Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029158207 ^be Messiah Hbea in 3ewt6b 1bi6tor^ Zhc fn^esslab 1 bea in JULIUS H. GREENSTONE, Ph. D. PHILADELPHIA THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA 1906 Copyright, 1906, BY The Jewish Publication Society op America TO THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHER PREFACE That Judaism has dogmas, has been estab- lished convincingly b)' Dr. S. Schechter in his admirable essay on this subject. The prevailing tendency of modern Jews to re- peat, from pulpit and from platform, the assertion made by Mendelssohn, that Juda- ism has no dogmas, is rightly condemned in this essay, in which the author proves from the vast stores of Jewish lore, that dogma played as important a part in the develop- ment of Jewish institutions as did the Law, that Judaism " regulates not only our ac- tions, but also our thoughts." And yet the position of dogma in the Jewish religion is not the same as that which it occupies in other creeds. The Jewish dogmas are not only devoid of any saving power, not only has their exact number and' relative importance never been definitely set- tled, but even the constructions placed upon PREFACE them have varied from time to time, and they have frequently contradicted each other. Fortunately for the development of Judaism, though not for the historian of Jewish the- ology, the Jewish principles of belief have never been definitely settled, nor have their limits been definitely described. No Jewish synods, except those of very recent date, ever attempted to set limits to the dogmas of our faith, and even the thirteen articles of the creed of Maimonides, which have been ac- cepted by the majority of Jews and incor- porated in the Prayer-Book, were left in their bare outlines, allowing much latitude for various schools of interpreters. The belief in the coming of the Messiah, the treasured hope of the Jew throughout all the centuries of misery and persecution, is regarded by most Jewish thinkers as a dog- ma of Judaism. Some of them, indeed, would not make this belief essential to Juda- ism. They consider it merely as a " branch," or corollary to others more important, but PREFACE 9 almost all agree that the belief in the coming of a Messiah is an important feature of Judaism. The nature and limitations of this dogma, however, remained unsettled, the Jewish authorities differing widely in their conception of it, according to the intellectual and material position of the people at their respective times. It is the object of the present volume to trace the development of this ideal from its early origins to the present day, to elucidate the influences it exerted upon the lives and habits of the Jews, and to explain the causes by which it, in turn, was influenced, giving in outline the historical conditions of every period. It does not pretend to be an ex- haustive study of the subject, but a mere out- line of the marvellous development of this hope in the Jewish heart. Less space has been devoted to the pre-Christian period than its importance demands, since that period has been sufficiently explored by many Chris- tian scholars, to whom I hereby acknowledge lO PREFACE my indebtedness for many valuable sugges- tions. I have paid special attention to the Talmudic and Midrashic sources, to the works of the Jewish philosophers of the middle ages, and to the Kabbalistic writings, and have endeavored, whenever possible, to consult the original sources and translate them faithfully. The material was prepared by me during the winter of 1903-4, and then incorporated in a course of lectures which were delivered before the Young Men's Hebrew Associa- tion of Philadelphia. Since then I have made numerous changes in the work, the re- sult of further study and investigation on the subject. I aim to give due credit to the authorities I have consulted, in notes at the end of the book, which may prove useful to the student for further investigation. In conclusion, I wish to express my grati- tude to Mrs. D. W. Amram, who greatly as- sisted me in the revision of the style and the arrangement of the material. I also wish to PREFACE II give thanks to Professor Morris Jastrow, of the University of Pennsylvania, for much valuable assistance, both in suggestions with regard to the subject-matter and in permit- ting me the use of books I could not other- wise have obtained. Julius H. Greenstone Philadelphia, January, 1906 CONTENTS PREFACE (page 7) CHAPTER I IN BIBLICAL TIMES Israel's Golden Era in the Future — Early History Gloomy — Hence Desire for a Redeemer — The " Judge," later the King, regarded as the Re- deemer — David the Model of the Messiah — The Ideal extended — The Division of the Kingdom in- tensifies the Messianic Hope — Amos and Hosea — The Universalism of Isaiah — " The Remnant " • — The Child Imraanuel — Idea developed in Three Prophecies — Personal Messiah not mentioned in an Old Prophecy quoted by Isaiah and Micah — Religious Regeneration under Joash — Downfall of Assyria — Nahum and Zephaniah make no Reference to a Personal Messiah — The Mes- sianic Era and the Spiritual Regeneration of the Whole World — Jeremiah's Theocracy — The Miraculous introduced in the Messiah Idea — Emphasized by Ezekiel and Joel — The Mes- sianic Era as described by Isaiah of the Exile — " The Servant of the Lord " — Universalism — Plaggai and Zechariah regard Zerubbabel as the Messiah — Their Conception of the Messianic Era restricted — Some Psalms and Malachi echo Isaiah's Universalism page 21 14 CONTENTS CHAPTER II THE SECOND COMMONWEALTH Return from Babylon— Great Change in the Char- acter of the Nation — The Scribe rises to Power — Ezra and Nehemiah strengthen the Observ- ance of the Law — Malachi introduces the Figure of Elijah in the Messianic Conception— Ob- servance of the Law a Condition of the Mes- sianic Hope — Belief in the Resurrection thus made more Prominent — Individual Responsi- bility and Importance stimulated — Rise of Apocryphal and Apocalyptic Literature — Ben Sira — The Book of Tobit — Judah Maccabee not recognized as the Messiah — The Book of Daniel — The Eihiopic Book of Enoch — Notion of Two Worlds, the Present and the Future — Apocalypse of the Twelve Patriarchs — The Third Sybilline Book — An Exalted Picture of the Reign of the Messiah — The Psalms of Solomon — The Person of the Messiah placed in Sharpest Relief — The Similitudes — Philo and the Messianic Era — The Unscrupulous Rule of the Roman Procurators intensifies the Hope for Redemption — John the Baptist — ^The Messiahship of Jesus — " The Suffering Messiah " of the Early Christ- ians page 51 CHAPTER III TPIE TALMUDIC PERIOD The Talmud — Halachah and H^aggadah — The Hala- chah the Main Element — The Position of the Haggadah undefined — The Messiah Idea in the Talmud not settled— The Hope Intensest after the Destruction of Jerusalem — Johanan ben Zakkai's Insistence that Judaism is Law— The Apocalypses of Baruch and Ezra— The Super- CONTENTS 15 natural Element emphasized — Baruch's Idea of the Resurrection — The Hadrianic Revolt — The Messiahship of Bar-Cochba repudiated by the Rabbis — The Early Tannaim silent on the Mes- sianic Ideal — The " Messianic Woes " — Israel's Sufferings increase — The Wars of Gog and Magog — The Messiah Son of Joseph — Elijah — The Person of the Messiah — Political Inde- pendence — Conversion of the Gentiles — The Future Jerusalem — A New Covenant of the Law — The Belief in Resurrection — The Feast of the Righteous — The Date of the Messiah's Ar- rival — Calculation of the Date discouraged — Julian the Apostate — His Offer to rebuild the Temple not received with Enthusiasm — Moses of Crete — Salutary Influence of the Extravagant Picture of Messianic Times drawn by the Rabbis page 80 CHAPTER IV THE RISE OF RATIONALISM Spread of Mohammedanism— The Geonim and their Influence — Rabbinic Authority questioned by the Arabic Jews— The Messiah to lighten the Yoke of Rabbinism — Serene of Syria advocates Laxity in the Law— Abu-Isa of Ispahan opposes the Abbassides— " The Mysteries of Rabbi Simeon ben Johai" — Rise of Karaism— Incentive to a Rational Study of the Bible— Judah Judghan— Jewish Religious Philosophy — Saadia Gaoii and his Rational Views on the Messianic Beliefs — On the Resurrection— He accounts for Israel's Trials— Two Possible Periods of Redemption— Saadia on the Date of the Messiah— Hai Gaon —Abraham Albargeloni's Universalism— " The Book of Zerubbabci "—The Mother of the Mes- siah— Jehudah HIalevi— Patriotic Spirit in his 1 6 CONTENTS Poems^" The Kuzari " — Israel the Heart of the World— The Mission of Israel— David Alrui— Moses Maimonides — The Messianic Belief an Article of Faith — Maimonides takes Rahbinic Exaggerations figuratively — ^The Greatest Bless- ing of the Future — His Belief in the Resur- rection not Definite — Flasdai Crescas and Joseph Albo — Their Theory of the Resurrection — Rationalistic Conceptions not universally ac- cepted — Still wield a Potent Influence, .page 114 CHAPTER V THE DEVELOPMENT IN THE KABBALAH Action and Reaction in Human History — Excessive Rationalism produces Mysticism — Mysticism Valuable in Time of Persecution — The Masses fail to understand the Kabbalah — Fanciful Speculations — Credulity of the Masses and the Pseudo-Messiahs — Nahmanides — • His Disputa- tion with Pablo Christian! — His Idea of the Messianic Period — Tartar Invasion of Palestine — Abraham Abulafia's Messiahship — Other Im- postors — Moses de Leon publishes the Zohar — Messianic Speculations in the Zohar — The Date of the Messiah's Arrival — The Period preceding the Messianic Age — " The Suffering Messiah " — The Greatest Achievement of the Messianic Age — The Diffusion of Kabbalistic Lore — Persecu- tions of the Jews in the Fourteenth Century — Moses Botarel claims Messiahship — Isaac Abar- banel on the Advent of the Messiah — Writes Three Messianic Books — His Views Rational — Yet indulges in Calculations of the Promised End — Asher Lammlein declares himself a Fore- runner of the Messiah — Hope of the Marranos aroused — David Reubeni's Political Plans — He meets with Success in Rome and in Portugal — CONTENTS 17 Solomon Molcho attracted by. Reubeni's Ad- ventures — Returns to Judaism — Arouses Jews of Turkey — Encouraged by Events — His Dream- End of Reubeni and Molclio — The Belief in the Kabbalah not impaired — Isaac Lurya and Hay- yim Vital — Beneficent Influences of the Kab- balah page 156 CHAPTER VI THE EFFECTS OF KABBALISTIC SPECULA- TIONS The Protestant Reformation— Luther's Favorable Attitude to the Jews — Hebrew Literature studied by Christians — The Wars of the Reformation — Signs of the Messianic Era — Manasseh ben Israel — The Fifth Monarchy Men — The Puritans — Manasseh effects the Resettlement of the Jews in England — Aaron Levi identifies the American Indians with the Ten Tribes — Manasseh believes the Messianic Era Near at Hand — Manasseh and Cromwell — Sabbatai Zebi announces himself as the Messiah — Pronounces the Ineffable Name of God — Excommunicated and banished from Smyrna — In Jerusalem — • Nathan Ghazati his Prophet — Recognized as the Messiah — The Messianic Theory of the Sab- batians — Opposition to Rabbinism — Sabbatai turns Mohammedan — Excitement not abated by his Death — Michael Cardoso — Mordecai of Eisenstadt — Jacob Querido — Judah Hasid — Hayyim Malach — Nehemiah Hiyya Hayyun — Rabbis oppose the Pseudo-Messiahs — Moses Hayyim Luzzatto misled by Mystic Speculations — Yankiev Leibowitz Frank — His Theory about the Various Messiahs — Frankists declare their Principles — Their Opposition to the Talmud — Modern Hasidism — Resume of the Influence of the Kabbalah page 203 i8 CONTENTS CHAPTER VII RELIGIOUS REFORM AND ZIONISM The Emancipation of the Jews— The Desire for Emancipation causes Apostasy — Reform of the Worship— The Rabbis opposed to Innovations— The Messianic Hope and the Desire for Equal Rights — Messianic Prayers in the Early Reform Prayer-Books — Holdheim and Geiger establish the Reform Movement on a Scientific Basis — Disbelieve in Jewish Nationality — Hirsch the Advocate of Orthodoxy — Spiritualizes the Mes- sianic Hope — Bernays' Position — Zunz's View — Second Edition of the Hamburg Prayer-Book — Frankel justifies the Desire of the Jews for Po- litical Independence — Salomon fears Suspicion of Disloyalty to the State^Geiger's Radical View — Frankel's Second Article justly criticised — Gabriel Riesser — Rabbinical Conferences — Einhorn's Theory of the Dispersion of Israel — ■ Geiger and Frankel on the Retention of He- brew in the Prayer-Book — Jewish Emancipation strengthens the Messianic Hope among Eastern Jews — INIodern Zionism — Kalischer's View of the Messianic Ideal — Other Rabbis protest against hastening the Period of Redemption — The Move- ment gains Support — First Colony established in Palestine — National Sentiment intensified in Europe — Gives Rise to National Exclusiveness — Modern Anti-Semitism the Result — Persecution of the Jews in Russia — Zionism gains many Ad- herents — Rabbis reconcile the National Re- awakening with the Messianic Hope — Ahad Ha- 'Am's Philosophic Theory of Jewish Nationalism — Belief in a Personal Messiah still entertained by the Majority of Jews — Zionism a Step toward the Greater Ideal of the Messianic Era page 2ifl CONTENTS 19 APPENDIX THE MESSIANIC HOPE IN THE JEWISH LITURGY (page 283) NOTES (page 305) INDEXES INDEX TO SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES (page 339) INDEX TO TALMUDIC REFERENCES (page 341) INDEX TO NAMES AND SUBJECTS (page 343) CHAPTER I In Biblical Times Israel's Golden Era in the Future — Early History Gloomy — Hence Desire for a Redeemer — The " Judge," later the King, regarded as the Re- deemer — David the Model of the Messiah — The Ideal extended — The Division of the Kingdom in- tensifies the Messianic Hope — Amos and Hosea — The Universalism of Isaiah — " The Remnant " — The Child Immanuel — Idea developed in Three Prophecies — Personal Messiah not mentioned in an Old Prophecy quoted by Isaiah and Micah — Religious Regeneration under Joash — Downfall of Assyria — Nahum and Zephaniah make no Reference to a Personal Messiah — The Mes- sianic Era and the Spiritual Regeneration of the Whole World — ^Jeremiah's Theocracy — The Miraculous introduced in the Messiah Idea — Emphasized by Ezekiel and Joel — The Mes- sianic Era as described by Isaiah of the Exile — " The Servant of the Lord " — Universalism — Haggai and Zechariah regard Zerubbabel as the Messiah — Their Conception of the Messianic Era restricted — Some Psalms and Malachi echo Isaiah's Universalism. The Messianic idea is characteristically Jewish. The nations of antiquity, despair- ing of the present and heedless of the future, gloried in their past, in which they saw the perfection of all happiness, social and na- tional. This attitude is illustrated by Hesi- 22 THE MESSIAH IDEA od's and Ovid's description of the five stic- cessive ages and races of men, beginning with the golden age, when men hved hap- pily and painlessly on the fruits of the un- tilled soil, passing away in dreamless sleep to become the guardian angels of the world, until the iron age, the most degenerate age of all, in which the authors themselves lived. It also finds expression in the phrase, current even in our own day, " the good old times." As a religious people, believing in the cre- ation of the world by a good and perfect Being, the Jews also placed perfection at the beginning; the first man, the direct creation of God, must necessarily have been happy and perfect. Yet this idea, which has given birth to a number of dogmas in other creeds, played a small part in Jewish theology. Even the Rabbis of the Talmud, in their fanciful explanations, attach little import- ance to the " fall of man," attributing to Adam many atrocious sins while in Para- dise.' The Jew looks for happiness and vir- IN BIBLICAL TIMES tiie, not to a past golden age, but to the future, to " the end of days," a favorite phrase with prophet and sage. " Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end shall greatly increase" (Job 8:7),' was a current saying among the Jews, and a study of the early history of Israel explains the in- tensity of this belief among the Jewish peo- ple. No glorious conquests, no triumphant victories marked the first stages of Jewish communal life. The events recorded in the first pages of Jewish history, clustering around the lives of the early patriarchs, as retained in the memory of the people, by no means present a roseate picture. Each of the patriarchs had to leave his native land and wander in foreign countries. Each was looked upon with suspicion, and was unceas- ingly harassed by the early Pharaohs, the Philistines, the nobles, and even the common herdsmen. Then came Egyptian slavery, with all its horrors, when the spirit of the people was entirely crushed. It was per- 24 THE MESSIAH IDEA fectly natural that a people with such a past should long for a happier future, when there would be an end to their sufferings. Thus, when Moses appeared as a redeemer, he found a ready welcome." As this ideal, con- ceived in trying hours, grew and developed in the consciousness of the people, it assumed various phases, depending on internal con- ditions and on environment, but it never en- tirely departed from the Jewish people. The promise made to the patriarchs was at last fulfilled, and Israel, after vanquishing the original inhabitants of Palestine, entered upon its coveted inheritance. But here also its national peace was constantly disturbed by the onslaughts of the neighboring tribes. In its distress, Israel, it is related, prayed to its God, and He sent a " judge," a redeemer, who, for a time, drove away the enemy, and established peace in the land. But the at- tacks of the foreign tribes became so constant and persistent that the temporary " judges," or generals, proved insufficient and unsatis- IN BIBLICAL TIMES 25 factory, and there arose among the people the hope that a nation united under one head might be able to withstand the surrounding foes. At the request of the leaders of the people, Samuel, as a temporary provision, as a con- cession to the popular will, reluctantly ap- pointed Saul as king over Israel. Although he was designated in the Bible as the " Mes- siah of God" (i Sam. 24:7), Saul lacked the essential characteristics of the true Mes- siah. At the very beginning of his reign he was scorned by some, who said, " How shall this man save us?" (i Sam. 10:27). It was not until the appointment of David that the popular longing for a redeemer was completely satisfied. David became the type and the ideal of a Jewish king, the model, for all time, of the person of the Messiah, indeed, by some prophets and sages identified with the Messiah.' He was not only the ideal hero who braved the enemy undaunted, who conquered nations, and extended the do- 26 THE MESSIAH IDEA minion of Israel, but he was also the sweet singer, the man of God, the moulder of the solidarity of the nation of God. The popu- lar belief, that the state of prosperity inaug- urated by him would last forever, was strengthened by Nathan's prophecy, that the throne of David would be established for- ever (ii Sam. 7: 12-16), an assurance which David himself is represented as offering to his son Solomon (i Kings 2:4). Thus, a . Psalmist reflects the hopes of the people and their memories of the reign of Solomon, when he sings : In his days let the righteous flourish, and let abundant peace continue till the moon be no more. May he have dominion from sea to sea, from the river unto the ends of the earth. Let them that dwell in the wilderness kneel down before him, and his enemies lick the dust. Let kings of Tarshish pay tribute, kings of Sheba and Saba offer gifts. Yes, let all kings bow down before him, and all nations do service unto hira. . . . May his name endure forever, may his name shine as long as the sun, may men be blessed in him, and all nations call hira happy (Ps. 72:7-11, 17).° The age of David and Solomon may be regarded as the time when the Messianic IN BIBLICAL TIMES 27 ideal took a more definite shape in the minds of the Jewish people. From the material desire for relief from an oppressing enemy, the hope extended to the ideal of a stable, national government, based on the principles of a pure morality and lofty ideals, a hope which was intensified by the division of the kingdom and through the efforts of the prophets, who now begin to make their ap- pearance. The prophets not only kept the flame ablaze in the hearts of the people, but they broadened the conception of the Mes- siah and of the Messianic period so as to in- clude in its blessings not only Israel, but all the nations of the earth. Only a few gener- ations after Solomon's death, the treasured ideal of poet and seer, and of those of the people who were still loyal to the old tradi- tions, was a future in which an united Israel would be supreme in a world established on righteousness, recognizing the glory of the God of Israel and the beauty of His Law. The personal Messiah, through whom God THE MESSIAH IDEA would bless the world, was present in the minds of most of the prophets, although not always placed by them in the foreground, when they described the glories of the future era. It was during this period that the Mes- siah idea was developed, and became an es- tablished principle of the Jewish religion, and a component part of Jewish conscious- ness.' The hope for a reunion of Israel under one king must have been very keen after the division of the kingdom, when the memory of the happy reigns of David and Solomon were still fresh in the minds of the people, and must have been the theme of the preach- ers and the moralists. Unfortunately, we have no prophecies written at that early period. It was not until about one hundred and fifty years after the division that the prophets began to make their appearance. The Messianic conceptions of the early pro- phets were local and material in their nature, referring only to Israel and to the physical IN BIBLICAL TIMES 29 blessings of which it stood in need. The first prophet who wrote down his prophecy, Amos/ and his younger contemporary Ro- sea, draw dark and threatening pictures of the " day of the Lord," a " day of darkness and not of light," a day of vengeance against Samaria and against the kingdom of Israel for all its iniquities. Both, however, empha- size the prophecy of a reunited kingdom, when " the children of Judah and the chil- dren of Israel will be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head" (Hos. 2:2) — a head specified by Hosea as " David their king " (Hos. 3:5). The prophecy of Amos concludes with the cheering words : In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old. . . . And I will bring again the captivity of My people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards and drink the wine thereof ; and they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God (Amos 9:11; 14-15).' 30 THE MESSIAH IDEA Hosea's prophecy, " On that day God will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely" (Hcs. 2:20),° refers to the peaceful reunion and re-establishment of Is- rael and Judah on their land, and not to the universalistic ideas that the late prophets as- sociated with the Messianic age. These loftier ideas were not crystallized until the time of Isaiah, who, with his broad view of life and his statesman's insight into the events of histoi-y, gave to this latent ideal of the Jewish people a tendency not clearly de- fined nor accurately described, but distinctly higher and broader. None of the later pro- phets added anything substantially new to the portrait, drawn by this greatest prophet of Judah, of the future kingdom of Israel and its ideal king. Isaiah's ministrations extended over a pro- tracted and troublous period in the history of Judah." During the long reign of Ahaz, godlessness and corruption swayed the court IN BIBLICAL TIMES 31 and the nobles, while, without, a formidable enemy was waiting for a favorable oppor- tunity to destroy the kingdom of Judah and put a foreign ruler on its throne (Is. 7:6). Nor did peace and repose attend the more righteous reign of Hezekiah. Internal dis- sensions and revolutions gave probability to the threat of Sennacherib's Assyrian hosts to ruin the nation. The lives of the nobles and the wealthy classes were steeped in im- morality and vice, excessive luxury under- mined the strength of the people, the worship of the God of Israel was forsaken. Such a state of affairs furnished a fitting opportunity for the display and utilization of the wonderful natural gifts of Isaiah. He brought to a vocation to which he had been called early in life, not only a nature richly endowed with gifts of the highest order of genius, but also a knowledge of facts and a boldness of spirit which made him unhesi- tating in his judgments and inexorable in his demands. Out of his feeling that the 32 THE MESSIAH IDEA present was irredeemable, since the upper classes of society were deaf to his rebukes, he developed the lofty theory of the " rem- nant," which is the basis of almost all his consolatory prophecies. Exile is inevitable, God's punishment must be poured out upon the sinful nation, but a remnant will return, and in the land of Zion will establish a king- dom of justice and of righteousness. The king is all that a Jewish king should not be, hence a new king will arise, who, endowed with the Divine spirit, will reform the ad- ministration of David's realm, and establish peace and equity in the land. " For centuries the monarchy had been the centre and the pivot of the Jewish constitution, and ac- cordingly one prominent feature in the delineation of the future sketched by the prophets is the iigure of the ideal king, who will realize the highest pos- siblities of earthly monarchy, governing Israel with perfect justice and perfect wisdom, and securing for his subjects perfect peace."" Isaiah, however, gave a more definite character to this comparatively vague hope in the description of the child Immanuel IN BIBLICAL TIMES 33 (Is. 7 : 14), which he first sketched in outline to Ahaz. Later (Is. 9:5) he further de- veloped his ideal, endowing the child with exalted qualities, and regarding him as the future savior of Israel, who will increase his dominions, and establish peace upon the throne of David, and picturing him in Chap- ter XI as the embodiment of the highest ideals of the nation : And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of its roots. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LordJ And he shall inspire him with the fear of the Lord; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears; but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity the meek of the earth ; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his hips. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed ; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 34 THE MESSIAH IDEA And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea (Is. ii : 1-9). These three prophecies of Isaiah have been the subject of much controversy among Bib- heal scholars, who find it impossible to ascer- tain, with any degree of probability, to what particular periods of Isaiah's life they should be ascribed. But even if we agree with many commentators, that the first two pro- phecies refer to Hezekiah and to the redemp- tion from an immediate foe, it is certain that the last and most glorious of the three, prob- ably written a generation after the first prophecies, when he was disappointed in his hopes of a hteral fulfilment of his early dreams, was meant to be independent of time, " projected upon a shifting future." Isaiah's conception of the future king and of the period in which he will rule has many features deserving of careful investigation. The Messiah pictured in Chapter xi, who is IN BIBLICAL TIMES 35 to bring peace and comfort to the Jewish people, shall establish an ideal government of righteousness, and the crowning glory of the age shall be that " the land shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." The central figure of the future age is the personal Messiah, " the root of Jesse," who, when the religion of Israel shall have spread all over the world, " will stand for an ensign to the nations, to it shall the people seek" (Is. 11:10)." An older prophecy, quoted by Isaiah and by Micah, perhaps the most beautiful prophecy in the whole Bible, leaves out the personality of the Messiah, but emphasizes the local conception of the Messianic age, in that it makes Zion and Jerusalem the only fount of future re- ligious inspiration: And it shall come to pass in the end of days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be estab- lished on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people will go and say, Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob ; and He will teach 36 THE MESSIAH IDEA us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks ; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more (Is. 2:2-4; and Mic. 4: 1-4)." Lofty and comprehensive as these prophe- cies are, they still lack the universalistic ele- ment which some interpreters wish to read into them. Such passages, read as they were read by the contemporaries of the prophets, show that, although their writers were far ahead of their times, they still clung to the prevalent beliefs and hopes, that the perfec- tion of the future state meant the perfection of the government and of the people of Judah, in the land of Palestine, whence the light of human perfection would shine forth and illumine all the peoples of the world, who would, however, profit only incidentally by the improvement in Israel, the direct bene- ficiary of God's blessings." With the literal fulfilment of Isaiah's pro- IN BIBLICAL TIMES Z7 phecy to King Hezekiah, that Judah would not fall a prey to the Assyrian hosts, the danger threatening Jerusalem and the throne of David was miraculously removed. The cessation from war and the improvements in the religious and moral condition of the peo- ple during the latter part of Hezekiah's reign, gave the peace of mind and liberty of thought necessary for literary work, and re- sulted in the production of a large portion of the Biblical literature. But this state of pros- perity was of very short duration. Under the reign of Manasseh, the powerful resur- gence of all the evils that had formerly pol- luted the land of Judah, brought in an era of degeneration and national decay, evi- denced in the avarice, immorality, and degra- dation among the nobles, and the spread among the people of the degrading worship of Baal and Astarte, the gods of hated Assyria. Naturally, the high-minded disciples of Isaiah were persecuted by the unscrupulous 38 THE MESSIAH IDEA rulers under Manasseh. According to tra- dition, the great Isaiah himself was killed by the hands of the wicked king. These shock- ing conditions continued during the short reign of Amon. All the glorious prophecies of Isaiah and of Micah appeared to have been but empty words. But with the acces- sion to the throne of Josiah, the eight-year- old son of the assassinated Amon, a new or- der of things set in. At the beginning of his reign, the rule of the land probably remained in the hands of the nobles, to whose interest it was to estab- lish more firmly the policy of Manasseh. But as the king grew older, he began to manifest his ambition of regenerating the nation and re-establishing the worship of God. He removed the hated gods of Assy- ria, purified the Temple worship, and pro- mulgated the law of Israel throughout the land of Judah. The religious revolution re- ceived a strong impetus from political condi- tions in the Eastern world. Assyria, which IN BIBLICAL , TIMES 39 had long ruled the nations of antiquity with an iron hand, was in its decline, its powers gradually weakened, and its dominion was reduced by the rise of new powers, the Chal- deans, the Medes, and the Scythians. Its final destruction by one or the other of these nations was only a question of time. The Jewish antipathy to Assyria was strength- ened by her weakness. It facilitated the re- nunciation of the Assyrian cults by the Judeans, after they had swayed Judea for many centuries, and the voice of prophet and preacher was again heard in the assemblies of the nation." Nahum prophesied early in the reign of this righteous king, and his prognostications about the fall of Nineveh and the inaugura- tion of the Messianic period compare in beauty and force with many of the utterances of Isaiah. " Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace" (Nah. 2:1)." In his prophetic vision, he sees the doom of Assy- 40 THE MESSIAH IDEA ria sealed, the wrongs committed upon the people of God avenged, and the Messianic kingdom following close upon the fall of Nineveh. Neither he nor his contemporary Zephaniah refers to a personal Messiah. The prophecies of the latter are in some regards even more universal than those of Isaiah. He conceives a Messianic period which will be a time of spiritual regeneration for the whole world. " Then I will turn to the peo- ples a pure language that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent " (Zeph. 3:9). He gives a striking picture of the day of the Lord, " a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness " (Zeph. i : 15)— a day that is near at hand, when not only Assyria, but all the nations, including Judah, shall be punished, because they have not heeded that God punishes His foes, and have not taken to heart the punishment that befell the other IN BIBLICAL TIMES 41 nations because of their evil-doings (Zeph. 3:7; 2:10). But there shall remain a righteous remnant, " an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity nor speak lies, neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth, for they shall feed and lie down and none shall make them afraid " (Zeph. 3 : 12, 13)." Ze- phaniah concludes his prophecy : " The king of Israel will be the Lord in thy midst, thou shalt see no evil any more " (Zeph. 3: 15). This sentiment is echoed by Jeremiah (Jer. 31:27; 33:9), the man who "has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath " (Lam. 3:1), whose sufferings at the hands of king and nobles made him almost despair of a human king ruling in righteousness, al- though he does not doubt God's promise of the permanence of Israel. There will also be a human king, a scion of the house of David, since God has sworn unto David that his dynasty shall last forever (Jer. 33 : 25, 42 THE MESSIAH IDEA 26). But this king will be directly ap- pointed by God, who shall Himself rule Israel in Jerusalem, the throne of God, whereto all nations will be gathered (Jer. 3:15; 30:3. 22, 25). Jeremiah also be- lieved, that the advent of better days would be preceded by miracles, since a natural course could not bring about the desired state. This idea was especially fostered by the prophets of the Exile. Ezekiel compares the future regeneration of the nation with a miraculous act like the resurrection of the dead (Ezek. 37:11-14)," and Joel, speak- ing of the Messianic period, says, " The sun and the moon will be darkened and the stars shall withdraw their shining . . . the heav- ens and the earth shall shake, but the Lord will be the protection of His people and the strength of the children of Israel " (Joel 3: 4-5)" Thus from the simple idea of a warrior, a protector of the people against foreign foes, the Messiah idea developed into the expec- IN BIBLICAL TIMES 43 tation of the rise of a great and glorious king of the house of David, who, with the sanction of God and possessed of the spirit of God, would rule in righteousness in Zion, the model for the whole world, whereto all the nations would come to learn of God's ways. There is a difference of opinion be- tween the earlier and the later prophets as to the position of Israel among the nations in the future Messianic era. Isaiah does not consider political conquest, but prophesies Israel's spiritual conquest of the world. The later prophets, however, especially those who prophesied during and immediately after the Exile, embittered by the persecutions of the gentiles, are satisfied with nothing less than the complete annihilation of all who were at one time or another the enemies of Israel. A perfect picture of the Messianic period with the Messiah left out is given in the im- passioned and visionary chapters of the Isaiah of the Exile. Although his prophecies also refer to an immediate future, associated 44 THE MESSIAH IDEA with the restoration of Zion, and he even alludes to the everlasting covenant made with David, yet the scope of his vision is so much broader, his pictures so much more original, and his thoughts so much more comprehensive, than those of his predeces- sors, that his prophecies may well be regard- ed as a starting-point for a new development of the Messiah idea among the Jews. The conditions of his time were most conducive to the formation of exalted pictures in the fertile imagination of a poetic genius. The Babylonian empire was still well established, and no hope for its downfall could be enter- tained. Jerusalem lay in ruins, the Temple was reduced to ashes (Is. 64:9-10), the unfortunate exiles were in despair. The ig- nominious end of the northern kingdom was still fresh in the minds of the people. Would Judah come to the same end? Would the people of God be entirely swallowed up by the idolatrous nations, and the worship of the one God become extinct? No, says the IN BIBLICAL TIMES 45 prophet, this is impossible. God will in the end triumph over the idols, and again estab- lish His kingdom through the mediation of His servant Israel. " Comfort ye, comfort ye, My people, saith your God " (Is. 40: i), is the theme of the prophecy, which extends to twenty-seven chapters. With the sagacity and foresight of the true diplomat, the prophet sees the ruin of Babylon at the hands of the rising power of Persia. He sees in Cyrus " the anointed of God " ( Is. 45 : I ) , through whom the re- demption of Israel will come. In all the great events attending the ascendency of the Persian monarchy (which, had it not been for Athenian patriotism, would have absorb- ed even the nations of Europe), he sees the work of God ins'behalf of His servant Jacob, and Israel His chosen one (Is. 45:4). There is much divergence of opinion among modern commentators as to whom the pro- phet meant by the designation " the servant of the Lord," whom he makes the prominent 45 THE MESSIAH IDEA figure in the future redemption. Following Driver,"" we shall take it as referring to Is- rael, not as an aggregate of individuals, but as an historical entity, " maintaining its con- tinuity and essential character through suc- cessive generations." This " servant of the Lord," although now suffering and perse- cuted, the despised of men and beset with many maladies, will soon be " the embodi- ment of the new covenant between God and His people to restore the actual nation . . . and to re-establish them in their own land " (Is. 49 : 5-8). He will be a light to all the nations, the prophet of the world, the teacher of the gentiles, guiding them in the princi- ples of true religion and righteousness (42 : 1-7). The image of the restored Jerusalem becomes more and more perfect in the pro- phetic mind. In Chapter lx the picture is presented in fullest splendor — of Jerusalem, the religious centre of the world, the joy of all generations (60: 15), beautiful (54:11,12), and perfected, founded on m BIBLICAL TIMES 47 righteousness, its inhabitants praising the God of Israel (60:21). All nations will pay homage to the restored community, and will adopt the great truths advocated by Israel, " that they may know from the rising of the sun and from the West, that there is none besides Me; I am the Lord, and there is none else " (45 : 6). The Temple will be- come the house of prayer for all nations (56:7), and all flesh will come to worship before God in Jerusalem (66: 23). This wide and sublime universalism of the Isaiah of the Exile was probably not shared by his contemporaries, most of whom, amid the miseries of the Exile, could not even comprehend the picture when it was pre- sented to them. The promises of the pre- vious prophets were only partially fulfilled. Babylon, indeed, had fallen, and the Israel- ites were permitted to return to their land, but there were many troubles besetting the newly-organized community, and the prom- ised glories and wonders were not forth- coming. 48 THE MESSIAH IDEA While many of the exiles spurned the very idea of a return to Palestine, the great bulk of those who followed Zerubbabel re- garded him as God's messenger, and hoped that with him a new era would dawn for Israel. Both Haggai and Zechariah be- lieved Zerubbabel to be the long-awaited Messiah (Hag. 2:23)." These prophets present a much more restricted conception of the Messianic era, which they pictured as fol- lowing a catastrophe that would bring ruin to the whole world, destroying the heathen nations and causing all their costly posses- sions to be brought to the house of God, the rebuilding of which would be made a condi- tion of the advent of the Messianic kingdom (Zech. 1 : 14-17).'' The priest is of equal im- portance with the Messiah, aye, even more important, for to him God makes known His plans for the future. Zechariah also speaks of a moral reformation in the future king- dom (Zech. 8:3)," and even hints at the conversion of the nations of the world to the IN BIBLICAL TIMES 49 worship of the God of Israel ( Zech. 2:15; 8 : 20-23 ) f* Yet the sublime prophecies of the Isaiah of the Exile find an echo even during this period of the restoration. Many of the psalms of that time give expression to a wide universalism."" Malachi, somewhat later (before 458), enthusiastically declares that " from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, My name shall be great among the gentiles; and in every place, incense shall be offered unto My name, and a pure offering; for My name shall be great among the heathens, saith the Lord of hosts " (Mai. 1 : 11). In the earher times, however, the people who held that " the time has not yet come to rebuild the Temple " (Hag. 1:2), had to be aroused by more ma- terial pictures, which the good sense and patriotism of Haggai and Zechariah sup- plied. Zerubbabel, himself a scion of the Davidic dynasty, was to the people the living reminder of a glorious past and the pledge of 50 THE MESSIAH IDEA an equally glorious future. But this very fact proved to be a great obstacle to the young community. The enemies of Judea found therein an opportunity for accusing the Jews of a desire to re-establish the royal house of David. This the Persians evidently did not wish. Zerubbabel was obliged to return to Babylon, and the Messianic hopes and aspirations were again unrealized. For almost two centuries after the restora- tion, nothing is heard of the Messianic hope in the Jewish annals, except in the outpour- ings of some psalmists, whose exact dates have not been determined with accuracy. CHAPTER II The Second Commonwealth Return from Babylon — Great Change in the Char- acter of the Nation — The Scribe rises to Power — Ezra and Nehemiah strengthen the Observ- ance of the Law — Malachi introduces the Figure of Elijah in the Messianic Conception — Ob- servance of the Law a Condition of the Mes- sianic Hope — Belief in the Resurrection thus made more Prominent — Individual Responsi- bility and Importance stimulated — Rise of Apocryphal and Apocalyptic Literature — Ben Sira — The Book of Tobit — Judah Maccabee not recognized as the Messiah — The Book of Daniel — The Ethiopic Book of Enoch — Notion of Two Worlds, the Present and the Future — Apocalypse of the Twelve Patriarchs — The Third SybiUine Book — An Exalted Picture of the Reign of the Messiah — The Psalms of Solomon — The Person of the Messiah placed in Sharpest Relief — The Similitudes — Philo and the Messianic Era — The Unscrupulous Rule of the Roman Procurators intensifies the Hope for Redemption — John the Baptist — The Messiahship of Jesus — " The Suffering Messiah " of the Early Christ- ians. One of the most important, and, at the same time, the most obscure periods in Jew- ish history, is that immediately following upon the return from Babylon. Though we can judge of the tremendous importance of 52 THE MESSIAH IDEA the period from the marks it has left on his- tory, we meet with disappointment when we resort to contemporary documents for the study of the conditions prevailing during those two centuries. We must content our- selves with conjecture and inference. Re- ligious revolutions were transforming con- ditions. In the course of two centuries, idolatry, against which the prophets had waged so bitter and unsuccessful a fight, en- tirely and forever disappears. New concep- tions of God and His relation to man, of Israel and its place among the nations of the world, arise and take root. The people, who had been regarded by their leaders as the most stubborn of nations, unaffected by the exhortations of prophet or priest, become attentive to the words of their leaders, even forsake deep-rooted affections in obedience to a stringent code of laws. Everywhere new life is seen, new government, new doc- trines, new customs and ceremonies. The prince of the house of David is rele- THE SECOND COMMONWEALTH S3 gated to a secondary position, the priest be- comes the nominal ruler of the people, while the Sofer, the Scribe, the man learned in the law, is the real power that guides the desti- nies of the reorganized commonwealth.' The Torah, until then known only to the priest, now becomes the property of the masses through the efforts of Ezra, who transcribes it in a script intelligible to the people, and has his scribes make many copies. With the co-operation of Nehemiah, Ezra succeeds in influencing the people to live up to the precepts of the Torah, and in introducing new institutions and customs,^ which help to strengthen and deepen the reverence for law and tradition. The policy, adopted by Ezra and his asso- ciates and followers, of reducing all belief and practice to law, and expanding the law so as to embrace every detail of life, had a negative as well as a positive influence on the development of the doctrinal beliefs of the Jews. 54 THE MESSIAH IDEA The law, which aimed to regulate all the actions of men, allowed their thoughts and beliefs comparative freedom. In fact, the realm of faith was left almost unexplored by the Scribes, who, in their practical wisdom, saw that action is more important than thought, that " conduct is three-fourths of life." Leaving matters of dogma and belief to the individual, they, therefore, directed all their energies toward providing for the actual needs of the nation as they understood them. The hope for the advent of a Mes- siah, like other doctrines of Judaism, lay dormant in the consciousness of the people, undisturbed by investigation and research, awaiting the time of the nation's need. In- deed, the echo of the Messianic ideal still reverberates in the last words of the last prophet, Malachi. In a prophecy character- istic enough and yet with distinct variations from those of his predecessors, he pro- claimed a great and awful day of judgment for the wicked, and promised that the sacri- THE SECOND COMMONWEALTH SS fices of Judah and Jerusalem would again become acceptable unto the Lord as they were in days long gone by. He adds the new idea, extensively developed by Jewish and Christian theologians, of the coming of Elijah the prophet, identifying him with the angel of the covenant, who shall announce the approach of the great day of the Lord, and reconcile the fathers and their children.' Malachi omits all mention of the son of David or of any other earthly king. The most important element in his prophecy, a natural feature in this, period of the revival of the Torah, is that the observance of the Mosaic law is made the condition of the realization of the promise. " Remember the law of Moses, My servant, which I com- manded him in Horeb " (Mai. 3 : 22),* is the final appeal of prophecy before its voice is hushed forever. Henceforth, the scribe takes the place of the seer, the law that of prophecy, its interpretation and study that of impassioned oratory and revelation. 56 THE MESSIAH IDEA To judge from their records, the Jews of that period, settled in their own land, and occupied with the development of their insti- tutions, civil, political, and religious, found little leisure for abstract speculation. Al- though their association with the Persians fostered certain beliefs among the people, yet they were not fully developed until a later time, and were never given that prominent place in the Jewish polity accorded to the law. Here a word may properly be said with regard to the modern almost chronic tend- ency to find the origin of Jewish ideas and beliefs in the thoughts and practices of other nations of antiquity. Although the Jew is no exception to the law of environment, and, consciously or unconsciously, absorbed many of the notions and practices of the civilizations with which he came in contact, yet he has always given them the stamp of his peculiar monotheistic morality. Whether or not the Babylonians taught our ancestors THE SECOND COMMONWEALTH 57 the story of the flood, the story as it is related in Genesis, with its idea of one, righteous God, kind and merciful in His justice, has very little in common with the story of Per-napishtim, as related on the cuneiform tablets, with its coarse notion of a multiplicity of deities, selfish and quarrel- some, sensual and jealous. The same dis- tinction can be noticed in all the stories, laws, and doctrines which the Jews are now said to have borrowed from other nations. One of these beliefs, the belief in the resur- rection of the dead, is almost inseparable from the Messianic hope. It is true that the Iranian creed promised the awakening of the dead at some future day, when Ahura- mazda, the god of light, shall have con- quered and destroyed his rival Angro-main- jus, the god of darkness. But the lofty and spiritual aspect it assumed in the mind of the Jewish teachers and sages is a genuine pro- duct of Jewish inspiration, and quite unlike the sordid belief of the Persian Magi. Al- S8 THE MESSIAH IDEA though the beHef in the immortality of the soul existed in Israel from earliest times, as is indicated in various places in the Bible, it did not assume definite shape until this period, when, by its union with the Messianic belief in the immortality of the nation, it produced the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. The emphasis laid upon the law and its observance during the period of the Scribes, could not but deepen the conscious- ness of every individual Jew, that he was the special care of God's providence. Up to this period, God's care had been extended to the nation as a community, living, praying, even sinning as a community, in which the individual was lost. The nation brought sacrifices to atone for the sins of the indi- viduals, and even the thank-offerings or peace-offerings of the individual had to be brought to the Temple, the national centre. With the emphasis laid by Ezra and his associates on the observance of the minutiae of the law by the individual constituents of THE SECOND COMMONWEALTH 59 this society, with the institution of individual prayers and of separate houses of prayer dis- tinct from the Temple in Jerusalem, there naturally arises a deepening of the sense of personal responsibility and importance, and of the dependence on God's care. Believing implicitly in God's assurance of the perma- nence of the nation, the appearance of the Messiah and the continuation of the national centre in the Temple in Jerusalem, the indi- vidual virho suffers and dies faithful to God's precepts and loyal to his national ideas, be- lieves that he shall arise from death to share in its splendors. " He v/ill not permit His pious ones to see destruction " (Ps. 16 : 10). Thus, through the v^fork of the Soferim, the doctrine of resurrection, dimly existing in the consciousness of the few, became a dis- tinct and inseparable feature of the Messian- ic ideal.' Although in some of the Biblical refer- ences to the belief in the resurrection of the dead, the authors seem to doubt the fulfilment 6o THE MESSIAH IDEA of the miracle/ the doctrine as a whole was firmly established in the hearts of the people. It was first expressed in the form of a doc- trine in Isaiah : " Thy dead men shall live, My dead bodies shall arise ; awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust, for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out her dead " (Is. 26: 19).' No matter when this prophecy was written, it clearly presents the highest development of Biblical revela- tion on the subject. Here, for the first time,' a literal resurrection is foretold, not for all nations, but for Israel alone, and of Israel only the righteous, those that died in faith in God (Is. 26: 14),' will rise again. When, after a considerable lapse of time, we find the doctrine again in Daniel, it is in a somewhat different form, including both the righteous and the wicked in the miracle, the former rising to receive their reward, the latter their punishment : And many of them that sleep in the dust will awake, some to everlasting life and others to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise THE SECOND COMMONWEALTH 6 1 shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever (Dan. 12:2, 3).^° In these two passages we have the root of all subsequent speculations on the subject of resurrection, both in Judaism and in Chris- tianity. With the death of the beloved Simon the Just, the era of peace and of Divine grace is considered to have come to an end. In the sad and terrible times that follow, the small nation was harassed within and without. Irresponsible demagogues appear on the scene, who, by currying favor with the Ptolemies and the Seleucidce, obtain domin- ion and oppress the people, not only by im- posing heavy taxes upon them, but also by outraging their most sacred sentiments of religion and morality. It was inevitable that antagonistic sects should arise, differing not only in political views, but also in their attitude to the prac- tices and beliefs of Judaism. Following the law of simultaneous action and reaction, ex- 62 THE MESSIAH IDEA treme laxity on the part of one sect produced excessive zeal on the part of the other. Within the short space of about two hundred years, an immense literature was produced in Palestine and without, dealing with the various problems that beset the people. Most of these books, being unsanctioned by the synagogue authorities, were entirely lost, some were preserved in a foreign garb, and some are only now being recovered from the ruins of antiquity. In this apocryphal and apocalyptic litei-ature," we find mirrored the hopes and aspirations of those times, when the withdrawal of the younger generation from the old tried paths aided the at- tempts of the enemy to complete the ruin of Israel's political independence and its religious freedom. The Messianic hope finds expression in al- most all the books compiled during that period. Even the books written by Hellen- ists, such as the Second Book of Maccabees, the Book of Baruch, and the Wisdom of Sol- THE SECOND COMMONWEALTH 63 omon, make use of every opportunity to emphasize and strengthen this hope, the con- ception of which, however, varies greatly with the different authors. The national consciousness is brought out most promi- nently in the books composed by Palestinian authors. Ben Sira in his Ecclesiasticus, the original Hebrew text of which was but re- cently discovered, prays for the gathering of the dispersed of Israel, and their deliverance from all their troubles," for the punishment of the heathen nations and their rulers," and the rebuilding of the Temple and the re-es- tablishment of its worship." He proclaims his belief in the everlasting duration of Israel as a nation" and of the house of David as the rulers of Israel," but there is no definite idea of a Messiah, nor even of a Messianic kingdom." • The Book of Tobit, composed at about the same time, also contains the hope that at some future time " many nations will come from afar in the name of the Lord God with 64 THE MESSIAH IDEA gifts in their hands," the righteous will be gathered, and Israel will be exalted. " For Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires and emeralds and precious stones ; thy walls and towers and battlements with pure gold. And the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with beryl and carbuncle and stones of Ophir." " We need not concern ourselves with such matters of history as the horrible persecu- tions the Jews suffered at the hands of the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes, the des- perate battles fought by the Maccabean brothers, and the final victory of the Jewish hosts, which was followed by the re-dedica- tion of the Temple and the triumph of the Hasidim, or, as they were later called, the Pharisees, over their political and religious antagonists. There is, however, one point in the history of this epoch which calls for some explanation. Some writers" would conclude that the hope for a personal Mes- siah had died out in the minds of the people, THE SECOND COMMONWEALTH 6s because there is no reference in contempor- ary literature to the beHef that Judah Macca- bee, the redeemer of his people, the beloved general of his army, and the adored hero of his nation, was the long-expected Messiah, — a belief most natural in the circumstances. It was re-born, they maintain, only at the rise of Christianity. But this conclusion is sufficiently refuted by the constant references to a personal redeemer in the early apocalyp- tic writings. To my mind, the opposite is proved. The Messianic ideal was so firmly rooted and so clearly defined, and its asso- ciation with the personal Messiah, the king of the house of David, so obvious, that the people would regard no one as the Messiah except a scion of the Davidic dynasty. Since Judah was a priest, he could not be the Mes- siah. God had assisted him and given him great strength, because he would not permit the destruction of His people, but this tem- porary relief was not the prayed-for redemp- tion at the end of days. 66 THE MESSIAH IDEA The affliction of the nation under the mad rule of Antiochus gave rise to a series of prophecies and visions about the deHverance of God's people and about the final day of judgment, in the apocalyptic literature of the last two centuries of the second Jevk'ish com- monwealth. At this time, when the afflicted nation needed much encouragement and a strengthening of its confidence in the justice of God, the promises held out by the early prophets, of a glorious destiny for Israel, were made the basis of larger and more ex- travagant hopes by the apocalyptic authors. Under the names of pious and revered men of antiquity, they unrolled the future in visions and parables, and dwelt upon the jus- tice of God in images and symbols adapted to the comprehension and feeling of the people. The pictures are sometimes too artificial, often bordering on the bizarre, the descrip- tions betray lack of critical insight and his- torical knowledge, the theology is not always sound, and is frequently in disagreement THE SECOND COMMONWEALTH 67 with Biblical notions of God and His rela- tion to man. Still, the simplicity of these writings, the naivete of the authors, and the force and beauty of their diction, could not but inspire a languishing people with hope, and arouse strong patriotic feelings. These books may justly be regarded as occasional pamphlets intended to have only ephemeral significance ; yet they are of the greatest im- portance to the historian who wishes to trace the growth and development of the Messi- anic ideal. It is true, they influenced Chris- tianity more than Judaism, but the fact that they were written by Jews and composed in Jewish surroundings presents a phenomenon with which the historian has to reckon. The Book of Daniel, although included in the Bible, is of an apocalyptic nature, and is thought by most modern scholars to have been composed during this period. Even those of the traditional school, who believe that it contains a prophecy delivered during the Babylonian exile, admit that its visions 68 THE MESSIAH IDEA refer to the period of the Syrian persecu- tions. Disregarding the mysterious refer- ences to a period when the Messianic era will set in, a subject which from the earliest times has much perplexed commentators, both Jewish and Christian, we find in this book a true Messianic prophecy, containing all the important features conceived by earlier and later Jewish authorities — the eternity of the nation, its future glory, in which all the saints will share, the spread of the nation's ideals over the whole world, and the conver- sion of the heathen to a recognition of the worth of the Jews and of their God. In the early portions of the Ethiopic Book of Enoch, we meet with all the features char- acteristic of the apocalyptic literature. There full expression is first given to the dualistic notion of two worlds, alluded to in the Bible and worked out in greatest detail by later Jewish and Christian writers — one corrupt and irredeemable, ruled by Satan and his host of demons, and another, a future THE SECOND COMMONWEALTH 69 world, ruled with perfect justice and right- eousness. In this world, the seventy shep- herds,"" to whose care Israel has been in- trusted, with the permission to treat it harshly but not to destroy it, disregard the command, ravage and persecute Israel, and destroy the sheep of the Lord. Whereupon the Lord, the Master of the sheep, enthroned in the " pleasant land," "^ will sit in judgment upon the faithless shepherds, and condemn them to be bound and thrown into the abyss of fire. Then the sheep that have strayed (probably referring to the Hellenists) will be cast into Gehenna,^ Jerusalem will be en- tirely destroyed, and God Himself will set up a new Jerusalem, where the pious of His people shall be established, to whom the heathen nations shall pay homage, and ad- dress their prayers." The dead of all gen- erations will rise again to share in the glo- rious kingdom," and the Messiah, in the guise of a white bullock, will appear, all the pious will be transformed in his likeness, and God will rejoice over them."° THE MESSIAH IDEA It is interesting to note that here the Mes- siah is expected to come at the conclusion of the reorganization of the world, when every- thing is already perfected. In the apoca- lypse of the Twelve Patriarchs, which was probably written originally in Hebrew, by Jews," although it bears decided marks of later Christian interpolations, the Messiah himself is assumed to judge the world at his coming, open the gates of Paradise, remove the " flaming sword," and give his saints to eat of the tree of life. A more exalted picture of the Messianic era is drawn by a Jewish Alexandrian writer in the third Sybilline Book.'' From the East God will send a king,'° who will put an end to all wars and establish the kingdom of righteousness. The children of God will live in peace under the direct protection of God Himself, and the heathen nations, see- ing the great reward that has come to Israel for its adherence to the belief in one God, will embrace Judaism and accept God's law. THE SECOND COMMONWEALTH 71 " the most just in all the world." " God will dwell in Zion, and universal peace will pre- vail on earth.'" Rejoice, O maiden," and be merry, for to thee hath the Creator of heaven and of earth given eternal joy. He will dwell in the midst of thee; thou wilt have undying joy. Then follows the picture drawn by Isaiah, with unimportant modifications, of the peace that will prevail in Messianic times, not only among men, but also in the brute creation. With the death of John Hyrcanus, the de- cadence of the Hasmonean dynasty set in. The favor shown by the later Hasmoneans to the unpopular Sadducees aroused much dissatisfaction. The quarrels between the heirs to the throne, which frequently resulted in fratricide and murder, outraged the feel- ings of the better class of Jews, and, lastly, the appeal made to Pompey '" to settle a quar- rel between two aspirants to the throne, thus putting the Jewish kingdom at the mercy of rapacious Rome, brought about a powerful opposition to the dynasty. These changes THE MESSIAH IDEA wrought a revolution in the Jewish concep- tion of the future, inducing increased hope in some hearts, and in others utter despair of an ultimate regeneration in this world, so steeped in crime and corruption. In the Psalms of Solomon, ^ the figure of the Messiah is placed in sharpest relief, and the description of the period to be inaugu- rated by him is most vigorous and fascinat- ing. The Messiah is represented as purging Jerusalem of its sins, judging the tribes of the nation, apportioning the land to Israel according to the tribes, and permitting no stranger to dwell in the midst of them. Though conceived as pure from sin and constantly sustained by God's holy spirit," - he is still taken to be only a temporary ruler. The author of the Similitudes of the Ethi- opic Book of Enoch °° makes the Messiah al- most a supernatural being,'" gives him titles, which were later applied to Jesus in the New Testament, such as " the anointed," " " the elect one,'"" "the righteous one,"™ "the THE SECOND COMMONWEALTH 73 son of man." " It regards him as penetrat- ing the deepest mysteries and possessing the power of reviving the dead, and accords him a place in the immediate presence of God. Another writer, despairing of a regenera- tion of this world, speaks of a new earth and a new heaven to be created, in which the righteous, who will be raised as spirits, will be permitted to enter and enjoy everlasting bliss." The bitterness of the Jews toward the foreign intruders is illustrated by the small mercy shown the gentiles in all the Messianic writings of this time. They are either completely annihilated " or subjected to Israel, the world-power." The intensity and prevalence of the Mes- sianic hope at the time of Jesus is attested by the tenacity with which it was held even by the philosophic Hellenists, who dwelt in comparative freedom in Egypt. These thinkers, entirely immersed in Greek morality and philosophy, did not hesitate to interpret allegorically even the laws and 74 THE MESSIAH IDEA events recorded in the Bible, yet they clung to the national hope, and depicted the future happiness of the righteous with all the color- ing of the Palestinian Jewish writers. Philo, the chief exponent of Alexandrian Judaism, gives two descriptions of the Messianic kingdom, and, although he makes no men- tion of the belief in resurrection, neverthe- less the fact that he alludes at all to the notion of a personal Messiah, is convincing proof of its firm hold on all classes, both in- side and outside of Judea. Speaking of the re-gathering of the dispersed of Israel, he says: But when they have received this unexpected lib- erty, those who but a short time before were scat- tered about in Hellas and in the countries of the barbarians, in the islands, and over the continents, rising with one impulse, and coming from all different quarters imaginable, all hasten to one place pointed out to them, being guided on their way by some vision, more Divine than is compatible with its being of the nature of man, invisible, indeed, to every one else, and apparent only to those who were saved, having their separate inducements and intercessions, by whose intervention they might obtain a reconcilia- tion with the Father." THE SECOND COMMONWEALTH 7S In another place " he describes the Mes- siah as a man of war who will bring an era of prosperity and peace, when men will turn unto God, and the Messianic kingdom as a period when there shall be universal peace. The feverish expectation of miraculous in- tervention by God reached its highest tension during the cruel dominion of the unscrupu- lous Roman Procurators, and, accordingly, the masses gave a ready response to the call of John the Baptist : " Repent ye ; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand ! " " The stir- ring words of the pious Essene moved the hearts of his hearers, and inspired the dis- tressed and impoverished multitudes with burning enthusiasm in their expectation of God's anointed. Even after John was im- prisoned, and probably beheaded by the Herodian ruler, who naturally considered the preaching of so influential a man danger- ous to the dynasty of the Edomite usurper, his work was carried on by his disciples, by this time grown to large numbers. The 76 THE MESSIAH IDEA flame kindled in the hearts of the wretched community could not easily be quenched. One of his disciples, who was particularly moved by John's preaching, was Jesus of Nazareth. Of humble birth and not very learned in the law, he attracted to himself, by his sympathetic nature and his lofty spir- itual attainments, the great multitudes of the lower classes of the community, and exerted the greatest influence upon them. Only to a few select and devoted disciples he reveal- ed himself as the Messiah. This he did in such a manner as to make it appear that they forced a reluctant acknowledgment from him. On one occasion, it is related, he asked his disciples, " Who do men say that I, the son of man, am ? " and they said, " Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and oth- ers Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." He said unto them, " But who say you that I am? " And Simon Peter answered and said, " Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God," and Jesus blessed him, acknowledging THE SECOND COMMONWEALTH 77 that the information must have come from" God, and promised to deliver unto him " the keys of the kingdom of heaven." " And he charged his disciples to " tell no man that he was the Christ," " a command which the dis- ciples little heeded, as is shown in the subse- quent chapters. A few days after this important revela- tion, when he was on his way to Jerusalem, the disciples suggested that, according to the traditions of the Scribes, Elijah is expected to come first. To this Jesus replied, that Elijah had already appeared, " and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they listed. . . . Then understood the dis- ciples that he spake unto them of John the Baptist." " " Such was the mysteriously-veiled birth of Christianity," sufficiently accounted for by the many persecutions of the national enemy and the internal strife among the many factions, which fanned the spark long latent in the hearts of the people of Judea 78 THE MESSIAH IDEA into a blazing flame, and by the writings and preachings of the loyal Pharisees constantly stimulated the belief in the advent of better days under the guidance of a man appointed by God. The suffering was so acute, the hope so keen, and the promises so encour- aging that after Jesus had died on the cross his disciples clung to his Messiahship with increased tenacity, and, to account for their belief, evolved the theory of the " suf- fering Messiah," " in accord with the pro- phetic promise that the Messiah should first suffer, be wounded, and executed (and here they were assisted by the Pharisaic method of interpreting Biblical passages). The be- lief in the resurrection of Jesus and his re- turn to inaugurate the kingdom of God upon earth, naturally follows from the literal ful- filment of the prophecy about his sufferings. Hence the doctrine, that the Messianic hope was only partially realized in the time of Jesus, and would be completely realized in the fulness of days. THE SECOND COMMONWEALTH 79 In the course of one century, Judaism dis- claimed all relationship with the new reli- gion, made new by the teachings of Paul of Tarsus. It continued along traditional lines, still praying and hoping for the great future to come and for the Messiah to appear. The ideal was not exhausted. It continued to grow in the Jewish consciousness, offering solace and consolation in many periods of suffering and trial. The fact, however, re- mains that the immediate success of Chris- tianity can be accounted for only when we consider the intense Messianic hope that ex- isted among the Jewish people during the period of Roman supremacy. Thus we have the phenomenon of a Jewish ideal, de- veloped on Jewish soil, which has influenced Jewish life and habit, and has been influ- enced by them, giving birth to a creed which, becoming later antagonistic to its parent, as- sumes an entirely separate existence. CHAPTER III The Talmudic Period The Talmud — Halachah and Haggadah — The Hala- chah the Main Element — The Position of the Haggadah undefined — The Messiah Idea in the Talmud not settled — The Hope Intensest after the Destruction of Jerusalem — Johanan ben Zakkai's Insistence that Judaism is Law — ^The Apocalypses of Baruch and Ezra — The Super- natural Element emphasized — Baruch's Idea of the Resurrection — The Hadrianic Revolt — The Messiahship of Bar-Cochba repudiated by the Rabbis — The Early Tannaim silent on the Mes- sianic Ideal — The " Messianic Woes " — Israel's Sufferings increase — The Wars of Gog and Magog — The Messiah Son of Joseph — Elijah — The Person of the Messiah — Political Inde- pendence — Conversion of the Gentiles — The Future Jerusalem — A 'New Covenant of the Law — The Belief in Resurrection — The Feast of the Righteous — The Date of the Messiah's Ar- rival — Calculation of the Date discouraged — Julian the Apostate — His Offer to rebuild the Temple not received with Enthusiasm — Moses of Crete — Salutary Influence of the Extravagant Picture of Messianic Times drawn by the Rabbis. The Talmud, as is well known, contains two elements — Halachah and Haggadah, law and legend, legal discussion and homi- letic interpretation. "It is only after a time," says Emanuel Deutsch,' "that the student learns to distinguish between two THE TALMUDIC PERIOD 8l mighty currents in the book — currents that at times flow parallel, at times seem to work upon each other, and to impede each other's action : the one emanating from the brain, the other from the heart — the one prose, the other poetry — the one carrying with it all those mental faculties that manifest themselves in arguing, investigating, comparing, developing, bringing a thousand points to bear upon one and one upon a thousand; the other springing from the realms of fancy, of imagination, feeling, humor, and above all from that precious combination of still, almost sad, pensiveness, with quick catholic sym- pathies, which in German is called Gemuth. . . . The first-named is called 'Halachah' (Rule, Norm), a term applied both to the process of evolving legal enactments and the enactments themselves. The other, 'Haggadah' (Legend, Saga), not so much in our modern sense of the word, though a great part of its contents come under that head, but because it was only a ' saying,' a thing without authority, a play of fancy, an allegory, a parable, a tale, that pointed a moral and illustrated a question, that smoothed the billows of fierce debate, roused the slumbering attention, and was generally — to use its own phrase — a ' comfort and blessing.' " Whatever the Talmud is, it is not a book of theology. The many theological doc- trines contained in its Haggadic portions are casual and incidental, subordinate to its prin- cipal content, the Halachah. Law was the main concern of the Talmudists, the discus- 82 THE MESSIAH IDEA sion of philosophy and theology, a pastime and diversion. The Halachah is the funda- mental element of the Talmud; it was of binding authority, while the Haggadah is merely an interpretation and digression from the elaborate legal discussions, and carried little authority with the people. Even the Rabbis themselves regarded its study as un- important, rebuking the sage who gave too much time to homiletic or philosophic dis- cussion.' This loose and indefinite position of the Haggadah has caused much perplexity to modern thinkers who have attempted to re- construct, from the Talmud, the religious philosophy of its sages. The Rabbis re- quired conformity in practice, not so much in belief, and, accordingly, allowed to the imagination the same freedom in speculation about transcendental matters as was allowed under the system of the Scribes. Only such as publicly denied the cardinal principles of the Jewish religion were placed outside of THE TALMUDIC PERIOD 83 the fold, and even they were not persecuted for their beHefs/ This phase of the Tal- mudic literature is a most interesting phe- nomenon, especially when we consider it in conjunction with the rapid development of dogmatics taking place contemporaneously in Christianity. The same indefiniteness is to be noticed in the interpretation which the Rabbis gave to the popular hope for a Messiah. It is true, in the Talmud and the Midrashim, the hope finds a more prominent and detailed expres- sion than any other Jewish belief and dog- ma, but the conception itself of a Messiah varies so much with individual Rabbis,* and the divergence of opinion with regard to its details is so great, that its form remains loose and unlimited. Even the philosophers of the middle ages differed greatly in their conception of the hope, so that, though their legal codes were accepted as binding by all Israel, their philosophic theories about the dogmas of Judaism were never taken to be 84 THE MESSIAH IDEA absolutely authoritative, since the very sources from which they drew their informa- tion did not definitely determine these dog- mas." The feverish hope for a Messiah must have reached its highest tension during the troublous times immediately preceding the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. Disloyal to the national ideals and impatient of the cruelties of the Roman Procurators, some followed in the footsteps of Paul of Tarsus, and joined the humble band of Ebionites, or Nazarenes. Others, deluded by the pro- phetic and Messianic claims of the many demagogues arising at that time," fell a prey to the Roman legions. Others, again, prac- tical patriots, endeavored to resist Titus's onslaughts on Jerusalem, and, in their stren- uous warfare, had little time for speculation about the miraculous advent of a Messiah. The wise and prudent, however, realizing the futility of a contest with Rome, laid down their arms, and followed Rabbi Joha- THE TALMUDIC PERIOD 85 nan ben Zakkai to Jabne, where the Sanhe- drin was reorganized. Here we see most plainly the hand of God in the history of the Jewish people. Cen- turies before the great calamity that befell Israel in 70 C. E., when the Roman eagle spread its wings over Palestine, and clouded all the hopes and aspirations of the Jews, the remedy was being prepared slowly and surely, through the teachings of the Scribes and the much-maligned Pharisees. Juda- ism, they taught, is not a national institution nor organized ecclesiasticism, requiring a king, a priesthood, and a Temple. Judaism is law, a guide for the life of every individ- ual. The corruption of the priesthood and the destruction of the Temple, the national centre, far from shaking the foundations of the Jewish religion, rather cemented the bond between the people and the Torah. The study of the law took the place of sacri- fices, and the Yeshibah, the academy of learning, immediately replaced the Temple, the centre of national worship. 86 THE MESSIAH IDEA The transition was almost imperceptible, because of the feeling fostered by Scribe and Pharisee, that the law is the mainstay of Judaism, that king and priest. Temple and sacrifice are not essential for the maintenance of the Jewish people. Thus, Rabbi Joha- nan ben Zakkai, worthy, indeed, of all the admiring epithets given him by the Jewish historian, and of all the reverence and grati- tude entertained for him by the Jewish peo- ple, showed his great wisdom in utilizing, to the best advantage and at the proper time, a sentiment long before engendered. Before proceeding to reconstruct the Mes- sianic hope, as conceived by the Rabbis, from the sayings scattered through the Tal- mudim and the Midrashim, we shall mention two books, which, although characteristic Messianic prophecies and masterpieces of poetry, exercised but little influence upon the Jewish conception of the Messiah. They are the apocalypses of Baruch and Ezra, prob- ably written by Jews during the period im- THE TALMUDIC PERIOD 8? mediately following upon the fall of Jerusa- lem. The apocalypse of Ezra has long been held in high esteem by the Christian Church, and that of Baruch has but recently been made known to the world.' The writers of both, in vivid and striking language, describe the times preceding the advent of the Mes- siah, his coming and the blessings of his kingdom, which both consider to be merely temporary. Both reflect the views, common among the Jews of Palestine of that time, that his coming will be preceded and accom- panied by supernatural events. Ezra thus describes the day of judgment: It shall have neither sun nor moon nor stars, neither cloud nor thunder nor lightning, neither wind nor water nor air, neither darkness nor evening nor morning, neither summer nor spring nor heat nor winter, neither frost nor cold nor hail nor rain nor dew, neither moon nor night nor dawn, neither shining nor brightness nor light, save only the splen- dor of the glory of the Most High, whereby all shall see the things that are set before them: for it shall endure as it were a week of years.' Interesting is Baruch's conception of the final resurrection." To Baruch's query 88 THE MESSIAH IDEA whether the dead will rise again in the same form which they had when they were buried, God replied that the earth will then assuredly restore the dead, which it now receives, in order to preserve them, making no change in their form, but, as it has re- ceived, so will it restore them, and as I delivered them unto it, so also will it raise them. For then it will be necessary to show to the living that the dead have come to life again, and that those who have departed have returned. And it will come to pass when they have severally recognized those whom they now know, then judgment will grow strong, and those things which before were spoken of will come. After this recognition, the bodies of the righteous will be transformed into a spiritual existence " of unending duration and glory," but those of the ungodly will dwindle and become uglier than before, and then be given to torment." This idea, that the dead will rise in the form they had when buried, was later developed at great length both in Juda- ism and in Christianity. An opinion in the Talmud " has it, that at the resurrection the righteous dead will rise in the very clothes THE TALMUDIC PERIOD 89 in which they were buried — a behef that led Rabban Gamaliel II to introduce the use of cotton shrouds, because of the practice of expending large sums of money on costly burial garments. While the small band of scholars in Jabne, under the leadership of Gamaliel II, were occupied with the work of organizing and establishing institutions of learning, and were concerning themselves with the minu- tice of ceremonial observances or the su- premacy of one or the other authority in the Sanhedrin, warfare was waged by the Jews of the provinces of Cyprus, Cyrene, and Egypt against the cruelties of the emperors Trajan and Hadrian. When the dissension spread to Palestine, the smouldering hope for redemption was fanned into a blaze by the appearance of Simeon Bar-Cochba, who by his prowess and physical strength won many battles. Notwithstanding the entrea- ties and admonitions of the older and more sober of the nation, he was hailed as Mes- 90 THE MESSIAH IDEA siah by many." The belief in his Messiah- ship was shared even by the great and influ- ential teacher Rabbi Akiba/' despite the taunts of his contemporaries, one of whom said to him, " Grass will grow out of thy chin, Akiba, before the King Messiah will appear. The Talmudic accounts mention no mirac- ulous performances attending Bar-Cochba's appearance. They dwell mainly on his enormous physical strength and the strength of his soldiers, some of whom performed the feat of tearing out a cedar of Lebanon by its roots while riding at full speed. He himself is said to have hurled back, with his knees, stones discharged by the Roman bal- listse. Although no doubt sincere and unselfish in his undertaking, Bar-Cochba was branded as an impostor by most of the sages,'° the leaders of thought and action of that period. After many struggles and some glorious triumphs, he finally fell a victim to Roman THE TALMUDIC PERIOD 91 cruelty. Since the belief in Bar-Cochba's Messiahship was not shared by the learned classes, his defeat gave no set-back to the development of the Messianic hope, and Messianic speculation continued. Every scholar endeavored to find in Biblical pas- sages some hint as to the nature of the Mes- siah, or the date of his arrival, seeking in its discussion a pleasant digression from the laborious and taxing studies of the law. We find very little about the Messianic hope among the sayings of the first genera- tion of Tannaim. Living still under a quasi- Jewish Government, with some semblance of political independence, the teachers of the period preceding the destruction of the Tem- ple devoted their energies to the inculcation and propagation of the law, or to setting aright the political difficulties and party strifes of the time. Unlike their lay breth- ren, the writers of the apocalypses, the Rab- bis speculated but little on the miraculous ad- vent of a God-sent king. Hillel and Sham- 92 THE MESSIAH IDEA mai, who contributed so much to the develop- ment of Jewish institutions, have almost nothing to say about this great hope of the Jews." After the fall of Jerusalem, how- ever, when Jabne became the centre of Jew- ish activities, and subsequently throughout the exile, the Messianic hope finds expres- sion in the teachings of almost every Rabbi. Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai, the organizer and chief of the first Sanhedrin at Jabne, told his pupils, before his death, to have a throne ready for Hezekiah, son of David, who was about to come." This shows how intense the hope was even at that early period, and how positive the leaders of the people were of its speedy realization. In my endeavor to reconstruct the Messi- anic conception of the Rabbis of the Talmud and of the earlier Midrashim, I prefer to fol- low the natural divisions of the subject as a whole, rather than adhere to the historic method hitherto pursued. Aside from the difficulties attendant upon the attempt to de- THE TALMVDIC PERIOD 93 termine the authors of the various sayings, there is this to be considered, that to the pop- ular mind the Talmud means one book, one tendency. Since this is to be a popular pre- sentation of the subject, I think it advisable to classify the sayings of the Rabbis with regard to the Messiah, not in accordance with any chronological order, but rather in accordance with the divisions of the subject under consideration, always endeavoring to correlate the opinions of the various Rabbis with the historic events. The conceptions of the Talmudic authors of the genealogy, personality, and activity of the Messiah and his forerunner Elijah are so varied and of such interest as to warrant literal quotation, if their number did not preclude it. I must content myself with merely gleaning the important ideas from this bewildering mass of fanciful specula- tion, leaving the reader to consult the sources himself, guided by the notes to this chapter at the end of the book. 94 THE MESSIAH IDEA Like the early prophets and the later apo- calyptic writers," the Rabbis also taught that the Messianic period will be preceded by many tribulations, called "Messianic woes,'"" not only for Israel, but for all the nations of the earth as well. These trials preliminary to the advent of the Messianic era will be of all kinds, social and political both. Ac- cording to these teachings, there will be an increase in drunkenness and immorality. Youths will no longer respect their parents, the pious, and the aged. All family ties will be loosed, and poverty will be the portion of many."" " Wait for him," says Rabbi Jo- hanan, " when you see the generations growing smaller, and many troubles coming upon Israel." '^ Judges and officers of the law will have no authority, denunciators will multiply, anarchy will reign supreme."" Even among the sages themselves there will be constant strife."" The law will no longer be studied. Those that fear sin will be des- pised, and the house of public convention will become a house of harlots." s THE TALMUDIC PERIOD 95 The gloomy picture of the days preceding the advent of the Messiah darkened with Israel's persecutions. Rabbi Judah, who lived soon after the Bar-Cochba revolution, and witnessed the outrages practiced on his people by the legions of Hadrian, endeav- ored, by his terrifying description of the times preceding the Messianic age,"" to sus- tain the smouldering hope of the people for a speedy redemption. So horrible was the common conception that some of the Rab- bis prayed that the Messiah might not ap- pear in their days." Good deeds and repent- ance, however, were supposed to relieve the pangs of the Messianic age." The fanciful element is very strong in the stories of the wars waged against Israel by the legendary nations of the North, Gog and Magog.'" After attacking Jerusalem for twelve months,"" it is said they will suf- fei*a crushing defeat.'" In this struggle, the Messiah son of Joseph," that obscure figure in the Talmudic Haggadah, will be killed,"^ 96 THE MESSIAH IDEA but he will be restored to life again by Eli- jah, the forerunner of the Messiah, who will play an important part in the Messianic age. His activities will include the adjustment of all matters of law and Biblical interpreta- tion," the correction of all genealogical rec- ords which become confused in the course of time," the slaying of Samael, the Satan, the prime mover of all evil,°° and the per- formance of seven miracles."' He will es- pecially be instrumental in bringing Israel to genuine repentance and in establishing peace among all classes, and turning the hearts of fathers and children to each other." Then a world sick of sin and misery, at last de- voted to God in truth, will hear the trumpet of the archangel Michael announce the ad- vent of the Messiah. The Talmudic conception of the person of the Messiah is, on the whole, of a man, a scion of the Davidic dynasty ,°' Divine only in the greatness of his natural gifts,"" through whom the heathen nations shall be destroyed THE TALMUDIC PERIOD 97 and Israel become the world-power. Rabbi Akiba was rebuked by Rabbi Jose the Gali- lean for " profaning the Divine presence " by teaching that the Messiah occupies a throne alongside of God." It is interesting to note a significant passage evidently di- rected against some current Christian doc- trine : " Rabbi Abbahu says, If a man tells thee, ' I am God,' he lies ; ' I am the son of God,' he will at last repent it; 'I will as- cend to heaven,' though he have said it, he will not prove it." ^ Another legend, prob- ably of political significance, is related by Rabbi Joshua ben Levi, how, at the direction of Elijah, he found the Messiah at the gate of Rome, sitting among the poor, the sick, and the crippled, ready to make his appear- ance when the Divine summons came to him." Midrashic fancy goes so far as to imagine the north and south winds quarrel- ling as to the right to bring the scattered tribes to Palestine." The future restoration will be complete, including also the lost Ten 98 THE MESSIAH IDEA Tribes, and Rabbi Akiba, who ventured the opinion that these will never return, was severely rebuked by his companions." Not all, however, will reach Jerusalem. Accord- ing to one opinion, only two out of every six hundred thousand will enter Palestine." An important feature in the Haggadic conception of the Messianic time is the idea of political independence." This was an ar- dent hope among the Jews of the Diaspora. Samuel, one of the earlier Amoraim, de- clared, that political freedom will be the only difference between the Messianic and the present time." Other Rabbis, possessed of a more fanciful imagination, saw Egypt, Ethiopia, and Ishmael as tributary nations, carrying gifts to the King Messiah." There is a difference of opinion among the Rabbis as to the conversion of the gentiles in the Messianic age. Some were of the opin- ion that no converts would be accepted, as they were not accepted in the days of David and Solomon," because the desire for the THE TALMUDIC PERIOD 99 ideal happiness of that period, rather than a sincere acceptance of the principles of Juda- ism, might induce the conversions. Others thought that the wish of all gentiles to be received into the Jewish fold would be real- ized, although with difficulty. The second Psalm is interpreted by the Rabbis as refer- ring to the scene when all the nations shall come before God, each trying to obtain a share in the glories of the euouing period, by extenuating their idolatrous worship and belief, dwelling on Israel's own sins, and en- deavoring to show that Israel had not acted much better toward the Divine law than the other peoples of the earth. God will then put them to the test, and they will be unable to stand it. They will even be found want- ing in the observance of one of the simplest of the Biblical commandments." Although the final judgment will also in- clude Israel," God will deal more leniently with it than with the gentiles. One of the names given the Messiah is Hadrak, which lOO THE MESSIAH IDEA means " sharp-mild," that is, he will be harsh with the gentiles and gentle with the Israelites."^ Following the pictures drawn by Isaiah and other earlier writers, the Rabbis con- ceived the Jerusalem of the future to be mar- vellously constructed, lifted from its present position to the height of ten parasangs, open on all sides, and extending to the gates of Damascus ; "" the Temple rebuilt in splendor and magnificence," the sacred vessels of the Tabernacle restored, and Aaron and his de- scendants ministering under the direction of Moses/' Some of the Amoraim were of the opinion that in the Messianic time there will be no sacrifices, except the thank-offering, and no regular prayers, except the prayer of thanksgiving.'" In the Talmudim and the Midrashim, although there are occasional references to a new law to be revealed by the Messiah," it is usually taken for granted that all the precepts and injunctions of the old law will be strictly observed. Almost all THE TALMUDIC PERIOD lOI the references to a new law can easily be in- terpreted to refer to a new covenant to be made for a stricter observance of the old law."* The acceptance of the doctrine of the res- urrection of the dead at the end of days, is insisted upon by the Rabbis, although there seems to be no clear and definite idea as to the details of the phenomenon. The privi- lege of resurrection was accorded by some Rabbis to all the dead,"" by others to Israel- ites only,°° and, again, to only those Israel- ites that were righteous, or learned in the law, or supported the scholars of the law," or to those, according to one opinion, who ob- served at least one of the commandments of the Torah.'' The Mishnah refuses a portion in the world to come to those who deny that the promise of resurrection is contained in the Bible."" Since the resurrection is to take place in Jerusalem, those buried elsewhere will be compelled to make their way to the Holy I02 THE MESSIAH IDEA Land through underground passages pre- pared for them. This was the reason why Jacob and Joseph wished to be buried in Palestine, so that they might be spared the long journey at the time of resurrection." Because of this belief, many Jews of the pres- ent time, on reaching an advanced age, make their home in Palestine. According to one opinion, there will be no dying after the ad- vent of the Messiah."" There are, in Rabbinic literature, a few references to a feast to be prepared for the righteous at the end of days. The banquet is to consist of Leviathan killed during the first days of creation and preserved for the purpose,"" of a tremendous ox " lying on a thousand mountains and fed on the produce of a thousand mountains," "' and of wine kept in the grapes since the creation of the world.™ This materialistic view went so far as to consider, that the ox would be regarded ritually fit for food after having been pierced by the scales of Leviathan in a deadly strug- THE TALMUDIC PERIOD 103 gle, and that the feast would be served only to those who had observed the dietary laws." Although this materialistic view became popular, and later gave rise to many legends, we also find more exalted and more spiritual opinions, which were later adopted by the more rational school of Jewish thinkers, fol- lowing Maimonides. A fanciful imagina- tion, however, was not to be checked by ra- tional philosophy. The Rabbinic pictures of the Messianic age were taken literally by many generations of Jews, who even believed in the poetic conception of Rabban Gamaliel, that the Palestinian soil would produce cakes and silk dresses, the trees of Palestine would bear fruit continuously, and Jewish women would give birth to children every day." There was equally great uncertainty and variety in the Rabbinic theories as to the date of the arrival of the Messiah. An un- limited number of extravagant opinions, ex- pressed with calm certainty, are based upon time-honored traditions and mystic calcula- 104 THE MESSIAH IDEA tion. There was an old belief that the world would exist for six thousand years, and be- come waste during the seventh thousand, the thousands corresponding in number to the days of creation. The first two thousand years were considered as waste (Tohu), i. e. without a revelation; the second two thou- sand as law (Torah), i. e. with a revelation, and the third two thousand as the days dur- ing which the Messiah may be expected (Yemoth ha-Mashiah) ." The prophet Eli- jah, who is made responsible for much specu- lation, as a result of the belief in his fre- quent revelations to the Rabbis, divulged to one of the Amoraim, that the son of David would come after the eighty-fifth jubilee (4250 years) . In a manuscript, supposed to have come from Rome, one of the Rabbis found it written, that after 4291 (4231?) years since the Creation, the world would become orphaned, some of the following years would be occupied with the wars of the crocodiles, others with the wars of Gog and THE TALMUDIC PERIOD 105 Magog, and the rest would be the Messianic days, but God would not renew His world until the beginning of the seventh millen- nium." Rabbi Hanina said, " If, after four hun- dred years since the destruction of Jerusa- lem, one should offer a field worth a thou- sand denarii for one denar, do not buy it, for the Messiah will soon come, when you will get it for nothing." " Most of these speculations having reference to the mystic numbers seven and forty were based on the mysterious passages in Daniel xii. When many of these appointed periods had passed, and the Messiah did not appear, the Rabbis discouraged such calculations. They made the coming of the Messiah de- pendent on the good deeds of the people." One Rabbi even pronounced a curse upon those who speculate upon the date of the Messiah ; " for," said he, " if their calcula- tions should prove false, the people will des- pair of his coming altogether." " Two of lo6 THE MESSIAH IDEA the conditions God was believed to have made with Israel were that Israel should not be too importunate about the time of the end, and should not reveal it.™ It is related that the Divine presence departed from Jacob be- cause he wished to reveal it to his children before his death." One opinion has it, that one of the conditions of the coming of the Messiah is that the people will be in utter despair about redemption." The prevalent view of the Rabbis was that his coming could be hastened if all Israel repented of its sins, if only for one day." He will come as soon as all Israelites observe two Sabbaths,™ or even one Sabbath,'' with all the details of the law. It was generally supposed that the Messiah would make his appearance either in the month of Nisan or Tishri.*" Though these extravagant pictures of the Messianic age and of the person of the Mes- siah were not always meant to be taken lit- erally, nor considered by the people as bind- ing dogmas of faith, still they exercised a THE TALMUDIC PERIOD 107 tremendous influence on the Jewish concep- tion of the ardently-awaited period. Un- consciously, and perhaps against the wish of the teachers, the person of the Messiah was surrounded with a halo of Divine and super- natural qualities, and the age of his coming was associated with marvellous deeds and supermundane beings.^ It must have seemed to the unhappy nation that mere men could accomplish nothing, and the belief in the supernatural qualities of the Messiah grew as the distance lengthened between the ex- iled nation and the days of its former splendor. When the Roman Emperor Julian, known in the Christian chronicles as the Apostate, ordered the rebuilding of the Temple in Je- rusalem (362), his kindly efforts, though greatly appreciated, were unsuccessful, mainly because of the scant enthusiasm shown by the Jews." They could not ima- gine that the Temple could be rebuilt without the miracles and wonders described by the Io8 THE MESSIAH IDEA Rabbis, and they were, therefore, unwilling to rely on the temporary kindness of a Ro- man Emperor. There may be truth in the stories current in the ancient chronicles, that the Emperor had amply provided for the whole cost of the building, that the distant Jewish communities had forwarded large sums of money for the rebuilding of the Temple, and that women had sold their jewelry and brought stones in their gar- ments, but the fact that there is no mention of this in contemporaneous Jewish litera- ture "" proves the little heed paid to Julian's magnanimous offer by the majority of the Jews. They expected a Messiah who would substantiate his claim to his title by a series of miracles, and whose advent would be pre- ceded and accompanied by a large number of wonderful phenomena. Many misfortunes would have been pre- vented, many blood-stained pages of our his- tory would have been left unwritten, if the Rabbinic injunction against calculating the THE TALMUDIC PERIOD 109 date of the Messiah's appearance had been - heeded. As it was, the arrival of every date suggested by one or the other of the Rabbis caused general excitement among the people. At such times there was never wanting an impostor or a self-deluded dreamer to come forward and take advantage of the oppor- tunity, and thereby bring misery and horror upon thousands. In accordance with an ancient tradition of which mention has been made above, the Messiah was to come in the eighty-fifth jubilee, or between 4200 and 4250 A. M. (440-490 C. E.). When this period arrived, the expectation of a change in the condition of the Jews was strength- ened by the favor shown them by Jezdijird, a monarch of the Sassanian dynasty of Per- sia (400-420), and by the continuous misfor- tunes that befell Rome, the mortal enemy of Judea, from that time until its downfall in 476. The hope became still stronger, when an enthusiast by the name of Moses arose in no THE MESSIAH IDEA the Island of Crete, or Candia, declared him- self the Messiah, and attracted all the Jew- ish congregations of the island, which was then an important Jewish settlement. Busi- ness was neglected, all the common pursuits of life were forsaken, in the anxious expec- tation of the time when the new Moses should lead them dry-shod through the sea into the Promised Land. So convinced were the people of his mission and of his powers, that they delivered all their belongings to him, and men, women, and children followed him to the sea. Standing on a promontory projecting into the sea, he ordered them to throw themselves into the ocean, as the waters would surely part for them. The re- sult can easily 'be imagined — many were drowned, some were rescued by sailors. The Christian chronicler "° who is the authority for this account adds that many of the Jews of Crete subsequently embraced Christianity. As a result of this unfortunate incident. Rabbi Ashi, one of the last of the Amoraim, THE TALMUDIC PERIOD III and famous as one of the compilers of the Babylonian Talmud, thus interpreted the old tradition : " Do not hope for the Messiah be- fore the completion of eighty-five jubilees from the creation of the world. After the lapse of that period you may begin to enter- tain hopes of his coming." " Thus the Jews, whom the magnanimous offer of a Ro- man emperor left incredulous, were deluded by the fancies of an enthusiast or by the snares of an impostor, merely because he promised them miracles. However, it must be conceded that it was due to these extravagant and fanciful details that the hope survived in the hearts of the Jews during the dark ages, darkest for the unfortunate Jews. Since the belief was that the Messianic period would be preceded by many misfortunes and perplexities for Israel, the inference was that the greater the perse- cutions of the enemy, the more cruel the atti- tude of the ruler, the sooner will the Messiah come. The extraordinary events accompa- 112 THE MESSIAH IDEA nying his coming, such as the wars of the nations and the arrival of Ehjah to prepare the people for his appearance, prevented many impostors from declaring themselves Messiahs. The confidence of the people as a yjh.o\& could not be gained unless all the details prescribed by the Rabbis w^ere com- plied w^ith. Compared v^rith the many troub- lous years the Jevirs passed during the middle ages, the number of false Messiahs that arose from time to time is surprisingly small. The magnificent pictures of the future kingdom, the glorious position of Israel, the vengeance the Messiah w^ould wreak upon all of Israel's enemies, and the vision of the re- stored Jerusalem and the rebuilt Temple, were a constant consolation to the oppressed and downtrodden Israelites. They fondled the hope with intense affection, the mother sang it to her babe, the father on all occa- sions related it to his household, the teacher impressed it upon the minds and hearts of his pupils — all were invigorated by the assur- THE TALMUDIC PERIOD II3 ance to suffer and hope, to withstand the on- slaughts of the enemy, and remain faithful to their religion. The feeling of the ancient Jew toward his persecutor was not so much one of hatred and revenge as of sneering pity. Even while on the rack, undergoing the most excruciating pains at the hands of the executioner, we can imagine the pious Jew of old thinking to himself : " I suffer now, but what is this suffering when com- pared with the bliss and glory that await me in the future ? I may die from the wounds inflicted upon me, but I shall live again when the Messiah comes and restores the kingdom of Judah to its ancient glory. All these in- quisitors, judges, and executioners will then stand at my door begging for admittance. All the nations of the earth will then be my servants, anxious to be the subjects of the King Messiah. They do not see it now, but I see and believe and hope, and hence can die in peace." CHAPTER IV The Rise of Rationalism Spread of Mohammedanism — The Geonim and their Influence — Rabbinic Authority questioned by the Arabic Jews — The Messiah to lighten the Yoke of Rabbinism — Serene of Syria advocates Laxity in the Law — Abu-Isa of Ispahan opposes the Abbassides^" The Mysteries of Rabbi Simeon ben Johai" — Rise of Karaism — Incentive to a Rational Study of the Bible — Judah Judghan— Jewish Religious Philosophy — Saadia Gaon and his Rational Views on the Messianic Beliefs — On the Resurrection — He accounts for Israel's Trials — Two Possible Periods of Redemption — Saadia on the Date of the Messiah — Hai Gaon — Abraham Albargeloni's Universalism — " The Book of Zerubbabel "—The Mother of the Mes- siah — Jehudah Halevi — Patriotic Spirit in his Poems — " The Kuzari " — Israel the Heart of the World — The Mission of Israel — David Alrui — Moses Mairaonides — The Messianic Belief an Article of Faith — Maimonides takes Rabbinic Exaggerations figuratively — The Greatest Bless- ing of the Future — His Belief in the Resur- rection not Definite — Hasdai Crescas and Joseph Albo — Their Theory of the Resurrection — Rationalistic Conceptions not universally ac- cepted — Still wield a Potent Influence. While the Byzantine Court was busily engaged in paganizing Christianity and strengthening an ecclesiasticism intolerant of learning and every other competing force, a THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 1 15 mighty power was growing up in the East, which was destined to wield its relentless sword over the followers of the religion of Paul and Constantine, and destroy the great and cruel Christian power of the Orient. Weakened by degeneracy within and the re- peated onslaughts of Vandal and Goth, the Christian empire fell an easy prey to the war- like, zealous, and fanatic followers of Mo- hammed. For a time it seemed as if the Koran would entirely displace the Christian Bible, as if Mecca would succeed Jerusalem, Rome, and Constantinople. Not content with the conquest of Asia and Africa, the sons of the desert directed their gaze toward Europe, and with the Arabs of those days desiring a thing was almost synonymous with obtaining it. Aided by the Jewish in- habitants of Spain, who had been made the target of monkish superstition and royal greed, they succeeded in establishing them- selves on the Peninsula, whence they began new operations, with a view to exterminat- Ii6 THE MESSIAH IDEA ing the whole Christian world. For almost eight centuries, Islam kept a foothold in Spain, and its adherents exerted a potent in- fluence upon European civilization. At first the crescent offered the Jews no better protection than the cross. Omar's de- crees were directed against Jews and Chris- tians alike. The later Caliphs, however, treated the Jews with great consideration, and regarded them as the equals of the Mos- lems. They appeared to the Jews to be their liberators from the Christian yoke. Under the fourth Caliph, Ali (656-661), the Jews of Babylon enjoyed a considerable amount of freedom. The Exilarchate, which was then held by Bostanai, and the Gaonate, under Mar Isaac, were officially recognized by him. The Geonim exerted great influence upon the development of Judaism in the Diaspora, the Gaonates of Sora and of Pumbedita holding the same position as the Sanhedrin of Jabne had held soon after the destruction of Jerusalem. The Talmud was already a THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 117 recognized authority, of almost equal im- portance with the Bible, and the Geonim ex- pounded its laws and precepts with a view to their practical application, as the Amo- raim had expounded the Mishnah and the Tannaim the Bible. They were accorded the greatest reverence by almost all the Jews of the Orient. Questions in law were addressed to them for decision by Jews in all parts of the world, who submitted to their authority unreservedly. This power of in- terpreting Talmudic legal precepts was sup- plemented by the power of introducing new institutions, punishing offenders, and regu- lating worship and the liturgy. The Arabian Jews were the first to ques- tion the supreme authority of the Rabbinic law, as interpreted by the Geonim. It was probably their intercourse with the cultured Arabs that produced an intellectual inde- pendence unknown to their co-religionists living in less favored circumstances. Re- spect for Talmudic authority weakened in Ii8 THE MESSIAH IDEA proportion to their greater familiarity with the Bible and their recognition of the inher- ent weakness of the foundations upon which many of the Rabbinic institutions were based. A large number of them rejected Talmudic Judaism, acknowledging the au- thority of the Bible alone.* Later, the spirit of rebellion against the Rabbinic authority became stronger and more pronounced, until, after the lapse of two centuries, a party was formed which separated itself from Rabbin- ism and eventually from Judaism, and is now lost to the Jewish people. The burden of Rabbinism was considered so oppressive by these early dissenters that they reckoned it among the ills from which they hoped to be delivered by the Messiah, who was expected to remove all evils from the house of Israel. The prevalence of the Messianic hope was taken advantage of by a bold adventurer, Serene of Syria, or Irak (about 720). He proclaimed himself the Messiah who would expel the Mohamme- THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 1 19 dans from the Holy Land, and restore the Jews to their ancient inheritance. As the first work of redemption, he set about abol- ishing Talmudic ordinances, changing the ritual, disregarding the dietary laws and the observance of the second days of the holi- days, permitting the use of wine that had been touched by a non-Jew, neglecting the details of the preparation of marriage con- tracts (Kethuboth) and of bills of divorce (Gittin), and even allowing intermarriage within the prohibited degrees of consanguin- ity and affinity. Serene's hostile attitude to- ward Rabbinism secured for him a large following, and his fame so spread through- out Jewry that even the Jews of distant Spain were ready to abandon their property and their possessions and follow the lead of the Messiah. His glory was short-lived. He was captured by the officers of the Ca- liph Yezid, and, admitting that he was mak- ing sport of the credulous Jews, he was handed over to the Jewish authorities for I20 THE MESSIAH IDEA punishment. In accordance with a decree of Rabbi Natronai Gaon, his adherents were re- admitted to the Jewish community after pub- licly declaring their allegiance to the precepts of the Talmud and suffering flagellation, a mild punishment considering the spirit of the age and the unlimited powers of the Gaonate.' An exactly opposite policy was pursued by another false Messiah, Obayah Abu-Isa ben Ishak, who arose three decades later in the Persian town of Ispahan. The changes in liturgy and observance which he tried to introduce tended rather toward increasing than lessening the burden of the Talmudic laws. He abolished divorce, even in the case of adultery, prohibited the use of meat and wine, declared himself opposed to sacri- ficial worship, and, on the strength of a pas- sage in the Psalms,' established seven times of daily prayer instead of the accepted three. He found many adherents among the Jews of Persia, ten thousand of whom, it is said,* THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 121 were ready to take up arms at his command. According to one authority, Abu-Isa con- sidered himself, not the Messiah, but merely the last of the five percursors of the Mes- siah, and thought it was his mission to liber- ate the Jews by means of the sword." The time of his coming was most propitious for revolt. It was then that the Omeyyad dy- nasty came to an end amidst fierce fighting. The Mohammedan world was in the throes of a terrible revolution. Abu-Isa took ad- vantage of this opportunity. He was in the very thick of the fight. With his army he went to the camp of Abu Sinbad, the antag- onist of the Abbassides. The defeat of Abu Sinbad marked his own fall. In spite of the many miracles he is said to have performed," Abu-Isa did not succeed in making himself immortal, and his follow- ers dispersed after his death in battle (755). But his memory was treasured for many years by his adherents, who formed them- selves into a sect, the first Jewish sect since 122 THE MESSIAH IDEA the fall of Jerusalem. Under the name of Isavites or Ispahanites, it existed for nearly three centuries. The Isavites followed im- plicitly the precepts of their master, and con- sidered themselves the successors of the Rechabites, who are mentioned in the Bible as an ascetic sect. It is not recorded whether they expected Abu-Isa to appear again. In general we know none of the details of their Messianic beliefs. It is, however, an inter- esting fact that a religious sect, the basis of whose belief was the Messianic hope, existed among the Jews before the rise of Karaism. Anan was not the first heretic in the Syna- gogue. The troublous times of the schism and re- bellion in the Mohammedan camp revived the hope for a Messiah among all the Jews under the rule of the Caliphs. Almost con- temporaneous with the activity of Abu-Isa in Persia and Babylon, a Messianic apoca- lypse appeared in Palestine, " The Mysteries of Rabbi Simeon son of Johai." ' The THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 123 angel Metatron is made to reveal to the Tanna Rabbi Simeon ben Johai, whose^ name is connected with a number of mystical writings of various ages and lands, the inci- dents which will occur at the end of days. This is the oldest mystical writing of the Geonic period in which contemporary events are made the basis for a construction of the ideal future. To the Tanna's vehement question, " Is it not sufficient that we had to suffer so much at the hands of Edom (Rome, Christians) ? Must we now undergo perse- cution also under the rule of Ishmael ( Arabs, Mohammedans) ? " The angel replies, " Fear not, O son of man, for the Holy One, blessed be He, established the kingdom of Ishmael for the sole purpose of redeeming thee from this wicked kingdom (Edom). He gave them a prophet in accordance with His will, and this prophet conquered the land (Palestine), and they will return it (to Israel) with glory, and there will be great hatred (fear?) between them and the sons 124 THE MESSIAH IDEA of Esau," and the angel quotes Biblical pas- sages in support of this view. Then follows a survey of the history of the Caliphs to the end of the reign of the last of the Omeyyads, when the Messiah son of Joseph will appear, restore the Jews to Palestine, and rebuild the Temple in Jerusa- lem, but he will be slain by the wicked King Armilus, " son of Satan and a stone," ' who will also drive the Jews out of Palestine. Thereupon the real Messiah, the son of David, will be revealed to them by God, but they will refuse to believe in him, and will despise him. Later, when they return to God in humility and repentance, on account of the terrible distress of those days, the Mes- siah will kill Armilus, and bring the Jews back to Palestine. Like all the preceding Messianic apoca- lypses, this also contains many fanciful de- tails about the cleansing and rebuilding of Jerusalem, the restoration of the Temple service, and the temporary Messianic period, THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 125 to be followed by the Day of Judgment. This apocalypse regards the " Gehenna " as a purgatory, employed at the time of judg- ment to cleanse the wicked of their sins. To those who manifest faith in God, the fire of Gehenna will appear as cold as water, and, passing through it, they will enter Paradise to enjoy eternal bliss. The wicked, how- ever, will remain there for twelve months, and then be taken into Paradise. The Geonim of Sora and of Pumbedita, engrossed in the study of the Talmud and in the application of its laws, took but little notice of the spirit of rebellion gradually developing. When the danger became im- minent, and anti-Rabbinic views were enter- tained by even the learned and the influen- tial, the Rabbis came forth with all the weapons at their command to combat the enemy. The artificial measures they could apply availed little to check the rising tide. They succeeded, indeed, in dispossessing Anan of the Exilarchate (762), and in com- 126 THE MESSIAH IDEA pelling him to flee from Babylon to Palestine because of his heretical views, but their ana- themas did not prevent him from building his own synagogue and promulgating a doc- trine which was destined to undermine, and finally overthrow, their authority among a large number of Jews. Karaism gained ground in all the import- ant Jewish communities. The hatred to- ward the Talmud and its adherents became so fierce that Anan once declared, he wished all the Rabbinites were in his own body, so that, killing himself, he might destroy them all. But there is no absolute evil in this world. Indirectly Karaism brought much good to Israel. It induced the Talmudists to apply themselves with greater zeal to the study of the Bible, the stronghold of the Karaite, so that they might be in a position to defend their own principles. The rational study of the Bible and of Jewish doctrine among the Jews of Babylon was helped on by still another influence. The THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 127 rise of the Mohammedan Mutazilists (ra- tionalists), who substituted a rational for the literal interpretation of the Koran, could not but affect the Jewish student of the Bible. At first the Rabbis were strenuously- opposed to such tendencies, and did their utmost to prevent them from creeping into the schools, only to be in the end defeated. Among the Karaites these rationalistic ten- dencies gave rise to the establishment of va- rious sects. A Persian Jew, Judah Jud- ghan of Hamadan, who pretended to be the herald of the Messiah (about 800),° was an ardent believer in the Mutazilist methods of interpretation. He succeeded in obtaining many followers, who preserved their iden- tity for many years after Judah's death, and believed in his re-appearance, as the Mo- hammedan Shiites believed in the re-appear- ance of Ali.'° From Arabia the impulse for a rational in- vestigation of Jewish doctrine passed to Egypt, to Cordova, to Toledo, until it affect- 128 THE MESSIAH IDEA ed the minds of all Jews, left an indelible mark on Jewish opinions and beliefs, and gave birth to that fruitful and noble litera- ture, the philosophic Jewish literature of the middles ages, in whose production Karaism was by no means the least factor. Saadia Gaon (892-942) was one of the pioneers who, without fear of impairing faith, constructed a Jewish religious philoso- phy on the basis of the Bible and of tradi- tion, in agreement with the philosophic no- tions of his time. Two chapters of his im- portant book, " Opinions and Beliefs," de- mand our special consideration, since they deal with the subject of the Messiah. These are the chapters on the resurrection of the dead (7) and the last redemption (8). His discussion of the questions relating to the Messianic period introduces few new facts, but it attempts to rationalize the nu- merous prevalent beliefs and teachings. He argues the possibility of the restoration of Israel and of the resurrection of the dead as THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 129 a corollary to the belief in God's ability to create the world, and considers these mir- acles inevitable, as the realization of God's promises to Israel recorded in the Bible." Against those who hold, that the Messi- anic hope at the present time has no Biblical foundation, since all the prophetic promises were fulfilled in the return from Babylon and the establishment of the second com- monwealth, Saadia brings fifteen arguments. Five are based on experience, five on Scrip- ture, and five on tradition. They show that the promises have not been fulfilled, and hence must refer to the remote future. The same arguments he directs against the belief of the Christians, that the promises have ref- erence to the appearance of Jesus, whom they regard as the Messiah heralded by the prophets."^ Likewise, he attempts to account for the miracle of resurrection, as not only possible to an omnipotent God, but even as a physical possibility. The elements of the body cannot be lost or destroyed; they re- 130 THE MESSIAH IDEA main somewhere in the world even after death, and are ready to be joined again at the will of God. In support of this doctrine, he quotes the Biblical references to resur- rection, and shows that the passages which appear to deny the doctrine refer to some- thing else, and the passages alluding to it must be taken literally. He considers pos- sible even the Talmudic belief, that the dead will arise in the same garments in which they were buried. Saadia's theory to account for Israel's se- vere and long-continued trials is, that they were intended either as a punishment for Israel's sins or as a test of faith. Their very severity seems to presage the approach of the Messianic kingdom. Israel's troubles must ultimately cease, since God is perfect in justice. He who laughs at us for our behef, and regards us as fools for suffering, when we could be happy by renouncing our nationality, is himself a fool, for he knows not what we have endured, and what tests we have undergone for our faith, as one, who never saw the sowing of wheat, laughs at the sower THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 131 scattering grains over the field, for he knows not that at the harvest he will gain twenty or thirtyfold what he has cast away. Another point on which he lays stress is the effect of Israel's real repentance. He em- phasizes a point already mentioned in " The Mysteries of Rabbi Simeon ben Johai," that, because of Israel's unworthiness, there shall appear first, not the Messiah son of David, but the Messiah son of Joseph, re- garding whose appearance and death at the hands of Armilus, in his attempt to regain Palestine, he adds little that is new. He seems to have been largely influenced by the description of the Messianic days as given in this Geonic apocalypse. From the four corners of the earth, the nations shall present their Jewish subjects to King Messiah, who shall lead them back to Palestine. The Temple shall be rebuilt in splendor, and the righteous and the repentant dead of all gen- erations shall rise to life everlasting. They shall know each other. For a time only, they shall have material wants and pleasures. 132 THE MESSIAH IDEA to be finally removed to Paradise. The crippled, the blind, and the lame shall rise in their infirmities, and, after they are rec- ognized by their families and friends, they shall be made whole. Calculating the ap- proximate number of people at that time, Saadia concludes that the earth will not be too small for them. Each person will have at his disposal nearly two hundred and eighty-eight cubits of ground." Faith shall then be universal and be richly rewarded. The people of those days and the people born after the resurrection shall live very long, though not forever." " And all the children of Israel shall be possessed of the power of prophecy, desirous of doing good and avoiding all evil." This Messianic period induced by true re- pentance is one possible period of redemp- tion, the other is the period of the " promised end," according to the prophecy in the Book of Daniel. This would come at the end of days even if Israel's repentance be incom- THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 1 33 plete. Then, disregarding the strict Tal- tnudic injunction, he devotes a long para- graph to the calculation of Messianic dates, according to the word of the angel to Daniel. His conclusions are not very clear, but he seems to have expected the Messiah in his own days (964).'" Saadia was often criticised for transgress- ing the Rabbinical prohibition by his calcu- lation of the date of the redemption. Mai- monides, though condemning the practice, endeavored to justify Saadia. He says " Saadia was compelled to do it, in order to strengthen the Messianic hope in the minds of the Jews of his time, who, impatient about the end, were all conjecturing as to the date, and seeking Biblical passages upon which to base their conclusions. The Rabbinical pro- hibition was not much heeded even by later writers. During the Crusades, the German and French Jews were excitedly awaiting the advent of the Messiah, because a mystic, Eliezer ben Nathan Kontras, calculated that 134 THE MESSIAH IDEA the Messiah would come in the two hundred and fifty-sixth cycle of the moon (between 1096 and 1 104)." Elijah and even the Messiah play rather unimportant parts in Saadia's eschatology, for God is the Redeemer who will perform all the acts of mercy for His people Israel. Saadia's view, that the resurrection will take place during the Messianic period, and will not be postponed to " the world to come," "* is shared by Rabbi Hai Gaon (969-1038), the last of the Geonim. He adds, however, that those who die after the resurrection shall be revived at the end of the Messianic age, when a new world will be established (" the world to come "), into which all the righteous and all the repentant sinners, whether Jews or gentiles, who recognize the God of Israel, will be admitted, while all others will go to Gehenna." Rabbi Abraham ben Hiyya Albargeloni, called the Prince (i 065-1 136), a famous Jewish astronomer of Castile, formulates a THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 135 very exalted view of the Messianic period." God will forgive all sins, even the sin of the first man, will remove the evil desire from the hearts of men, and strengthen the faith of all who believe in Him. War will cease with the extinction of all evil passions and the perfect development of all good latent in the human heart. Albargeloni's theory, ex- pressed at the end of his treatise, of the per- fection of men's minds and souls in the time of the Messiah, is almost modern. With the exception of the use of Biblical passages as the basis for argument, it sounds more like the reasoning of a modern evolutionary phi- losopher than of a Jewish philosopher of the eleventh century. Some new fancies added to the many Mes- sianic prophecies appear in an apocalypse, " The Book of Zerubbabel," "^ compiled, probably by an Italian Jew, at about this time. We find the same background as be- fore, and the same dramatis personce — Mes- siah son of Joseph, here called Nehemiah 136 THE MESSIAH IDEA ben Hushiel; Messiah son of David, here named Menahem ben Amiel (Comforter, son of God's people) ; Ehjah, and the same Ar- milus, the anti-Messiah, born of Satan and a marble statue. One new character is intro- duced, the mother of the Messiah, Hephzi- bah ("my desire is in her"). Guided on her path by a great star, she will appear five years before the coming of the Messiah son of Joseph, and will slay two mighty kings with the staff of Aaron, which was preserved in Tiberias. The background of this fanciful descrip- tion of the Messianic age is as follows: Zerubbabel, the scion of the house of David, desires to know something about the destiny of his afflicted people. He is thereupon car- ried to Rome, " the bloody city," where he meets the Messiah of hideous appearance, soon to be transformed into a beautiful youth, and is introduced to him by the angel Metatron. The angel tells Zerubbabel, how the Messiah has been living in Rome since THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 137 the days of Nebuchadnezzar, under the dis- guise of a deformed and hideous creature, and reveals to him the date of his appear- ance (990 years after the destruction of the Temple, 1058 or 1060 C. E.)'"" ^.nd the inci- dents of the Messianic era. In this apoca- lypse, Elijah is supposed to revive only the slain Nehemiah Messiah son of Joseph, to- gether with the faithful who met death at the time of persecution, as well as the gener- ation of the wilderness. The most sympathetic and most lovable character among the sages and philosophers whose names adorn the pages of Spanish Jewish history is that of Rabbi Jehudah Ha- levi ( 1080-1 142 ?), a poet and a philosopher, but above all a true Jewish patriot, whose heart was consumed with a great love for his people and its land. As a medieval phi- losopher, he naturally believes in the preva- lent Messianic fancies, but in speaking of the future of Israel or of Palestine, his soul be- comes aglow with sacred enthusiasm, and in 138 THE MESSIAH IDEA the fervor and passion of his patriotism he forgets them all. We need read only his Zionistic poems "^ to obtain an insight into the workings of the soul of this great and loyal Jew. Do not calculate the date of redemption, wait patiently, do not hasten, thou shalt yet behold the glory of My work. Say unto those who boast of possessing kings and princes, " My king is the Holy One of Jacob, He is the Rock of my redemption." " The poet believed implicitly in the- eternity of the Jewish nation, and, with magnificent optimism, even when the period in which the Messiah was expected had passed,'^ he sang of Israel's redemption through Elijah °° and through Messiah, the scion of the house of Jesse,'' and of the vengeance wreaked upon " Edom and Arab," because they helped in the destruction of Israel's land.'" Like the sun and the moon which stand forever, so will the sons of Jacob remain a nation for- ever. If God repulses them with His left hand. He immediately brings them nigh with His right hand. The children of Israel must THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 139 believe in their own eternity as a nation, and not despair when troubles and misfortunes come upon them.'" His Kuzari, as much a book of poetry as of philosophy, contains many references to the Messiah and the Messianic period, but not a complete theory. Jehudah Halevi com- pares Israel's relation to the other nations of the world to that of the heart to the other organs of the body. Israel supplies vitality to all the spiritual forces that move human- ity, and is subject to all the ills and maladies that afEict the human heart.'" It is of Israel that the prophet said, " Surely, he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows." " The dispersion of Israel is also in accordance with the Divine plan. As the grain of seed planted in the soil must decay before it may bud forth in beauty and splendor, so Israel, despised and forsaken, shall again blossom forth in perfect beauty. Christianity and Islam are preparing the way for a better recognition of the ideals of Judaism. When I40 THE MESSIAH IDEA all mankind shall learn to appreciate the true value of the stem, the fruit of which they have so long enjoyed, they will give honor to Israel, and, with the chosen people, will enter the Messianic kingdom.'^ Both in the Kuzari °^ and in his poems," Halevi refers, though without much stress, to the belief in the resurrection, and some modern scholars '' interpret his words as identifying resurrec- tion with the immortality of the soul. In the philosophy of Jehudah Halevi we find an element not to be discerned in earlier writings. Halevi finds it necessary to prove, that Israel has a reason for existence, and that, before it receives the Messianic bless- ings, it must perform the mission of spread- ing God's revelation among the nations. The accomplishment of this mission depends, however, not so much upon Israel as upon the nations, who must learn to appreciate Judaism and then accept it. This point is interesting, especially when viewed in the light of the wider application given it with THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 14I the Spread of the modern Jewish reform movement. As we shall see in a future chap- ter, the notion of a Jewish mission is a prom- inent element in the reform movement. Although Jewish learning had departed from the East, to find a more congenial soil in Moorish Spain, important Jewish com- munities still flourished in Bagdad and in Mosul. Because of the freedom granted them by the ruling Caliphs, they exercised considerable influence on their surroundings. Since the Jews of Babylon were not so learned and so refined as their brethren in European lands, it was much easier for a false Messiah to command their confidence and obtain a large following. The confu- sion of legend and fact is so profound that it is difficult to ascertain the motives that prompted David Alrui (about 1160) to de- clare himself the Messiah. David Alrui was handsome, ambitious, and versatile, well-versed in Bible and in Talmud as well as in Arabic literature, and held in high esteem 142 THE MESSIAH IDEA by Jews and Arabs alike. The confusion throughout Asia Minor resulting from the repeated onslaughts of the Crusaders and the weakness of a Caliphate under which so sub- ordinate an officer as Saladin could rise to the position he attained, encouraged the Kurdistan youth in his speculations, and de- termined him to gain his end by diplomatic means. He was still more encouraged by the ready response of the Jews of Bagdad and other places, who came armed at his call. We need not enter here upon a discussion as to the truth of the many miracles he is said to have performed in the presence of the Persian Sultan, nor of the shrewdness of the two knaves who took advantage of the excitement of the people to defraud the Jews of Bagdad of their property. Suffice it to say, that the leaders of the Jewish commu- nity, realizing the danger that threatened them at the hands of the ruler if they per- mitted Alrui to continue in his delusion, asked him to desist from his operations. THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 143 The Mohammedan ruler of Amadia, how- ever, took the more effective course of order- ing Alrui's father-in-lavir to put an end to him virhile he was asleep. A persecution of the Jews followed, and the wrath of the Sultan was appeased only after he was pre- sented with a hundred talents of gold by the Jewish community. Many Jews continued to revere Alrui as the Messiah, and even used his name in their oaths.'" The development of Jewish religious phi- losophy during the middle ages reached its height in the works of Moses Maimonides ( 1 135-1204). A recognized authority in Jewish law, admired for his deep knowledge and upright character, and held in highest esteem by all the Jews of the Diaspora, the sage of Cairo was perhaps the person best fitted to formulate a Jewish creed. "Maimonides must indeed have filled up a great gap in Jewish theology,'' says Dr. Schechter,"' "a gap, moreover, the existence of which was very gen- erally perceived. A century had hardly passed before the Thirteen Articles had become a theme for the 144 THE MESSIAH IDEA poets of the synagogue. And almost every country where Jews lived can show a poem or a prayer founded on these articles." No article of belief had become so buried in extravagant fancies as the Messianic hope, which is incorporated in the last two articles of his creed. Maimonides' view with re- gard to these articles can best be ascertained from his Introduction to the whole subject, in his commentary to the last chapter of the Talmudic treatise Sanhedrin. In discussing the various popular conceptions of the re- ward awaiting those that follow the com- mandments of God, he mentions a class of people who believe that the expected good will come in the Messianic age, when men shall be like angels, immortal, of great stat- ure, and very prolific; when the earth shall produce ready-made garments, and baked bread, and other such impossibilities. An- other class of people hope for the resurrec- tion, when, in the company of their families and dear ones, they shall enjoy the blessings of the earth, and shall never die again. An- THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 14S other class, very numerous, combine all these hopes. They believe that after the Messiah has come and has revived the dead, all will be translated to Paradise, vi^here, throughout eternity, they will eat, and drink, and enjoy perfect physical health. The common people, Maimonides con- tinues, do not attempt to investigate the real meaning of the hope of a future life. They are rather concerned about the material and the concrete: "How will the dead rise? naked or clothed ? attired in the embroidered shrouds in which they were interred, or dressed in a simple garment to cover their flesh ? " With regard to the coming of the Messiah, they are concerned with such specu- lations as to whether there will then be rich and poor, weak and strong. It is well enough for the teacher to attract his youth- ful pupil to study first with figs and honey, and then with the prospect of wealth and fame. Men of intelligence ought to know better. Likewise, material descriptions of 146 THE MESSIAH IDEA future bliss are merely a means to an end, designed for the average man, who is un- able to comprehend exalted spiritual truths, as the school-boy is unable to appreciate the value of knowledge for its own sake. The concessions made by the prophets and the Rabbis had an educational value, inasmuch as they were meant to foster virtue. For men the love of knowledge and the apprecia- tion of the spiritual value of the command- ments of God should be the only and the most potent stimulus. Then he presents the first rational picture of the Messianic age that had appeared for many centuries. The Messianic age will be one in which Israel will regain its sovereign- ty and return to Palestine under the Mes- siah. He will be a great king, whose name will be known among all the nations, and whose fame will exceed that of Solomon. All the nations that are delivered into his hand will live in peace with him and will pay homage to him. But there will be no THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 147 change in the course of nature. Although it will be easier for man to earn a livelihood, there will be then, as there are now, rich and poor, strong and weak. All the prom- ises of the Rabbis about ready-made gar- ments and baked bread produced by the earth are merely figurative expressions, intended to denote the ease with which man, under the rule of the Messiah, will acquire the necessaries of life. The greatest blessing of those days will be that man, free from the trammels of war, will be able to devote all his time to the study of wisdom and to the fulfilment of God's laws. The Messiah will die, and his son will become king in his stead, and there will be no immortality, but the people will live much longer, because they will not be harassed by the troubles and worries that beset us now. We hope for the Messiah, not because we shall then enjoy great prosperity, ride on horses, drink wine, and enjoy fine music, but because, under the rule of a righteous king 148 THE MESSIAH IDEA and in the company of all the righteous, we shall be able, unhampered, to devote our- selves to spiritual work, an idea which he frequently dwelt on. The belief in the res- urrection of the dead is a fundamental prin- ciple of the Mosaic religion, and he who de- nies this cannot claim to be an adherent of Judaism. Only the righteous will rise, the wicked, who are regarded as dead even while they are yet alive, will have no share in it. Maimonides then follows up this forceful and significant argument with the enumera- tion of the thirteen articles of the creed which he regards as essential principles of Judaism. Throughout his later writings, Maimo- nides seems to have clung to the conception of the Messianic period to which, in his youth, he gave utterance in the Siraj. In his legal code, the Mishneh Torah^ he says, " And do not imagine for a moment that the king Messiah will have to perform wonders and miracles, create new phenomena in na- ture, and cause the resurrection of the dead THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 149 . . . , but the world will go on in its usual course." From the writings of the prophets it appears, that at the beginning of the Mes- sianic period, before the wars of Gog and Magog, a prophet will arise to prepare Israel for the advent of the Messiah and make peace among the nations. Some are of the opinion that Elijah will then appear. But no one can foretell the exact nature of this future state, and it is unnecessary to indulge in useless speculation about unessential de- tails. In another place, in the same book," he again emphasizes the idea, that knowl- edge, wisdom, and truth will characterize that glorious period, the Messiah himself will be wiser than Solomon, and almost as great a prophet as Moses. He will teach the word of God to all, and all nations will come to listen to his wisdom. There will be no dif- ference between those days and the present time, except that Israel will regain the sov- ereignty over Palestine. In his letter to Yemen, where the sorely-tried Jews had ISO THE MESSIAH IDEA been led astray by an enthusiast who pro- claimed himself the forerunner of the Mes- siah, Maimonides points out the danger and impiety of attempting to calculate the date of the advent of the Messiah, which has been purposely concealed. It is very curious, however, that while he condemns the specu- lation about the exact date of the Messiah's coming, he mentions in the same letter, that, according to a tradition handed down in his family, prophecy, the forerunner of the Mes- siah, will re-appear in the year 1216.*" While Maimonides' conception of the Messiah and of the Messianic age is thus clearly and fully stated, he is less clear about the resurrection, although he believed in it, and included this belief in his articles of faith, and even went so far as to deny a por- tion in Judaism to him who disbelieved in it. Still, when one of his contemporaries (Has- dai Halevi)" asked him to explain the belief, he answered evasively, that this miracle can be explained only by faith, and not by rea- THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 15I son. When the opposition to his " Guide for the Perplexed " reached its acutest point in Bagdad, Maimonides found it necessary to explain his position with regard to resur- rection in a separate treatise," in which he repeated the assertion that his theory of im- mortality did not contradict the belief in resurrection, and, although the latter cannot be verified by scientific methods of reasoning, it is a cardinal principle of Judaism. The later Jewish philosophers, almost all of whom base their views on Maimonides, either confirming or opposing his theories, are more pronounced about this belief, and try, if not to prove it scientifically, at least to show that it is not opposed to science. Most of them, however, refuse to include either the belief in the resurrection of the dead or the belief in the coming of the Messiah among the essential principles of the Jewish religion. Hasdai Crescas (1340-1410)" admits that resurrection, although a miracle, impossible 152 THE MESSIAH IDEA of proof on rational grounds, is " not very- far from natural." He strongly objects to the assumption of Maimonides and some of his followers, that after the resurrection na- ture will continue in its course, men will sicken and die, and eternal bhss will await the righteous only in " the world to come," where the soul freed from the mortal clay will be admitted to a close contemplation of the Divine presence. He takes the view that we dare not disregard the belief expressed by the Rabbis, that " the revived dead will never return to dust any more," " and expresses a desire that the adherents of this great hope shall cling to every detail of the belief as formulated by our sages. Joseph Albo (1380-1444), a disciple of Hasdai, considers " the belief in the resur- rection proper, though not essential, and tries to establish it from the instance of Elisha's revival of the son of the Shunam- mite woman. He argues that just as we can- not explain magnetic attraction, in which we THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 153 nevertheless believe, because we know it from experience, so we must also believe in the resurrection, since its possibility has been established by experience. He also uses Saadia's argument, that resurrection is a much simpler phenomenon than creation out of nothing. The body that once possessed a soul is likely to regain it, just as the match that was once lighted will more easily catch fire again. Albo also states, though without expressing himself in favor of any particular one, the various views about the state of the risen dead, the classes of people to have a share in the resurrection, and the ideas of different theologians about the exact time of the resurrection, at the beginning of the Mes- sianic period, or later, on the Day of Judg- ment. According to Albo every believer in future reward and punishment, no matter what his conception of that reward and pun- ishment, is to be regarded as a professor of Judaism. The Messianic idea thus received a new 154 THE MESSIAH IDEA form in the writings of the Jewish religious philosophers of the middle ages. Retaining the main outlines of the Messianic figure and times as delineated in the Talmud, they dropped all fanciful and materialistic no- tions, and tried to rationalize the supernat- ural elements connected with the idea. It would be untrue to assert that their views were shared to any considerable extent by the great mass of the people. Even the learned of that time were unwilling to disre- gard the details of the Talmudic conception of the Messiah, many of which are retained by some Jews to the present day. As we shall see later, it was at this period that grosser and more materialistic views of the Messianic period were introduced, through an entirely different source. Still the ration- alistic tendency introduced by these philo- sophic writings no doubt did a great deal toward modifying the coarse and crude no- tions which find expression in some of the later Midrashim and in the Kabbalistic THE RISE OF RATIONALISM 1 55 works. This again proves the pliabihty of the Jewish law, and its adaptabihty to inter- pretation in agreement with the spirit of the times. None of these philosophers imagined for a moment that he was departing from the Talmud or from tradition when he at- tempted to explain the supernatural elements interwoven with the Messianic idea, and disregarded the more objectionable of them. In the next chapter, we shall see how these notions were again changed and moulded by a different school of Jewish thinkers, more spiritual and fanciful in their speculations, who left a more lasting impression upon popular belief. CHAPTER V The Development in the Kabbalah Action and Reaction in Human History — Excessive Rationalism produces Mysticism — Mysticism Valuable in Time of Persecution — The Masses fail to understand the Kabbalah — Fanciful Speculations — Credulity of the Masses and the Pseudo-Messiahs — Nahmanides — His Disputation with Pablo Christiani — His Idea of the Mes- sianic Period — Tartar Invasion of Palestine — Abraham Abulafia's Messiahship — Other Im- postors — Moses de Leon publishes the Zohar — Messianic Speculations in the Zohar — The Date of the Messiah's Arrival — The Period preceding the Messianic Age — "The Suffering Messiah" — ■ The Greatest Achievement of the Messianic Age — The Diffusion of Kabbalistic Lore — Persecu- tions of the Jews in the Fourteenth Century — Moses Botarel claims Messiahship — Isaac Abar- banel on the Advent of the Messiah — Writes Three Messianic Books — His Views Rational^ Yet indulges in Calculations of the Promised End — Asher Lammlein declares himself a Fore- runner of the Messiah — Hope of the Marranos aroused — David Reubeni's Political Plans — He meets with Success in Rome and in Portugal — Solomon Molcho attracted by Reubeni's Ad- ventures — Returns to Judaism — Arouses Jews of Turkey — Encouraged by Events — His Dream — ■ End of Reubeni and Molcho — The Belief in the Kabbalah not impaired — Isaac Lurya and Hay- yim Vital — Beneficent Influences of the Kab- balah. The history of human events is a history of actions and reactions. The extreme de- DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH 157 velopment of any principle, for good or for evil, generally produces a reactionary move- ment, which results finally in a safe and happy mean. Thus, vi^hen the desire for liberty becomes abnormal, and prompts na- tions to plunge into bloody warfare, likely to enslave its very votaries, opposing influences soon set in, tending toward the other ex- treme, until, after mutual concessions, a form of government is established best suited for the people. This phenomenon has oc- curred so frequently in the history of na- tions that we may regard it almost as a law of nature, a primary principle in the evolu- tion of humanity. In Jewish history, the workings of this phenomenon are most evident in the growth and decay, during the thirteenth century, of the rationalistic movement, made popular by Maimonides. Thoroughly versed in all de- partments of Jewish lore and in the prevail- ing theories of philosophy, possessed of strong faith and inexhaustible love for Juda- 158 THE MESSIAH IDEA ism, Maimonides, more than any of his pre- decessors and perhaps also more than those who came after him, succeeded in construct- ing a Jewish creed in agreement with pre- vaihng scientific notions. But rationalism left to the sweet will of the people becomes a dangerous thing. In its extreme manifes- tations, it may produce such phenomena as a religion of reason, that most abominable of all the vagaries of the French Revolution. In thirteenth century Judaism, when the writings of Maimonides were regarded by many as a new revelation, the adoption of his rational methods of interpretation, if left to unskilled hands, might have proved disas- trous to the development of Judaism. Luck- ily, when the tendency was becoming dan- gerous, it was checked by contradicting in- fluences, which went to the other extreme, and forbade every kind of rational investi- gation. Besides the bitter opposition to Maimonides on the part of many Rabbis and obscurantists, and the warfare between them DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH 159 and the Maimunists, which raged for a long time, and was accompanied by many indigni- ties and outrages, another influence arose at that period, the very opposite of that ani- mating the " Guide for the Perplexed " and the " Book of Knowledge " (the first part of Maimonides' code, Mishneh Tor ah). The influence of mysticism, despite its pernicious effects, was most valuable in the preservation of Judaism and the Jews. The mysticism, of which we see the be- ginnings in the Book of Daniel and in the early and the later Geonic, pseudepigraphic literature, had gone on increasing in strength, parallel with Rabbinism, during the many unhappy years of Israel's trials, and the Maimunist controversy contributed to its extreme development. Its teachings became marvellously diffused, and left their impress on Jewish observance, upon the ritual, and upon the codes of law. The hopes it aroused, shrouded as they were in mystical allusions and obscure legends, became the property of l6o THE MESSIAH IDEA the masses, and helped them to remain firm in their faith in the face of all misfortunes — a result which pure rationalism could never have accomplished. Fearful days were soon to come upon Is- rael. The devotees of the " religion of love " were about to take a greater interest, not only in the wealth and earthly posses- sions of the Jews, but also in the salvation of their souls. Amidst the horrors of this time, the hunted Jews needed more than mere reason to keep them steadfast in their faith. The Kabbalah engendered the hope for speedy redemption from the yoke of the cruel oppressor, a redemption that would be accompanied by many supernatural events, for the Jews of that time could no longer believe in a natural redemption. It fed the wretched and despondent hearts of the people with fanciful dreams and impossible though encouraging visions of a bright and glorious future. Thus it kept hope alive in their hearts, and for this service alone it deserves a prominent place in Jewish history. DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH l6l Naturally, the exalted teachings of the Kabbalah, which laid greatest stress on the importance of man and his ability to reach to the highest pinnacle of spirituality, could not be fully understood by the people at large. Unsatisfied by a Judaized Aristote- lian rationalism as well as by the strict, re- lentless logic of the Talmudic schools, they hungered for something imaginative, some- thing spiritual, to nourish their deep reli- gious feeling. This they found in the Kab- balah as it was presented to them. Most of all they were attracted by the Kabbalistic principle, that mystic speculations based on letters and words, numbers and phrases, are the proper and most effective means to at- tain the highest pitch of ecstasy, and thus come in closer communion with God. Ma- terializing the ideal, they saw concrete reali- ties in the smallest symbol or sign. They regarded the simplest phenomena as allu- sions to something in the Divine mind. The great expounders of mystic doctrines l62 THE MESSIAH IDEA used such forms as visible expressions of the Eternal, uplifting human aspirations toward perfection. Their followers, unable to ap- preciate the transcendental character of these speculations, looking upon them not merely as a means to something nobler, more ex- alted, and more world-embracing, but as in themselves effective, naturally laid the great- est stress on numerical calculations with the letters of the alphabet, mysterious allusions in Biblical phrases, and symbolic interpreta- tions of acrostics. Accordingly, they re- garded those who could best establish their claims on such speculations and. calculations as fit for the Messiah's crown. It was thus not the Kabbalah, but the popular conception of it, that made it pos- sible for the pseudo-Messiahs, often them- selves misled, to mislead the people. The true Kabbalists were faithful to the Tal- mudic law and closely adhered to Rabbinic Judaism, while the pseudo-Messiahs, leaning upon popular credulity and lack of under- DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH 163 standing of the Kabbalah, almost invariably advocated laxity in the observance of Rab- binic law, and neglect of the study of its literature. They appealed to the weaker side of the popular nature, which was averse to the burden of law, and at the same time they pandered to the ever-present popular desire for novelty, a characteristic of the popular leader since the days of Jeroboam. Besides, their Messianic teachings in them- selves necessitated certain changes in the ac- cepted laws and customs. The usual result of the failure of the pseudo-Messiahs was conversion to the dominant religion, Chris- tianity or Mohammedanism, by some of their adherents. This may be accounted for by the persecutions that generally followed such movements, and by the inherent weakness of those of the people who were misled by the fancies of the pseudo-Kabbalah. With the foundation of law shaken, faith in Rabbinic authority undermined, hopes disillusioned, what power was left to uphold the people in 1 64 THE MESSIAH IDEA the face of concrete and material troubles? The Kabbalah was indeed responsible for a number of the misfortunes that befell Israel during many centuries, not through its essential teachings, however, but because of its manifestation to the great mass of the Jews. In the early stages of the development of the Kabbalah, Rabbi Moses ben Nahman Gerundi, or Nahmanides (ii95?-l270?), a clear-headed thinker and at the same time a man of deep spiritual tendencies, was one of its most representative adherents. Above all a man of peace, he did not assume that aggressive tone characteristic of the other Kabbalists of his age, nor did the obscure doctrines of the Kabbalah affect all his ideas. Although he believed implicitly in the advent of the Messiah, and undoubtedly gave cred- ence to the many details grouped by the Kabbalists about him, yet his views are more rational than even those of Maimonides. In his interesting disputation with Pablo DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH 165 Christiani, a converted Jew, which took place in Barcelona, before the king of Aragon (1263), and lasted four days, Nahmanides expressed his views about the Jewish belief in the coming of a Messiah. The questions under discussion were: i. whether the Mes- siah had appeared or not; 2. whether the Messiah, according to the prophecies of the Bible, was to be considered as God or as man; 3. whether Judaism or Christianity- was the true faith. After declaring that the Talmudic Haggadah, the source of Pablo's arguments against Judaism, was to be re- garded only as a collection of sermons, carry- ing with it no binding authority, Nahma- nides proclaimed his belief in a human Mes- siah, a king of flesh and blood. In a book of his, " The Date of the Re- demption," quoted by Azariah de Rossi, Nahmanides' view of the Messiah is given in more precise terms : " The question of the Messiah is not of that dog- matic importance to the Jews that Christians imagine. For even if Jews supposed their sins to be so great 1 66 THE MESSIAH IDEA that they forfeited all the promises made to them in the Scriptures, or that, on some hidden ground, it would please the Almighty never to restore their national independence, this would in no way alter the obligations of Jews toward the Torah. Nor is the coming of the Messiah desired by the Jews as an end in itself. For it is not the goal of their hopes that they shall be able again to eat of the fruit of Palestine, or enjoy other pleasures there; not even the chance of the restoration of sacrifices and the worship of the Temple is the greatest of Jewish expectations (connected with the appearance of the Messiah). What makes them long for his coming, is the hope that they will then witness, in the com- pany of the prophets and priests, a greater spread of purity and holiness than is now possible. In other words the possibility for them to live a holy life after the will of God will be greater than now. But, on the other hand, considering that such a godly life under a Christian government requires greater sacrifices than it would under a Jewish king; and, considering again that the merits and rewards of a good act increase with the obstacles that are in the way of executing it — considering this, a Jew might even prefer to live under the king of Aragon than under the Messiah, where he would perforce act in accordance with the precepts of the Torah." ^ During the disputation, Nahmanides took advantage of the opportunity to disprove the assumption of the Christian theologians that the prophecies about the future referred to DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH 167 the advent of Jesus, as his coming had not inaugurated the universal peace which is the characteristic feature of the Messianic period as pictured by the prophets. Turning to the king, Nahmanides boldly exclaimed, " It behooves thee and thy knights, O King, to put an end to all warfare, as the beginning of the Messianic era demands." ' In a sermon on the value of the Torah,° delivered in Barcelona, he shows how the stories and events narrated in the Bible are the prototypes of the events that have hap- pened throughout human history. The Torah is " a history of humanity written in advance." He compares the six days of creation with the six millenniums of the world's existence. On the sixth day, ani- mals were created first, and then came man, the animals representing the nations of the earth to whom the Jews are subjected,* and man the Messiah, man in the image of God, who will appear during the sixth mil- lennium. The Sabbath represents the sev- 1 68 THE MESSIAH IDEA enth millennium, when the life of the future will be inaugurated, and he considers the in- stitutions of the Sabbatical year, the jubilee year, and the counting of the 'Omer ° as other indications that the world will change its present form at the end of six thousand years of its existence. The battle of Moses and Joshua against the Amalekites foreshadows the warfare that Elijah and the Messiah son of Joseph will wage against Edom.° The miracle of the bodily resun^ection of the dead, although unexplainable by the ordi- nary standards of reason, is still, according to Nahmanides' theory, intelligible, since, if the body acts in conformity with the godly nature of the soul, it may be trans- formed into a pure essence, and preserved ' for eternity.' Thus, Nahmanides, though not willing to recognize the Messianic belief as an essential principle of Judaism, and avoiding the extravagances in which his contemporaries and immediate followers in- dulged, clung to the belief in all its important details. DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH 169 During his time, many important changes occurred in Palestine, where Nahmanides spent his last years, and where he produced his greatest works. The Tartars, under Sultan Hulagu (1260), ravaged the land, overthrew the Eastern Caliphate, and forced their way into Palestine, bringing ruin and desolation wherever they came, and sparing neither Christian nor Mohammedan. The former regarded them as the Antichrist, who is expected to appear before the second ad- vent of Jesus. The Jews, likewise expecting some great change in their unfortunate lot, identified the " ugly men from the East " with the army of King Armilus, which is to conquer both Edom and Ishmael, and be in its turn conquered by the Messiah. At this opportune time, and under the favorite name of Simeon ben Johai,* a new revelation ap- peared. However, it contained no new ele- ments ; but the events of the day were made to prognosticate the speedy coming of the Messiah in it. I70 THE MESSIAH IDEA Meanwhile, in Southern Europe, the KabbaHstic movement spread and strength- ened, and some of the KabbaHsts no longer satisfied themselves with speculating about the Ten Sefiroth and the permutations and combinations of the letters of God's name. They insisted that they possessed the key to certain formulas by which they could come into direct communion with God, and obtain the power of prophecy. Abraham Abulafia of Tudela (1240- 1291), endowed with a lively imagination and considerable knowledge, proclaimed himself a prophet and a worker of miracles, and lectured on his theory of Kabbalah (the active Kabbalah)" in various towns of Northern Spain, where he secured a number of admirers and devotees. After failing in his attempt to convert Pope Martin IV to Judaism (1281), and escaping the stake by mere chance, Abulafia proceeded to the island of Sicily. In Messina, after a cordial reception, he announced himself as the Mes- DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH 171 siah (1284), and put forth his claim to that distinction in writing,'" making the year 1290 the date of his appearance. There were sceptics in Sicily, and they turned for infor- mation to the recognized authority in Span- ish Jewry, Rabbi Solomon ben Adereth, who replied that he had heard of Abulafia, but he considered him a mere adventurer, and warned the Jews of Sicily against following his extravagant teachings." This letter en- tirely crushed Abulafia's aspirations to be recognized as the Messiah. After a few at- tempts to restore his reputation, he disap- peared from the scene of activity. Two other adventurers then appeared in Spain, one in the village of Ayllon, in the province of Segovia, and the other in the more important town of Avila. They pro- claimed themselves prophets, and announced the advent of the Messiah in mystic lan- guage. The prophet of Avila, Nissim ben Abraham, gained many adherents. In spite of the warnings of the venerable Rabbi of 172 THE MESSIAH IDEA Barcelona, they awaited the advent of the Messiah with intense excitement on the day pointed out by the prophet. The day came, but the impostor-prophet did not appear. Many Jews subsequently embraced Christi- anity, and others are said to have fallen into a state of melancholy." It is not fair, as some of our historians have done, to stamp as impostors all who from time to time have arisen in Israel, and deluded their brethren with vain hopes. Some of them undoubtedly were self-con- fessed impostors, but most of them were de- luded enthusiasts, who actually believed in their superior powers and in the Divine mis- sion which they imagined to have been in- trusted to them. Abulafia probably be- longed to the latter class, and, permeated as he was with the revelations he made in the science of Kabbalah, the only true study ac- cording to the conception of many of the most learned Jews of that time, he believed himself to be a special favorite of God, to DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH 173 whom mysteries were revealed and the fate of his people intrusted. The motives actuating Moses de Leon (1250-1305), his younger contemporary, do not seem so free from guile. Whether the author of the Zohar " was Rabbi Simeon ben Johai or Abulafia or de Leon himself," is immaterial for our purpose. Suffice it to say that de Leon was the first to publish this book and edit it with numerous additions of his own. It is, indeed, wonderful to see how quickly it became the authority, not only for the Kabbalists, but for almost all Israel, and how great its influence has been on Jewish life and habits. In many communities, the study of the Talmud was soon superseded by that of the Zohar, for it was regarded as a direct revelation from God to the Tanna Rabbi Simeon ben Johai, and as possessed of the same sanctity as the Bible. To the present day, many Jews believe, that the reading of the Zohar in itself, even though its contents be not understood, is sufficient 174 THE MESSIAH IDEA to purify their souls and bring them into communion with God. Customs and cere- monies enjoined in the Zohar were subse- quently incorporated in the Shulhan 'Aruch, and are now observed by most Jews, even by such as have discarded the belief in the Divine character of the Zohar. As may be expected, the Messianic idea occupies a very prominent position in the Zohar. In fact, in some places it is ex- pressly stated, that the revelation of the Zohar was to be made only in the end of days, in the last generation before the com- ing of the Messiah." The time of the Mes- siah's coming is fixed in the Zohar by a mystic calculation of the numerical values of the letters of the Ineffable Name of God. The He stands for five thousand, the five thousand years which Israel spent in slavery and subjection under foreign powers. After the five thousand years shall have passed, and also sixty years {Yod times Wazv, lo X 6 = 60) in the sixth millennium, Israel DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH 175 will rise from the ground, and during every sixty years following this the kindness of God toward Israel will increase, until 600 in the sixth millennium, when the gates of heavenly wisdom will be opened, the foun- tains of wisdom from below will gush forth, and the world will be prepared to enter upon the seventh millennium, as one prepares him- self on Friday for the approach of the Sab- bath." From this calculation it appears that the Zohar expected the Messiah to appear in the year 1300, which would mark the begin- ning of the Messianic era. Other dates (1328," 1648 for the resurrection ") are also mentioned, but these were probably interpo- lated later by those who wished to bring the time up to their own age. This calculation is a fair specimen of the Kabbalistic foun- dations for Messianic hopes. In all such calculations, the holy numbers seven and three play an important part. The Zohar- istic conceptions are so characteristic that I shall give some of the details of the Messi- 176 THE MESSIAH IDEA anic hope as it finds expression in the pages of this book. According to the prevalent notion, the Zohar predicts that the period preceding the Messianic age will be one of terrible misfor- tunes to Israel. All the nations will vie with each other in oppressing Israel, and " the last misfortunes shall make them forget the earlier." Before the coming of the Messiah a column of fire will appear in the world, and will remain standing for forty days in the sight of all the nations of the earth. Then the King Messiah will be aroused to proceed from Paradise, from that place which is called " the bird's nest." " He will first make his appearance in Galilee, because Galilee was the first province to be destroyed by the Romans. A brilliant star will then appear in the skies, surrounded by seven other stars, which will wage war with the brilliant star three times daily, for a period of seventy days, and be swallowed up by it every night and ejected every morning. DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH 177 After the seventy days, the stars will dis- appear. The Messiah will be concealed in the column of fire, invisible for twelve months, after the lapse of which he will be taken up to heaven, crowned king, and endowed with all the strength and dignity of a king. He will then descend upon earth, and the column of fire will again be made visible. The Messiah will become known throughout the world, and the nations as well as many unbelieving Jews will come to wage war with him. Then the world will become dark for fifteen days, and many will die during that time."" In the year 73 of the sixth thousand since the creation of the world (13 13), all the na- tions will be gathered in Rome, and God will rain upon them with iire, hail, and stones, and they will be destroyed from the world, except those kings who did not come to Rome. These will still desire to wage war with the Messiah, and Ishmael will join them in their siege of Jerusalem. But " He who sits in heaven laughs." Many will join the 178 THE MESSIAH IDEA Jews in the worship of God, and will thus become new creatures, for God will produce new souls for all those who will be left, and who will thus be prepared to enter the sev- enth millennium.'* In another place " the details are described in the following manner : When God wishes to rebuild Jerusalem, a fixed star will wage war with seven shooting stars. . . . On the first day when the star appears in Rome, three high towers will crumble, and the great palace (the Vatican?) will fall, and the ruler of the city (the Pope?) will die. Then the star will become apparent to the whole world. At that time great wars will be waged in the world, in all the four corners, and the people will have no belief. When the star ap- pears, a mighty king will arise, and conquer all the nations and rule over them. When the star dis- appears, Palestine will be shaken forty-five miles from the place where the Temple stood. . . . Then the Messiah will be revealed to the whole world, and the rule will be delivered into his hands. At the time of his coming the world will be in great distress, and Israel's enemies will become strong, but the Messiah will avenge himself on " guilty Edom," and the whole land of Seir will be consumed by fire. Then God will revive the dead. The State of affairs in the world at the time of the Messiah's coming is dwelt upon DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH 179 frequently in the Zohar, and the elaboration of the details, the many miracles and won- ders to be shown at that time might stagger the imagination of the most fanciful, invent- ive dreamer. There are various references in the Zo- har^ to the idea of a suffering Messiah. Legends tell how the Messiah in Paradise is moved by what the souls, who have come back from their periodic journeys in the world, relate of the suffering and tribulation they beheld among men, and especially among Israel in exile. The Messiah enters " the palace of diseases,'"" and takes upon himself all the maladies destined for Israel, and thus alleviates Israel's sufferings and makes them bearable. In this manner, the Messiah constitutes himself the sin-offering, which can no longer be brought by Israel, since the Temple is destroyed. The punish- ment is not entirely avoided, but merely post- poned until " the world to come." '" The miracle of the resurrection of the dead is i8o THE MESSIAH IDEA treated in the Zohar as a matter of course. In accordance with the Kabbalistic doctrine, that the Bible cloaks deeply significant mean- ings in simple language, many Scriptural passages are distorted from their original meaning, in order to prove the resurrection of the dead. The resurrection will take place forty years after the advent of the Messiah, and the revived bodies will be as fresh as a three-years' old child, and as holy as angels. '" Except in the elaboration of details, the Zohar adds very little to the prevalent Mes- sianic conception. The pre-existence of the Messiah is assumed, and his almost Divine character repeatedly emphasized. He is suf- fering for the sins of his people, and helps them carry the burden of punishment." Messiah son of Joseph is also mentioned in the Zohar as occupying a seat in the " lower heights " "* of the heavenly abodes, but very little activity is assigned to him. The Kabbalistic conception of the highest attain- DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH l8l ment of the Messianic age is the opening of the gates of wisdom and the revelation of the secrets of the law, by which the Zohar means nothing else than the universal diffusion of Kabbalistic wisdom, the only real wisdom, the secrets directly imparted by God to the pious of all generations. When this is ac- complished, humanity will be ready to enter upon the seventh millennium, the millennium of rest and Divine contemplation. This idea is in perfect keeping with the main principle of the Zohar, that the soul of man is not a creation, but an emanation from God. The highest point of human perfection will be attained when, through constant study and devotion, inducing a state of ecstasy, the soul of man will be reunited with its source, the Divine soul. The Zohar was accorded a heartier recep- tion than any book in the world's literature. It immediately placed the Kabbalah upon a firm basis, and was regarded for many cen- turies as the Bible of the Kabbalists. Yet 1 82 THE MESSIAH IDEA we must not imagine that tlie Jewish world as a whole became absorbed in the Kabbalah, and produced nothing else. At the same time many poets and philosophers, statesmen and diplomats, flourished in Spain and in Portugal, some of whom diverged very con- siderably from the teachings of the Zohar. Thus, a renowned Rabbi, Hayyim ben Ga- lipapa (13 10-1380), declared in an open let- ter," that all the prophecies of Isaiah and of Daniel with regard to the Messiah had been fulfilled in the time of the Maccabees, and the Messianic belief at present had no Scrip- tural basis. Joseph Albo (1380-1444) also took a more rational view of the Messiah. He re- peatedly made it clear that though it is proper for every Jew to believe in his com- ing, yet the belief is not essential to Juda- ism.™ Albo, however, could not agree with those that considered the Messianic belief as merely sanctioned by tradition and without Biblical basis. He held that the unfulfilled DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH 183 prophecies in Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Malachi must refer to the remote future." These ar- guments were used by Albo in the celebrated disputation carried on between him and other Jewish notables, at Tortosa (1413-14), with the apostate Geronimo de Santa Fe, who wished to prove that the Jews should accept the Messiahship of Jesus, since it was estab- lished by Bible and Talmud." The fourteenth century left in its trail the blood of thousands of Jewish victims to the dissolute, cruel, and vicious rule of the Chris- tian monarchs and potentates of Western Europe. The year 1391 will ever stand out as the most fateful year in Jewish history during the exile. The disgraceful acts of the Christian magnates against the Jews can be atoned for only by many centuries of tol- erance and good-will. The immorality of the Church cost Israel many souls. Thou- sands were slaughtered, thousands were ban- ished from their homes, and thousands were forced to baptism. A writer of that time l84 THE MESSIAH IDEA gives a striking picture of the horrors that beset the Jewish communities of Castile, in the following words : In truth, plunders followed upon plunders,"' money vanished from the purse,'* souls from the bodies;"' all the sufferings that were believed to precede the Messianic period are here — but the redeemer has not come. I will not attempt to recount all the miseries ; they are more numerous than sand."" The Rabbis were compelled to enter into discussions with apostate Jews, in the pres- ence of royalty and the clergy, and the re- sults of these discussions were invariably massacres and forced conversions. Kabbal- istic dreamers and impostors soon sprang up armed with Biblical and Talmudic passages as evidence of the approach of the Messianic age. Moses Botarel, of Cisneros, in Castile, went still further, and declared that he had been anointed by Elijah the prophet, and should be recognized by all Rabbis as the head of the Sanhedrin. Botarel's end is un- known, but some of his Kabbalistic writings are still extant." The dejection of the Jew- DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH 185 ish spirit in this time can be judged from the fact that no less a man than the philosopher Hasdai Crescas proclaimed his belief in Bo- tarel's Messiahship, though only a few years earlier, Rabbi Nissim ben Reuben, of Barce- lona, a devout Talmudist, had found it neces- sary to protest against a general belief, among the Jews of Castile, that Samuel Abu- lafia, the favorite of the king Don Pedro, and the chief contributor to the erection of the magnificent synagogue in Toledo, was the Messiah, and his great eminence a sug- gestion of " the sceptre of Judah." °' The unfortunate condition of the Jews in Spain continued, with very few interruptions, throughout the fifteenth century, until the time when Ferdinand and Isabella selected the Jewish subjects of their dominions as a thank-offering to their God for the assistance afforded them in their triumph over the Moors. The expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 closed one of the gloomiest chapters in Jewish history. 1 86 THE MESSIAH IDEA The last link in the chain of Spanish-Jew- ish philosophers and thinkers, Don Isaac ben Judah Abarbanel (1437- 1509), a clear and practical thinker, was also swayed by the Kabbalistic influences of his age, and in- dulged in Messianic speculations in accord- ance with the prevalent methods of his time. The appalling misery that beset the poor Spanish fugitives prompted Abarbanel to compose three books *° in which the speedy advent of the Messiah is emphasized, and the date accurately determined. This juggling with Biblical words and phrases to find out the date of the coming of the Messiah, and thus hold forth some tangible hope to his despondent and forlorn brethren, becomes pathetic when we remember it to be the work of a venerable sage, laden with years, fallen from his lofty estate, himself, like Jeremiah of old, a witness to the affliction of his peo- ple, whom he loved so much, and whom he was unable to help in their dire misfortune, renouncing for their sake all ambition and DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH 187 glory, and willing to spend his later years in entire obscurity. The picture becomes still more pathetic when we remember the practi- cal statesmanship, the lucid and rational in- terpretations of Biblical texts by this pioneer in the long list of modern interpreters of the Bible." Abarbanel criticises those Jewish philoso- phers very severely who, unlike Maimo- nides, did not regard the Messianic belief a cardinal principle of Judaism. The shafts of his criticism are especially directed against Joseph Albo. He allows no opportunity to pass for showing the fallacy in the argu- ments of the author of the 'Ikkarim."' His own Messianic conception he bases on the Bibhcal prophecies, from which he deduces ten elements, including the chief rational features of the Messianic belief, stripped of all the fanciful and supernatural accretions of the Rabbis and the Kabbalists. God will send a redeemer of the House of David, who will lead the despised nation back to Jerusa- l88 THE MESSIAH IDEA lem, where the Temple will be rebuilt, and the nation again sanctified. Prophecy will return to Israel, miracles will again be done in its behalf, there will be material pros- perity and blessings innumerable, and Israel will be exiled no more. All the nations of the earth will accept the monotheistic reli- gion, when God's wrath has been poured out upon them. After the return to Palestine, the dead will be revived." In spite of this rational view, Abarbanel could not resist the temptation to calculate the date of the coming of the Messiah. After showing that the prohibitions of the Talmud and of later writers refer, not to calculations made by way of interpretations of Biblical passages, but to those based on astrological speculations," Abarbanel de- duces, from various Scriptural passages, es- pecially from the mysterious allusions of the Book of Daniel, that the Messiah will come in 5263 A. M. (1503 C. E.), and that the Messianic age will set in with the fall of DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH 189 Rome in 1531, four Sabbatical years later. He supports his deductions by many Biblical and Talmudic passages." His own dictum about Rabbi Akiba's belief in the Messiah- ship of Bar-Cochba, that " it happens to every wise man that he thinks and believes what his heart desires," " can be justly ap- plied to himself. The misery of his breth- ren was so great, and his faith in the justice of God and in the future glory of Israel so strong, that he could not but conceive the redemption to be very near. If Israel suc- cumbs to its already almost unbearable suf- ferings, all the promises of God will remain unfulfilled. But this is impossible to Israel's God of truth. Abarbanel, like many of his predecessors, lived to see his calculations proved false. Abarbanel's calculations produced the very results so feared by the Rabbis. In 1502, a German Jew, Asher Lammlein, en- couraged by the predictions of Abarbanel, declared himself a forerunner of the Mes- igo THE MESSIAH IDEA siah, proclaiming that if the Jews would spend six months in repentance and chastise- ment and in dispensing charity, the Messiah would appear, preceded by a column of fire and a column of smoke, like those which went before the Israelites in the wilderness, and would bring the Jews back to Palestine. The sign of his coming would be the sudden downfall of many Christian churches. Lammlein immediately secured a large num- ber of adherents," including even Christians, especially in the neighborhood of Venice, where many Jews followed his behests, neg- lecting all their affairs, and spending their time in fasting, prayer, and self-castigation. This year is known in Jewish history as the " year of penitence." But all these hopes came to a premature end with the death of the prophet, and Isaac Abarbanel lived to see Christianity embraced by many Jews, de- luded by the hopes stirred up by his books and by the prophecies of Lammlein. Despite frequent disappointments, the peo- DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH I91 pie did not lose faith in the fulfilment of the Messianic prophecies. Indeed, this hope, misguided and fraught with incalculable evils as it frequently was, is one of the sub- lime features of the Jewish religion. To the unfortunate Marranos, tortured in body and mind, it was the only comfort and con- solation. Many of them believed the pro- phecy of a girl of fifteen years of age, that the Messiah had revealed himself to her, and taken her up to heaven, where she saw, seated on golden chairs, all the martyrs that had been burnt at the stake, and that he had promised soon to reveal himself to the whole world. They immediately threw off the false mantle of Christianity, and pro- fessed Judaism in public. The result was, that thirty-eight Marranos were burnt at the stake in Toledo. But the greater the perse- cution, the stronger became their hope, the readier were they to lend a willing ear to Messianic pretenders and enthusiasts. At that time, there arose a pretender, most 192 THE MESSIAH IDEA important not only because of the novelty of his scheme, but also because of the great in- fluence he exerted wherever he appeared. David Reubeni, who came from the East with a special message, not to the Jews, but to the Christian rulers of Europe, at first put forth no Messianic claims. In 1522 he left his native land, and began to tour Asia. To all whom he met, he related his mission in behalf of his brother, the ruler of a Jewish kingdom in Chaibar, composed of fugitives from the tribes of Reuben and Gad, who, he said, had under his command three hundred thousand chosen warriors, ready to over- power the Turks and wrest Palestine from their hands, provided the Christian nations would supply them with fire-arms. A man of great prudence and discretion, he always surrounded his tales with mystic and secret allusions, so as to arouse the curiosity and interest of the Jews. Despite their advances, he took a distant and haughty attitude toward them, maintaining that his business was with the Pope. DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH 193 He was most favorably received by Pope Clement VII, who, harassed on all sides by the constant growth of the Reformation, re- garded with especial favor the plan by which the Jews should drive the most dangerous enemy of Christendom out of the Holy Land. This procured many adherents among the Jews for Reubeni, and many costly gifts were sent him by wealthy Jews, but he main- tained his aloofness, and abode by his purely political scheme. As his name and mission became more widely known, he even received a call from the king of Portugal, to visit him in his court. We can hardly imagine the feelings of the poor Marranos of Portugal, on the eve of the introduction of the Inquisition, when they heard that a Jew had been entertained at the royal palace, and shown all marks of esteem and confidence by the king. They did not ask whether he was the forerunner of the Messiah, they would have believed it even if he had denied it. All eyes were fastened 194 THE MESSIAH IDEA on the man from the East, and everywhere reigned the tensest expectancy of speedy redemption. Reubeni, however, knowing full well the danger of his position, gave very little encouragement to these Messianic dreams and speculations. The enthusiastic hope soon spread far and wide. Among those whom it affected was a noble and talented youth, who sacrificed his ambitions and his life in its behalf. Diogo Pires (1501-1532), born a New Christian, by his talents and gentle bearing rose to the high position of royal secretary to a high court of justice. He was appar- ently acquainted with Hebrew and Rabbinic lore from his earliest youth, and he had also acquired a fair knowledge of the Kabbalah. His poetic mind was captivated by Reubeni's mission, and it became filled with Messianic dreams and visions. He made the acquaintance of Reubeni, and, in spite of a cool reception, he decided to undergo circumcision and announce himself DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH 19S publicly as a Jew. Subsequently, under the name of Solomon Molcho, he departed for Turkey, where he created a great sensation. Even Joseph Caro, the famous compiler of the Shulhan 'Aruch, himself a devotee of the Kabbalah, placed implicit faith in the young proselyte, and declared that his greatest am- bition was to die, with Molcho, a martyr's death. In Salonica, Molcho was received with great enthusiasm by large audiences, who listened with rapt attention to sermons in which Molcho preached his Messianic ideas, according to which the reign of the Messiah would commence with the end of the year 1540 (5300 A. M.). The invasion of Rome by the followers of Luther in 1527 meant to Molcho that destruction of Edom which all Jewish sages and writers had prophesied as preceding the advent of the Messiah. The event encouraged Molcho still more in his Messianic dreams. He left Turkey to visit Rome and announce his mission to the great potentates of 196 THE MESSIAH IDEA Europe. In accordance with an ancient tradition, that the Messiah would be found at the gates of Rome among the poor and the sick, Molcho abandoned his retinue on arriving in the Eternal City, dressed himself in rags, blackened his face, and for thirty days lived among the beg- gars on the bridge of the Tiber. His sub- sequent course was determined by a wonder- ful dream, in which an old man, who had appeared to him frequently before, an- nounced to him that Portugal would be vis- ited by an earthquake, and that Rome and a Northern country would be swept by a de- structive flood, after which there would ap- pear in Rome, for a few days, two comets with golden tails, one indicating God's anger against the sinful nation, the other His mercy toward Israel. In his dream, he was promised, that on reaching his thirtieth year he would be raised to a higher degree, after which the Messianic period would com- mence. DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH 197 Raised to the highest exuUation by this dream, Molcho threw off his disguise, and began to preach his doctrine in public, to crowded synagogues, escaping the clutches of the Inquisition only through the interven- tion of the Pope himself. Meanwhile, the inundation of Rome actually took place ( Oc- tober 8, 1530) ; Flanders, the country of the North, also suffered from a flood ; a brilliant comet appeared in the sky; Lisbon was shaken by a severe earthquake (January 26, 1536), and all signs pointed to the fulfil- ment of Molcho's prophecies. When he again appeared in Rome, he was greeted with marks of highest confidence and reverence, and was regarded by all as the messenger of God. The Inquisition, how- ever, would not be persuaded by dreams, and allowed no poetic fancies as evidence against or for an accused Marrano. Urged by a Jewish physician, Jacob Mantin, it proceed- ed with Molcho's prosecution. In spite of the intercession of the Pope, he was found igS THE MESSIAH IDEA guilty, and condemned to be burnt at the stake. It seems, however, that the Pope succeeded in substituting some one else in the place of Molcho, who was kept hidden in the Vatican chambers, and thus, many be- lieved, Molcho was saved from the flames by a miracle. Of course, he was obliged to leave Rome, and his end came soon after. He conceived the daring plan of visiting Emperor Charles V, in company with David Reubeni, and pleading the Jewish cause with him. Without ceremony, Charles had them both put in chains and carried to Mantua (1532), where Molcho was burnt in accord- ance with a decree issued by the Inquisition, while David, against whom the Inquisition was powerless, since he was a Jew, remained in the dungeon for three years. As it ap- pears, he was at length put to death by poison." Thus ended the wonderful career of these two extraordinary men, who played so prom- inent a part in Jewish history. Reubeni's DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH 199 plan was almost entirely of a practical na- ture, and his means of carrying it out were diplomatic and statesmanlike. Molcho, how- ever, was a real enthusiast, whose sincere be- lief in his mission inspired others with his own confidence. Even after his death, many learned and intelligent Jews of Europe and Asia believed he had escaped death a second time, and he would soon re-appear. Some even declared they had seen him eight days after his execution. It is very difficult to deduce, from the writings of the time, what was the view of the best minds of the day, for even Joseph Cohen, the author of 'Emek ha-Bachah, a careful historian and clear thinker, was dazed by the miraculous events of the period, and was uncertain as to what judgment he should pass on the whole affair. The belief that the Messianic age was near, was current among the Jews of Italy, who saw in the recent sack of Rome, in the Lutheran agitation, and in the hostility be- tween Pope and Emperor, certain signs of the approach of the Messianic era." 200 THE MESSIAH IDEA Despite the failure of these two pseudo- Messiahs, the study of the Kabbalah gained large numbers of new votaries even among the most cultured, and even among cultured Christians. Foremost among them were Isaac Lurya (1534-1572) and his disciple, Hayyim Vital Calabrese (i 543-1 620), each of whom believed himself to be the Messiah son of Joseph, and proclaimed his mission to assembled multitudes. Though their in- fluence upon the development of the Kabba- lah was very great, their Messianic specula- tions were of little effect, except to induce their followers to apply themselves more zealously to the study of the Kabbalah, through which, they asserted, the coming of the Messiah son of David would be hastened. Destructive though the influence of the Kabbalah was, and conducive as its teach- ings were to an unwholesome and abnormal development of the Jewish spirit, it still had this good effect, that it held out to its adher- ents, living in the darkest of the dark ages. DEVELOPMENT IN KABBALAH 201 subject to excruciating pains and to spiritual and mental agonies, the hope of a speedy- redemption from their troubles. Rational- istic theories about the future of Israel may be sufficient for Jews living in comfort and prosperity. But the poor, unfortunate Jews of Southern Europe during the middle ages, living in constant trepidation and suspense, subject to the tender mercies of a blood- thirsty clergy and of a fanatic and covetous royalty, exposed to the greatest dangers at every step — such unfortunates needed some- thing more spiritual, something more myste- rious, to strengthen them in their faith. To them the Kabbalah, with its highly spiritual teachings, with its mystical promises, and its extravagant hopes, was the firmest sup- port. If their hopes were once disappointed, it was necessary only to interpret the Bibli- cal text by a somewhat different combination of letters and syllables, in order to make it apply to a new hope, deferred to a later time, and the Jewish spark was kept ablaze in 202 THE MESSIAH IDEA their hearts. The excitement itself, though it brought no permanent relief, served as a temporary remedy for their wounded spirits. Even the impostors, if impostors they were, contributed their share toward the survival of the Jewish hope in the hearts of the suf- fering Jews. The sacrifices the Jewish nation made on the altar of the Kabbalah, in submitting to the delusive dreams pub- lished abroad by deluded and deluding men, were worth the recompense the nation re- ceived in the preservation of the great and glorious hope of a triumphant future. CHAPTER VI The Effects of Kabbalistic Speculations The Protestant Reformation — Luther's Favorable Attitude to the Jews — Hebrew Literature studied by Christians — -The Wars of the Reformation — Signs of the Messianic Era — Manasseh ben Israel — The Fifth Monarchy Men — The Puritans — Manasseh effects the Resettlement of the Jews in England — Aaron Levi identifies the American Indians with the Ten Tribes — Manasseh believes the Messianic Era Near at Hand — Manasseh and Cromwell — Sabbatai Zebi announces himself as the Messiah — Pronounces the Ineffable Name of God — Excommunicated and banished from Smyrna — In Jerusalem — Nathan Ghazati his Prophet — Recognized as the Messiah — The Messianic Theory of the Sab- batians — Opposition to Rabbinism — Sabbatai turns Mohammedan — Excitement not abated by his Death — Michael Cardoso — Mordecai of Eisenstadt — Jacob Querido — Judah Hasid — Hayyim Malach— Nehemiah Hiyya Hayyun — Rabbis oppose the pseudo-Messiahs — Moses Hayyim Luzzatto misled by Mystic Speculations — Yankiev Leibowitz Frank — His Theory about the Various Messiahs — Frankists declare their Principles — ^Their Opposition to the Talmud — Modern Hasidism — Resume of the Influence of the Kabbalah. Like almost every other matter of human interest in Europe, the Messianic hope was greatly influenced by the Protestant Refor- 204 THE MESSIAH IDEA mation. From the time Martin Luther boldly launched his invectives against the Roman Church (1521), and succeeded in throwing off the yoke of the Pope, the ex- pectation of the advent of the Messiah was strengthened among the Jews. Luther him- self, though not a great friend of the Jews, declared himself most emphatically against Jewish persecution. " They are blood-relations of our Lord," he says in one place (1523),'' "therefore, if it were proper to boast of flesh and blood, the Jews belong to Christ more than we. I beg, therefore, my dear Papists, if you become tired of abusing me as a heretic, that you begin to revile me as a Jew.'' In another place he says : It is my advice that we treat them kindly. . If we would help them, so must we exercise, not the law of the Pope, but that of Christian love — show them a friendly spirit, permit them to live and to work, so that they may have cause to live with us. Such expressions of good feeling had not come from Christian lips for many centuries, and they aroused new hopes in the breast of the oppressed Jews. To the Jewish mind, KABBALISTIC SPECULATIONS 205 in which the fall of Rome was always con- nected with the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the constant wars and rebellions against papal authority clearly indicated the speedy down- fall of the Eternal City. Moreover, Jewish literature had become a fashionable study with learned Christians. Cardinals, bishops, and noble princes engaged Jewish teachers to initiate them in the mysteries of the Kab- balah and other departments of Jewish lore. Chairs of Hebrew were, at Reuchlin's sug- gestion, established in many German uni- versities. French university students pored over Kimhi's Hebrew Grammar, and at- tempted to converse in Hebrew. The print- ing-presses of the most orthodox Catholic universities produced not only Hebrew books but Latin translations of the works of Jew- ish scholars. Were not these signs of a more blessed period for the Jews ? Can we wonder that the Jews, immersed in the study of the fanciful Kabbalah, allowed themselves to be carried away by such indications of a glorious future? 2o6 THE MESSIAH IDEA The beginning- of the seventeenth century brought with it many more proofs of the near approach of the Messianic era. The many calamitous and shameful wars between the Cathohcs and the Protestants of Europe, which seemed to be the reaHzation of the troublous times predicted as presages of the Messianic era, culminated in the Thirty Years' War (i6 18-1648). At first a strug- gle between the Catholic and the Protestant princes of Germany, it gradually involved all the powers of Europe, and created chaos and confusion in all lands. Although the Jews were not visited with any special persecution during this bloody period, and, as it seems, even received more protection than some of the Christians, still many Jewish communi- ties were destroyed, and all were materially affected by the general confusion reigning in Europe. At this auspicious period of confusion and bewilderment, when the whole world was awaiting an inevitable change, two men KABBALISTIC SPECULATIONS 207 arose in Israel, one in Christian Holland, the other in Mohammedan Turkey, who were to exert a marked influence on their contemporaries. Both were followers of the fanciful teachings of the Kabbalah, and both proclaimed new Messianic doctrines. But while the name of Manasseh ben Israel will ever be revered, not only by the Jews of England, but of all lands, that of Sabbatai Zebi casts a dark shadow over the pages of Jewish history, and will ever be regarded with abhorrence as the name of one of the world's greatest impostors. Manasseh ben Israel (1604-1657),° al- though a man of European culture, did not escape the fascination of the mystic lore of the Kabbalah. In the midst of a busy life devoted to the service of his people, he found time for speculation on transcendental mat- ters and the Messianic kingdom. The hope for the near advent of the Messiah was then entertained, not only by Jews, who never lost it, but also by many Christians. A new 2o8 THE MESSIAH IDEA Christian sect known as Fifth Monarchy- Men supported Cromwell's government, in the belief that it was a preparation for the Fifth Monarchy, i. e. the monarchy which is to succeed the Assyrian, the Persian, the Greek, and the Roman, when Jesus with his saints shall reign on earth for a thousand years. These Puritan visionaries eagerly welcomed Manasseh ben Israel, for it was a feature of their creed that the Jews would first regain the Holy Land, the Ten Tribes would be found, and the Jewish Messiah, a sprout of the stem of Jesse, would appear in accordance with the predictions of the Bible. With Jesus he would decide which Messiah should reign over the world. Manasseh, himself a mystic and a Kabba- list, was charmed with these predictions, es- pecially as the year 1648 is mentioned in one part of the Zohar " as the date of the Mes- siah's appearance. Letters and pamphlets, most of which were written by learned and influential Christians, dealing with the near KABBALISTIC SPECULATIONS 209 restoration of the Jews to the land of their fathers, came pouring in upon Manasseh from all lands. One of the Huguenots wrote a book, Rappel des Jnifs (" The Return of the Jews"), in which he called upon the king of France, the eldest son of the Church, to restore Israel, the eldest son of God, to his ancient inheritance. In England, the Puritans became the greatest friends of the Jews, and one of their preachers, Nathaniel Holmes, in a letter to Manasseh ben Israel, expressed his desire to serve Israel on bended knees. The revolt of the Puritans against the teachings of the Church Fathers threw them back on the Jewish Bible, and thus ce- mented the friendship between them and the Jews. It aroused their sympathy for the downtrodden race, which had given the world the Book they had just begun to learn and appreciate. Manasseh followed all these changes of sentiment with tense excitement, and threw himself with much fervor into the enthusi- 2IO THE MESSIAH IDEA astic activities of the new sects. As the be- hef was that the Messiah would not come before the measure of Israel's punishment was full, and as this punishment consisted in the Jews being scattered all over the world, he directed his attention toward obtaining the necessary permission for the settlement of the Jews in England, where they had not been permitted to live. Furthermore, he en- deavored to ascertain the whereabouts of the Ten Tribes. Thus the Messianic hope was directly responsible for so important an event as the settlement of the Jews in Eng- land. A Marrano adventurer, Antonio de Mon- tezinos, or, as he later called himself, Aaron Levi, who had travelled in America, brought the glad tidings to Amsterdam, that he had discovered some Jewish tribes among the American Indians. The fact was corrobo- rated by the records of many other travellers and by the writings of many historians and geographers. Manasseh was so convinced KABBALISTIC SPECULATIONS 21 1 of the truthfulness of his testimony that he wrote a book entitled Mikweh Israel (" The Hope of Israel"), in which he pointed out all indications of the approach of the Mes- sianic age. In this book, Manasseh retained the figure of the Messiah son of Joseph or Ephraim, who would gather the remnants of the Ten Tribes from America, Asia, and Africa, and lead them to Egypt and Assyria, over the Nile and the Euphrates, which would have become dry land. Thence they would proceed to Palestine, at the blast of the trumpet. This Messiah, killed in battle with Gog and Magog, after the resurrection is made viceroy to Messiah son of David. Profiting by the example of the many mis- taken calculations of the date of the Mes- siah's coming, Manasseh ben Israel prefer- red to consider the determination of the date impossible. It was concealed by God, and really superfliuous, since the Messianic era will be heralded by unmistakable signs.' This view of the meaning of the unrest in 212 THE MESSIAH IDEA the world was held by many Christians, notably by a Bohemian physician, Paul Fel- genhauer, who composed a book (1654) en- titled " Good Tidings for Israel," and dedi- cated it to " Manasseh ben Israel, the Jewish philosopher and theologian." He tries to prove the near approach of the Messianic age from Biblical texts, and from such phe- nomena as the comet of 1652, the fierce wars in Poland, and the great rebellion in Eng- land. Manasseh himself wrote another book, set- ting forth the Jewish Messianic belief, in order to make his position clear to the Christian world, especially to those who clamored for the Fifth Monarchy, when Jesus should become king of the world. He argued that the Fifth Kingdom which, as predicted in the Book of Daniel, would soon succeed the other four — the Babylonian, Persian, Greek, and Roman, — was none other than the kingdom of Israel under the rule of the Messiah, who would, however. KABBALISTIC SPECULATIONS 213 accord to all the nations of the earth great consideration and kindness. This book (" The Precious Stone, or the Image of Nebuchadnezzar ")" was received with much eclat by both Jews and Christians, and the famous Dutch painter Rembrandt supplied it with four etchings. Even in his letter to the English Parliament, Manasseh did not hesitate to argue, that the re-admission of the Jews into England would hasten the Messianic era." Cromwell probably expect- ed a reconciliation between the adherents of the New Testament and those of the Old, through a commingling of Puritans and Jews, and the adoption of the doctrine of the Messiahship of Jesus by the latter. At any rate, the Jews were permitted to settle in England. Needless to say, the hopes of the Kabbalistic Rabbi and the Puritan Pro- tector remained unfulfilled.' While these changes of sentiment were going on in Europe, the attention of the Jews of Smyrna was attracted to a youtli, 214 THE MESSIAH IDEA Sabbatai Zebi/ of noble appearance and pleasing voice, living in seclusion and ascetic in his habits, in accordance with the teach- ings of his mistress, the Kabbalah. While still in his father's house, he taught the Zohar with the interpretations of Lurya and Vital to a circle of disciples. His ascetic life, and his mysterious practices, such as bathing in the sea at night, fasting and pray- ing in solitude, surrounded him with a halo in the eyes of his admirers. His father worshipped him, attributing his own success in business to his son's piety. The admiration accorded him completely turned his head, already filled with the fan- ciful teachings of the Kabbalah and the Messianic speculations of the mystic writers. In his twenty-second year (1648), the year prognosticated in the Zohar as the time of the appearance of the Messiah, the year of the Treaty of Westphalia, when the bloody Thirty Years' War came to an end, Sabbatai Zebi revealed himself to his young admirers KABBALISTIC SPECULATIONS 215 as the redeemer of Israel, by pronouncing the Ineffable Name of God.° PecuHar sis- nificance was attached by the Kabbalists to this act, which is strictly forbidden by the Talmud" and later Jewish authorities." Tradition relates, that in the Temple the Name of God was pronounced only on cer- tain occasions," and after the destruction of the Temple it was never to be pronounced as written, but read either so as to mean " my Lord," " or " The Name." " According to a current interpretation, God Himself went into exile at the dispersion of Israel, and His perfection was thus to a certain extent im- paired. The letters of His Name were sepa- rated, and could be reunited only by the restoration of Israel to Palestine and the ac- complishment of the Divine plan through the Messiah. Accordingly, when Sabbatai Zebi permitted himself to pronounce the Ineffable Name, he thereby proclaimed that the time of Israel's redemption had arrived.'' Such boldness on the part of the mystic 2l6 THE MESSIAH IDEA youth did not pass unnoticed by the Rabbinic College of Smyrna. Sabbatai and his fol- lowers were excommunicated, and subse- quently (about 165 1 ) banished from Smyr- na, by the Beth-Din, at the head of which was his own teacher, Joseph Escapa. As is usually the case, persecution merely helped to strengthen his own belief in his mission, and, by surrounding him with the halo of martyrdom, spread his reputation, and in- creased his influence. Had not the Messi- anic apocalypses repeatedly declared that the Messiah must undergo hardship and priva- tion, must submit to the cruelties of men and the persecution of unbelievers ? After some years of aimless wandering, Sabbatai arrived in Salonica, the hot-bed of the Kabbalah. There he continued his Mes- sianic operations. He invited all his follow- ers and admirers to a feast, took a scroll of the law, and celebrated his wedding with the Torah, intimating that he, the Messiah, the son of God, thus married the Torah, the KABBALISTIC SPECULATIONS 217 daughter of God. This farcical scene out- raged the sensibiHties of the more sober Rabbis of Salonica. As a result, he was banished from that town also. As the year 1666 was drawing near, the second milestone in the Messianic era, when great things were hoped for by Jews and by Christians, Sabbatai, supported by the cred- ulity of many rich and influential Jews all over the world, took up his abode in Jerusa- lem, where he awaited the miracle that would confirm his Messiahship. The people of Jerusalem were greatly excited over a story, made current by one Baruch Gad, about the Sons of Moses, living on the other side of the marvellous river Sambation, who were awaiting the beginning of the Messianic period at any moment. In Jerusalem Sab- batai met his EHjah in the person of Nathan Ghazati, who undertook to proclaim the ad- vent of the Messiah. When Sabbatai returned to his native town, Smyrna (1665), his fame preceded 2l8 THE MESSIAH IDEA him through the proclamations made by the numerous emissaries " sent out over all of Europe and Asia to proclaim his Messiah- ship. The ban of excommunication, pro- nounced upon him seventeen years before, was entirely forgotten. On New Year's day, in the synagogue, amidst the blowing of horns, he publicly declared himself the Mes- siah, while the multitude cried, " Long live our king, our Messiah! " The craze spread to all Jewish communities. Women and children in the streets prophesied about the Messianic advent in the language of the Zohar. Men from all lands came to see the long-expected Messiah of the Jews. The Jewish world was in a state of delirious ex- citement. Business was neglected, all world- ly interests abandoned, and Sabbatai's erst- while opponents underwent severe penance as atonement for their sins. Christians also were affected by the general confusion, and clear-headed merchants, practical business men from all the centres of Europe fever- KABBALISTIC SPECULATIONS 219 ishly expected news from Smyrna. The printing houses of Amsterdam could not supply sufficient copies of the new prayer- books, which were adorned with the like- nesses of Sabbatai and King David. The Hamburg Jewish community went wild over the news. In London, in true English fash- ion, Jews offered wagers at the odds of ten to one that Sabbatai would be crowned and anointed king of the Jews at Jerusalem in the course of two years. Never before had the whole of Jewry been thrown into such a state of excitement. According to the Messianic theory of the Sabbatians," the elements (Nizozoth) of the original soul are scattered all over the atmos- phere, and they cannot be reunited, because the Kelippoth, the evil spirits, constantly pre- vent their reunion. When the Kelippoth are destroyed by a truly righteous man versed in Kabbalistic lore, who knows the relations between the upper and the lower worlds, then the '01am ha-Tikkun, "the 220 THE MESSIAH IDEA world of order," will prevail, miraculously influenced by the Sefiroth. The Messiah, possessing sparks of the original soul, or, according to some, being Adam Kadmon (the first, original man) himself, the handi- work of God, a part of the Deity, is best able to wrest the scattered soul elements from the clutches of the evil spirits. With the advent of the Messiah and the in- auguration of " the world of order," the laws of Judaism will lose all significance. Still less will the Talmud, an object of scorn with most of the pseudo-Messiahs," continue to have authority. The Messiah himself is a Divine personage, sprung from the bosom of the " Ancient of days " ('Attik Yomin). He is the holy king (Malka Kaddisha), the ori- ginal man (Adam Kadmon), the true God, the God of Israel, and to him alone should prayers be addressed. Until then, the angel Metatron had held dominion over mundane affairs. Now God in the flesh, in the form of Sabbatai, would assume the rule of the KABBALISTIC SPECULATIONS 221 world. Under the dominion of the angel, the world was badly managed. God could not realize all His ideals with regard to this world. But now God appeared in the form of man, became incarnate in Sabbatai," and a new order of things would set in. These and many similar blasphemies were preached by Sabbatai's followers. Isaac Primo, the private secretary of the Messiah, often signed official messages with " I, the Lord your God, Sabbatai Zebi." A char- acteristic circular issued by this secretary to all Jewish communities, commanding them to change the fast of the tenth day of Te- beth into a day of rejoicing, begins as fol- lows: The first-begotten son of God, Sabbatai Zebi, Mes- siah and redeemer of the people of Israel, to all the children of Israel, peace! Since ye have been deemed worthy to behold the great day and the ful- filment of God's word by the prophets, your lament and sorrow must be changed into joy, and your fasting into merriment, for ye shall weep no more .... because I have appeared."' Another principle of the Kabbalists, which is found also in the Talmud, was then re- 222 THE MESSIAH IDEA vived and put into practice. There was a belief that the Messiah would not appear be- fore the entire supply (Guf ) of unborn souls is exhausted." Hence, to accelerate God's work, the Jews of Salonica married off their children at the age of ten or twelve, seven hundred couples at one time, so as to re- move all obstacles from the way of the Mes- siah. The chief feature of the Sabbatian move- ment, however, was its opposition to Rab- binical Judaism."" It is a tendency common to almost all the pseudo-Messiahs, but Sab- batai and his followers carried it further than any of their predecessors. With the abolition of Rabbinic law, they also attempt- ed to abrogate the written law, holding that a new covenant had been revealed to the Messiah. When some of the Rabbis of Am- sterdam tried to oppose the new enactments of Sabbatai that had the avowed purpose of abolishing ancient laws and institutions, they were almost stoned by the enraged populace. KABBALISTIC SPECULATIONS 223 It is related, that when Sabbatai Zebi offered the paschal lamb in Constantinople, he had his disciples eat of the forbidden fat and pro- nounce the blessing, " Blessed art Thou . . . who looseneth the bound," meaning thereby the loosening of the bonds of traditional Judaism. It is a marvellous phenomenon, this tremendous influence exerted over a whole nation by one man — an influence so great that the few sober-minded Jews, most- ly Talmudic scholars, who were known as Koferim (unbelievers), had to conceal their resentment for fear of incurring the fury of the mob. Although, under pressure, Sabbatai Zebi turned Mohammedan in 1666, changed his name to Mehmed Effendi, married a Turk- ish woman, and induced many of his follow- ers to embrace Mohammedanism, he was still regarded as the Messiah by many Jews. To account for his conversion, some of his ad- herents asserted that only a phantom had turned Mohammedan; Sabbatai himself had 224 THE MESSIAH IDEA returned to heaven, or had gone in search of the Ten Tribes, and would soon re-appear. Nathan Ghazati, the deluded prophet, preached, that, like Moses in the court of Pharaoh, it was necessary for the Messiah to live in the court of the Sultan, so that he might redeem the lost souls of the Moham- medans as well. Sabbatai himself still kept up his Messianic character, associated with Jews, under the pretext that he would con- vert them to the religion of Islam, expound- ed the Zohar, and succeeded in establishing a sect of Judeo-Turks, who, without hesi- tation, assumed the turban, followed Mo- hammedan practices, and revelled in the hope of Sabbatai's speedy return as the true re- deemer of Israel. Sabbatai died, wretched, lonely, and for- saken, in a small town in Albania (1676). Yet the belief in his Messiahship was un- shaken. New impostors arose in different parts of Europe and Asia who tried to keep up the delusion, and the people, to escape the KABBALISTIC SPECULATIONS 225 great pain of a sudden disillusion after so much enthusiasm and excitement, were will- ing to be deluded. The Rabbis, naturally, were the first to regain their senses and begin an active crusade against the Sabba- tians, although it took a long time before the baneful impression was entirely removed. It is one of the miracles of Jewish history that Judaism survived the terrible shock given it by the collapse of the Sabbatian movement. Sabbatai Zebi's immediate successor was Michael Cardoso (1630- 1706), a converted Marrano, a man of European culture and refinement, who announced himself as the Ephraimite Messiah. He preached, and wrote numerous treatises, on the doctrine that there are two gods — one the First Cause, incomprehensible, without will and without influence over this world ; the other, the God of Israel, the Creator of the world, the lawgiver, who alone should be wor- shipped. He gained many adherents in 226 THE MESSIAH IDEA Turkey, Egypt, and Candia, and secured the good offices of some of the ruHng powers of the East. His enterprises came to a sud- den end ; he was stabbed by his own nephew, Shalom. Another impostor, Mordecai of Eisen- stadt, at the same time spread the Sabbatian doctrines throughout Germany and Poland. He represented himself as Sabbatai Zebi risen from the dead, the true Messiah son of David. Sabbatai could not accomplish the work of redemption, because he was rich, and the Messiah is described as " poor and riding on an ass." Hence, he, Mordecai, the poor man, was the true Messiah. In Turkey the Sabbatian movement was afforded new strength by the appearance of Jacob Querido ("the favorite"), repre- sented as the son of Sabbatai, but in reality his brother-in-law, who was supposed to pos- sess the souls of both Messiahs, that of the son of Joseph and that of the son of David. He assumed the name of Zebi, and preached KABBALISTIC SPECULATIONS 227 and practiced the grossest immorality, be- lieving that the sinfulness of the world could be overcome only by a superabundance of sin. When Querido and his followers were denounced to the Turkish authorities, four hundred of them turned Mohammedans, and formed a sect known by the name of Don- mah ("apostates"). It is said that this sect numbers now more than four thousand members. After Querido's death, the leader- ship was undertaken by his son Berachyahu (about 1695-1740). In Poland, where the Jews had but re- cently suffered terrible persecutions during the Cossack invasions, the Sabbatian craze assumed most alarming proportions. Under the leadership of Judah Hasid, of Dubno, and of Hayyim Malach, a new league was formed, the adherents of which called them- selves Hasidim, and spent their days in fast- ing and self-mortification. At the beginning of the year 1700, about fifteen hundred of these Hasidim set out on a journey to Pales- 228 THE MESSIAH IDEA tine, to await there the approaching redemp- tion. Hayyim Malach presided over the Sabbatian sect in Jerusalem, taught the trini- tarian doctrine as developed by the later fol- lowers of the false Messiah, and carried about with him a carved image of Sabbatai Zebi, which his followers worshipped. The arch-impostor in these years of con- fusion was Nehemiah Hiyya Hayyun (1650- 1 726), who stirred up trouble wher- ever he appeared, and brought discord and schism into many Jewish communities, from Amsterdam to Jerusalem, from London to Italy, in Germany and in Poland. He preached and wrote books about the triune god, the god in three persons (Parzufim) — the holy primeval god, the holy king, the in- carnation of the Deity, and the female per- son, the Shechinah. He found adherents in the Portuguese Hacham of London, later of Amsterdam, Solomon Ayllon (1667-1728), in the Polish wonder-working Rabbi, Lobele Prossnitz, and, according to some, also in KABBALISTIC SPECULATIONS 229 the famous Prague Talmudist, Jonathan Eibeschiitz. The controversies about Hay- yun between the German and Portuguese congregations of Amsterdam, the blasphe- mies and iinmoraHties of his adherents, the bans and excommunications liurled on both sides, and tlie great conflict between Jacob Emden and Jonathan Eibeschutz, in which almost all the Rabbis and the representatives of the Jewish communities of Poland and Germany were involved as a result of these Sabbatian movements, are all matters of history, and need not be dwelt upon here. The dangers connected with Kabbalistic study and investigation then became clear to the Rabbis. With strong determination and with all the powers at their command, they set about weakening the influence of the Kabbalah and restricting its study, though not because they disbelieved in its doctrines. Many of the most representative Rabbis of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were firm believers in the sanctity of the 230 THE MESSIAH IDEA Zohar and in the infallibility of its teach- ings. But in spite of their devotion to the mystical teachings of the Kabbalah, they could not but realize the grave peril to Juda- ism from the impostors and deluded fanatics who took refuge within the stronghold of the Zohar. It was at this time that a gifted youth of noble birth, a genius in Hebrew poetry, and a master in Jewish lore, became entangled in the meshes of the Kabbalah, prostituted his admirable qualities by speculating on mystical dreams, and subsequently, to the detriment of Judaism and Jewish literature, became a prey to these frenzies. Moses Hayyim Luzzatto (1707- 1747), born of wealthy parents in Padua, accomplished in Hebrew and Latin, a poet of rare ability, applied himself early in life to the study of the Kabbalah. He was so enchanted with the teachings of the Zohar that he composed a book in the same style and in the same dia- lect, by which he hoped to redeem the souls KABBALISTIC SPECULATIONS 22,1 of Israel and of the whole world. The Messianic frenzy suddenly took possession of him. He imagined that Elijah the prophet had told him he was the Messiah, " the sup- port of the Deity in exile, the precious throne of God, and when the Deity went forth from exile, he would be the one to lead it forth." He composed a psalter in the same form and style as the psalter of David, and he was be- lieved to have said that, in the Messianic age, his psalter would take the place of the Psalms of David. He was suspected of having had connections with the Sabbatians, and anathemas were hurled at him from the court-houses of various Rabbis, until, broken-hearted and forsaken, he fell a vic- tim in his fortieth year to the plague that raged in Palestine, where he was then re- siding. He was one of the most precious victims which Judaism was called upon to sacrifice on the altar of the Kabbalah. The last of the pseudo-Messiahs in Jewish history was Yankiev Leibowitz Frank, of 232 THE MESSIAH IDEA Galicia, an unscrupulous adventurer, a scoun- drel of the first order, who brought much misery to the Jews of Poland. Frank was a Mohammedan in Turkey, a Catholic in Poland, and an observant Jew among his adherents. He taught the peculiar doctrine, very much like that expounded by Moham- med about the prophets, that all the Messiahs that had arisen from time to time in Israel had been true Messiahs. All had been pos- sessed of the Messianic soul, which had as- sumed different personalities. David, Eli- jah, Jesus, Mohammed, Sabbatai Zebi, and his successors — all of them had possessed the soul of the Messiah, which now took his, Frank's, form. Foremost in his teachings was the Sabbatian theory about the trinity, with an embellishment of his own, that the deity incarnate in the Messiah possessed all powers in heaven and earth, and ordered his followers to address him as " the Holy Lord." The Talmud was an object of such intense hatred among the Frankists that KABBALISTIC SPECULATIONS 233 they boasted of the additional name they assumed — anti-Talmudists, or Zoharists. In the declaration of principles which the Frankists presented to Bishop Dembowski (1757), when they asked him to call for a disputation with the Rabbinites, they laid down their belief in the following para- graphs : ^ ( I ) It is the duty of every Israel- ite, not only to love and worship God, but also to investigate His true essence. (2), It is the object of the Torah and of the pro- phets to present a clear view of the true es- sence of God, but the language employed in these books is so obscure and mysterious that only those possessed of deep insight and endowed with Divine gifts can discern it. (3) The Talmud pretends to be an interpre- tation of the Bible, but it is full of lies, base- ness, and opposition to the Torah itself. It enjoins its adherents, not only to deceive Christians, but also to destroy them. They (the Frankists), however, follow another interpretation of the Bible, that given by the 234 THE MESSIAH IDEA Zohar, where the mysteries of the Divine word are correctly set forth. (4) The Frankists believe in one God, Creator of the world, who takes cognizance of the small as well as the great things in this world, but (5) they also believe that this God consists of three persons (Parzufim), and this be- lief can easily be proved from Holy Writ, and is distinctly stated in the Zohar r' (6) They also believe that God has appeared in human flesh, eaten, drunk, slept, and satis- fied all human wants, but without commit- ting any sin. (7) They believe that Jerusa- lem will never be rebuilt. (8) The Messiah will appear, not to bring about the redemp- tion of Israel, but in the flesh, to redeem lost souls. (9) God Himself will revoke the curse pronounced upon the progenitors of the human race and on the whole nation, and then the true Messiah shall be God who is in heaven. Four years later, when the Frankists pre- sented a petition to Canon Mikulski, promis- KABBALISTIC SPECULATIONS 235 ing to enter the Catholic Church on condition that before their conversion they should be permitted to hold a disputation with the Talmudists, they again emphasized their be- lief in the trinity, and made the dogmas of their faith approach still more closely to the dogmas of the Catholic Church. They de- clared that the words of all the prophets re- garding the advent of the Messiah had been long since fulfilled, that the Messiah was the true God, who became incarnate and suf- fered for the redemption of the world, that with the advent of the Messiah, all sacrifices, the whole ritual, in fact the whole of Juda- ism lost its significance, that the cross is the sign of the trinity and the emblem of the Messiah whom all must obey, and whose kingdom could be entered only through bap- tism. The Talmud teaches the Jews to use Christian blood, for which naturally all the adherents of the Talmud crave."" The dis- putation took place in Lemberg (July 16, 1759), and the Rabbinites were declared de- 236 THE MESSIAH IDEA feated by the ignorant clergy, who did not understand a word of what the Rabbis had to say in their defence and in defence of their reHgion. Besides renouncing all the laws of Judaism, the Frankists also abolished all the laws of chastity. They carried on their pernicious practices in many towns of PodoHa. As a result, thousands of them were converted to Christianity, and in their hatred of the Jews they brought many mis- fortunes to the Polish Jewish communities. This climax of superstition and wickedness was reached at the same time that Moses Mendelssohn was bringing more light into the tents of Jacob, and Jewish emancipation was dawning in some of the countries of Europe. Before we enter upon a discussion of the new epoch of reason and enlightenment, ushered in by Mendelssohn and his follow- ers, we must bestow a parting glance on the last phases of mysticism, in a new form, free from the baneful and pernicious effects of KABBALISTIC SPECULATIONS 237 the machinations of tlie extremists in the " domain of the Kabbalah, inculcating higher ideals and nobler strivings, and yet, in its degenerate form, fraught with many dangers to Judaism. Israel Baal-Shem (1698?- 1759) and Beer of Miesricz (1700?- 1772), prompted by aversion to the methods adopt- ed by the Jewish students of the Talmud, founded a new sect. For a time it threat- ened to become a fierce opponent of accepted Judaism, and to the present day it is strong in numbers and influence among the East European Jews. The modern Hasidim, firm believers in the sanctity of the Zohar, in the powers of the Kabbalah, and in the influence exerted by their Zaddikim (wonder-working Rabbis) over the destinies of men, busy themselves very little with Messianic specu- lations. The aim of the founders of this sect was to free the Jews from the shackles of excessive intellectualism, introduce more poetry, more sentiment into the Jewish wor- ship, take away the Jewish youth from use- 238 THE MESSIAH IDEA less, pilpulistic casuistry, and inspire him with a desire to pray, to cuhivate his reH- sfious emotions. It is said that when Baal- Shem " overheard the sounds of eager, loud discussions issuing from a Rabbinical Col- lege, closing his ears with his hands, [he] declared that it was such disputants who delayed the redemption of Israel from cap- tivity." "" The Hasidim, however, entertain the commonly accepted views about the Mes- siah and the Messianic kingdom. While they attribute supernatural powers to their Zad- dikim, they never permit them to claim a Messianic mission, and together with other Jews they pray for the coming of the Messiah and the redemption of Israel. It seems as if the disastrous results of the appearance of the many false Messiahs during the eigh- teenth century had this beneficial effect, that even the mystery-loving Hasidim gave up all speculations about the nature and mission of the Messiah and the date of his arrival. A dark and gloomy aspect seventeenth and KABBALISTIC SPECULATIONS 239 eighteenth century Judaism presents to us. As the darkness of night becomes most in- tense before day-break, when it is making its last stand against the advance of the king of day, so it was with Judaism before the ap- pearance of the sun of enhghtenment and civihzation which illumined the tents of Jacob. Superstition played havoc with the fancies of the people, blind credulity in the assertions of any impostor wrought misery for the scattered sons of Judah, the reins of fancy were let loose, and the people sank to the lowest depths of fanaticism and super- stition. There were thinkers, poets, and philosophers who contributed much to the development of the Jewish law and ideals, who enriched Jewish literature with their writings and the Jewish spirit with high and exalted aspirations. But many even of these could not resist the spell of the Kabbalah, and the great mass of the people were led to strange acts and abnormal strivings by the fanciful manifestations of this mystic lore. 240 THE MESSIAH IDEA It admittedly gave an impetus to many spir- itualizing forces in Jewry, some of which are discernible to the present day, but it also made possible the rise of the many impostors and deluded enthusiasts who led the people astray by arousing false hopes and inculcat- ing strange, un-Jewish doctrines. The rise of the Hasidim and the bitter warfare waged against them by Elijah of Wilna and his associates — a warfare origin- ally not because of the prominence given to mystic lore in the system introduced by Israel Baal-Shem, for the greatest enemies of the Hasidim themselves were devoted vo- taries of the Kabbalah— helped to make the Kabbalah and its Bible, the Zohar, less de- sired objects of study and investigation to the bulk of the Jews. The end of the eigh- teenth century, the close of the Jewish medie- val ages, witnessed a sudden revolt in the Jewish camp, stimulated by the great changes then occurring in Europe, as well as by the pernicious results of the Sabbatian move- KABBALISTIC SPECULATIONS 241 ments. Other influences arose, other forces began their operations upon the Jewish mind, which, in the course of time, changed the aspect of Judaism, changed the Jew's aspect of the world, and helped to change the world's attitude toward the Jew. The Messiah idea now throws off the crust of myth and superstition, and assumes either a national aspect, as with the Zionists, or a cosmopolitan universal aspect, as with the modern Reformers, although the belief in a personal Messiah is still a doctrine of faith with the majority of Jews. CHAPTER VII Religious Reform and Zionism The Emancipation of the Jews— The Desire for Emancipation causes Apostasy — Reform of the Worship— The Rabbis opposed to Innovations— The Messianic Hope and the Desire for Equal Rights — Messianic Prayers in the Early Reform Prayer-Books — Holdheim and Geiger establish the Reform Movement on a Scientific Basis — Disbelieve in Jewish Nationality— Hirsch the Advocate of Orthodoxy — Spiritualizes the Mes- sianic Hope — Bernays' Position — Zunz's View — Second Edition of the Hamburg Prayer-Book— Frankel justifies the Desire of the Jews for Political Independence — Salomon fears Sus- picion of Disloyalty to the State — Geiger's Radical View — Frankel's Second Article justly criticised — Gabriel Riesser — Rabbinical Con- ferences- — Einhorn's Theory of the Dispersion of Israel — Geiger and Frankel on the Retention of Hebrew in the Prayer-Book — Jewish Emanci- pation strengthens the Messianic Hope among Eastern Jews — Modern Zionism — Kalischer's View of the Messianic Ideal — Other Rabbis protest against hastening the Period of Redemp- tion — The Movement gains Support — First Col- ony established in Palestine — National Sentiment intensified in Europe — Gives Rise to National Exclusiveness — Modern Anti-Semitism the Re- sult — Persecution of the Jews in Russia — Zion- ism gains many Adherents — Rabbis reconcile the National Re-awakening with the Messianic Hope — Ahad Ha-'Am's Philosophic Theory of Jewish Nationalism — Belief in a Personal Messiah still entertained by the Majority of Jews — Zionism a Step toward the Greater Ideal of the Messianic Era. REFORM AND ZIONISM 243 Mendelssohn's translation of the Bible, the spread of the cosmopolitan ideals of the French Encyclopedists, and the grant of civil and religious liberty to the Jews by the French people, were the impelling causes of the action of the German Jews at the begin- ning of the nineteenth century. The self- consciousness aroused by the civilizing ef- forts of the Mendelssohnian school created a craving for emancipation, which was strengthened and encouraged by the gener- ous attitude of France and of Holland to- ward the Jews. We can hardly appreciate the tremendous influence exerted upon the Jews of Germany by the Jewish Synod as- sembled by Napoleon, although it is true that in comparison with what was expected of it, the Synod accomplished very little. The mere fact, however, that the great Na- poleon, the ruler of the civilized world, con- cerned himself with the Jewish question, was sufficient to intoxicate the crushed and degraded Jews with joy, and fill their hearts 244 THE MESSIAH IDEA with extravagant hopes for the future. Christian poets, philosophers, and even churchmen began to advocate the cause of the Jew. Dramas, philosophical treatises, and occasional pamphlets, written by repre- sentative men, pleaded for the emancipation of the long-suffering people. Monarchs and princes began to realize their duty to the ancient people. The Jews became the topic of conversation in the salon, the diet, the royal assembly, and little by little they were granted rights and privileges they had not enjoyed for many centuries. All these facts, poii:iting to a speedy liber- ation, stirred the downtrodden people with feelings of gratitude to their Christian neigh- bors. Forgetting the old dictum of the Rabbis,* that one should not destroy an old synagogue before the new one is completed, the Jews of Berlin enthusiastically set about preparing themselves for the new position by repudiating everything that might ham- per intimate relations with their neighbors REFORM AND ZIONISM 245 and benefactors. Conversions to Christian- ity became every-day occurrences. The re- ligious sensibilities of loyal Jews were con- stantly outraged by the action of the enlight- ened and cultured frequenters of the Berlin salons. Many Jewish youths and maidens, fascinated by the novel experience of a close union with the great, unknown, Christian world, were swept away by the tide, and subsequently entirely lost to Judaism. The more thoughtful and circumspect applied themselves to the improvement of conditions within the Jewish camp. They endeavored to make the Jewish religious service accepta- ble to their own children and tolerable to the Christian visitor. The Rabbis and their fol- lowers, unwilling to give up an iota of the accepted rites and ceremonies of their faith, saw the danger to Judaism, but did not ap- preciate the strength of the proposed reme- dies. Hence a conflict ensued within the Jewish fold, and it has continued to rage to the present day, bringing both blessing and misery to Judaism. 246 THE MESSIAH IDEA It is natural, at such a period, when the struggle for emancipation was at its height, when the Jews were willing to sacrifice much for the privilege of citizenship, that the Messianic hope with its ideals, so distinct from present-day actualities, should find but few exponents. The contradiction between the desire for equal rights and the expecta- tion of independence in the land of their fathers, seemed so obvious, that it is related, when the Government of Posen asked the Rabbis of the Province, whether they wished the privilege of citizenship, they replied, they had no desire for equal rights, since they would remain in exile only until the Messiah came to redeem them. Rabbi Akiba Eger is said to have replied : " We are blessed in this, that we can never be utterly destroyed, but we are also cursed, in that none of our human well-wishers can render us permanent help." ' On the other hand. David Fried- lander, in a pamphlet pubhshed in 1812, urged the abolition of all prayers with a Messianic tendency. REFORM AND ZIONISM 247 " I stand here before God," he cries out in one place ; " I invoke blessings and prosperity upon my king, my compatriots, myself, and my family ; I pray not for a return to Jerusa- lem, for the restoration of the Temple and its sacrificial cult, I entertain no such desire in my heart, their fulfilment will not make me happy, my mouth shall not utter them." ' In the same pamphlet, Friedlander urges the removal of the Hebrew language from the prayer-book, arguing that so long as the Jews were regarded as aliens, they naturally looked to Palestine as their land and to the Hebrew language as their national tongue, but now the Jews should love the land that grants them citizenship, and should worship in its language." Thus it appears that the Messianic hope was regarded by both factions as a serious impediment to the acquisition of equal rights. Those unwilling to part with this hope were ready to forfeit their citizenship, and those who desired emancipation at any cost un- 248 THE MESSIAH IDEA hesitatingly gave up the cherished ideal of the Jewish people. Even the Government authorities took this view o£ the Jewish Mes- sianic hope. Hardenberg, the Prussian Chancellor, in presenting Friedlander's pam- phlet to King Frederick William III, wrote a long memorandum in its favor. " It is not surprising," says the Chancellor, " that the Jews long for a restoration to Palestine, since they are so much oppressed by the peoples among whom they live. But when equal rights have been granted to them, they will no longer pray for their re- nationalization in Palestine, but rather for the peace and prosperity of the Prussian government ; they will give up the hope of the coming of a Messiah, and will pray for the welfare of the king whom they love and respect with all their souls." ° In spite of these assertions, based appar- ently on sound logical reasoning, the pio- neers of reform in Judaism dared not remove the prayers for the coming of the Messiah from the prayer-book. The first reform worship, established by Jacobsohn, in his own house, with organ and German sermon (1815), contained all the Messianic elements of the old prayer-book. Even in the new REFORM AND ZIONISM 249 prayer-book published by the reform com- munity of Berlin there was no change in the prayers that had a Messianic significance." In the first prayer-book used in the Reform Temple of Hamburg (18 18), which was prepared by M. J. Bresslaa and Sackel Frankel, and was intended as a compromise between orthodox and reform views, only such prayers were omitted as pointed directly to the fact that the Jews regarded themselves as foreigners in the land. All references to Israel's ancient national glory were retained, and also all Messianic passages that can be interpreted symbolically. But the new edi- tion of this prayer-book, published in 1841, although in many respects more conservative than its predecessor, omitted all references to Zion and Jerusalem, to the coming of the Messiah, or to the resurrection of the dead. This is not surprising, for at that time the reform movement, which had been mere- ly a means of self-defence, assumed a more permanent form in the hands of Holdheim 250 THE MESSIAH IDEA and Geiger. They established it on the basis of Jewish science. These bold and outspoken men, unlike the first reformers, whose timid- ity prevented them from making any radical change in ritual or ceremony, went so far as to assert that Judaism was wholly religious, and had nothing national in it. In his younger years, Geiger was so confident of the truth of his theory, mistakenly attri- buted to Mendelssohn, that in a letter to his friend Ullman (September 20, 1839),' he suggested the formation of distinct commu- nities of Jews who had given up their adher- ence to the Talmud and their belief in its authority. The exponents of reform shifted the cen- tre of gravity from the esthetic and the con- venient to the scientific basis, and thus at- tracted many adherents to their doctrines and teachings. Orthodoxy, however, also found its advocates among the modern and cultured Jews of Germany, armed with the same weapons of rational investigation. REFORM AND ZIONISM 251 Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808- 1888), the strongest champion of orthodox Judaism of the nineteenth century, in his " Nineteen Letters of Ben Uzziel " ° (1836), discussed the two burning questions of the day — emancipation and religious reform — from a standpoint entirely new in those days. In the sixteenth letter, Hirsch explains his po- sition with regard to emancipation and its relation to the national status of the Jews. He suggests a compromise between these two apparently conflicting ideas, arguing that the Jews never had been a nation in the political sense of the word. Since it is not the land that united Israel, but the Torah, " therefore, it still forms a united body, though separated from a national soil; nor does this unity lose its reality, though Israel accept everywhere the citizenship of the na- tions amongst which it is dispersed." When God shall unite His scattered people, such an union will have only the spiritual significance of showing the whole world the greatness of 252 THE MESSIAH IDEA God and the glory of the Torah, as a guiding principle of State. "The entire purpose of the Messianic age is that we may, in prosperity, exhibit to mankind a better example of ' Israel ' than did our ancestors of the first time, while, hand in hand with us, the entire race will be joined in universal brotherhood through the recognition of God, the All-One. " On account of this purely spiritual nature of the national character of Israel, it is capable of the most intimate union with States, with, perhaps, this dif- ference, that while others seek in the State only the material benefits which it secures, considering posses- sion and enjoyment as the highest good, Israel can regard it only as a means of fulfilling the mission of humanity." ' This exposition of the idea at the root of the great controversy raging in German Jewry, found few adherents at that period, although to-day it is accepted by both ortho- dox and reform Jews, each party interpre- ting it in its own way. The argument of Isaac Bernays, the Chief Rabbi of Hamburg, was more practical. In his letter of condemnation of the new prayer- book," he held that the reformers, by remov- ing the hope of a future national existence, REFORM AND ZIONISM 253 which is one of the fundamental principles of Judaism, endanger the very existence of Jews and Judaism. More forcible still, al- though less satisfactory, is Zunz's argument expressed in his opinion on the question of circumcision," in which he takes it for grant- ed that Israel forms merely a church. " The Jewish Church " is one of his favorite ex- pressions, but the belief in the coming of the Messiah he considers essential to member- ship in it. The controversy on the question of the Messiah reached its climax with the publica- tion of the second edition of the Hamburg prayer-book (1841). Zacharias Frankel (1801-1875), always an advocate of con- servatism, published a long article in the Orient,^ sharply criticising the prayer-book. He expressed little sympathy with Bernays, who had interdicted the prayer-book, and had condemned all those who used it in worship. Yet Frankel disapproved the ac- tion of the compilers, who had summarily 254 THE MESSIAH IDEA removed all mention of a Messiah and of the hope for a return to Jerusalem. Frankel be- lieved that the desire of the Jews for freedom and political independence in their own land was a holy sentiment, with which all enlight- ened nations would sympathize. The ex- perience of many centuries had proved that a people without a land and without political independence is held in derision by the rest of the world. Recent events (referring to the Greek revolution of 1828) also proved that it was possible for a people, after many years of subjection, to throw off the yoke of a tyrant and become free. It was neces- sary that Israel should have full confidence in its own powers and in the promises held out to it, for if it lost this hope, it would entirely disappear. Frankel maintained that the doctrines of the modern Rabbis about a Jewish mission and Israel's election as a nation of priests bearing the flag of a universal religion, al- though exalted and inspiring, were too ab- REFORM AND ZIONISM 255 stract to afiford real strength and encourage- ment to the people in times of trouble and persecution. He could not understand how the people would fulfil even that mission, if the reform Rabbis continued to abolish the laws and ceremonies of Judaism, wiping out the marks of history, and turning the hearts of the Jews away from their national hopes and aspirations. Despair of a national re- vival would inevitably bring about national death for the Jews, and with their death their mission also would die. Therefore, he emphatically insisted upon faith in that ex- alted and glorious ideal, the belief in the future of the Jewish nation living in politi- cal independence and freedom in the land of its ancestors." In this article, Frankel showed himself to be a firm nationalist, and a believer in the Messianic hope. Nevertheless, he by no means held settled and well-established views on the subject. His policy in all matters per- taining to Judaism, the policy of the " golden 256 THE MESSIAH IDEA mean," frequently induced him to modify his views, and thus gave his antagonists an opportunity to charge him with inconsist- ency. Numerous articles and pamphlets " were written in the controversy on the Ham- burg prayer-book. Among these was a re- ply to Frankel's criticism by the preacher of the Temple, Dr. Gotthold Salomon (1784- 1862), who emphasized the fact that only the references to the re-introduction of the sacri- ficial cult, and not the hope for a future national existence for Israel, were removed from the prayer-book. At the same time he argued against the retention of this hope, too, for the Jews themselves do not wish to return to Palestine. They would be suspect- ed of disloyalty if they prayed for the com- ing of a Messiah and the restoration of their political independence. Therefore, this hope should be removed from the hearts of the people, and the prayers should retain only as much of it as referred to a spiritual regen- eration. REFORM AND ZIONISM 257 Abraham Geiger (18 10- 1874), on the other hand/° thought that the compilers of the prayer-book had not gone far enough. They ought to have abolished all prayers with any national significance. They had retained too many of the Hebrew prayers, he thought, and had evinced cowardice and unpardonable timidity in dealing with ques- tions of Jewish dogma. Frankel, in his reply to Salomon's criti- cism,'" repeated the arguments about the re- tention of the Jewish national hope, but at the same time he introduced a new thought which undermined his whole theory. He now gave utterance to the idea that nation- ality was forced upon the Jews from with- out. They were compelled to shrink into a separate nationality, because the nations had denied them the rights of citizenship. Many of their brethren were still living in lands where all rights were denied to them, there- fore, they could not be blamed if they prayed for a return to Jerusalem, no more than the 2S8 THE MESSIAH IDEA Greeks who lived in Austria were regarded as traitors to the royal house of Habsburg because they offered their services to their struggling brethren under the dominion of the Turk. When the Jews prayed for the coming of the Messiah and for the return to Palestine, they prayed for those of their race who had no fatherland, who were rejected by the nations among whom they dwelt. This contradictory statement was rightly taken advantage of by S. Holdheim (1806- 1860)," who maintained that if there was a Jewish nationality we could not disclaim it, but, on the other hand, it could not be forced upon us by nations who violate the laws of humanity. If Judaism did not in- culcate a Jewish nationality, the Jews who live under tyrannical rulers could not create it. They had a right to demand equal rights of citizenship only if they submitted to the laws of the land, and regarded themselves as citizens of the land in which they lived. It is quite obvious, therefore, that even in REFORM AND ZIONISM 259 Frankel the national consciousness was not very strong. His desire to retain all Mes- sianic references in the prayer-book was due rather to a sentimental feeling for the an- tiquity of these prayers, justifiable in itself, but impotent against the attacks of practical reason. Gabriel Riesser, one of the foremost members of the Hamburg Temple, said," that though he himself no longer prayed for a return to Palestine, he could see no harm to the cause of Jewish emancipation in re- taining the prayers in question. At present we are citizens of various countries, and it is our duty to serve them with all our pow- ers. When the great trumpet blows, and we are gathered to our ancient inheritance, and established in our land, under a Jewish Gov- ernment, we shall abandon our rights of citizenship elsewhere. The real reason for abolishing the prayers for the coming of the Messiah, he said, was not that their retention would interfere with our obtaining full rights, but it would be hypocrisy for German 26o THE MESSIAH IDEA Jews, who had long since given up the Mes- sianic hope, to repeat meaningless prayers. The controversy continued for a long time in the periodicals. Thence it was transfer- red to the Rabbinical Conferences, both in Germany and in America. It will be pos- sible for me to give only a short account of these assemblies and of their deliberations on this important question. In 1843, a reform society was established in Frankfort-on-the-Main with the avowed purpose of throwing off the yoke of Rabbin- ism. In its platform, it boldly declared that the members neither expected nor desired the coming of a Messiah, who would bring the Israelites back to Palestine, and they recognized no fatherland except the one to which they belonged by birth or civil rela- tions." At the first Rabbinical Conference, held in 1844 at Brunswick, there was no discussion on the Messiah question."" In 1845, the sec- ond Rabbinical Conference was held at REFORM AND ZIONISM 261 Frankfort-on-the-Main, when the questions of the belief in the coming of a Messiah and the retention of the prayers expressive of the Messianic hope were debated. In discussing the report of a committee recommending the view, that the Messiah idea should be strip- ped of all notions of a political or national character, Einhorn proclaimed his famous theory, that the dispersion among the nations was not a punishment for Israel, but the greatest good that could have been conferred upon it, for the real development of Judaism dates from the removal of the Jews from Palestine. He maintained that the hope of a future redemption is closely allied with Talmudic Judaism. The enlightened Jew should not pray for the restoration of the national glory and the re-introduction of the sacrificial cult, although, in his prayers, he may call the Jews " the chosen people," for this is an incontrovertible fact.'" Holdheim in the main agreed with Einhorn.'" Other Rabbis were of a different opinion, and many compromises were suggested. 262 THE MESSIAH IDEA The question of Jewish nationaUty was again brought up in the discussion on the retention of the Hebrew language in the prayer-book. Geiger declared, that language being only a national and not a religious bond, Hebrew had no place in a modern Jewish ritual. Frankel vehemently attacked Geiger, maintaining that the love the Jew bore the Hebrew had nothing to do with his devotion to the fatherland, and even the hope for a future redemption did not interfere with his patriotism.'" This Conference marks the real break between reform and orthodoxy. Despite the constant warfare against reform and reformers conducted by Frankel, Sachs, and David Cassel, the new ideas took firm root in Germany. Thence they were transported to America, where they were received v/ith great favor. Other conferences held at various places and times dealt more or less with the ques- tion of the Messiah, but little that was new was advanced on either side. The Philadel- REFORM AND ZIONISM 263 phia Conference,'* held in 1869, adopted the following statement of principles, which was practically seconded by the Pittsburg Con- ference of 1885 : 1. The Messianic aim of Israel is not the restora- tion of the old Jewish State under a descendant of David, involving a second separation from the nations of the earth, but the union of all children of God in the confession of the unity of God, so as to realize the unity of all rational creatures and their call to moral sanctification. 2. We look upon the destruction of the Second Jewish commonwealth not as a punishment for the sinfulness of Israel, but as a result of the Divine purpose revealed to Abraham, which, as has become ever clearer in the course of the world's history, consists in the dispersion of the Jews to all parts of the earth, for the realization of their high-priestly mission, to lead the nations to the true knowledge and worship of God 6. The belief in the bodily resurrection has no re- ligious foundation, and the doctrine of immortality refers to the after-existence of the soul only." Thus, although emancipation was the prime motive for the abolition of the belief in a personal Messiah by the pioneers of reform, when some of the workers in the field of " Jewish Science " joined the reform movement, a scientific basis was constructed 264 THE MESSIAH IDEA for Judaism, by which the national hope of the Jews was proved to be untenable. The emancipation of the Jews of Germany, fol- lowing the revolution of 1848, helped to strengthen the reform movement, and there- by weaken the idea of Jewish nationalism. Strange as it may appear, this very eman- cipation, the kind treatment accorded the Jews in many lands, and the elevation of Jews to high positions in the councils of States and in the world of finance, were in- terpreted by another class of Jews as signs of the approach of the Messianic era. The oppressed Jews of Eastern Europe naturally longed and prayed for a speedy redemption. Legends of the Messiah and the wonders and glories of his coming were told by young and old. With them it was not so much a desire for national identity and political sov- ereignty, as for a complete return to the old State, with the idealized Messiah, the anoint- ed of God, in the foreground. The burdens of exile narrowed their horizon. They could REFORM AND ZIONISM 265 see no other way of redemption from their abject position than by supernatural events. When news of the prominence attained by Jewish magnates and statesmen reached these communities, when they were in- formed, frequently in an exaggerated form, of the favor shown to some of their breth- ren by the ruling powers of Europe, their vague notions of a Messiah and a Messianic age assumed a more definite shape. The idea of emancipation from present misery by a more natural course imperceptibly merged with the confused hope of a Messianic period. The Jewish emancipation in Western Euro- pean lands aroused within the hearts of the Jews of the East a certain amount of self- consciousness, of national pride, upon the basis of which later builders constructed the great national movement of the Jews — Zionism. When a history of modern Zionism comes to be written, the names of Hirsch Kalischer and Elijah Guttmacher will stand out most 266 THE MESSIAH IDEA prominently. They were the first to stir up the feehngs of the Jews for the Holy Land, and arouse the wealthy to support practical colonization. Although their efforts were not very successful among the Jews of Rus- sia, who under the reign of Alexander II were too well situated to heed such a call, they succeeded in interesting some prominent Jews and Christians in their plans. When the policy of the Romanoffs toward the Jews changed, the soil was ready, and the actual work commenced. Besides the difficulty of overcoming the general belief, that the re- demption would come only through direct intervention of God, there was the obvious violation of the law against hastening the period of redemption, by the settlement of Jewish colonies in Palestine. So early as 1836, Hirsch Kalischer, then Rabbi in Thorn, Germany, explained his po- sition with regard to the Messiah, in a letter addressed to Anselm Mayer Rothschild."" If one subtracts the homiletic and the pil- REFORM AND ZIONISM 267 pulistic elements of his letter, the arguments presented do not differ materially from those held by many Zionists of to-day. Let no one imagine that the Messiah will appear suddenly, and, amid miracles and wonders, lead the Israelites to their ancient inheritance. The begin- ning of the redemption will be in a natural way, by the desire of the Jews to settle in Palestine and the willingness of the nations to help them in this work. After many Jews have settled in Palestine, and Jerusalem has been rebuilt, the Temple re-established, and the " sacrifices are for a sweet savor to the Lord," then will God show them all the miracles in accordance with the description given by the prophets and sages. First a man will appear endowed with great natural abilities, who will bring about, in a natural way, the settlement of Palestine by the Jews, then God will send His prophet and His anointed king. In another letter, to Albert Cohn,^ the almoner of the Paris branch of the Roth- schild family, the Rabbi repeats this argu- ment, adding that the Jewish settlement of Palestine will be the first step toward the Messianic era. " Now is the time," he cries out, " as so many Jews have been elevated to high positions, and are able to exert their influence over the rulers of Europe." This 268 THE MESSIAH IDEA point, however, was not allowed to pass without opposition. Many Rabbis vigor- ously protested against such an undertaking, holding it to be in direct opposition to Jew- ish tradition and Jewish law. Still, the more modern and more cultured Rabbis en- dorsed the plan as outlined by Kalischer."* The theory that the Messianic era must be preceded by a settlement of the Jews in Palestine on the basis of colonization, gained ground even among the most orthodox Rab- bis. Ha-Maggid, then the only Hebrew weekly, heartily supported the movement, and the interest taken in the plan by Sir Moses Montefiore and Lawrence Oliphant, and the semi-official support afforded by the British Government, helped to make many converts to the new idea. As a result of this movement, the agricultural school " Mikweh Israel " was established in 1870 by the Alliance Israelite Universellc, and in 1878 the first Jewish colony, Petah Tikvrah, was established. REFORM AND ZIONISM 269 Europe was gradually discarding the theories that had been instrumental in bring- ing about the French Revolution. Cosmo- politan ideals were rejected as opposed to the nature of man, and national solidarity be- came the watchword of many European na- tions. In 1832, Greece, after a hard strug- gle, wrested her independence from Turkey. Italy threw ofif the yoke of Austria and the Pope, and the Italian nation was unified un- der Victor Emanuel in 1870. Bismarck succeeded in uniting the various German principalities into a powerful nation. After the Russo-Turkish war in 1878, by the treaty of Berlin, Roumania, Servia, Monte- negro, and Bulgaria were made independent of Turkish rule. Everywhere national feel- ing was strengthened, and even in Poland and Hungary it was only partially subdued by the hand of tyrants. This feeling, however, gave rise to the more sordid sentiment of national exclusive- ness, and the monster anti-Semitism was the 270 THE MESSIAH IDEA result. The Jews might be tolerated if the distinction between them and the nations among whom they lived were only a reli- gious one. But the Jews as Semites, racially different from the Aryans, could never amal- gamate with them, and were, therefore, a menace to national solidarity. Of course, the Governments themselves could not offi- cially recognize such a distinction, but the middle classes, who, since the revolution of 1848, have become potent factors in directing the policies of Governments in all constitu- tional States, espoused the anti-Semitic cause, especially after the Jews showed themselves powerful competitors in the fields of culture and progress. Thus, though the letter of the law accorded the Jews equal rights with their fellow-citizens of other creeds, anti-Semitic agitation prevented the practical application of the laws. The Jews, who at first were willing to assimilate with their neighbors at the cost of denying their nationality, began to realize that their sacri- REFORM AND ZIONISM 271 fices were in vain, for assimilation implied the consent, not only of those desirous of assimilating, but also of those with whom they wished to assimilate.""" In Russia, too, with the reaction after the death of Alexander II, the Government and the people set about a systematic persecution of the Jews. Alexander Ill's accession to the throne was followed by bloody riots against the Jews of the Southern provinces, where the desire for emancipation had al- ready made inroads into the religious beliefs of the people. The May Laws of 1882 helped to crush all lingering hopes that might have been entertained for Jewish emancipation in Russia. Disillusioned in their fond dreams, driven back by those whose friendship and protection they were seeking, despised by those whom they en- deavored to imitate, the Jewish youths of Russia came back to the fold, and joined hands with their fathers for a regeneration of a national Judaism on Jewish soil. It 272 THE MESSIAH IDEA was not the economic conditions that created the sentiment, for the same young men who went to Palestine to work as day-laborers in Jewish colonies, refused the help offered them by the philanthropic organizations of Europe. It was wounded feelings, broken hearts, shattered ideals, that gave birth to the wonderful phenomenon, the Zionist movement, which is the latest phase of the Messianic idea in Jewish history. Almost all the Jewish colonies now flour- ishing in Palestine were established in the course of the decade between 1880 and 1890. The qualified success of these colonies is due to the fact that the ideal was not given suffi- cient time for development. Action pre- ceded deliberation, and sentiment is usually a poor guide in practical matters. The young men who tore themselves away with disgust from the European culture of the Russian gymnasiums and universities, and establish- ed the colony Gederah, could not have been expected to formulate very definite ideas REFORM AND ZIONISM 273 about the relation of their action to the Mes- sianic hope of the Jews. The pressure from without made tliem realize the hopelessness of their position among the nations, and they fell back on seclusion, even complete isolation, as the only remedy for Israel. Were they cowards ? Only those who do not know the sufferings and privations under- gone by these young colonists, most of whom were not trained for the life of the pioneer farmer, will accuse them of cowardice. The Rabbis were confronted with the problem of reconciling this sudden re-awak- ing of Jewish national feeling with the Mes- sianic hope. The more conservative among them vehemently opposed the new move- ment, believing it to be in opposition to Jew- ish tradition, especially as they saw that the most enthusiastic of the new Zionists were Jews who had for a long time been estranged from Judaism and Jewish observances. They feared that the new movement would lead to a breaking away from the old ac- cepted religion of Israel. 274 THE MESSIAH IDEA Many of the more prominent Rabbis, however, readily assisted the movement. Some of them, such as Samuel Mohilewer, Mordecai Eliashberg, and his son Jonathan, Mordecai Jofife, and others, became leaders in the new Zionism, and devoted time and energy to the furthering of its interests. Some of them adopted the theory of Ka- lischer, that the Messianic era must be pre- ceded by a settlement of Jews in the Holy Land. Others argued that the promise of a miraculous redemption would be fulfilled only when the Jews were found worthy. After they shall have established themselves upon the soil of Palestine, where alone they will be enabled to practice their religion in all its details, and thus become worthy of a higher manifestation of God's kindness, the miracles and the wonders will come, Elijah and the son of David and the Messianic era.™ Others, again, entirely dissociated the new movement from the Messianic hope, and, on every occasion, were careful to em- REFORM AND ZIONISM 275 phasize that it was not their intention to create a Jewish State. Living in Palestine and building up its ruins are in themselves meritorious acts." As there are many com- mandments which can be fulfilled only in Palestine, there are good reasons for sup- porting the movement for the colonization of the Holy Land."' Some of the more en- lightened among them ventured to declare that the redemption will not, as is commonly believed, be accompanied by miracles or su- pernatural events. It will come about by the voluntary activity of the Jews, assisted by the great powers of the world, as in the time of Zerubbabel and Ezra the re-estab- lishment of the Jewish commonwealth was effected in a perfectly natural way, by the return of the loyal and faithful and the per- mission and assistance of a non- Jewish king. Nor is it necessary for all Israelites to go back to Palestine. Palestine should be the national centre for the Jews of the whole world.'' Upon this last theory is built the 276 THE MESSIAH IDEA spiritual Zionism of to-day, the most noted exponent of which is the famous Hebrew essayist, Asher Ginzberg (Ahad Ha-' Am), who skilfully worked out this doctrine in its details upon a philosophic basis. Articles and books have been written by the Rabbis with a view to reconciling the Zionist move- ment with the Jewish Messianic ideal. Casuistry and homiletics are employed to justify the movement from the Jewish tradi- tional standpoint. But the chief workers, those who sacrificed much of their conveni- ence and comfort and went to Palestine to help in the upbuilding of the young colonies, have been too much engrossed in the prob- lems confronting them to care very much about the dilemmas presented to the Rabbis. However, the belief in a personal Messiah, whose advent is to be accompanied by many miracles and wonders, is still potent, and keeps many of the orthodox Jews out of the Zionist camp. After the first Basle Congress (1897), when Zionism assumed its REFORM AND ZIONISM 277 present, political aspect, Dr. Max Nordau, the Vice-President of the Congress, found it necessary to address an article to the He- brew-reading public," in which he disclaimed all pretensions of Messiahship for himself or for his colleague. Dr. Theodor Herzl. Yet Zionism has been making wonderful progress, in spite of the opposition of the ultra-orthodox, who are waiting for a Mes- siah, and will do nothing before God's anointed has made his appearance, and in spite of the reformers, who regard Zionism as a menace to the complete emancipation of the Jews and a grave error in its very incep- tion, opposed to the mission laid upon the Jew by Providence and by history. Both orthodoxy and reform contribute members to the ranks of Zionism, and even those who have abandoned the Jewish religion have been attracted by the national ideals upheld by Zionism, and have become enthusiastic workers in its cause. It is a phase in the evolution of the Jewish Messianic hope which, whether successful or not, is destined 278 THE MESSIAH IDEA to make an impression and, there can be no doubt, exert a wholesome influence on Jew- ish history. , Sacred as Zionism is to many of its ad- herents, it cannot and will not take the place of the Messianic hope. Zionism aims at the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine under the protection of the powers of Eu- rope. The Messianic hope promises the es- tablishment, by the Jews, of a world-power in Palestine to which all the nations of the earth will pay homage. Zionism, even in its political aspect, will fulfil only one phase of the Jewish Messianic hope. As such, if suc- cessful, it may contribute toward the full realization of the hope. If not successful, it will not deprive the Jews of the hope. The Messianic hope is wider than the eman- cipation of the Jews, it is more compre- hensive than the establishment of a Jewish, politically independent State. It participates in the larger jdeals of humanity, the ideals of perfection for the human race, but it re- mains on Jewish soil, and retains its peculi- REFORM AND ZIONISM 279 arly Jewish significance. It promises uni- versal peace, an age of justice and of right- eousness, an age in which all men will rec- ognize that God is One and His Name is One. But this glorious age will come about through the regeneration of the Jewish people, which in turn will be effected by a man, a scion of the house of David, sent by God to guide them on the road to righteous- ness. The people chosen by God to be His messengers to the world will then be able to accomplish their mission of regenerating the world. This was the Messianic hope pro- claimed by the prophets and sages, and this is the Messianic hope of most Jews of to- day, the difference between the various sec- tions being only a difference in the details of the hope."" Thanks to the freedom always accorded to the interpretation of Jewish dogmas, these differences cannot cre- ate schisms in the Jewish camp, and every faction, each in its own way, is contributing its portion toward the realization of this great and glorious ideal of the Jews. APPENDIX APPENDIX The Messianic Hope in the Jewish Liturgy The Messianic hope finds its fullest and noblest expression in the Jewish prayer- book. The sublime aspirations of the pro- phet, the speculations of the sage and philosopher, the fancies of the mystic, and the imaginary flights of the homilist are the themes elaborated by the religious poet. At times he sings of prophetic universalism, again of exclusive nationalism. One tells of the coming of a personal Messiah, a scion of the house of David, who shall work won- ders in Israel's behalf, and confound its enemies. Another speaks of God as the Re- deemer, of a theocracy characterized by per- fect righteousness and peace. One paints the sublime picture of Isaiah, the highest ideals of the most advanced humanity; an- other gives a minute description of the feast prepared for the righteous after the resur- rection. Everywhere, in one form or an- other, the hope finds fervent expression — in the daily prayers, the prayers for Sabbath 284 THE MESSIAH IDEA ■and festival, in the additional hymns and songs (Piyyutim) from time to time added » to the prayer-book, in the prayers for special occasions, even in the prayers for king and government. The hope of redemption from exile and of the re-establishment of the Jew- ish nation in all its glory on its ancient in- heritance, may be regarded as the key-note of the Jewish prayer-book. The fact is not at all surprising if we con- sider the circumstances under which the Jewish prayer-book was composed and com- piled. In its main elements, the Jewish lit- urgy is pre-Exilic, some portions dating as far back as the first commonwealth. But its definite shape it did not assume until the first century of the common era, and it was not fixed in its present form until six or seven centuries later. The chief prayer of the Jewish liturgy, the Sheinoneh 'Esrch, was compiled under the supervision of the Nasi Gamaliel,' soon after the destruction of the Temple, when the wound was still fresh, and the hope of speedy redemption most intense. The other portions of the prayer-book were composed amid the miseries and hor- rors of the Diaspora, during the periods of the dark middle ages, darkest to the wander- APPENDIX 285 ing, despised, and hated Jew. Whether un- der pagan, Christian, or Moslem rule, the Jew was constantly reminded of his abject position in the world. The desire for a re- turn to his independence and his national home grew in proportion to his misery, and inspired singer and sage in their prayers to Israel's God. It is but natural that the Jewish prayer- book, developed under such influences, should be one, long, continuous cry for re- demption from the terrors of exile. AU the prayers for individual well-being, for ma- terial prosperity, for life, health, and wealth, are drowned in the pathetic, heartrending national prayer for the restoration of exiled Israel to the land of its fathers. Prayers for the forgiveness of sin, for a better under- standing of God's law, for rain and dew, for good harvest and plenty, find their place in the Jewish liturgy. But even these are per- meated with the great, all-embracing hope, to which they are really subordinate. It seemed to the composers and compilers of the Jewish prayer-book that all transient and material liopes would be realized in the per- fection of the whole, when Israel would be restored to its ancient inheritance, and the 286 THE MESSIAH IDEA glory of the one, true God would fill the earth. It is interesting to note that the Jewish liturgy, even such portions as were composed after the spread of the Kabbalah, contains few of the extravagant conceptions of the Messianic era found in the apocalyptic writ- ings, in the Talmudic Haggadah, and the later Midrashim. This phenomenon appears the more interesting when we consider that many of the Piyyutim are based directly on legends and tales, the interpretation and commentary of the Haggadah. Only the more important elements of the Messianic era, such as the universal recognition of Israel's God, the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the restoration of the sacrificial cult, the resurrection of the dead, and the gathering of all Israel to the Promised Land, are em- phasized. The fanciful and materialistic elements, so elaborately treated by the Rab- bis and mystics, find but scant expression in the liturgy. Indeed, they seem to have been studiously avoided. The Rabbis, who were the composers and compilers of the prayers, appear to have kept the imaginative fancies to which they gave utterance in the acade- mies, and which were later incorporated in APPENDIX 287 the Talmudim and Midrashim, carefully dis- tinct, not only from the interpretation of the legal injunctions of Judaism, but also from public worship. When discoursing on their favorite theme of the redemption, they gave their imagination full play, and indulged in extravagant presentations of the anxiously awaited era. But they usually became more serious and exact when they approached the subject of prayer, which was intended to in- fluence the lives of the people and the future of the nation. Most of the religious Payye- tanim lay stress on the universalistic concep- tion, the prophetic hope of a moral and re- ligious regeneration, the hope that Israel may become an independent nation, living under a pure theocracy. The narrower views, the more materialistic accretions to the great ideal are relegated to the back- ground. The most prominent and one of the oldest portions of the Jewish liturgy is the 'Anii- dah, or Teftllah (Prayer) proper. It is usu- ally known as the Shenioneh 'Esreh (Eigh- teen), its name indicating the number of Benedictions contained in it at the time of its first compilation, to which an additional Benediction was later added. This prayer, 288 THE MESSIAH IDEA which forms an important feature of eacli of the three daily services, contains a number of allusions and references to the Messianic hope. In the very first of the introductory Benedictions, God is described as " He who bringeth a redeemer to the children " of Israel. In the second, the hope for the resur- rection of the dead is so strongly empha- sized as to make it appear to have been in- troduced by the Pharisees at the time of the pre-eminence of the Sadducees, who rejected the belief in resurrection.^ The seventh is a prayer to God to redeem Israel for the sake of His name, even though Israel be found guilty. The tenth, which is designated in the Talmud as the prayer for " the gather- ing of the exiles," ' begins with an exhorta- tion to blow the trumpet,* and raise a ban- ner ° announcing liberty to the exiles gath- ered from the four corners of the earth." The eleventh is a prayer for the establish- ment of an independent Government for Israel, with its own judges and counsellors,' under the supremacy of God. The four- teenth is a prayer for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the re-establishment there of the "throne of David," and the fifteenth' repeats the prayer for the restoration of the APPENDIX 289 Davidic dynasty." The seventeenth is a prayer for the restoration of the Temple worship and the sacrificial cult, concluding with the hope, " our eyes shall see when thou returnest to Zion in mercy." Thus, out of the nineteen Benedictions of the 'Amidah, seven are distinctly and directly Messianic, and the others contain Messianic references and allusions. One of the sublimest and most universal- istic prayers for the approach of the Messi- anic period is included in the various 'Anii- dahs for the New Year and the Day of Atonement, in the third Benediction soon after the Kedushah. I shall give it in full, because it is a fair example of the exalted conception of the future era held by the learned Jew. Now, therefore, O Lord our God, impose Thine awe upon all Thy works, and Thy dread upon all that Thou hast created, that all works may fear Thee, and all creatures prostrate themselves before Thee; that they may all form a single bond to do Thy will with a perfect heart, even as we know, O Lord our God, that dominion is Thine, strength is in Thy hand, and might in Thy right hand, and that Thy name is to be feared above all that Thou hast created. Give Thy glory, O Lord, unto Thy people, praise 2qo THE MESSIAH IDEA to them that fear Thee, hope to th^m that seek Thee, and free speech to them that wait for Thee, joy to the land, gladness to the city, a flourishing horn to David Thy servant, and a clear, shining light unto the son of Jesse, Thine anointed (Messiah), speedily in our days. Then shall the just also see and be glad, and the upright shall exult, and the pious triumphantly re- joice, vihile. iniquity shall close her mouth, and all wickedness be wholly consumed by smoke, when Thou makest the dominion of arrogance to pass away from the earth. And Thou, O Lord, shalt reign, Thou alone ever all Thy works on Mount Zion, the dwelling-place of Thy glory, and in Jerusalem, Thy holy city, as it is written in Thy holy words, " The Lord shall reign forever, Thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord." '° Similar sentiments are expressed in the noble words in the Kedushah for the morn- ing service of Sabbaths and festivals." From Thy place shine forth, our King, and reign over us, for we wait for Thee. When wilt Thou reign in Zion? Speedily, even in our days, do Thou dwell there, and forever. Mayest Thou be magnified and sanctified in the midst of Jerusalem Thy city throughout all generations and to all eternity. O let our eyes behold Thy kingdom, according to the words that were spoken in the songs of Thy might, by David Thy righteous anointed (Messiah): "The Lord shall reign forever. Thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord." APPENDIX 291 It will be noticed that in both of these selections the personal Messiah, although re- ferred to, is given little prominence. God alone is to be King in Zion. 'Alcnu, a prayer recited at the end of every service, is still more universal in its concep- tion, for it does not even refer to a personal Messiah, or to the redemption of Israel, or the rebuilding of Jerusalem. It looks for- ward to the perfection of the world under the kingship of the Almighty, when all the chil- dren of men, even the wicked of the earth, will worship God, give glory to His Name, and accept the yoke of His kingdom. The Biblical passage quoted here is not the one from Psalm 146:10, where Zion is ad- dressed, with which the two selections above quoted conclude, but from Exodus 15:18, " The Lord will reign for ever and ever," and from Zechariah 14:9, "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth ; in that day shall the Lord be one and His Name one." Prayers for Israel's restoration to Zion are scattered throughout the morning and evening services, especially in the blessings preceding the Shenia' and the 'Amidah. In the Additional (Musaf) 'Amidahs for Sab- baths, New Moons, and festivals, the re- 292 THE MESSIAH IDEA demption itself is made only a means toward the full observance of the law of God in all its details, since only if the Temple were re- built, and the sacrificial cult re-established in Jerusalem, the Israelites could perform all the duties obligatory upon them. The Kaddish is also a universalistic prayer for the establishment of the kingdom of God upon earth, making no reference to a per- sonal Messiah. The Kaddish, however, that is recited by mourners at the cemetery after the burial of the dead and at the conclusion of the study of a Talmudic treatise, refers to the resurrection, and to the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple."^ The belief in a personal Messiah is more marked in the Benediction recited after meals. In the third blessing God's mercy is invoked in behalf of " Israel Thy people, Jerusalem Thy city, Zion the abiding-place of Thy glory, the kingdom of the house of David Thy Messiah, and the great and holy house that was called by Thy name." In the Sefardic ritual, the prayer for the restoration of the kingdom of the house of David is omitted, but inserted at the end of the sec- tion. On Sabbaths an additional prayer is here recited, which concludes with the hope APPENDIX 293 of seeing the consolation of Zion and tlie re- building of Jerusalem. On New Moons and festivals another section is inserted, praying God to remember the Messiah son of David, Jerusalem, and the people of Israel. The short prayers (Ha-Rahmnan) that conclude the fourth Benediction are prayers for re- demption from exile, for the restoration of Palestine, and for the appearance of Elijah the prophet, " who will bring us good tid- ings, salvation, and consolation." " Finally God is invoked to make us worthy of the days of the Messiah (of the rebuilding of the Temple) and of the life of the world to come. In the grace after meals recited at a circumcision celebration, a few more prayers beginning with Ha-Rahaman are added. The last two of these read as follows : May the All-merciful, regardful of the merit of them that are akin by the blood of circumcision, send us His anointed, walking in His integrity, to give good tidings and consolation to the people that is scattered and dispersed among the peoples. May the All-merciful send us the righteous priest," who remains withdrawn in concealment until a throne, bright as the sun and radiant as the diamond, shall be prepared for him, the prophet who covered his face with his mantle, and wrapped himself therein, with whom is God's covenant of life and of peace. 294 THE MESSIAH IDEA In the Benedictions recited after the read- ing of the Haftarah, God, the One " who sayeth and doeth, who speaketh and fulfill- eth, whose words are all truth and righteous- ness " is invoked to have pity on Zion " the home of our life," and gladden us with the arrival of Elijah the prophet and of the kingdom of the house of David. May he soon come and rejoice our hearts. Let no stranger sit upon his throne, nor let others any longer inherit his glory; fcr by the holy name Thou didst swear unto him, that his light should not be quenched forever. The reference to Elijah as the forerunner of the Messianic era is elaborated in the special hymns (Zemiroth) sung on Satur- day night before the reading of the Habda- lah prayer. The Talmudic idea that Elijah would not appear on the eve of Sabbaths or festivals,'" gave rise to the hope that he might come on Saturday night." The lit- urgical poet availed himself of the oppor- tunity to elaborate this theme in the hymns recited soon after the evening service which concludes the Sabbath. These poems con- tain prayers for a blessed week, for a com- fortable livelihood, for health for oneself and family. The main prayer, however, is APPENDIX 295 that the coming week may bring in its wake a national regeneration through the appearance of the Messiah and EHjah the prophet. In the Sefardic ritual, the angels Michael and Gabriel are mentioned as ac- companying Elijah and the Messiah. Similarly, the belief that the final redemp- tion, like the redemption from Egyptian bondage, would take place during the month of Nisan," gave rise to a number of Messi- anic Piyyutim for the Passover festival, as well as for the special Yozer recited on Sab- bath Hodesh and Sabbath Ha-Gadol. The eve of Passover, the Lei Shimmurim, is made the symbol of future redemption. Refer- ences are made to this in the evening service of the synagogue, but more especially and more emphatically during the Seder service recited at home during the first two evenings of the Passover. The cup of Elijah, a cup of wine placed on the table and not touched until the end of the service, shows the in- tensity of the Jewish hope that Elijah would come, on the evening of the celebration of the first redemption of Israel to announce the final redemption." The very first sec- tion, recited while the master of the house raises the plate containing the Massoth, and 296 THE MESSIAH IDEA invites all strangers to partake of the meal, concludes with the words expressing the assured hope, that while " this year we are here, the coming year we shall be in the land of Israel ; this year we are slaves, the coming year we shall be free." The benediction con- cluding the first part of the service is a fervent prayer for freedom of body and soul, for a restoration to Palestine and the re-in- troduction of the Temple service." At the conclusion of the service, a short sentence, the climax and epitome of all Jewish long- ings and wishes, is recited, some lovingly repeating it three or four times, as though loath to part from it. The sentence con- sists of but three Hebrew words, " Next year in Jerusalem," but it speaks volumes to the aching heart of the loyal Jew. The sentiment of the popular hymn Addir Hu, which expresses the hope that God will build His house speedily, even in our own days, is a fitting addition to that expressed in the short sentence, " Next year in Jerusalem." '° In the evening service for the seventh day of Passover, reference is made to the ruler of the house of Jesse, whose dominion will extend from sea to sea. In the Sillitk of the same day, God is asked to send the mes- APPENDIX 297 senger of good tidings, to avenge Israel's wrongs, to cause " the plant of righteousness to blossom," and God will name this mes- senger " the Lord, our righteousness." ^ Samuel's opinion, that political independence will be the chief characteristic of the Messi- anic era,^ is emphasized in the Zulath " for the same day, although the Payyetan is care- ful to add that this will be accompanied by many miracles. A sublime picture of the Messianic era is painted in the Piyyut for the Malkuyyoth service for the Musaf of New Year's Day. In his vision, the poet sees idolatry give way before the worship of the only one God, even before the appearance of Elijah, the pagan nations destroyed, and God's throne established in glory and magnificence. He beholds all the nobles of the land hastening to do service to " the smallest of nations," carrying it on their arms to the place long promised to the Patriarchs; kings throwing off their royal mantles and paying homage to the God of Israel, loudly proclaiming His sole sovereignty of the universe ; all creation, even the " desolate depths of the world," shouting forth joyously that the Lord reign- eth. The secret of the period of Israel's 298 THE MESSIAH IDEA redemption, long hidden from the knowledge of men, is revealed on this day,'* and the throne of the Messiah is firmly established, even as the sun is established in the firma- ment. The same theme is also elaborated in another Piyyut recited during the Musaf service of New Year's Day and the Day of Atonement.'" In the Messianic age, all will come to worship God and bless His name. His righteousness will be proclaimed to the furthermost islands ; people that never knew Him will seek Him; all the corners of the earth will praise Him; the idolaters will throw away their idols and come together to worship God with reverence ; mountains and islands will rejoice in His kingdom; distant nations will come and give the royal crown to Him. In the Aramaic Piyyut Akdamuth, which is recited on the first day of the Feast of Weeks, just before the reading of the portion of the Law, all the heavenly and earthly blessings are described that will come to Israel with the final redemption. Jerusalem will then be protected by God's glory by day and by night, the righteous will be seated on thrones of fine gold, having seven steps, and the beauty of their countenance will be like APPENDIX 299 the clear sky and the shining stars — a beauty that beggars all description, that was neither heard of nor seen by any of the prophets. They will walk in Paradise, accompanied by the Divine Fresence (Shechinah) , and point- ing to it they will say : " This is the One upon whom we so confidently relied while we were in captivity. Now He is conferring upon us the long-promised eternal bliss." In a battle between Leviathan and the wild ox (Shor ha-Bar), the latter will gore Le- viathan to death, and be himself dispatched by one of the fins of the sea-monster. They will then both be cut into pieces by God Himself, and served to the righteous at tables made of precious stones, with rivers flowing with finest oil and wine, kept for the feast since the time of Creation."" The Yozeroth for the distinguished Sab- baths of the year, recited in a few syna- gogues and included only in the more com- plete prayer-books, present the fullest ex- pression of the national grief of the Jewish people. Almost all of them are pervaded by this one thought : Owr sufferings are great, unendurable. Thou, O God, hast promised to redeem us. Hasten therefore the period of redemption, arise and come to our 300 THE MESSIAH IDEA help. Thy own name is not complete while we are in exile," the enemy wounds our hearts, throws stones at us, afflicts us, treads us under foot, scofifs at us and our hope for redemption, at our trust in Thee,™ but the poor captive in a strange land, even as a slave, as a bondwoman in Egypt, waits for Thee since the day that Thou hast forsaken her. Yea, we are confident of our redemption. The daughter of Zion may indeed rejoice, for our Messiah is coming; the virgin of Israel may indeed shout with joy, for the angel Michael will soon announce from the mountain-top : " A redeemer hath come to Zion." ''^ A world of pathos is contained in all these Piyyutim, which mirror the abject condition of unfortunate Israel during the dark ages. The most pathetic of these hymns are in the form of dialogues between God and Israel, Israel complaining of its bitter lot, and God assuring it of a speedy redemption.™ In the Zemiroth chanted at the evening and noon meals of Sabbath, prayers for the coming of the Messiah are very frequent. The theme of some of the Hosha'anoth re- cited on Hosha'ana Rabba, and of some of the Sclihoth recited on various occasions, are Messianic. Even those Selihoth which are mainly prayers for forgiveness of sin have this hope as their refrain, frequently consid- AFFhNUlX 301 ering present suffering either as punishment or as atonement for sins committed. Natur- ally, redemption is the main theme of the midnight dirges sung by pious Jews (Tik- kun Hasoth) and of most of the Kinnoth for the Ninth Day of Ab, the anniversary of the destruction of the Temple. This sketch,'' inadequate though it is, suffi- ciently indicates the important position the Messianic idea occupies in the Jewish liturgy. The hope for the final redemption is both the background and the keynote of the prayer- book. The expression given to the hope varies in different portions of the liturgy, from the highest conception of universal brotherhood and peace, of perfect righteous- ness and purest religion, to the material, ex- clusive, and perhaps coarse notions of indi- vidual well-being and national supremacy. The main ideal, however, is permanent, the background is the same, the changes are merely the reflection of the conditions pres- ent in the outside world. Here falls the black shadow cast by pagan cruelty and bar- barity, there the trail of blood of Jewish martyrs, victims to the bigotry of Christian crusaders, inquisitors, and popes; here we feel the tears of the miserable sufferers 302 THE MESSIAH IDEA under Moslem rule, there the contempt for and hatred of the covetous, lustful monarchs and princes of Europe. Revenge and humility, despair and hope, con- tempt for the world and a desire for its goods, all find their place in the Jewish liturgy, and all are merged into one all-per- vading, all-embracing longing for restora- tion to the land of Israel's inheritance, for the establishment of God's rule upon earth. The liturgy, more than the literature, indi- cates the intensity in the Jewish conscious- ness of the Messianic hope. Through its constant use, the prayer-book nurtured and strengthened this hope in the hearts of the multitudes, and made it a part of their ex- istence. The Bible, the Talmud, the philo- sophic and the mystic writings, accessible only to the more learned of the community, formulated and developed the lofty Messi- anic ideal, which was presented by the re- ligious poet to the great mass of the people in a language both appealing and attractive, and made it an inseparable part of the Jewish consciousness. NOTES NOTES CHAPTER I ^Sanhedrin 38," Aboth R. Nathan I, 8 (ed. Schech- ter, p. 3° et seq.). There it is related that Adam's sin and conviction occurred on the very day of his birth. 'Cf. Kiddushin 40^ vifhere this passage is inter- preted to refer to the fate of the righteous man, in this and in the future world. " Comp. Klausner in the Hebrew monthly Hashi- loah, vol. XII, p. 8. * Hos. 3 : s, Jer. 30 : 9, Ezek. 27 : 24, 25 ; cf. Sanhe- drin 98". ° Cf. Stade, Die Messianische Hoffnung im Psalter, in his Akademische Redcn und Abhandlungen, p. S3 et seq. (Giessen, 1899). " Cf. Hiihn, Die Messianische Weissagungen, vol. I. § 3 (Freiburg, 1899), who regards this period as the one in which the Jewish Messianic hope origi- nated. ' See " The Jewish Encyclopedia,'' vol. i, s. v. Amos. ' Cf. Charles, " Eschatalogy, Hebrew, Jewish, and Christian," p. 87, n. i (London, 1899). These pas- sages are supposed by many critics to be Exilic additions; cf. Nowack, Die Zukunftshoifnung Israels in der assyrischen Zeit, in Theologische Abhand- lungen, Holtzmann's Festgabe, pp. 38-41 (Leipzig, 1902). 3o6 NOTES [pp. 30-46 "Cf. Charles, he. cit., p. 88, n. 2. Most of these passages also are assigned by many scholars to later periods ; cf. Nowack, loc. cit., pp. 41-47- "740-701 B.C. E. '^Driver, "Isaiah, His Life and Times," p. 112. "^Cf., however, W. R. Smith, "The Prophets of Israel," pp. 300-12 (London, 1902) ; also Cheyne, " Introduction to Isaiah,'' pp. 62-66 (London, 1895), where these passages are held to be post-Exilic. " Cf. Charles, loc. cit., p. 91, n. 3 ; Cheyne, loc. cit, pp. 9-16; see, however, W. R. Smith, loc. cit., p. 309, and n. 12. " Cf. Nowack, loc. cit., p. 47 et seq. " Cf. Goodspeed, " Israel's Messianic Hope,'' ch. VI (New York, 1900). " Cf. Is. 52 : 7 ; see Charles, loc. cit., p. 96 ; cf., however, Hastings, " Dictionary of the Bible,'' j. v. Nahum, where only the first chapter is rejected. " Cf. Charles, loc. cit., p. 97. ^^ Cf. Ezek. 36 : 22 et seq., where the idea is ex- pressed that the redemption of Israel and its restora- tion to Palestine will be, not because of Israel's good deeds, but in order that God's name should be sanctified among the nations. "" Cf. Joel 4 : 15, 16 (A. V. 3 : IS, 16) ; cf. Driver, " Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testa- ment," ch. vi, § 2 (New York, 1893) ; Hastings, " Dictionary of the Bible,' j. v. Joel. Isaiah also hints at supernatural events that will attend upon the Messianic period. See Is. 29:18; 30:26; 35:5. ^ " Isaiah, His Life and Times," pp. 175-80 ; Hiihn, loc. cit., § 19; cf., however, a study on this subject by Rothstein in his Gcnealogie des Konigs Jojachin pp. 46-59] NOTES 307 und seiner Nachkommen, entitled Ein ilbersehenes Zeugniss fur die messianische Auffassung des " Knechtes Jahwehs" pp. 121-62 (Berlin, 1902); cf. also, Budde, Die sogenannten Ebed-Jahwc- Lieder (Giessen, 1900). ^ Cf. Zech. 3:8; 6:12; also Jer. 23 : 5 ; 33 : i5 ; see an excellent monograph on this subject by Dr. Ernest Sellin, entitled Seruhbabel (Leipzig, 1898). ^ Cf. Hag. 2:6, 7, 21, 22. ^ " Jerusalem will be called the city of truth, and the mount of the Lord of hosts, the holy mount. ' " Cf. Huhn, loc. cit., § 23, and notes. ""Ps. 22:28-32; 65:3, 6; 86:9; ch. 87; cf. Hiihn, loc. cit, § 31 ; Stade, loc. cit. CHAPTER n 'See Kuenen, "Religion of Israel," vol. in, ch. 9. ^Ten institutions, including provisions for the periodic reading of the Torah and other civil and ritual matters, are ascribed by the Rabbis {Baba Kama 82°) to Ezra; cf. M. Bloch, Sha'are Torath ha-Takkanoth, div. i, pt. i, pp. 107-38 (Vienna, 1879). ' Mai. 3 : 23, 24, and Rashi, Ibn Ezra, and Kimchi ad loc; cf. M. Friedmann's Hebrew Intro- duction to his edition of Seder Eliyahu, pp. 19-20. These verses in Malachi are regarded by some critics as apocalyptic ; cf. Ben Sira, 48 : 10 ; see Hiihn, loc. cit., p. 81 ; C. R. Brown, in " Biblical World," vol. XIV, pp. 417-20; cf. Schiirer, "History of the Jews," etc., English ed., div. 11, vol. 11, p. 156. ' Cf. Gray, in " Biblical World," vol. xiv, pp. 410- II. °C/. Charles, loc. cit., pp. 78-80, 126-37, where the 308 NOTES [pp. 59-63 idea suggested here is hinted at. So far as I know, however, the connection between the development of the belief in the resurrection and the emphasis laid upon law, has not been noticed by modern scholars. Cf. Castelli, " Jewish Quarterly Review," vol. I, pp. 314-52, especially p. 327, where after the present book was in type I found a similar idea expressed. "E.g. Ps. 88: 11-13, Job 14: 12, Eccl. 7: 14. ' Cf. Hiihn, loc. cit., p. 74, § 29. ' Cf. Ezek., ch. 27, Hos. 6 : 2. ° Cf. Hiihn, loc. cit., p. 26, § 30 ; Drummond, " The Jewish Messiah," bk. 11, ch. xxiii, pp. 360-61. " See Driver's commentary on these passages in the Cambridge Series (1901), and Introduction to same, pp. xc-xciii. The belief in resurrection is men- tioned also in 11 Mace. 14 : 46 ; 7 : 9 ei seq. ; 12 : 43, 44 ; cf. ib. 7 : 4, where resurrection is denied to gentiles ; cf. Bertholet, Die israelitischen Vorstellungen vom Zustand nach dem Tode, pp. 27-31 (Freiburg, 1899). "A resume of this literature is given in Schiirer's " History of the Jews," etc., div. II, vol. iii; in Driver's Introduction to the Book of Daniel, in the Cambridge Series, p. lxxvi et seq. A pamphlet written in popular style was recently published, en- titled Die judische Apokalyptik, etc., by D. W. Bous- set (Berlin, 1903), in which the characteristic fea- tures of the apocalyptic literature are admirably summarized. "Ben Sira 50:24. "/6. 36:3-10. " Ib. vv. 13-14. "/&. 37:25. "In the Psalm of Ben Sira (Heb., ed. Levi, Ley- pp. 63-69] NOTES 309 den, 1904, ch. 51), found neither in the Greek nor in the Syriac versions, this idea is expressed very plainly : " Praise ye to him who causeth the horn of the house of David to sprout." Levi's (p. 73, note g.) doubt about the authenticity of this psalm, on the ground that the author seems to oppose the Davidic dynasty in ch. 41 et seq. is not well-founded. In those chapters, the author narrates the evil-doings of the early kings of Judah, but he may still believe that the future ruler of Judah, also a scion of the house of David, will be good and righteous. "lb. 47:11, 22; cf. I Mace. 2:57. Ben Sira, in singing the praises of Elijah, says (48:11): "Blessed are they who saw thee and slept in love; for we shall surely live." This passage is interpreted by some as indicating the hope of Ben Sira to witness the coming of Elijah, who would foretell the advent of the Messianic kingdom. In the recovered Hebrew text, this stich is illegible, except the last two letters ; see Peters, Ecclesiasticus, p. 274 (Freiburg, 1902) ; cf. Drummond, loc. cit., bk. 11, ch. iii ; Levi, " Hebrew Text of the Book of Ecclesiasticus,'' p. 67, note d (Leyden, 1904). "Tobit 13:11-18; cf. Baruch 2:34, 35; 4:25-37; ch. 5. ''Conder, "Judas Maccabeus," pp. 68-70 (London, 1894) ; cf. Drummond, loc. cit., p. 198. ™ Enoch 79 : 59-64 ; cf. Baer's note ad. loc, in Kautzsch's edition of Die Apokryphen und die Pseud- epigraphen dcs Alton Testaments, vol. 11, p. 294 (Tubingen, igoo) . "C/. Jer. 3: 19; Ezek. 20; 6, 15; Dan. 8:9; 11: 16, 4S- ^ Enoch 90 : 17-27. 3IO NOTES [pp. 69-72 "lb. w. 28-30. "lb. V. 33; cf. ib. si: I. yb. 90:37-41. °°Levi, ch. 18; according to Charles, in Hastings, " Dictionary of the Bible," j. v. Apocalyptic Litera- ture; cf. J. Schnapp, in Introduction to this book in Kautzsch's edition, vol. 11, p. 459, where it is main- tained that the author was a Christian. '''Lines 652-794. ^ Holtzmann in Judenthum mid Christenthum, vol. II, p. 199 et seq. (Leipzig, 1867), believes that the reference here is to Simon, the Maccabean high- priest. Drummond (loc. cit., pp. 274-5), however, disproves this assertion on the ground that Simon was not a /iaaiMic, the title having purposely been denied to him. ^ Line 720. ™ Lines 785-795- " Because the word icdpri h used in connection with this, some scholars take it as a Christian prophecy, supposing that the idp^ in whom God will dwell refers to the mother of the Messiah. This assump- tion is not warranted; cf. Schurer, "History," etc., div. II, vol. II, p. 140. The Hebrew wordnSina, the exact equivalent of the Greek Kd/ji)^ is frequently used in the Bible to denote a city or a province; cf. II Kings 19:21, Is. 37:22, Lam. 2: 13, Is. 23: 12; 47:1, Jer. 46:11. The context also plainly shows that Jerusalem is meant here. "" In 63 B. C. E. "" Written probably between 70 and 40 B. C. E. ; see R. Kittel in Kautzsch, loc. cit., p. 127 et seq.; Schurer, loc. cit., div. iii, vol. iii, p. 17 et seq.; Hiihn, loc. cit., § 36, p. 91. pp. 72-78] NOTES 311 "Cf. 17:32 (Swete's edition of Septuagint, v, 36, XpiaTdn Kipiog ) ; comp. superscription of chapter 17 and verses 5 and 7 (Swete 6, 8) ; cf. Kittel's note on 17:32; Schurer, loc. cit, div. 11, vol. 11, p. 143, and n. 9; cf. also 17:21 (Swete 23). " Chapters 37-70 ; cf. Schiirer, loc. cit., div. 11, vol. Ill, pp. 66-9. °° See Drummond, loc. cit., bk. 11, ch. xi, on " The Nature of the Messiah"; cf. Schurer, loc. cit., div. II, vol. II, pp. 158-64. " Xpcard;, 48 : 10 ; 52 : 4. ''40:5; 45:3, 4. "38:2; 53:6. "62:7, " Cf. Charles, "Eschatalogy," etc., pp. 213-19, and notes. " In the Book of Enoch. " Psalms of Solomon 17 : 32. " " On Curses," sec xi. " " On Rewards and Punishments," sec. xv-xx. "Matt. 3:2. "lb. 16:13-19; cf. John 4:26; see Holtzmann, Judenthum und Christenthum, vol. 11, p. 373 ; idem, Das Messiasbewusstsein Jcsu und seine neueste Be- streitung (Giessen, 1902). ''Matt. 16:20. "/6. 17:9-13- " The idea of a " suffering Messiah " was not common among the Jews of that time. It is possible that the few references to this idea found in the Talmud are of later Christian origin ; see Drummond, loc cit., bk. II, ch. xxii; Dalman, Der leidende Mcs- sias, etc., (Karlsruhe, 1887) ; cf., however, Wtinsche, Die Leiden des Messias (Leipzig, 1870). 312 NOTES [pp. 80-87 CHAPTER III '"The Talmud," pp. 24-5 (Philadelphia, 1895); cf. Dembitz, "Jewish Services in Synagogue and Home," p. 44 et scq. (Philadelphia, i8g8). 'Cf. Sanhedrin 67"; see Bacher, Agada der Tan- naiten, vol. I, p. 217, n. I (Strassburg, 1903). " Compare the attitude of Rabbi Meir toward Elisha ben Abuyah (Aher), Hagigah 15°,"- *Thus, Hillel, one of the later Amoraim, was but mildly rebuked by Rabbi Joseph, when he dared declare that Israel has no Messiah any more, an utterance which would have appeared nothing less than heresy to later generations (Sanhedrin 99°; cf. Weiss, Dor Dor we-Dorshaw, vol. i, pp. 230-1). ° C/. Mendelssohn's discussion of this subject in his Jerusalem {Gesammelte Schriftcn, vol. ni, sec. 2) ; cf. Schechter, " Studies in Judaism," p. 147 et seq. ' The most prominent of these were Theudas and Simon of Cyprus ; see Josephus, " Antiquities," xx, 8, § 6; Graetz, Geschichte der Juden, vol. iii, p. 16. ' In 1866. The quotations here are taken from the German translation of the Syriac version, in Kautzsch's edition of Apokryphen und Pseudepigra- plien des Alten Testaments (Tubingen, 1900). The Book of Baruch is in vol. 11, pp. 402-57. The quota- tions from the Ezra apocalypse are taken from I Esdras in the usual edition of the Apocrypha. ° Esdras 7 : 39-43, missing in the English version ("The Missing Fragment"). "A week of years'' corresponds to the week of creation. See the de- scription of the Day of Judgment in the Assumption of Moses, 10:3-10; cf. Gunkel's Introduction to the Book of Ezra in Kautzsch's edition, vol. 11, pp. 331- NOTES 313 52; cf. Schiefer, Die rcligiosen und ethischen Anschauungcn des IV E::rahuches (Leipzig, 1901), especially pp. 51-69. In one place (13:23-25), Ezra seems to believe that the Messianic period will last only forty years. ° Baruch 30 : i. "/6. so; 51:1-12; cf. I Cor. 15: 35-5°. " Sanhedrin 90". "The fact that Bar-Cochba, although not repre- sented as a descendant of the house of David, at- tracted so many followers, proves the intensity of the Messianic hope among the Jews of the time when Roman persecution assumed its most cruel form. Klausner, in his monograph, entitled Die Mes- sianischcn V orstellungen des jiidischen Volkes im Zeitalter der Tannaiten (Cracow, 1903), p. S, wishes to derive from this fact a corroboration of his theory, that the Jews of that period hoped for a political redeemer and not for a Messiah like the one pictured by the prophets. See his note ad loc. '^ Sanhedrin 99'. " Yerush. Ta'anith iv, 5 ; Lam. Rahba 11, 5. "He was called Bar-Coziba ("the son of lies''). Cant. Rabba 11, 18; comp. Weiss, loc. cit., vol. 11, pp. 129-30. ^Cf. Klausner, loc. cit., p. 3. "Berachoth 28''; Aboth R. Nathan xxv, i; Ye- rush. Sotah IX, end; see Levy, Neuhebr. Worterbuch, vol. II, p. 362, s. V. KD3, who makes this saying re- fer to Gamaliel ; cf. Klausner, loc. cit., pp. 4, 7°, and Friedmann in his Introduction to Seder Eliyahu, p. 21 (Vienna, 1902). " Dan. 12 : i, 7, 10 ; Matt. 24 : 15, 21 ; Sybil, iii. 314 MOTES [pp. 94-95 line 795 et seq.; Enoch 80:2-8; 91:6, 7; 99:4-9; Jubilees, ch. 23, et al. " rrtyn 'Sgn; Shahbath Ii8a; c/. Matt. 24:6-8; see Dalman, Der leidende Messias, etc., p. 17 (Karls- ruhe, 1887) ; Wiinsche, Die Leiden des Messias (Leipzig, 1870), Klausner, loc. cit., p. 47. ^ Gen Rabba xlii 7, Yalkiit Shime'oni, Gen. 72 ; cf. Mic. 7:6; Matt. 10 : 35, 36. '^ Sanhedrin 98'. ==/&.; Shabbath ii8=. '^ Kcthuboth II2^ '' Sotah 49", Sanhedrin 97°, Can*. Rabba 11^ 29. "^ Sanhedrin 97° ; cf. Dereeh Erez Zula x, where Rabbi Nehemiah, Rabbi Gamaliel, and Rabbi Simeon ben Johai express similar views. °° Rabbi Johanan, Rabbah, in Sanhedrin 97". ^/t. 98"; cf. Drummond, loc. cit, bk. 11, ch. 5. '^Cf. Ezek. chs. 38-9; Yalkut on Is., 452; Targum to Ps. 2:2; and to Is. 11:4, mentions a monster by the name of Armilus, who will wage war against Israel; see "The Jewish Encyclopedia," s. v.; see below, p. 320; also pp. 124, 169. ™ ' Eduyoth 11, 10. "^ Targum to Lam. 4 : 22, Targum Jonathan to Gen. 49: 11; to Num. 24, 17-20, 24; see Drummond, loc. cit., ch. 12; cf. Koran, 21:96 el seq.; also vv. 104 et seq. about the Day of Judgment "' Cf. Seder Eliyahu Rabba, ed. Friedmann, ch. XVIII, p. 97, and Introduction, p. 11, where the Mes- siah son of Joseph is identified with the child that was restored to life by Elijah (l Kings 17: 17-24); Messiah son of Ephraim ie mentioned in Targum to Cant. 4: 5, and Targum Jonathan to Exod. 40: 11; Messiah son of Manasseh in Num. Rabba xiv, 2. pp. 95-96] NOTES 3^-5 '^ Sukkah 52" ; cf. Y crush. Sukkah v, 2 ; Pesikta Rabbati, ch. 36, ed. Friedmann (Vienna, 1880), p. 161"; cf. Pesikta Zutarta on Balak, pp. 258-9 (Vilna, 1880) ; Jellinek, Beth Hamidrash, vol. in, pp. 141-3; cf. Klausner, loc. cit., ch. ix. '^ Menahoth 45° ; Baba Mezi'a 3°, et al; cf. Mishnah Shekalim 11, 5 ; Aboth R. Nathan xxxiv, 4. ^'Eduyoth viii, 7; Kiddushin 71^. °' Cf. Friedmann's Introduction to Seder Eliyahu Rabba, pp. 22-5 ; " The Jewish Encyclopedia," .s. v., Elijah, quoting Yalkut Hadash, ed. Radawil, 58°; cf. Drummond, loc. cit., ch. vi; Klausner, loc. cit., ch. VI. °° (a) He will bring before the Israelites Moses and the generation of the wilderness; (b) he will revive Korah and his followers; (c) he will revive the Messiah son of Joseph {cf. Jellinek, loc. cit., vol. Ill, p. 72) ; (d) he will restore the three mysteriously lost objects of the sacred utensils of the Temple, viz. : the ark, the vessel of Manna, and the vessel of sacred oil; (e) he will display the sceptre given to him by God; (f) he will crush mountains like straw; (g) he will reveal the great mystery (Jellinek, loc. cit.; cf. Seder Eliyahu Rabba, p. 129; Tosefta Sotah xiii, 1-3; cf. Malkuyyoth service for Rosh ha-Shanah, s. v., Ansichah). At the first blast of his trumpet the primitive light will appear, at the second blast, the dead will rise {¥ crush. Shabbath i, 3; Mishnah Sotah, end; Y crush. Shekalim iii, 3; cf., however, 'Abodah Zarah 20"; Yalkut on Is. 363; Alfasi on 'Abodah Zarah and Rabbi Nissim ad loc, Tosefoth Yom Tob on end of Sotah; see Agadath Shir Ha- shirim (ed. Schechter, Cambridge, 1896) p. 44 and note 3l6 NOTES [p. 96 to lines 1297-1303 ; and at the third blast the Divine Majesty will appear (Jellinek, loc. cit, vol. v, p. 128). He will make his appearance three days before the ■ coming of the Messiah ('Erubin 43") ; he will not come on a Friday or on the eve of a festival, in order not to interrupt the preparations for the Sab- bath or the festival; cf. Pcsahim 13°; cf., however, Seder 'Olam Rabba, ed. Ratner (Wilna, 1^7), ch. XVII, where it appears that Elijah will come after the advent of the Messiah; see n. 13 ad loc). On the first day of his arrival, he will lament over the devastation of Palestine, and will conclude his lamen- tations with the words, " Peace will now come over the earth." On the second day, he will go up on the mountains of Israel and say, " Good hath come to the world." On the third day, he will say, " Sal- vation hath come to the world." Then the archangel Michael will blow the trumpet, and Elijah and the Messiah will make their appearance {Pesikta Rab- bati XXXV, p. i6i'; Yalkut on Is., 475; Jellinek, loc. cit., vol. II, pp. 62, 125). " Pirke R. EUezer xliii, end, XLVii. ^ Gen. Rabba lxxxv, 2 ; his mother will be of the tribe of Dan {Yalkut, vol. I, 160), and his birthplace will be the city of Bethlehem {Y crush. Berachoth 11, 4; Lam. Rabba i, 57; Targum on Mic. 5:1). , His name was created in the mind of God before . He created the world (Gen. Rabba I, S; cf. Pesahim •-54''; Nedarim 39"). He is called "Ben David" (Sanhedrin 97° et al), "David" {Yerush. Bera- choth II, 4; Sanhedrin 98"; Lam. Rabba i, 57), " Menahem son of Hezekiah " {Sanhedrin 98") , " Zemah " {Lam. Rabba I, 57 ; Zemah and Menahem are there identified, both having the same numerical pp. 96-100] NOTES 317 value, viz., 138), "Shalom" (Derech Eres Zuta xi, after Is., 9:5), or "Hadrak" {Sifri to Deut. 1:1, after Zech., 9:1; Cant. Rabba vii, 10) . Many other names are given to the Messiah in the Targumim, Talmudim, and Midrashim; see Drummond, loc. cit., ch. x; Klausner, loc. cit., ch. vil. "" Cf., however, Derech Erez Zuta i, end ; see also Y crush. Berachoth 11, 4; Lam. Rabba i, 57. " Hagigah 14°; Sanhedrin 38^ " Yerush. Ta'anith 11, i end ; cf. Exod. Rabba XXIX, 4; cf. Bacher, Agada der Pal'dstinensischen Amor'der, vol. 11, p. I18 (Strassburg, i8g6). " Sanhedrin 98° ; Targum Jonathan on Gen. 35 : 21 ; on Exod. 13 : 42 ; cf. Drummond, loc. cit., ch. ix, end ; Bacher, loc. cit., vol. i, pp. 146, 190. *= Yalkut, vol. II, 988, end. "Sanhedrin no"; cf. Musaf for the Day of Atonement, s. v. Of el Almanah. '^Sanhedrin 111°. ■"Berachoth 34*, 'Erubin 43". "Sanhedrin 99°. "Pesahim 118"; Gen. Rabba lxxviii, 16. ""Abodah Zarah 3^ ™/&., Cant Rabba 11, 4; Fottttf on Is., 452. ^^Exod. Rabba xxx, i. ''' m = sharp, severe ; I*! = soft, mild ; Cant. Rab- ba VII, 10 ; Sifri on Deut. i : I. ''Cant. Rabba vii, 10; Sifri on Deut. 1:1; Baba Bathra 76'. " Yalkut, vol. I, 159- '= FoOTO 5^ "Lez). i?o66a ix, 7. =' ya/fewi on Is., 429- ^Cf. Rabbi Joseph in Niddah 61"; see Farf Mala- 3l8 NOTES [pp. 101-106 chi, vol. 1, p. 7S^ No. 437 (Berlin, 1847) ; cf. Weiss, Dor, etc., vol. i, p. 229 and note; Hamburger, Rcal- Encyclopadie, vol. 11, p. 747, n. 12. ^ Berachoth 15", Sanhedrin 92'; cf. Abotli n, 22. ™ Gen. Rabba xiii, 4. "^Kethuboth III^ '^ Kiddushin 39''. "^ Mishnah Sanhedrin x, i. °* Kethuboth iii", Y crush. Kilayim ix, 3. °° Yalkut on Is., 428. Mention is made of dew, with which God will perform the miracle of resur- rection (Hagigah 12", Shabbath 88"; cf. Lev. Rabba XIV, 8, and Musaf for the first day of Passover). " Baba Bathra 74". '"Lev. Rabba xxn, 7. "^ Berachoth 34*, Sanhedrin 99" ; c/. Hagigah 12". ""Lev. Rabba xiii, 3. ''"Shabbath 30'; c/. Kethuboth iii", where still greater exaggerations are recorded. " Sanhedrin 97° "/&. 97", see Rabbi Elijah Wilna's note arf /oc. '""Abodah Zarah 9"; c/. Tosafoth s. v. Leahar, ad loe. '^Sanhedrin 97". '"Kethuboth 111°, see Rashi arf lac.; cf. Derech Erez Zuta xi. " Pesahim 56", 54". ''' Sanhedrin 97°. '" Foma 86", Fa//«a on Is., 498. "Shabbath ii8b. " Lev. Rabba iii, i ; cf. Weber, System der alt- synagogalen Pal'dstinensischen Theologie, p. 322 (Leipzig, 1880). pp. 106-121] NOTES 319 ''' Rosh Hashanah 11°. "^ Cf. Num. Rabba xi, 3 ; Jellinek, loc. cit., vol. iii, p. 154. The duration of the Messianic reign is limited according to the Haggadah and is variously given as three generations {Mechilta to Exod. 17 : 16, based on Ps. 72 : s, "in = one generation and O'ln = two generations), forty, seventy, three hundred and sixty-five, four hundred, one thousand, two thou- sand, four thousand, or seven thousand years {San- hedrin 97*, 99°, Pesikta Rabbati i, end, p. 4°,"). "Graetz, Geschichte der Judcn, 3d ed., vol. iv, p. 345, and n. 34. ^ Cf., however, Bacher, Agada der Paldst. Amoraer, vol. Ill, pp. 111-13, and notes. " Socrates, Historia Ecclesiastica, vol. vii, p. 36 (Bohn's ed.). " Sanhedrin 97'. CHAPTER IV 'Graetz, Geschichte der Juden, vol. v, p. 152, and n. 14; cf. Pinsker, Likkute Kadmoniyoth, pp. 12-16 (Vienna, i860). ''See Graetz, loc. cit., n. 14. ' Ps. 119: 164, " Seven times a day do I praise Thee, because of Thy righteous judgment." 'Maimonides, Iggereth Teman, p. 50 (ed. Hallub, Vienna, 1875). "Graetz, loc. cit., n. is, suggests that Abu-Isa declared himself the Messiah son of Joseph, and, not the Messiah son of David, because it was known that he was not of the tribe of Judah, the family of the expected Messiah. Abu-Isa, therefore, resolved to gain Palestine for the Jews by force of arms, 320 NOTES [pp. 121-133 since it was supposed to be the province of the Mes- siah son of Joseph to conquer Israel's enemies in war. ° Cf. Pinsker, loc. cit., p. 10. ■"■sni' p li;roty 'in nnnOJ, published in Jellinek's Beth Hamidrash, vol. iir, pp. 78-82; cf. Graetz, loc. cit., n. IS ; " The Jewish Encyclopedia," j. v. Apo- calyptic Literature, No. 10. " See Graetz, loc. cit., p. 412, n. I ; " The Jewish Encyclopedia," vol. 11, s. v. Armilus, where the legend of Armilus having been born of Satan and the marble statue of a woman in Rome, is given in full; cf. also Guttmann, Religions [thilosophic des Saadia, p. 236, n. 4 (Gottingen, 1882). ' See Graetz, loc. cit., p. igo, and 11. 18 ; Pinsker, loc. cit., pp. 10, 25-26. " Cf. Friedlaender, Die Messiasidee im Islam (Berlin, 1903). " Deut. 30 : 3. "This argument against Christianity was used much earlier by the Jews of Spain (672), who based their views especially on the tradition that the Mes- siah would appear in the seventh millennium. This mode of reasoning seems to have caused much an- noyance to the early Christian theologians, so that Julian of Toledo, in his apologetic work. Contra Judaeos, endeavors to refute it; see Graetz, loc. cit., p. 133, n. 2. ^ Cf. Guttmann, loc. cit., p. 226, n. 4. " lb. ch. 7 ; cf. Spiegler, Geschichte dcr Philosophic des Jitdenthums, p. 240; Bernfeld, Da'ath Elohim, p. 125; idem, Sa'adia Gaon, pp. 13-14. "C/. Guttmann, loc. cit., p. 239; Bernfeld, Da'ath Elohim, p. 125, n. I ; Graetz, loc. cit., p. 275, n. I. pp. 133-140] NOTES 321 " See Bernfeld, loc. cit., p. 125, n. i, quoting the Letters of Maimonides (ed. Leipzig), 11, 5"; Graetz, loc. cit., vol. VI, p. 280. " Graetz, loc. cit, p. 84. " See Guttmann, loc. cit., p. 215 et seq. " Ta'am Zekenim, pp. S9-61 (ed. Ashkenazi, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1854) ; cf. Dalman, Der leidende Messias, etc., p. 58. "Region Hanefesh, p. 42','' (Leipzig, 1S60). He believed that the Messiah would come in 1358 (5118 A. M.) ; see Feinman's Introduction to the Region Hanefesh, p. xv, n. 11; cf. Graetz, loc. cit, p. loi. ™ Published in Jellinek's Beth Hamidrash, vol. 11, pp. 54-57 ; cf. Graetz, loc. cit., pp. 53-55 ; " The Jewish Encyclopedia," vol. i, pp. 682-3. Tf. Graetz, loc. cit, p. 53, n. 4 (1068?). ^The references here are to Harkav/s edition of Halevi's Poems (Warsaw, 1893). " Pt. I, pp. 57-8. ''lb. p. 60; cf. Luzzatto's notes 2 and 3 ad. loc; pt. II, p. 13 and n. i ; Halevi expected the redemption to come during the first millennium after the destruc- tion of the Temple. "^ Pt. I, p. 69 ; pt. II, p. 13- "Pt. I, pp. 69, 71. "^ Pt. I, p. 74, and n. 4 ; pt. 11, pp. 12-27. ^Pt. 1, p. 72- ^Kusari, pt. 11, 36-44, pp. 143-7. in Cassel's ed. (Leipzig, 1869). " Is. S3 : 4 ; cf. Cassel's n. 3 to p. 142 ; cf. Wiinsche, Die Leiden des Messias, pp. 34-50; Dalman, Der leidende Messias, etc., passim. '^Kuzari, pt. iv, 23; see Cassel's n. 3 ad loc; cf. ih. pt. II, 34- 322 NOTES [pp. 140-167 ■"/&. pt. I, 115. "Poems, pt. I, p. 18; pt. II, p. 33. "^ Cf. Friedlaender, "The Jewish Religion," p. 232 (London, 1900). °° Massa'oth Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, p. 12' (Lemberg, 1859) ; cf. Graetz, loc. cit., vol. vi, pp. 244-8; "The Jewish Encyclopedia," J. v. Alroy; Iggeroih Harambam, p. 15 (Warsaw, 1878). " " Studies in Judaism," p. 164. ™ Yad Hahazakah, Hilchoth Melachim, chs. xi, xii. ™ lb. Hilchoth Teshubah, ch. ix, 2. " Graetz, loc. cit., p. 281. " Of Alexandria, Iggcroth Harambam, p. 9. " DTIDH n'Tin; Graetz, loc. cit., pp. 289, 305; cf. Bernfeld, Da'ath Elohim, p. 297 ; Yellin and Abra- hams, " Maimonides," p. 194 (Philadelphia, 1903). "Cf. Bernfeld, loc. cit., p. 475; "The Jewish En- cyclopedia," J. V. Crescas. " Sanhedrin 93°. " 'Ikkarim, pt. iv, 35 ; cf. pt. i, 23. Neither Albo nor his teacher, Hasdai, included the belief in the coming of the Messiah among the cardinal principles of Judaism; cf. 'Ikkarim, pt. iv, 42; pt. i, 22- CHAPTER V ' Quoted from Schechter's " Studies in Judaism," p. 105. ^ See Graetz, loc. cit., vol. vii, pp. 120-3, and n. 2. " na'Dn 'n mm, ed. Jellinek (Vienna, 1872). * " For one hundred and eighteen years in the sixth millennium we shall still be in the hands of pp. 167-173] NOTES 323 the nations of the world," ih. p. 29. Nahmanides obviously expected the Messiah to come in 1358 (SI18 A. M.). ° lb. p. 27 ; cf. Nahmanides commentary to Gen. 2:3- ° Cf. Nahmanides' commentary to Exod. 17 : 9. "" Cf. Schechter, loc. cit., pp. 115-16. ' Published in Jellinek's Beth Hamidrash, vol. iv, pp. 117-26; see Graetz, loc. cit., vol. vii, p. 127 and n. 7; see, however, Buttenwieser, in "The Jewish Encyclopedia," vol. i, p. 684, who assumes that this apocalypse was composed during the Crusades. ° rvtiip'O nbap, which was supposed to endow one with the power of performing miracles. " Cf. Jellinek's Introduction to nSapn rmjn "IJJ, pp. 16-26 (Leipzig, 1853) ; idem, Introduction to vol. in, of his Beth Hamidrash, p. xli; idem. Introduc- tion to his Philosophie und Kabbalah, pt. i, pp. v- XII (Leipzig, 1854) ; idem, Sefer ha-Oth, in Graetz's Jiibelschrift, Hebrew section, pp. 65-88 (Breslau, 1887) ; cf. Graetz, loc. cit, pp. igi-S- " See Perles, Rabbi Salome ben Adereth, pp. 6, 63, n. 22 (Breslau, 1863). "76. p. 64, n. 24. "Lit. "splendor" (after Dan. 12:3), a mystical commentary to the Pentateuch, supposed to have been communicated by the Tanna Rabbi Simeon ben Johai to his disciples. Many later additions, as the Midrash Hane'elam ("the hidden Midrash"), the Ra'aya Mehemna ("the faithful shepherd"), and others, are included under the general name of Zohar. "This is a moot question; see Graetz, loc. cit.. 324 NOTES [pp. 173-182 n. 12 ; Ginzberg, " The Kabbalah " (London, 1865) ; JelUnek, Introduction to nS^pn rrajn 'IJJ, pp. 25-6. " Zohar (Amsterdam, 1788), vol. i, p. 25''; cf. Graetz, loc. cit. p. 436. " Zohar, vol. i, p. 117"; every letter of the Hebrew alphabet has its numerical value, the He = s, the Waw^6, and the Yod = io. Thus, by an arbitrary arrangement of the letters, the author of the pas- sage in the Zohar calculates, that the Messianic period will commence in the year 1300 (5060 A. M.), and will reach its highest culmination in the year 1840 (5600 A. M.). It is apparent that the author or the compiler expected the beginning of the Messianic era in his own lifetime. " Ra'aya Mchemna, vol. iii, p. 252". " Midrash Hane'elam, vol. 1, p. 139*. "iiay ip. '"Zohar, vol. 11, p. 7" '^Ib. vol. I, p. 119". '^ lb. vol. Ill, p. 2I2^ '"lb. vol. II, p. 212°; cf. vol. Ill, p. 218°. " ly-^O '33T »hyr\ ; cf. Myer, " Qabbalah and the Philosophy of Avicebron," p. 338 (Philadelphia, 1888). ^ See Wiinsche, Die Leiden dcs Messias, pp. 88, 95-103; cf. Piyyut for Musaf Kedushah for the Day of Atonement, s. v. Az, in. "' Midrash Hane'elam, vol. i, p. 102°. °' Cf. Zohar, vol. in, p. 203''. "lb.; riNnn n;r:jj. ^nVlNjn mJK, quoted in Albo's 'Ikkarim, pt iv, 42. ™Albo, loc. cit.. pt. I, 2, 23, pp. 183-190] NOTES 325 " lb. pt. IV, 42. °"Cf. Graetz, he. cit., vol. viii, pp. 115-18, 177, and n. 3. "^Cf. Kefhuboth ii2». "* Cf. Sanhedrin 97° •" A play on the expression f|1J3l? niDtyj iS^'ty n;;, Yebamoth 62°. In this expression, "lU, ordinarily meaning body, is interpreted to refer to a special depository where the souls are kept ; cf. Rashi ad loc, s. V. tjlJ, 'Abodah Zarah 5", Tosafoth s. v. |"K ; see below p. 328. "" Cf. Graetz, loc. cit., vol. vii, p. 372, u., vol. viii, p. 16. " Cf. Monatsschrift filr Geschichte und Wissen- schaft des Judenthums, vol. 28 (1879), pp. 78-83; Graetz, loc. cit., vol. viii, pp. 97-9, and n. 2. " Graetz, loc. cit., vol. vii, p. 361. '°n;?ityn 'ryr^ ,nnw j^'Dt^'a ,m'mn n}}>ra\ '" Compare his views on the Haggadah in niJJlB" m^\i>D , p. 17', and on the character of the prophet Elijah in the Talmud, ib. p. 22'. "nj3S tyxi, chapters xiv and xxiii (Konigsberg, 1861), m^mo nww (ibidem, 1861), p. 27^D'•^p^^ -\so D'lpl^'n IX, the book ' Ikkarim [principles] or rather ' Okarim [uprootings]. "in'E'D rx\}}W\ p. 25' et seq. "ni;iB"n 'rra, pp. 6', 7' (Stettin, i860). "Ib. ch. X et o/./in-tyamriK'', p. 13' et al, and in other parts of his works. "in'tya niyity, p. 31'. *' Graetz, loc. cit., vol. ix, p. 215, and n. 3 ; cf. Seder Hadoroth (ed. Maskileison, Warsaw, 1897), pt. I, p. 238, where the author relates that his grand- 326 NOTES [pp. 190-207 father, SeHgmann Ganz, who lived at that time, tore up the oven that was used for baking Mazzoth, firmly believing that the end of the Galuth had come, and he would not need the oven for next year, since he would then be in Jerusalem. Eliezer Treves, the Rabbi of Frankfort, a teacher of the author of the Seder Hadoroth, also believed in Lammlein's Messiahship, and said it was probably due to the sins of Israel that the IVIessiah had not come at that time. ■" For a detailed account of the adventures of these two pseudo-Messiahs, see Graetz, loc. cit., vol. ix, ch. VIII, and n. 5 ; Seder Hadoroth, pt. i, p. 240. ■'" See Graetz, loc. cit., vol. ix, p. 547, quoting from Luzzatto's Maskir, v, 45, for some ingenious com- binations of Hebrew letters to indicate the near approach of the Messianic period, which were com- posed by a contemporary (Joseph of Arii). In connection with this, I may mention a specimen of such entertainments, which I heard among the chil- dren, while at Heder. The first word of the Bible, H'B'Kia, was read by them m:D3'7X ,«'Dn n^iina 'Dtyn N3' rwhw, l e., at the fall of Russia, in the time of Alexander the Third, the Tishbite (Elijah) will make his appearance. CHAPTER VI ^ Polemische Deutsche Schriften (ed. Irmischer, Erlangen, 1841), vol.. iii, ch. 28, p. 46 et seq.; cf. Graetz, loc. cit., vol. ix^ p. 197. ^For the life of Manasseh ben Israel, see Kayser- pp. 207-215] NOTES 327 ling. Manasseh ben Israel, etc., in Jahrbuch fiir die Geschichte der Juden, vol. 111, pp. 83-189 (Leipzig, 1861) ; English translation by F. de Sola Mendes (London, 1877) I Graetz, loc. cit., vol. x, ch. 4. ' Midrash Hane'elam, vol. i, p. 139''. 'Ssity nipD, ch. XII et seq. (Warsaw, 1841) ; see the Introduction (J"l DtyiJD), where an account of Montezino's travels is given. 'Dedicated to his friend, David Vossius. ° See Kayserling, loc. cit., p. 144 and n. 174 ; Eng. ed., p. 38. ' Manasseh's idea of the resurrection is given in his book, De Resurrectione Mortuorum, 3 parts (Amsterdam, 1636), and in his D"n nntyj, pt. i, chs. xv-xvii, pp. 24 92, 284, 313, 332 34'> 98, 102, 317, 318 Shabbath 30i> 103, 318 88i> 318 118> 94, 314 llSb 106, 318 'Eeubin page 43" 98, 294, 316, 317, 333 Pesahim 13« 294, 316, 333 54" 316 541' 106, 318 56« 106, 318 116i> 296, 333 117'> 288-9, 332 H8i> 98, 317 YOMA S" 100, 317 eO' 215, 327 86> 106, 318 SnKKAH 521' 95, 315 EOSH Hashanah 11» 106, 295, 319, 333 Meqillah 17" 284, 288, 332 18" 288-9, 332 Hagigah 12" 818 14« 97, 817 15«, " 312 Tebamoth 62" 184, 222, 325, 328 63" 222, 328 Kethoboth 111" 102, 106, 318 111" 101, 103, 318 112" 275, 331 112" 94, 184, 314, 325 Nedaeim 39" 316 342 INDEXES GiTTIN PAGE Sanhedein (continued) page 68« 328 93" 152, 322 SOTAH 97'> 94 ,95, 104, 106, 184 38« 327 314, 316, 318, 325 49'> 94, 314 97" 105, 111, 318, 319 ,1 , IClDOnSHIN 98« 94,97 314, 317 1 , 39" 101, 318 98" 95, 305 314, 316 i i 40'> 23, 305 99" 98, 102 312, 317 1 1 71" 96, 315 318, 319 1 Baba Kama 99" 90, 313 ! 82" 307 110" 98, 317 - Baba Mezia 111" 98, 317 - 3" 96, 315 'Abodah Zaeah Baba Bathra 3" 98, 99, 117 ; 3" 244, 329 5" 222 325, 328 74b 102, 318 9" 105, 318 76" 100, 317 20" 315 , Sanhedein Menahoth 38" 22, 97, 305, 317 45" 96, 315 67" 312 NlDDAH 90" 88, 313 13" 222, 328 ! 92« 101, 318 61" 101, 318 INDEX TO NAMES AND SUBJECTS Abarbanel, Isaac, 186-90 Abbahu, 97 Abraham Abulafia, 170, 172 Abraham b. Hlyya, 134 Adam, 22, 305 Adam Kadmon^ 220 Addir Bu, 296 Ages of Man, The, 22 AJcdamuth, 298 Aklba, 90, 97, 98, 189 Albo, Joseph, 152, 182, 187, 322 'Alenu, 291 Alliance Israelite Vniverselle, 268 'Amidah, 287, 289, 291 Amos, 29 Anan, 125, 126 Anti-Semitism, 269-70 Apocryphal and Apocalyptic Books, 62, 66 et seq., 308 Armllus, 124, 169, 314. 320 Asher Lammleln, 189-90, 325-6 Ashl, 110 'Attik Yomin, 220 Azariah de Rossi, 165 Bar-Cochba, 89, 313 Baruch, The Apocalypse of, 86-8 Baruch Gad, 217 Basle Congress, 276 Beer of Miesrlcz, 237 Ben Slra, 63, 309 Bernays, Isaac, 252, 253 Bressler, M. J., 249 Caro, Joseph, 195 Cassel, David, 262 Circumcision, Celebration of the, 293 Cohn, Albert, 267 Colonization in Palestine, 268, 272-5, 331 Cromwell, 213 Cyrus, God's anointed, 45 Daniel, 60, 67, 105 David, type of the Messiah, 25 David Alruy, 141-3 David Eeubeni, 192-9 Day of Judgment, 87, 125, 153, 312, 314 Day of the Lord, 29, 40 Deutsch, Emanuel, 80-1 Dogmas, 7-9, 54, 82-4, 322 DonmSh, 227 Driver, S. E., 32, 46 15ger, Aklba, 246 Eibeschutz, 229 Einhorn, David, 261, 330 Eliashberg, 274 Eliezer Kontras, 133 Elijah, 55, 76, 77, 93, 96, 104, 134, 137, 138, 149, 168, 231, 232, 294, 309, 315, 325, 333 ; cup of, 295. Elijah of Wilna, 240 Emancipation 243, 246-8, 264, 265 Emden, 229 344 INDEXES EmunotTi we-Dc'ofh, 128 Enoch, The Apocalypse of, 68, 72 EzeUel, 42, ISS, 306 Ezra, 53, 58, 275, 307 Ezra, The Apocalypse of, 86 Fall of man, the, 22 Feast of the Righteous, 102, 28,% 333 l^'elgenhauer, 212 Fifth Monarchy Men, 208, 212 Frank, the false Messiah, 231-6 Frankel, Saeckel, 249 Prankel, Zacharlah, 253 et seq., 257, 262 Frlediander, David, 246, 247 Gamaliel, 89, 103, 284, 813 Gederah, 272 Oehenna, 69, 125, 134 Gelger, Ahraham, 250, 257, 262 Gentiles In Messianic Times, 43, 73, 98-9, 113, 134 Geonim, 116 et soq., 125 Geronlmo de Santa F^, 183 Glnzberg, Asher, 278 Gog and Magog, Wars of, 95, 105, 149, 211 " Good Tidings for Israel," 212 Guf, 222, 325 Guttmacher, Elijah, 265 HaMatah, 294 Haftarah, 294 Haggal, 48, 49 Hal Gaon, 134 Tlalachah and Uaggadali, 80-3 Hanlna, 105 Ilasdai Crescas, 151, 183 Hasdal Halevi, 150 Hasidlm, 227, 237 Hayylm b. Gallpapa, 182 Hayj'lm Malach, 227 Hayyun, Nehemlah, 228 Hebrew In the Prayer-Book, 247, 257, 262 Hephzl-bah, 136 Herzl, Theodor, 277 Hess, Moses, 331 Hezeklah, 81, 84, 37, 92 Hillel, 91 Hillel (Amora), S12 Hlrsch, S. R., 251-2 Holdhelm, S., 249, 258, 261 Holmes, Nathaniel, 209 Hosea, 29, 30 Bosha'anoth, Eosha'ana Rahla, 300 'IkkaHm 187, 325 Immanuel, the child, 32 Ineffable Name, The, 215, S27-8 Isaac Prlmo, 221 Isaiah, 80-6, 43-7, 60, 283, 306 Isavltes or Ispahanltes, 122 Israel Baal Shem, 237, 240 Israel's sufferings accounted for, 130, 189 Jabne, 89, 92 Jacob Querido, 228 Jehudah Halevi, 137-41 .Teremlah, 41, 76, 183 Jerusalem, restored, 46, 64, 69, 100, 288, 307 INDEXES 345 JesuB, 72 et aeq., 76, 129, 167, 183, 208, 212, 213, 232, 328 Joel, 42 Joffe, Mordecal, 274 Johanan (Amora), 94 Johanan 1). Zakkal, 83, 88, 92 John the Baptist, 75, 78 Jose the Galilean, 97 Joseph (Amora), 312 Joseph ha-Kohen, 184, 109 Joseph Escapa, 216 Joshua h. Levi, 97 Joslah, 38 Judah (Tanna), 95 Judah Hasia, 227 Judah Judghan, 127 Judges, 24 Julian the Apostate, 107 Julian of Toledo, 320 Kabhalah, 159 et seq. Eaddish, 292, 333 Kallscher, Hirsch, 265, 266 Karalsm, 126, 128 Kedushah, 289, 290, 334 Eelippoth, 219 Klnnoth, 301 KofeHm, 223 Kuzari, 139 Law, The, 54, 55, 82, 85, 155 ; a new, 100 Lei Shimmurim, 295 Levi, Aaron, 210 Leviathan, 102, 299 LBbele Prossnltz, 228 Lurya, Isaac, 200 Luther, 204, 203 Luzzatto, Jloses Hayylm, 230-1 Maccahees, 64, 71 Maaaid, ha-, 268 Malmonides, 8, 103, 13:j. 143-51, 157, 158, 187 Malachl, 49, 54, 183, 307 Ualka Kadisha, 220 Malkuyyoth, 297 Manasseh b. Israel, 207-13 Mantln, Jacob, 197 Marranos, the, 191, 193, 230 Mazzoth, 295, 328 Mendelssohn, Moses, 7, 233, 243, 250 Messiah, the person of the, 96, 107, 136-7; nature of the, 146, 163, 186 ; names of the, 72, 99, 316 Messiah, son of Joseph, 95, 124, 131, 135, 137, 163, 180, 200, 211, 225, 314, 319 Messianic Reign, duration of the, 87, 313, 319 Messianic Woes, 94, 176 Metatron, 123, 136, 220 Mlcah, 33 Michael Cardoso, 223 Mikweh Israel, 211 Mlkweh Israel (school), 268 Mlshneh Torah, 148, 159 Mission of Israel, the, 140, 254, 255 Mohammedanism, 113 et aeq. Mohllever, Samuel, 274 Mordecal of Bisenstadt, 226 Moses, 24 Moses Botarel, 184 Moses of Crete, 110 Moaes de Leon, 173 346 INDEXES Moses b. Nahman, 164-8 Musaf, 291 MutazlUsts, 127 Mysticism, see Kabbalah Nahum, 39 Nathan Ghazati, 217, 224 Nationalism, Jewish, 251 et seq., 273 et seq., 331 Natronal Gaon, 120 Nissim b. Abraham, 171 Nissim b. Reuben, 185 msozotn, 219 Nordau, Max, 277 Obayah Abu-Isa b. Ishak, 120, 319 'Olam ha-Tilclcuiij 219 Omeyyads, 121, 124 Pablo Christlanl, 164 Palestine, Colonization of, 268, 272-5, 331 Parsuflm, 228 Persian Influence, 56 Personal Messiah, 27, 35, 40, 43, 55, 63, 64-5, 72, 74, 134, 276, 291, 309, 332 Petali Tikwah, 268 Philo, 74 Piyyutim, 284, 286 et scq. Prayer-Book, 8, 283 et seq. " Precious Stone, The," 213 Promised End, The, 132 Psalms, The, 49 ; of Solo- mon, 72 Pseudo-Messiahs, 110, 118, 120, 127, 141, 162, 170, 171, 184, 189, 192 et seq., 214, 225, 226, 228, 231 Puritans, 209 Rabbinical Conferences, 260 Rabbinism, opposition to, by Arabian Jews, 117, 118; by Karaites, 126; by Pseudo-Messiahs, 119, 162, 163, 220, 222, 232, 233 ; by modern reformers, 250 Rahaman, ha~, 293 Rappel des Juifs, 209 Reform in Worship, 245, 248-52 Remnant, in Isaiah, 32 ; in Zephaniah, 41 Redemption, the date of the, 68. 103, 104, 133, 137, 138, 150, 174, 186, 188, 135, 211, 320, 321, 323, 324, 326 Resurrection, 42, 57-61, 69, 74, 87, 88, 101, 129-32, 140, 144, 148, 150-3, 168, 180, 188, 211, 249, 263, 286, 288, 308, 318, 327 Riesser, Gabriel, 259, 330 Rome, 97, 123, 136, 177, 189, 195, 196, 197, 199, 205 Rothschild, Anselm Mayer, 266 Saadia Gaon, 128-32 Sabbatai Zebi, 207, 214-24 Sabbatians, Messianic Theo- ry of the, 219 et seq. Sachs, Michael, 262 Sacrifices in Messianic Times, 100, 289 Sadducees, 288 Salomon, Gotthold, 256 Samacl, the Satan, 96 INDEXES 347 Sambatlon, 217 Samuel (Amora), 98 Samuel Abulafia, 185 Saul, 25 Schechter, S., 7, 143, 165 Scribes, 53-9 Sects, 61, 64, 122, 227, 328 Seder Service, 295 Seflroth, 170, 220 Selihoth, 300 Serene of Syria, 118 " Servant of tbe Lord, The," 45, 139, 306-7 Shammai, 91 Shechinah, 228, 299 Shema', 291 Shemoneh 'Esreh, 284, 287-9 Shiites, 127 Bhor lia-Bar, 102, 299 Shulhan Arueh, 174, 195 Silluk, 296 Simeon b. Jobai, Mysteries of, 122; Prayer of, 169; author of Zohar, 173, 323 Simon the Just, 61 Simon Maccabee, 310 Siraj, 144 et seq. Solomon b. Adereth, 171 Solomon Ayllon, 228 Solomon Molcho, 194-9 SufEering Messiah, The, 78, 179, 311, 334 Sybilline Books, The, 70, 310 Tannalm, 91 TeflUahj 287 Ten Tribes, The, 98, 210, 224 Tikkun HaeotJi, 301 Tobit, Book of, 63 Twelve Patriarchs, The Apocalypse of the, 70 Vital, Hayylm, 200 World to come. The, 68, 134, 152, 179, 219 Yeshibah, 85 Toser, 295, 299 Zechariah, 48-50 Zemirotn, 294, 300 Zephaniah, 40 Zerubbabel, 48-9, 275 ; The Apocalypse of, 135 Zionism, Modern, 265 et seq. Zohar, The, 173-81, 208, 214. 218, 224, 230, 234, 237, 240, 323 Zulath, 297 Zunz, 253, 329 THB FRIEDBKWALD COMPANY SALTIMORE, MD., U. S. A.