and no
one could be certain of the peaceful enjoyment of his property.
The Jews and Christians naturally did not escape the communistic
plague, and although only the rich suffered from the legalized robbery
of the Zendiks, the community of women struck a terrible blow at all
classes. Chastity and holding sacred the marriage vows had, from the
first, been characteristic virtues of the Jews, and by Talmudic law,
they had become even more deeply rooted in their natures. They could
not endure the thought of their wives and maidens exposed to violation,
and the purity of their families, which they treasured as the apple of
their eye, threatened with defilement. They appear therefore to have
opposed an armed resistance to the licentious attacks of the Zendiks.
An insurrection of the Jews, which broke out at this juncture, was in
all probability organized for the purpose of resisting this intolerable
communism. At the head of this insurrection stood Mar-Zutra II, the
youthful Prince of the Captivity, who, to judge from the fact alone
that legend has embellished his birth and deeds with wonderful details,
must have been a remarkable personage.
Mar-Zutra, born in about 496, was the son of Huna, a learned Prince of
the Captivity, who, after the death of the tyrant Firuz, was invested
with the dignity of the Exilarchate (488-508). At the time of his
father's death, Mar-Zutra was still a young boy. During the period of
his minority, the office of Prince of the Captivity was held by Pachda,
his sister's husband, who does not seem to have been inclined to yield
this dignity to the lawful heir. Mar-Zutra's grandfather, Mar-Chanina,
in company with his grandson, sought the court of the Persian king,
and in 511, presumably by means of valuable presents, succeeded in
effecting Pachda's deposition and Mar-Zutra's investiture. It was this
young prince who now arose, sword in hand, to protect his brethren. The
immediate cause of the insurrection is said to have been the murder
of Mar-Isaac, the president of one of the academies. Mar-Zutra's
forces consisted of four hundred Jewish warriors, with whose help
he probably succeeded in expelling Mazdak's rapacious and lustful
adherents from the territory of Jewish Babylonia, and in resisting
this shameless violation of most sacred rights. He is further said to
have accomplished such brilliant feats of arms that the troops which
had been sent by the king to quell the insurrection were unable to
withstand him. Mar-Zutra is even said to have won independence for his
people, and to have laid the non-Jewish inhabitants of Babylonia under
tribute. Machuza, near Ctesiphon, became the capital of a small Jewish
state, with the Prince of the Captivity for its king.
The independence thus conquered by Mar-Zutra lasted nearly seven years;
the Jewish army was finally overcome by the superior numbers of the
Persian host, and the Prince of the Captivity was taken prisoner.
He and his aged grandfather, Mar-Chanina, were executed, and their
bodies nailed to the cross on the bridge of Machuza (about 520). The
inhabitants of this town were stripped of their possessions, and led
into captivity, and it is probable that this was not the full extent
of the persecution. The members of the family of the Prince of the
Captivity were compelled to flee. They escaped to Judæa, taking with
them Mar-Zutra's posthumous heir, who also bore the name Mar-Zutra. He
was educated in Judæa, and there became a distinguished scholar. On
account of Kobad's persecution, the office of Prince of the Captivity
in Babylonia remained in abeyance for some time. The Talmudical
academies were closed, for the teachers of the Law were persecuted and
compelled to hide. Two of the leading men, Ahunai and Giza, fled, and
the latter settled on the river Zab. Other fugitives probably directed
their steps towards Palestine or Arabia. Kobad's revenge for an
insurrection provoked by fanaticism dealt a severe blow at the public
life of the Babylonian Jews, which centered in the two academies, at
Sora and Pumbeditha. However, the persecution does not seem to have
extended over the whole of Persia, for Jewish soldiers served in the
Persian army which fought against the Greek general Belisarius, and
the Persian captain had so great a regard for them that he requested
a truce in order that they might peacefully observe the feast of
Passover.
After Kobad's death, the persecution of the Babylonian Jews ceased.
His successor, Chosroes Nushirvan, was not, indeed, well-disposed
towards them, and imposed upon them and the Christians a poll-tax from
which only children and old men were exempt; yet this tax was not an
indication of intolerance or hate, but simply a means of filling the
imperial treasury.
As soon as peace was restored the representatives of the Babylonian
Jews hastened to re-establish their institutions, to re-open the
academies, and, as it were, to re-unite the severed links in the chain
of tradition. The fugitive Giza, who had remained in hiding by the
river Zab, was called to preside over the academy at Sora; the sister
academy at Pumbeditha chose Semuna as its head. A third name of this
period has been transmitted to posterity, that of Rabaï of Rob (near
Nahardea), whose position and office are, however, not clearly known.
These men, with their associates and disciples, devoted their whole
activity to the Talmud. It was the sole object of the attention of all
thoughtful and pious men of that period; it satisfied religious zeal,
promoted tranquillity of mind, and was also the means of acquiring
fame, and thus furthering both spiritual and temporal aims. The
persecution of the Law endeared and sanctified it, and the Talmud was
the sacred banner around which the entire nation rallied.
But the disciples of the last Amoraïm had lost all creative power,
and were unable to continue the development of the Talmud. The
subject-matter and the method of teaching were both so fully defined
that they were incapable of extension or of amplification. The
stagnation in Talmudical development was more marked than ever before.
The presidents of the academies were content to adhere to the ancient
custom of assembling their disciples during the months of Adar (March)
and Ellul (September), giving them lectures on the traditional lore
and the methodology of the Talmud, and assigning to them themes for
private study. At the utmost they settled, according to certain
principles, many points of practice in the ritual, the civil law and
the marriage code, which had until then remained undetermined, or
concerning which there was a difference of opinion in the academies.
Their purpose was to render the exhaustless material of the Talmud,
which discussion and controversy had deprived of all definiteness,
available for practical use. In order to prevent the decay of
religious living, it was necessary that all doubt and uncertainty
should cease; the judges stood in need of fixed principles by which
to decide the cases brought before them, and all were ignorant of
authoritative precepts by which to regulate their religious conduct.
The establishing of the final rules for religious and legal practice
after careful consideration of the arguments _pro_ and _con_ conferred
upon the post-Amoraïc teachers the name of Sabureans (Saburaï). After
the various opinions (Sebora) were reviewed, they were the ones that
established the final, valid law. The activity of the Sabureans really
began immediately after the completion of the Talmud, and Giza,
Semuna and their associates merely worked along the same lines; their
intention was to develop a practical code rather than the theory of the
Law. They did not arrogate to themselves the authority to originate.
First of all, Giza and Semuna, the presidents of the academies,
engaged in the work of committing the Talmud to writing. They availed
themselves partly of oral tradition, partly of written notes made by
various persons as an aid to memory.
As everything which proceeded from the Amoraïc authorities appeared
of importance to their successors, they gathered up every utterance,
every anecdote which was current in learned circles, so that posterity
might not be deprived of what they deemed to be the fulness of wisdom.
They made additions for the purpose of explaining obscure passages. In
this form, as edited by the Sabureans, the contemporary communities and
posterity received the Talmud.
The era of the Sabureans witnessed the beginnings of an art without
which the sacred writings had remained a sealed book,--the introduction
of a system of vowel-points, by means of which the text of Holy Writ
became intelligible to the unlearned. This art owes its origin to
a faint breath of "scientific research" wafted from dying Greece.
Justinian had closed the schools of philosophy in Greece, and the last
of her wise men sought refuge in Persia. From them the science of
grammar was communicated to the Syrian Christians, these in turn roused
in their Jewish neighbors the spirit of emulation in the investigation
of the Scriptures, and this led to the adoption of vowel-points and
accents.
The names of the immediate successors of Giza and Semuna have been
preserved neither by the chronicles nor by tradition; they were
forgotten in the persecution with which the academies were again
visited. In this century Magianism contended with Christianity for
the palm of intolerance. Judaism was an abomination to both, and the
priests of these two religions, of which the one preached the victory
of light, and the other the rule of brotherly love, used weak kings as
the instruments of horrible persecutions.
Chosroes Nushirvan's son, Hormisdas (Ormuz) IV, was unlike his great
father in every respect. His tutor and counselor, Abuzurj-Mihir, the
Persian Seneca, is said to have invented the game of chess for this
weakly monarch, in order to teach him the dependence of the king on
the army and the people. During this philosopher's lifetime the true
character of Hormisdas was hidden, but immediately upon his retirement
the Nero-like nature of the king broke out, and overstepped the bounds
of prudence and moderation.
Led by the Magi, who attempted to arrest the approaching dissolution
of their religion by persecuting the adherents of other beliefs, he
vented his wrath upon the Jews and the Christians of his empire. The
Talmudical academies in Sora and Pumbeditha were closed, and as under
Firuz and Kobad, many of the teachers of the Law again emigrated (about
581). They settled in Firuz-Shabur (near Nahardea), which was governed
by an Arabian chieftain, and was, therefore, less exposed to espionage.
They continued their labors in Firuz-Shabur, and new academies arose in
that town, the most distinguished being that of Mari.
Hormisdas' cruel reign, however, was of short duration; the Persians
became dissatisfied and refractory, and the political enemies of Persia
entered its territory, and possessed themselves of the country. The
empire of the Sassanians would have become the prize of some successful
invader, had it not been saved by the efforts of the brave general
Bahram Tshubin. But when the foolish monarch went so far as to reward
the deliverer of his country with ingratitude and to dismiss him,
Bahram rose against the unworthy king, dethroned him, and threw him
into prison, in which he was afterwards murdered (589). At first, for
the sake of appearances, Bahram governed in the name of Prince Chosru,
but soon he threw off all disguise and ascended the Persian throne. The
Jews of Persia and Babylonia hailed Bahram as their deliverer. He was
for them what the Emperor Julian had been for the Jews of the Roman
empire two hundred years before; he put an end to their oppression and
favored their endeavors. For this reason they espoused his cause with
great devotion, assisted him with money and troops, and supported his
tottering throne. Without the aid of the Jews, it is probable that he
would have experienced great difficulty in retaining it for any length
of time, for after some hesitation the Persian nation turned towards
Chosru, the lawful heir to the throne. Only the army for the most part
remained faithful to Bahram, and the Jews, doubtless, provided for the
maintenance and the pay of the troops. The re-opening of the academies
in Sora and Pumbeditha is undoubtedly to be attributed to the favor of
Bahram in return for the devotion of the Persian Jews. Chanan of Iskia
returned from Firuz-Shabur to Pumbeditha, and restored the ancient
academic organization; it is also probable that the academy of Sora,
which enjoyed by far the greater repute, elected a president at this
time, although his name is not mentioned in the chronicles.
Bahram's rule was brought to a sudden end. The Byzantine emperor
Mauritius, to whom the fugitive Prince Chosru had fled, sent an army to
his aid, with which the loyal Persians united to make war upon Bahram.
The Jews paid with their lives for their adherence to the usurper. At
the capture of Machuza, a town containing a large Jewish population,
the Persian general Mebodes put the greater part of the Jews to death.
They probably fared no better in the other cities into which Chosru's
victorious army penetrated. Bahram's army was vanquished, and he
himself compelled to take refuge with the Huns. Chosru II, surnamed
Firuz, ascended the throne of his ancestors. This prince, who was
both just and humane, resembled his grandfather Nushirvan rather than
Hormisdas, his father; he did not hold the Jews to account for their
participation in the revolt. Throughout his long reign (590-628), the
two academies enjoyed uninterrupted prosperity. Chanan was succeeded
by Mari bar Mar, who had founded an academy in Firuz-Shabur, and the
president of Sora during the same period was a teacher of similar
name, Mar bar Huna (609 to about 620), during whose administration the
fortunes of the Jews of Palestine alternated from victory to defeat.
The successors of these teachers were Chaninaï in Pumbeditha and
Chananya in Sora; they lived to see the victorious advance of the Arabs
and the end of the Persian rule. The last of the Sassanian kings, of
whom there were ten in the short period of twelve years, had no leisure
to devote to the affairs of the Jewish population of their shattered
empire; the Jewish community in Babylonia continued, therefore, to
exist in its ancient order, with the Prince of the Captivity at its
head. During the half-century that elapsed between the re-opening of
the academies under Bahram and the Arab conquest of Persia (589-640),
three Resh-Galutas are mentioned by name: Kafnaï, Chaninaï, and
Bostanaï. The last of these belongs to the ensuing epoch, in which,
aided by favorable circumstances, he succeeded in again investing the
dignity of Prince of the Captivity with substantial power.
The position of the Jews in Judæa during the sixth century was so
terrible that a complete cessation of intellectual pursuits ensued.
Like their co-religionists of the Byzantine empire, they were without
political standing; the laws of the younger Theodosius were still in
force, and were applied with increased severity by Justin I. The Jews
were excluded from all posts of honor, and were forbidden to build new
synagogues. The successors of this emperor, as narrow-minded as he and
even harder of heart, enforced the anti-Jewish laws rigorously. The
spirit which animated the rulers of the Eastern Empire against the Jews
is shown by an utterance of the Emperor Zeno, the Isaurian upstart. In
Antioch, where, as in all the great cities of the Byzantine empire,
there existed the race-course (stadium) and the factions of the two
colors, blue and green, one of those disturbances which seldom ended
without bloodshed had been fomented by the latter party. Upon this
occasion the partisans of the green murdered many Jews, threw their
bodies into the flames, and burned their synagogues. When the Emperor
Zeno was informed of this occurrence, he exclaimed that the sole fault
of the partisans of the green was that they had burned only the dead
Jews, and not the living ones as well! The bigoted populace, whom the
disputes of the clergy and the color-factions had demoralized, saw in
their ruler's hatred of the Jews a tacit invitation to vent their rage
upon them. The inhabitants of Antioch had always been inimical towards
the Jews. When, therefore, a notorious charioteer of Constantinople,
Calliopas by name, came to Antioch, and joining the party of the green,
occasioned a riot, the Jews again felt the brutal barbarity of this
faction. Its partisans had repaired to Daphne, near Antioch, in order
to celebrate some festival, and there, without any sufficient motive,
they destroyed the synagogue and its sanctuaries, and brutally murdered
the worshipers (507).
Meanwhile how much of the land of their fathers still remained in the
hands of the Jews? Christianity had made itself master of Judæa, and
had become the heir of Judaism. Churches and monasteries arose in
the Holy Land, but its former masters were subjected to all sorts of
persecution whenever they attempted to repair a dilapidated synagogue.
Bishops, abbots and monks lorded it over Palestine, and turned it
into a theater of dogmatic wranglings over the simple or dual nature
of Christ. Jerusalem had ceased to be a center for the Jews; it had
become a thoroughly Christian city, the seat of an archbishop, and
inaccessible to its own sons. The law forbidding Jews to enter the Holy
City, which had been revived by Constantine, was, after the death of
Julian, most rigorously enforced by the authorities. Tiberias, the
stately city on the lake, alone maintained its academical rank, and
under the presidency of Mar-Zutra III and his descendants, it became
a seat of authority for the Jews of other countries. Even the Jewish
king of Arabia voluntarily submitted to the exhortations addressed
to him from Tiberias. But Christianity had acquired a hold even
there, and Tiberias was also the seat of a bishopric. The mountain
cities of Galilee were inhabited by Jews, who probably followed the
same occupations as their forefathers, namely, agriculture and the
cultivation of the olive.
Nazareth, the cradle of Christianity, where the most beautiful women in
all Palestine were to be found, seems to have been mostly populated by
Jews, as it had not been raised to the rank of a bishopric. Scythopolis
(Bethsan), which became the capital of Palæstina Secunda during this
century, and Neapolis (Shechem), the capital of the Samaritans since
Samaria had become Christian, had Jewish inhabitants. But in all these
cities, with the exception of Nazareth, the Jews seem to have been
in the minority, insignificant in comparison with the number of the
Christians.
There probably existed an educational system among the Jews of
Palestine, but it must have been inadequate and unimportant, since,
with the exception of Mar-Zutra, not even the names of the teachers
are known. Until the time of Justinian the Jews of Palestine and the
Byzantine empire, whatever may have been their civil disabilities,
enjoyed complete religious liberty; the emperors did not interfere
in the affairs of the heart. Justinian was the emperor who, besides
imposing greater civil restrictions, first interfered in matters of
conscience. It was he who promulgated the disgraceful law that Jewish
witnesses were not to be allowed to testify against Christians, and
that they were to be considered competent witnesses only in their own
cases (532). Compared with the Samaritans, the Jews were a favored
class, for the evidence of the former had no validity whatever, and
they were not even allowed to dispose of their property by will. This
was an act of revenge against the Samaritans, who had several times
risen in revolt against the imperial power, and on one occasion had set
up a king in the person of Julian ben Sabar (about 530). As the Jews
had not taken part in this insurrection, they were favored to a certain
extent. Meanwhile, however, Justinian also published an anti-Jewish
law. Although the Jews and Samaritans were excluded, like all heretics,
from offices of honor, they were obliged by law to assume the onerous
and expensive decurionate (magisterial office), without being
permitted, however, to enjoy the privileges attached to it, namely,
exemption from exile and flogging. "They shall bear the yoke, although
they sigh under it; but they shall be deemed unworthy of every honor"
(537).
Justinian was one of those rulers who, in spite of narrowness of mind
and wickedness, have their own opinions on religious matters, and
desire to assert them without regard for their subjects' peace of
mind. Justinian wished to carry out his views concerning the Christian
celebration of Easter, and he therefore forbade the Jews to celebrate
the Passover before the Easter of the Christians. The governors of the
provinces had strict orders to enforce this prohibition. Thus, whenever
the Jewish feast of the Passover preceded the Christian Easter, in the
year before leap-year, the Jews incurred heavy fines for holding divine
service and eating unleavened bread (about 540).
Other invasions were made by Justinian on the territory of religious
affairs. A Jewish congregation, probably in Constantinople or Cæsarea,
had been for some time divided against itself. One party wanted the
reading of the portions of the Pentateuch and the Prophets to be
followed by a translation into Greek, for the benefit of the illiterate
and the women. The pious members, on the other hand, especially the
teachers of the Law, entertained an aversion to the use of the language
of their tormentors and of the Church in divine service, probably also
on the ground that no time would be left for the Agadic exposition.
The dispute became so violent that the Grecian party laid the matter
before the emperor, and appealed to him, as judge, in the last
instance. Justinian of course pronounced judgment in favor of the Greek
translation, and recommended to the Jews the use of the Septuagint or
of Aquila's translation in their divine service. He also commanded that
in all the provinces of his empire the lessons from the Holy Scriptures
be translated into the vernacular. Thus far Justinian was in the right.
It is true that he also forbade, under threat of corporal punishment,
the excommunication of the Greek party or party of innovation by those
that clung to the old liturgical system; but even this may be regarded
as an act of justice, as the emperor desired to guarantee liberty in
matters connected with the liturgy. But another clause of the same
rescript proves unmistakably that in this matter he was consulting the
interests of the Church alone, laboring, as he did, under the delusion
that the use of a Greek translation in the synagogical services,
especially of the Septuagint, Christian in coloring, would win over
the Jews to the Christian faith. He decreed that all the Jewish
congregations of the Byzantine empire, naturally including those which
entertained no desire in this direction, should use a Greek or Latin
translation of the lessons for each Sabbath, and he forbade the use of
the Agadic exposition, which had been customary until then. Justinian
desired to suppress the national conceptions of the Holy Scripture in
favor of a translation which had been altered in many places to suit
the purposes of Christianity.
It was probably Justinian who forbade the recital of the confession of
faith, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is one," in the synagogues, because it
seemed a protest against the doctrine of the Trinity. He also forbade
the prayer, "Holy, holy, holy," because the Jews added an Aramaic
sentence, by way of explanation, in order that this prayer might not,
as the Christians held, be taken as a confirmation of the Trinity.
Finally, he forbade the reading of the prophet Isaiah on the Sabbath,
so that the Jews might be deprived of this source of comfort for their
present sorrows and of hope for future happiness.
The service in the synagogue was to be a means of converting the Jews,
and the spirit of Judaism, manifesting itself in Agadic expositions
and homilies, was to be made to yield to Christian doctrines, the
path to which was to be leveled by a method of interpretation showing
Christ to be prefigured in the Old Testament. It appears, therefore,
that the despotic Justinian by no means proposed to grant liberties
to the synagogue, but that he desired, on the contrary, to impose a
species of restraint. He was very zealous in exacting obedience to this
decree, and he commanded his minister, Areobindus, to communicate the
edict concerning the translation of the lessons read in the synagogue
to all the officers of the provinces, and to enjoin upon them to watch
strictly over its rigorous execution (February 13th, 553).
This malignant decree was, however, followed by no serious
consequences; the need of a translation of the Bible was not
sufficiently pressing among the Jews to oblige them to make use of one.
The party which desired to introduce a translation stood isolated,
and it was not difficult to conduct divine service in the customary
manner and to escape the notice of the authorities in those instances
in which the congregation was at peace. The preachers continued to
make use of the Agada, even introducing covert attacks upon anti-Jewish
Byzantium into their sermons. "'There are creeping things innumerable'
(Psalm civ) signifies the countless edicts which the Roman empire
(Byzantium) publishes against us; the 'small and great beasts' are
the dukes, governors, and captains; whosoever of the Jews associates
himself with them shall become an object of scorn." "As an arrow is not
perceived until it has pierced the heart, so it is with the decrees of
Esau (Byzantium). His shafts come suddenly, and are not felt until the
word is spoken for death or imprisonment. Their writings are 'the arrow
that flieth by day.'" In this strain the teachers of the Law preached
in Judæa.
The Jews of Palestine had but little cause to be satisfied with
Justinian's rule, which oppressed them doubly with its extortionate
taxation and its religious hypocrisy. Stephanus, the governor of
Palæstina Prima, doubtless no better than the majority of officials
in Justinian's time, helped to irritate the Jews, by whom he was
thoroughly hated. The time was past, however, when the Jews could
angrily shake the galling yoke from their necks, and take up arms
against their oppressors. The Samaritans, who had been hard pressed
since the days of the Emperor Zeno, were more passionate and
venturesome, but their numerous insurrections resulted in forging new
chains for them, especially since the days of their short-lived king,
Julian, when they had so ruthlessly massacred their hated enemies,
the Christians. They were compelled, with even greater rigor than the
Jews, to embrace Christianity, and all who refused to submit forfeited
the right of disposing of their property. Although Sergius, bishop of
Cæsarea, declared that the obstinacy of the Samaritans had decreased,
and that they embraced Christianity with ever-increasing sincerity,
and although he succeeded in inducing Justinian to mitigate the
severity of the harsh laws which had been promulgated against them,
they nevertheless concealed in their hearts the deepest hatred toward
their tormentors.
On the occasion of a chariot-race in Cæsarea, the capital, where the
jealousy of the color-factions against one another never allowed an
event of that kind to pass off without a riot, the Samaritans threw
off all restraint, and fell upon the Christians. The Jewish youth made
common cause with them, and together they massacred their Christian
opponents in Cæsarea and destroyed their churches. Stephanus, the
governor, hastened to the aid of the Christians, but the Samaritans
pressed him and his military escort so hard that he was obliged to take
refuge in his official residence. Eventually they killed him in his
own house, and spread terror throughout the city and the surrounding
country (July, 556). The Samaritans probably counted upon the support
of one of their countrymen, Arsenios by name, the all-powerful favorite
of Empress Theodora, with whose secret commissions he was entrusted.
Stephanus' widow hurried to Constantinople to acquaint the emperor with
this disturbance and the death of her husband, whereupon Justinian
ordered Amantius, the governor of the East resident in Antioch, to
intervene with an armed force.
Amantius found it easy to execute this command, as the movement was
not serious, but few of the Samaritans and Jews of Palestine being
concerned in it. Punishment was meted out only to the guilty, but was
in keeping with the spirit of the times, and consisted of beheading,
hanging, loss of the right hand, and confiscation of property.
Justinian's successor, Justin the Younger, appears to have made no
change in the anti-Jewish laws. Although he renewed the oppressive
enactments of his predecessor against the Samaritans, whom he deprived
of the right to dispose of their property by testament or by deed,
there is no edict of his which was prejudicial to the Jews. Under the
two excellent emperors, Tiberius and Mauritius, no mention is made of
the Jews. It is not until the accession of the usurper Phocas, who
renewed the times of Caligula and Commodus, that a disturbance occurs,
in the course of which the Jews were carried away to a deed of brutal
violence, which proves that the arbitrariness of the officials and the
arrogance of the clergy must have caused intolerable suffering among
them.
In Antioch, hatred had existed between Jews and Christians for
centuries, and had been intensified by constant friction. Suddenly the
Jews fell upon their Christian neighbors, perhaps at the races in the
circus, and retaliated for the injuries which they had suffered; they
killed all that fell into their hands, and threw their bodies into
the fire, as the Christians had done to them a century before. The
Patriarch Anastasius, surnamed the Sinaite, an object of special hate,
was shamefully abused by them, and his body dragged through the streets
before he was put to death. When the news of this rebellion reached
Phocas, he appointed Bonosus governor of the East, and Cotys, commander
of the troops, and charged them to bring the rebels to account. But
the Jews of Antioch fought so bravely that the Roman army could obtain
no advantage over them. It was only when the campaign was renewed
with numerous troops collected from the neighboring country that they
succumbed to the Roman generals, who killed part of them, mutilated
others, and sent the rest into exile (September and October, 608).
The misdeeds of the Emperor Phocas afforded the Jews an unexpected
opportunity to give vent to their deep resentment. He had dispossessed
his predecessor Mauritius, and this provoked the Persian king, Chosru
II, the son-in-law of the latter, to attack the Roman possessions in
the East. A Persian host inundated Asia Minor and Syria, in spite of
the fact that Heraclius, the newly elected emperor, sent news to the
Persian king of Phocas' well-merited chastisement, and begged for peace.
A division of the Persian army under the general Sharbarza descended
from the heights of Lebanon in order to wrest Palestine from the
Byzantine scepter. On hearing of the weakness of the Christian arms
and of the advance of the Persian troops, the Jews of Palestine felt
a fierce desire for battle. It seemed to them that the hour had come
for revenge upon their twofold enemy, Roman and Christian, for the
humiliations which they had borne for centuries. Tiberias was the
hotbed of this warlike movement, and it was started by a man named
Benjamin, who possessed a prodigious fortune, which he employed in
enlisting and arming Jewish troops. A call was issued to all the Jews
of Palestine to assemble and join the Persian army, and it met with a
ready response. The sturdy Jewish inhabitants of Tiberias, of Nazareth,
and of the mountain cities of Galilee, flocked to the Persian standard.
Filled with rage, they spared neither the Christians nor their churches
in Tiberias, and probably put an end to the bishopric. With Sharbarza's
army they marched on Jerusalem, in order to wrest the Holy City from
the Christians. The Jews of southern Palestine joined their countrymen,
and with the help of the Jews and a band of Saracens, the Persian
general took Jerusalem by storm (July, 614). Ninety thousand Christians
are said to have perished in Jerusalem; but the story that the Jews
bought the Christian prisoners from the Persians, and killed them in
cold blood is a pure fiction.
In their rage, however, the Jews relentlessly destroyed the Christian
sanctuaries. All the churches and monasteries were burned, and the Jews
undoubtedly had a greater share in this deed than the Persians. Had
not Jerusalem--the original possession of the Jews--been torn from them
by violence and treachery? Did they not feel that the Holy City was as
foully desecrated by the adoration of the cross and of the bones of the
martyrs as by the idolatries of Antiochus Epiphanes and Hadrian? The
Jews seem to have deluded themselves with the hope that the Persians
would grant them Jerusalem and the surrounding territory whereon to
establish a commonwealth.
With the Persians, the Jews swept through Palestine, destroyed the
monasteries which abounded in the country, and expelled or killed
the monks. A detachment of Jews from Jerusalem, Tiberias, Galilee,
Damascus, and even Cyprus, undertook an incursion against Tyre, having
been invited by the four thousand Jewish inhabitants of that city to
fall upon the Christians on Easter-night and to massacre them. The
Jewish host is said to have consisted of 20,000 men. The expedition,
however, miscarried, as the Christians of Tyre had been informed of
the impending danger. They anticipated their enemies, seizing their
Jewish fellow-citizens and throwing them into prison; then they awaited
the arrival of the Jewish troops, who found the gates closed and
fortified. The invading Jews revenged themselves by destroying the
churches around Tyre. As often, however, as the Christians of Tyre
heard of the destruction of a church, they killed a hundred of their
Jewish prisoners, and threw their heads over the walls. In this manner
2000 of the latter are said to have met their death. The besiegers,
disheartened by the death of their brethren, withdrew, and were pursued
by the Tyrians.
The Palestinian Jews were relieved of the sight of their enemies for
about fourteen years, and the immediate result of these wars filled
them with joy. No doubt many a Christian became converted through
fear, or because he despaired of the continuance of Christianity.
The conversion of a monk who of his own free will embraced Judaism
was a great triumph for the Jews. This monk had spent many years in
the monastery on Mount Sinaï in doing penance and reciting litanies.
Suddenly he was assailed by doubts as to the truth of Christianity.
He alleged that he had been led to this change by vivid dreams,
which showed him on one side Christ, the apostles, and the martyrs
enveloped in gloomy darkness, while on the other side were Moses, the
prophets, and the holy men of Judaism, bathed in light. Weary of this
internal struggle, he descended from Mount Sinaï, crossed the desert to
Palestine, and finally went to Tiberias, where he declared his settled
determination to embrace Judaism. He offered himself for circumcision,
adopted the name of Abraham, married a Jewess, and henceforward became
a zealous advocate of Judaism and a vehement opponent of his former
religion.
Meanwhile the hope which the Jews had placed in the Persian conquerors
had not been fulfilled. The Persians did not deliver up to them the
city of Jerusalem, and did nothing to promote the rise of a free Jewish
commonwealth, besides which they probably oppressed the Jews with
taxes. There thus arose great discord between the allies, which ended
in the Persian general's seizing many of the Jews of Palestine and
banishing them to Persia. This only served to increase the discontent
of the Jews, and induced them to change their opinions and to lean
more towards the Emperor Heraclius. This prince, who underwent the
rare transformation, by which a dull coward is in a night changed into
an enthusiastic hero, was anxious to conciliate his Jewish enemies in
order to use them against his chief opponent. He therefore entered
into a formal alliance with the Jews, the negotiations for which were
probably conducted by Benjamin of Tiberias. This treaty secured for
them immunity from punishment for the injuries which they had inflicted
on the Christians, and held out to them other advantages which have not
come down to us (about 627).
Heraclius' victories, coupled with Chosru's incapacity, and the revolt
which Syroes, the son of the latter, had raised against his father,
won back for the Greek emperor all those provinces which were on the
point of being permanently constituted Persian satrapies. After the
conclusion of peace between Heraclius and Syroes, who dethroned and
killed his aged father, the Persians quitted Judæa, and again the
country fell under Byzantine rule (628). In the autumn of the same
year the emperor proceeded in triumph to Jerusalem. On his journey he
touched at Tiberias, where he was hospitably entertained by Benjamin,
who also furnished the Byzantine army with the means of subsistence. In
the course of conversation the emperor asked him why he had shown such
hatred towards the Christians, to which Benjamin ingenuously replied,
"Because they are the enemies of my religion."
When Heraclius entered the Holy City he was met by the vehement demand
of the monks and the Patriarch Modestus for the extirpation of all
the Jews of Palestine, at once a measure of revenge for their past
treatment of the Christians, and a safeguard against the recurrence of
the outrage if similar incursions should happen. The emperor protested,
however, that he had solemnly and in writing promised immunity from
punishment to the Jews, and to violate this pledge would make him a
sinner before God and a traitor before men. The fanatical monks replied
that the assassination of the Jews, far from being a crime, was, on
the contrary, an offering acceptable to God. They offered to take the
entire responsibility for the sin upon their own shoulders, and to
appoint a special week of fasting by way of atonement. This argument
convinced the bigoted emperor and sufficed to quiet his conscience;
he instituted a persecution of the Jews throughout Palestine, and
massacred all that failed to conceal themselves in the mountains or
escape to Egypt.
There still existed Jewish congregations in Egypt, even in Alexandria
itself, whence the Jews had been expelled by the fanatic Cyril in the
beginning of the fifth century. A certain Jew of Alexandria, Urbib by
name, celebrated for his wealth and generosity, during a pestilential
famine charitably fed the needy without distinction of religion.
The Jews of Alexandria, moved by warm sympathy for their suffering
co-religionists, fraternally welcomed the unhappy fugitives from Judæa,
the victims of monkish fanaticism. Heraclius seized upon this occasion
to renew the edicts of Hadrian and Constantine, by which the Jews were
forbidden to enter Jerusalem or its precincts (628).