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The kings and priests who followed Simeon
(the last Maccabee) supported the Sadducees,
a group of priestly Jews who believed in the
sacrificial services of the Temple (called the
Temple Cult).
Some Jews, disgusted by what they
considered the desecration of true Judaism,
split off and became the Essenes.
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The other group unhappy with the
Hasmonean and Sadducean rule were the
Pharisees, who believed in the Oral Torah.
The Pharisees firmly downplayed the primacy
of the Temple and its sacrifices and believed
that each Jew was responsible for his/her own
relationship with God.
They didn’t accept the authority of the priests
of the Temple, and they urged Jews to
worship in synagogues and to study the
Torah.
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John Hyrcanus and his son Alexander
Jannaeus were two rulers who often resorted
to violence to repress the Pharisees and
support the Sadducees. At the same time,
these two men greatly expanded the land of
Judea, resulting in the forced conversion of
other tribes to Judaism (not a good idea)
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Alexander’s wife, Queen Salome, became
more political after Alexander died, keeping
the peace by offering much more power to
the Pharisees while still keeping her son
Hyrcanus II as High Priest.
After Queen Salome died in 67 BCE, her
younger son, backed by the Sadducees,
wrestled power from his brother, and
assumed not only the role of King but also of
High Priest.
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With Judea continually involved in a civil war for 3
years, Hyrcanus II finally decided to invite the
Roman Emperor Pompey to settle the dispute.
Pompey did what any reasonable Roman general
would do: decided to favor Rome, stripping both
brothers of power and insisting that Judea start
paying tribute as a vassal state (although he did
leave Hyrcanus II as High Priest).
Rome was the dominant power across Europe,
Egypt, and now Judea.
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Hyrcanus II continued ruling as High Priest under
the greater control of Rome for over 20 years.
After Pompey died, Julius Caesar became the
uncontested leader of the entire Roman empire,
though he was soon murdered (stabbed 23
times!) and was eventually succeeded by Mark
Anthony.
Anthony wanted a governor of Judea whose first
loyalty would be Rome, and so he picked a man
who, while Jewish “in name”, had little connection
to the Jews: Herod, who's father had been
forcibly converted to Judaism by John Hyrcanus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7
OjMuuk0W5Q death of ceasar
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Herod was an ambitious, scheming, paranoid
man- and those were his good qualities!
He didn’t favor the Pharisees or the Sadducees,
but rather simply annoyed just about every
Jewish faction.
For example, one of his early orders of business
was to marry the only living Hasmonean female
and have the High Priest, her brother,
assassinated. He then angered many by
appointing a new High Priest whenever he
wanted to. Later, afraid of a possible set up, he
had his wife and two children killed….he was that
king of leader.
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Herod was clearly a terrible guy, but he is
widely remembered for the amazing
structures he built or re-built, most
importantly, he vastly built up the Second
Temple, creating one of the most amazing
architectural wonders in the Empire.
The Western Wall, which some people call the
“Wailing Wall”, in Jerusalem is the remnant of
the outer retaining wall that Herod built
around the rebuilt Temple.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ
CEWE7ioUM Herod
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During Herod’s reign, false prophets and
false decedents of King David appeared out
of thin air, spreading unrest among the
people.
When Herod died in 4 BCE, the chaos and wild
hopes in the land became worse than ever.
People were primed for change and for
something new in which to believe.
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After Herod’s death, his sons fought for
control over the land.
Rome, while not eliminating Herodian
Dynasty (Herodian because it was named
after Herod), decided to limit its control, so
they appointed each of Herod’s four sons to a
small part of the greater kingdom.
Then the Romans brought in “procurators” to
act as governors, maintaining Roman law.
(These men were mostly scoundrels)
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Today, the most famous of Herod’s sons was
Herod Antipas, who had John the Baptist
beheaded, possibly for speaking publicly against
Antipas’ marriage to his own sister-in-law.
As well, the most famous Roman persecutors was
Pontius Pilate, who ordered the crucifixion of a
young Jewish preacher from Galilee named Jesus
of Nazareth (yep, aka Jesus Christ), along with
thousands of other Jews who threatened the
political power of the Romans.
*show video clip*: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJEEX6ROCWY
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Some scholars estimate that the majority of Jews
actually lived outside of Judea at this point, just
as today the majority of Jews live outside of
Israel.
In the meantime, Judea was a mess politically:
The Sadducees fought with the Pharisees over
philosophy, religious practice, and control of the
Temple.
There were also class differences; the Sadducee
priests were aristocratic, while the Pharisees were
mostly scribes and scholars who later
transformed into “rabbis”.
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More than anything, though, none of the
Jewish people liked the Romans.
Gangs of Jews, called the Zealots, began to
appear, violently attacking Jews who were
known to be in collaboration with the Romans
or were simply not anti-Roman enough.
Ultimately, in 66 CE, this popular uprising
evolved into a full-scale war against Rome.
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Unlike most wars, this one was very
unorganized.
While the various sections of Judean society
all agreed in the “freedom of Zion”, they
disagreed over who should lead the rebellion.
In fact, near the end of the war, when the
walls of Jerusalem were about to fall to the
Romans, there were 3 factions in Jerusalem
fighting for control of the Temple.
They clearly preferred to fight each other
rather than the really dangerous enemy.
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In the end, Judea and Jerusalem were
conquered on the day of Tisha B’Av (day of
mourning) in 70 CE by Titus, the son of the
new Roman Emperor, Vespasian.
The great Temple was destroyed and legions
of Jews, along with their religious artifacts,
were marched over 1,500 miles back to Rome
as prisoners and slaves.
The Romans, in an attempt to blot out all
traces of Judaism from the area, changed the
name of Judea to Palestine.