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[Illustration: Map front endpaper "Palestine Before the War,
66 B.C.E."]
"For a thousand years in thy sight,
are but ... as a watch in the night"
Psalms, xc, 4.
[Illustration: JERUSALEM BESIEGED BY TITUS. (See page 167.)]
A THOUSAND YEARS OF JEWISH HISTORY
From the Days of Alexander the Great to the Moslem Conquest of Spain
With Illustrations, Maps and Notes.
By the
REV. MAURICE H. HARRIS, A. M., PH. D.
Author of "People of the Book."
"History of the Mediæval Jews"
"Modern Jewish History"
"Selected Addresses," etc.
SIXTH EDITION.
Revised and Enlarged
New York:
Bloch Publishing Co., 40 East 14Th St.,
1914.
Copyright, 1911
By Maurice H. Harris
Press of
Philip Cowen
New York
INTRODUCTION
"Wenn es eine Stufenleiter von Leiden giebt, so hat Israel die
höchste Staffel erstiegen; wenn die Dauer der Schmerzen und
die Geduld, mit welcher sie ertragen werden, adeln, so nehmen
es die Juden mit den Hochgeborenen aller Länder auf; wenn eine
Literatur reich genannt wird, die wenige klassische Trauerspiele
besitzt, welcher Platz gebührt dann einer Tragödie, die
anderthalb Jahrtausende währt gedichtet und dargestellt von den
Helden selber?"
--ZUNZ: _Die Synagogale Poesie des Mittelalters_.
When the impatient youth demands, like the heathen from Hillel, a
definition of Judaism, bid him "go and learn" the history of the
Jew. Let him follow the fascinating story from hoar antiquity, when
the obscure Hebrews, "leaving kindred and father's house," took a
bold and new departure for the land that God would show--the land
that would show God.
Point to the colossal figure of Moses on Sinai, "greatest of the
prophets," who gave the first uplifting impulse with his Ten
Words of Faith and Duty. Trace with him the soul struggle of this
"fewest of all peoples" to reach the truth of divinity--beginning
with a crude conception that became steadily more exalted and more
clarified with each successive age, until, at last, the idea is
realized of an all-pervading Spirit, with "righteousness and justice
as the pillars of His throne," the "refuge of all generations."
Make clear to him how the revelation of the divine will came to be
expressed in Law. And, how the preservation and development of this
Law, in the interpreting hands of prophets, scribes, rabbis, poets
and philosophers, became henceforth the controlling motif of the
history of the Jew, his _modus vivendi_, whether under Babylonians,
Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabians or Franks. Help him to see that
through it the Jew held in his keeping the religious fate of Orient
and Occident, that took from him their respective impressions of
Islamism and Christianity.
Let him see the "God-intoxicated" teaching his message by living it;
the Suffering Servant whose martyrdom brought healing to his smiters.
Then, perhaps, he may understand that no one definition can
completely express the Faith of the Jew and his place in the
divine economy. But with this glimpse of his history the grandeur
of his inheritance will sink into his consciousness, becoming
part of himself, and he will be thrilled with the tremendous
responsibility devolving upon him as a member of the priest-people,
the witnesses of God, whose mission was and is to "bring light to
the Gentiles--that salvation may reach to the ends of the earth."
Preface to the Revised Edition
The dual purpose of the revision of this work has been
simplification and amplification.
The language has been recast in parts and there have been added
sub-titles within each chapter, cross-references and an index. Ideas
such as "Religion as law," the Logos of Philo and the development of
Messianism have been made as simple as these subjects admit of.
In seeking illustrations to vivify the narrative it is unfortunate
that so little is available. Ah! if we had pictures of Hillel, of
Akiba the Martyr, of Judah the Saint, of the Jamnia Academy, of
the splendor of the Babylonian Exilarch. But this very absence of
pictures is in itself a bit of Jewish history.
This new edition contains quotations from the literature of the
periods covered, from the Apocrypha, Philo, Josephus and the Mishna.
Three chapters have been added, two on "Stories and Sayings of
the Sages of the Talmud" and one on "Rabbi Judah and his times."
Other chapters have been placed in more logical sequence. Both the
Chronological Tables and the Notes are fuller. A new feature has
been introduced in a "theme for discussion" at the close of each
chapter that may be found helpful to study circles and Chautauqua
societies. This has also been introduced in the recently issued
"Modern Jewish History."
The author expresses his grateful indebtedness to Dr. David de
Sola Pool for a most careful reading of the manuscript and for
many corrections and suggestions; also to Mr. Philip Cowen for
the aid rendered in collecting the illustrations. The author has
availed himself of writings that have appeared on this epoch since
the edition of 1904. He hopes he has succeeded in producing a more
readable book.
CONTENTS
Preface to revised edition v.
Introduction vi.
Themes for Discussion xiii.
Maps and Illustrations xii.
Chronological Tables xii.
Index 311
_BOOK I. JUDEA A VASSAL STATE._
CHAPTER I. UNDER PERSIAN SWAY.
Political Silence -- Religious activity -- The Bible Canon.
Notes: Persian influence -- Judaism as law -- Bible
books. 17-25