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97-583: Jerusalem's population size and composition has shifted many times over its 5,000 year history. Most population data pre-1905 is based on estimates, often from foreign travellers or organisations, since previous census data usually covered wider areas such as the Jerusalem District . These estimates suggest that since the end of the Crusades , Muslims formed the largest group in Jerusalem until

194-562: A beit knesset or in Greek as a synagogue ) and houses of prayer (Hebrew Beit Tefilah ; Greek προσευχαί , proseuchai ) were the primary meeting places for prayer, and the house of study ( beit midrash ) was the counterpart for the synagogue. In 539 BCE the Persians conquered Babylon , and in 537 BCE Cyrus the Great allowed Jews to return to Judea and rebuild

291-635: A citron as opposed to any other fruit), the methods of textual exegesis (the disagreements recorded in the Mishna and Talmud generally focus on methods of exegesis), and Laws with Mosaic authority that cannot be derived from the Biblical text (these include measurements (e.g. what amount of a non-kosher food must one eat to be liable), the amount and order of the scrolls to be placed in the phylacteries, etc.). The Pharisees were also innovators in that they enacted specific laws as they saw necessary according to

388-548: A "relative majority" (or plurality ) in the city. Writing in 1841, the biblical scholar Edward Robinson noted the conflicting demographic estimates regarding Jerusalem during the period, stating in reference to an 1839 estimate attributed to the Moses Montefiore : "As to the Jews, the enumeration in question was made out by themselves, in the expectation of receiving a certain amount of alms for every name returned. It

485-452: A day (morning, afternoon and evening), and include in their prayers a recitation of these passages in the morning ( Shacharit ) and evening ( Ma'ariv ) prayers. Pharisaic wisdom was compiled in one book of the Mishna, Pirkei Avot . The Pharisaic attitude is perhaps best exemplified by a story about the sages Hillel the Elder and Shammai , who both lived in the latter half of

582-576: A kingdom of priests and a holy nation," and the words of 2 Maccabees (2:17): "God gave all the people the heritage, the kingdom, the priesthood, and the holiness." The Pharisees believed that the idea that all of the children of Israel were to be like priests was expressed elsewhere in the Torah, for example, when the Law itself was transferred from the sphere of the priesthood to every man in Israel. Moreover,

679-716: A large number of Jews from the coast of Africa who were forming a separate congregation. From the mid-1850s, following the Crimean War , the expansion of Jerusalem outside of the Old City began, with institutions including the Russian Compound , Kerem Avraham , the Schneller Orphanage , Bishop Gobat school and the Mishkenot Sha'ananim marking the beginning of permanent settlement outside

776-727: A majority of the city's population. Between 1999 and 2010, the demographic trends reversed themselves, with the Jewish fertility rate increasing and the Arab rate decreasing. In addition, the number of Jewish immigrants from abroad choosing to settle in Jerusalem steadily increased. By 2010, there was a higher Jewish than Arab growth rate. That year, the city's birth rate was placed at 4.2 children for Jewish mothers, compared with 3.9 children for Arab mothers. In addition, 2,250 Jewish immigrants from abroad settled in Jerusalem. The Jewish fertility rate

873-464: A minority were Zionists. These official Israeli statistics refer to the expanded Israel municipality of Jerusalem. This includes not only the area of the pre-1967 Israeli and Jordanian municipalities, but also outlying Palestinian villages and neighbourhoods east of the city, which were not part of Jordanian East Jerusalem prior to 1967. Demographic data from 1967 to 2012 showed continues growth of Arab population, both in relative and absolute numbers, and

970-482: A significant minority in the district, living in Abu Ghosh , Beit Safafa and East Jerusalem , where Arab professionals have settled since the late 1970s, mainly for the provision of legal and other services to the local population. The non-Jewish population is 95.2% Muslim , 3.5% Christian with the others unclassified by religion. The Jerusalem Municipality , including East Jerusalem and other annexed parts of

1067-422: Is believed to be still currently increasing, while the Arab fertility rate remains on the decline. Jerusalem District The Jerusalem District ( Hebrew : מחוז ירושלים ; Arabic : منطقة القدس ) is one of the six administrative districts of Israel. The district capital is Jerusalem and its total land area is 652 km . The population of 1,159,900 is 66.3% Jewish and 32.1% Arab . A fifth (21%) of

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1164-669: Is coming for any of the religious duties," suggesting that all laws are of equal importance). One belief central to the Pharisees which was shared by all Jews of the time is monotheism . This is evident in the practice of reciting the Shema , a prayer composed of select verses from the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:4), at the Temple and in synagogues; the Shema begins with the verses, "Hear O Israel,

1261-486: Is destroyed. We never witnessed its glory. But Rabbi Joshua did. And when he looked at the Temple ruins one day, he burst into tears. "Alas for us! The place which atoned for the sins of all the people Israel lies in ruins!" Then Rabbi Yohannan ben Zakkai spoke to him these words of comfort: "Be not grieved, my son. There is another way of gaining ritual atonement, even though the Temple is destroyed. We must now gain ritual atonement through deeds of loving-kindness." Following

1358-474: Is estimated at between 1,500 and 2,750. During the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), the population of Jerusalem was estimated at 600,000 persons by Roman historian Tacitus , while Josephus estimated that there were as many as 1,100,000 who were killed in the war—though this number included people who did not belong to the city itself. Josephus also wrote that 97,000 Jews were sold as slaves. After

1455-471: Is exemplified by the assertion that "A learned mamzer takes precedence over an ignorant High Priest." (A mamzer , literally, bastard, according to the Pharisaic definition, is an outcast child born of a forbidden relationship, such as adultery or incest, in which marriage of the parents could not lawfully occur. The word is often, but incorrectly, translated as "illegitimate".) Sadducees rejected

1552-593: Is that the Pharisees differed from Sadducees in the sense that they accepted the Oral Torah in addition to the Scripture. Anthony J. Saldarini argues that this assumption has neither implicit nor explicit evidence. A critique of the ancient interpretations of the Bible are distant from what modern scholars consider literal. Saldarini states that the Oral Torah did not come about until the third century CE, although there

1649-531: Is therefore obvious that they here had as strong a motive to exaggerate their number, as they often have in other circumstances to underrate it. Besides, this number of 7000 rests merely on report; Sir Moses himself has published nothing on the subject; nor could his agent in London afford me any information so late as Nov. 1840." In 1843, Reverend F.C. Ewald, a Christian traveler visiting Jerusalem, reported an influx of 150 Jews from Algiers. He wrote that there were now

1746-635: The Armenian Orthodox and Armenian Catholic , Assyrians largely of the Syriac Orthodox Church and Syriac Catholic Church , Maronites , and Copts . Many of these groups were once immigrants or pilgrims that have over time become near- indigenous populations and claim the importance of Jerusalem to their faith as their reason for moving to and being in the city. Jerusalem's long history of conquests by competing and different powers has resulted in different groups living in

1843-536: The Davidic dynasty of the First Temple era. The Pharisees emerged largely out of the group of scribes and sages. Some scholars observe significant Idumean influences in the development of Pharisaical Judaism. The Pharisees, among other Jewish sects, were active from the middle of the second century BCE until the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Josephus first mentions them in connection with Jonathan,

1940-581: The Essenes , was shared and elevated by the Pharisees. At first, the values of the Pharisees developed through their sectarian debates with the Sadducees; then they developed through internal, non-sectarian debates over the law as an adaptation to life without the Temple, and life in exile, and eventually, to a more limited degree, life in conflict with Christianity. These shifts mark the transformation of Pharisaic to Rabbinic Judaism. No single tractate of

2037-634: The Hasmonean dynasty. After defeating the Seleucid forces, Judas Maccabaeus 's nephew John Hyrcanus established a new monarchy in the form of the priestly Hasmonean dynasty in 152 BCE, thus establishing priests as political as well as religious authorities. Although the Hasmoneans were considered heroes for resisting the Seleucids, their reign lacked the legitimacy conferred by descent from

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2134-540: The New Testament . While the writers record hostilities between the Pharisees and Jesus , they also reference Pharisees who believed in him, including Nicodemus , who said it is known that Jesus is a teacher sent from God, Joseph of Arimathea , who was a disciple, and an unknown number of "those of the party of the Pharisees who believed", among them the Apostle Paul – a student of Gamaliel , who warned

2231-529: The Oral Torah and the resurrection of the dead . Josephus ( c.  37  – c.  100 CE ), believed by many historians to have been a Pharisee, estimated the total Pharisee population before the fall of the Second Temple to be around 6,000. He claimed that the Pharisees' influence over the common people was so great that anything they said against the king or the high priest

2328-519: The Sanhedrin that opposing the disciples of Jesus could prove to be tantamount to opposing God. "Pharisee" is derived from Ancient Greek Pharisaios ( Φαρισαῖος ), from Aramaic Pərīšā ( פְּרִישָׁא ), plural Pərīšayyā ( פְּרִישַׁיָּא ), meaning "set apart, separated", related to Hebrew Pārūš ( פָּרוּשׁ ), plural Pərūšīm ( פְּרוּשִׁים ), the Qal passive participle of

2425-518: The Talmud see a direct link between themselves and the Pharisees, and historians generally consider Pharisaic Judaism to be the progenitor of Rabbinic Judaism , that is normative, mainstream Judaism after the destruction of the Second Temple. All mainstream forms of Judaism today consider themselves heirs of Rabbinic Judaism and, ultimately, the Pharisees. Although the Pharisees did not support

2522-635: The Therapeutae in Egypt . However, their status as Jews is unclear. The Books of the Maccabees , two deuterocanonical books in the Bible, focus on the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucids under king Antiochus IV Epiphanes and concludes with the defeat of General Nicanor , in 161 BCE by Judas Maccabeus , the hero of the work. It included several theological points: prayer for

2619-738: The West Bank , constituted 125 km (48 sq mi), about 19% of the Jerusalem District in 2008. Pharisees Conflicts between Pharisees and Sadducees took place in the context of much broader and longstanding social and religious conflicts among Jews, made worse by the Roman conquest. One conflict was cultural, between those who favored Hellenization (the Sadducees) and those who resisted it (the Pharisees). Another

2716-557: The divinity of the Torah , and Epicureans (who deny divine supervision of human affairs). Another passage suggests a different set of core principles: normally, a Jew may violate any law to save a life, but in Sanhedrin 74a, a ruling orders Jews to accept martyrdom rather than violate the laws against idolatry , murder , or adultery . ( Judah ha-Nasi , however, said that Jews must "be meticulous in small religious duties as well as large ones, because you do not know what sort of reward

2813-408: The scribes and sages, later called rabbis (Hebrew for "Teacher/master"), dominated the study of the Torah. These men maintained an oral tradition that they believed had originated at Mount Sinai alongside the Torah of Moses; a God-given interpretation of the Torah . The Hellenistic period of Jewish history began when Alexander the Great conquered Persia in 332 BCE. The rift between

2910-409: The 1st century BCE. A Gentile once challenged Shammai to teach him the wisdom of the Torah while he stood on one foot. Shammai drove him away. The same gentile approached Hillel and asked of him the same thing. Hillel chastised him gently by saying, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation – now go and study." According to Josephus, whereas

3007-551: The Arabs in Israel live in the Jerusalem Municipality, which includes both East and West Jerusalem . Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem has not been recognized by the international community. The majority of Arabs in the Jerusalem District are Palestinians , eligible to apply for citizenship under Israeli law, but either decline to apply or are unsuccessful in doing so. Arab citizens of Israel constitute

Demographic history of Jerusalem - Misplaced Pages Continue

3104-605: The Aramaic words pārsāh or parsāh , meaning "Persian" or "Persianizer", based on the demonym pārsi , meaning ' Persian ' in the Persian language and further akin to Pārsa and Fārs . Harvard University scholar Shaye J. D. Cohen denies this, stating: "Practically all scholars now agree that the name "Pharisee" derives from the Hebrew and Aramaic parush or persushi ." The first historical mention of

3201-573: The Jerusalem Old City walls. Between 1856 and 1880, Jewish immigration to Palestine more than doubled, with the majority settling in Jerusalem. The majority of these immigrants were Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe , who subsisted on Halukka . Published in 1883, the PEF Survey of Palestine volume which covered the region noted that "The number of the Jews has of late increased at the rate of 1,000 to 1,500 per annum. Since 1875

3298-706: The Jews in the 1st century CE. (The other schools were the Essenes , who were generally apolitical and who may have emerged as a sect of dissident priests who rejected either the Seleucid -appointed or the Hasmonean high priests as illegitimate; the Sadducees , the main antagonists of the Pharisees; and the Zealots . ) Other sects may have emerged at this time, such as the Early Christians in Jerusalem and

3395-700: The Lord is our God; the Lord is one." According to the Mishna , these passages were recited in the Temple along with the twice-daily Tamid offering; Jews in the diaspora , who did not have access to the Temple, recited these passages in their houses of assembly. According to the Mishnah and Talmud, the men of the Great Assembly instituted the requirement that Jews both in Judea and in the diaspora pray three times

3492-511: The Pharisaic proclamation of the Oral Torah was their way of freeing Judaism from the clutches of Aaronite priesthood, represented by the Sadducees. The Oral Torah was to remain oral but was later given a written form. It did not refer to the Torah in a status as a commentary, rather had its own separate existence which allowed Pharisaic innovations. The sages of the Talmud believed that the Oral law

3589-411: The Pharisaic tenet of an Oral Torah, creating two Jewish understandings of the Torah. An example of this differing approach is the interpretation of, " an eye in place of an eye ". The Pharisaic understanding was that the value of an eye was to be paid by the perpetrator. In the Sadducees' view the words were given a more literal interpretation, in which the offender's eye would be removed. The sages of

3686-591: The Pharisees and their beliefs comes in the four gospels and the Acts of the Apostles , in which both their meticulous adherence to their interpretation of the Torah as well as their eschatological views are described. A later historical mention of the Pharisees comes from the Jewish-Roman historian Josephus (37–100 CE) in a description of the "four schools of thought", or "four sects", into which he divided

3783-514: The Pharisees and their teachings. The deportation and exile of an unknown number of Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar II , starting with the first deportation in 597 BCE and continuing after the fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple in 587 BCE, resulted in dramatic changes to Jewish culture and religion. During the 70-year exile in Babylon, Jewish houses of assembly (known in Hebrew as

3880-418: The Pharisees were considered the most expert and accurate expositors of Jewish law. Josephus indicates that the Pharisees received the backing and good-will of the common people, apparently in contrast to the more elite Sadducees associated with the ruling classes. In general, whereas the Sadducees were aristocratic monarchists, the Pharisees were eclectic, popular, and more democratic. The Pharisaic position

3977-407: The Pharisees. After the death of John Hyrcanus, his younger son Alexander Jannaeus made himself king and openly sided with the Sadducees by adopting their rites in the Temple. His actions caused a riot in the Temple, and led to a brief civil war that ended with a bloody repression of the Pharisees. However, on his deathbed Jannaeus advised his widow, Salome Alexandra , to seek reconciliation with

Demographic history of Jerusalem - Misplaced Pages Continue

4074-410: The Pharisees. Her brother was Shimon ben Shetach , a leading Pharisee. Josephus attests that Salome was favorably inclined toward the Pharisees, and their political influence grew tremendously under her reign, especially in the Sanhedrin or Jewish Council, which they came to dominate. After her death her elder son Hyrcanus II was generally supported by the Pharisees. Her younger son, Aristobulus II ,

4171-567: The Roman victory over the Jews, as many as 115,880 dead bodies were carried out through one gate between the months of Nisan and Tammuz. Modern estimates of Jerusalem's population during the final Roman Siege of Jerusalem in 70 (CE) are variously 70,398 by Wilkinson in 1974, 80,000 by Broshi in 1978, and 60,000–70,000 by Levine in 2002. According to Josephus, the populations of adult male scholarly sects were as follows: over 6,000 Pharisees , more than 4,000 Essenes and "a few" Sadducees . New Testament scholar Cousland notes that "recent estimates of

4268-590: The Romans, and actively supported them against the Sadducean faction. When the Romans finally broke the entrance to the Jerusalem's Temple, the Pharisees killed the priests who were officiating the Temple services on Saturday. They regarded Pompey's defilement of the Temple in Jerusalem as a divine punishment of Sadducean misrule. Pompey ended the monarchy in 63 BCE and named Hyrcanus II high priest and ethnarch (a lesser title than "king"). Six years later Hyrcanus

4365-402: The Sadducees as a sect that interpreted the Torah literally, and the Pharisees as interpreting the Torah liberally. R' Yitzhak Isaac Halevi suggests that this was not, in fact, a matter of religion. He claims that the complete rejection of Judaism would not have been tolerated under the Hasmonean rule and therefore Hellenists maintained that they were rejecting not Judaism but Rabbinic law. Thus,

4462-543: The Sadducees believed that people have total free will and the Essenes believed that all of a person's life is predestined , the Pharisees believed that people have free will but that God also has foreknowledge of human destiny . This also accords with the statement in Pirkei Avot 3:19, "Rabbi Akiva said: All is foreseen, but freedom of choice is given". According to Josephus, Pharisees were further distinguished from

4559-468: The Sadducees in that Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead . Unlike the Sadducees, who are generally held to have rejected any existence after death, the sources vary on the beliefs of the Pharisees on the afterlife. According to the New Testament the Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead . According to Josephus , who himself was a Pharisee, the Pharisees held that only

4656-430: The Sadducees were in fact a political party not a religious sect. However, according to Jacob Neusner , this view is a distortion. He suggests that two things fundamentally distinguished the Pharisaic from the Sadducean approach to the Torah. First, Pharisees believed in a broad and literal interpretation of Exodus (19:3–6), "you shall be my own possession among all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me

4753-461: The Temple three times a year : Pesach ( Passover ), Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks), and Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles). The Pharisees, like the Sadducees, were politically quiescent, and studied, taught, and worshiped in their own way. At this time serious theological differences emerged between the Sadducees and Pharisees. The notion that the sacred could exist outside the Temple, a view central to

4850-401: The Temple, and stripped it of money and ceremonial objects. He imposed a program of forced Hellenization , requiring Jews to abandon their own laws and customs, thus precipitating the Maccabean Revolt . Jerusalem was liberated in 165 BCE and the Temple was restored. In 141 BCE an assembly of priests and others affirmed Simon Maccabeus as high priest and leader, in effect establishing

4947-430: The Temple, torts, criminal law, and governance. In their day, the influence of the Pharisees over the lives of the common people was strong and their rulings on Jewish law were deemed authoritative by many. According to Josephus, the Pharisees appeared before Pompey asking him to interfere and restore the old priesthood while abolishing the royalty of the Hasmoneans altogether. Pharisees also opened Jerusalem's gates to

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5044-598: The Temple. He did not, however, allow the restoration of the Judean monarchy , which left the Judean priests as the dominant authority. Without the constraining power of the monarchy, the authority of the Temple in civic life was amplified. It was around this time that the Sadducee party emerged as the party of priests and allied elites. However, the Second Temple , which was completed in 515 BCE, had been constructed under

5141-467: The Torah already provided ways for all Jews to lead a priestly life: the laws of kosher animals were perhaps intended originally for the priests, but were extended to the whole people; similarly the prohibition of cutting the flesh in mourning for the dead. The Pharisees believed that all Jews in their ordinary life, and not just the Temple priesthood or Jews visiting the Temple, should observe rules and rituals concerning purification. The standard view

5238-443: The auspices of a foreign power, and there were lingering questions about its legitimacy. This provided the condition for the development of various sects or "schools of thought," each of which claimed exclusive authority to represent "Judaism," and which typically shunned social intercourse, especially marriage, with members of other sects. In the same period, the council of sages known as the Sanhedrin may have codified and canonized

5335-443: The authority to govern themselves within the framework of the broader system, allowed these groups to retain autonomy and remain separate from other religious and national groups. Some Palestinian residents of the city prefer to use the term Maqdisi or Qudsi as a Palestinian demonym. The tables below provide data on demographic change over time in Jerusalem , with an emphasis on the Jewish population. Readers should be aware that

5432-533: The beginning of the transition from Pharisaic to Rabbinic Judaism . The Mishnah was supremely important because it compiled the oral interpretations and traditions of the Pharisees and, later on, the rabbis , into a single authoritative text, thus allowing oral tradition within Judaism to survive the destruction of the Second Temple. However, none of the Rabbinic sources include identifiable eyewitness accounts of

5529-432: The boundaries of Jerusalem have changed many times over the years and that Jerusalem may also refer to a district or even a subdistrict under Ottoman, British, or Israeli administration, see e.g. Jerusalem District . Thus, year-to-year comparisons may not be valid due to the varying geographic areas covered by the population censuses. The population of Jerusalem during Persian rule in Judea (province of Yehud Medinata )

5626-481: The city many of whom have never fully identified or assimilated with a particular power, despite the length of their rule. Though they may have been citizens of that particular kingdom and empire and involved with civic activities and duties, these groups often saw themselves as distinct national groups (see Armenians, for example). The Ottoman millet system, whereby minorities in the Ottoman Empire were given

5723-502: The concerns of the times, perhaps because they were sacked by the Romans at Qumran . Of all the major Second Temple sects, only the Pharisees remained . Their vision of Jewish law as a means by which ordinary people could engage with the sacred in their daily lives was a position meaningful to the majority of Jews. Such teachings extended beyond ritual practices. According to the classic midrash in Avot D'Rabbi Nathan (4:5): The Temple

5820-514: The dead , the last judgment , intercession of saints , and martyrology . The New Testament apocrypha known as the Gospel of Peter also alludes to the Pharisees. Judah ha-Nasi redacted the Mishnah , an authoritative codification of Pharisaic interpretations, around 200 CE. Most of the authorities quoted in the Mishnah lived after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE; it thus marks

5917-424: The declining of Jewish population share in the overall population of the city. In 1967, Jews were 73.4% of city population, while in 2010 the Jewish population shrank to 64%. In the same period the Arab population increased from 26,5% in 1967 to 36% in 2010. In 1999, the Jewish total fertility rate was 3.8 children per woman, while the Palestinian rate was 4.4. This led to concerns that Arabs would eventually become

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6014-423: The destruction of the Temple, Rome governed Judea through a Procurator at Caesarea and a Jewish Patriarch and levied the Fiscus Judaicus . Yohanan ben Zakkai , a leading Pharisee, was appointed the first Patriarch (the Hebrew word, Nasi, also means prince , or president ), and he reestablished the Sanhedrin at Yavneh (see the related Council of Jamnia ) under Pharisee control. Instead of giving tithes to

6111-520: The everyday world. This was monumental as a practice during this era, as it helped the Jews of the time to truly align themselves with the law, applying even to the mundanities of life. This was a more participatory (or "democratic") form of Judaism, in which rituals were not monopolized by an inherited priesthood but rather could be performed by all adult Jews individually or collectively, whose leaders were not determined by birth but by scholarly achievement. Many, including some scholars, have characterized

6208-403: The first century, for example, the two major Pharisaic schools were those of Hillel and Shammai . After Hillel died in 20 CE, Shammai assumed the office of president of the Sanhedrin until he died in 30 CE. Followers of these two sages dominated scholarly debate over the following decades. Although the Talmud records the arguments and positions of the school of Shammai, the teachings of

6305-423: The hills facing the City of David, where they lived in caves. In 1884, the community, numbering 200, moved to new stone houses built for them by a Jewish charity. The Jewish population of Jerusalem, as for wider Palestine, increased further during the Third Aliyah of 1919–23 following the Balfour Declaration . Prior to this, a British survey in 1919 noted that most Jews in Jerusalem were largely Orthodox and that

6402-417: The key Rabbinic texts, the Mishnah and the Talmud , is devoted to theological issues; these texts are concerned primarily with interpretations of Jewish law, and anecdotes about the sages and their values. Only one chapter of the Mishnah deals with theological issues; it asserts that three kinds of people will have no share in "the world to come :" those who deny the resurrection of the dead , those who deny

6499-487: The last Hasmonaeans further eroded his popularity. According to Josephus, the Pharisees ultimately opposed him and thus fell victims (4 BCE) to his bloodthirstiness. The family of Boethus , whom Herod had raised to the high-priesthood, revived the spirit of the Sadducees, and thenceforth the Pharisees again had them as antagonists. While it stood, the Second Temple remained the center of Jewish ritual life. Jews were required to travel to Jerusalem and offer sacrifices at

6596-412: The latter sections of the Hebrew Bible ( Nakh ), from which, following the return from Babylon, the Torah was read publicly on market-days. The Temple was no longer the only institution for Jewish religious life. After the building of the Second Temple in the time of Ezra the Scribe , the houses of study and worship remained important secondary institutions in Jewish life. Outside Judea, the synagogue

6693-466: The law has led some (notably, Saint Paul and Martin Luther ) to infer that the Pharisees were more legalistic than other sects in the Second Temple Era. The authors of the Gospels present Jesus as speaking harshly against some Pharisees (Josephus does claim that the Pharisees were the "strictest" observers of the law). Yet, as Neusner has observed, Pharisaism was but one of many "Judaisms" in its day, and its legal interpretation are what set it apart from

6790-444: The meaning of the Torah or how best to put it into practice, no rabbi felt that he (or his opponent) was rejecting God or threatening Judaism; on the contrary, it was precisely through such arguments that the rabbis imitated and honored God. One sign of the Pharisaic emphasis on debate and differences of opinion is that the Mishnah and Talmud mark different generations of scholars in terms of different pairs of contending schools. In

6887-690: The mid-19th century. Between 1838 and 1876, a number of estimates exist which conflict as to whether Jews or Muslims were the largest group during this period, and between 1882 and 1922 estimates conflict as to exactly when Jews became a majority of the population. In 2020, the population was 951,100, of which Jews comprised 570,100 (59.9%), Muslims 353.800 (37.2%), Christians 16.300 (1.7%), and 10,800 unclassified (1.1%). Jerusalemites are of varied national, ethnic and religious denominations and include European, Asian and African Jews , Arabs of Sunni Shafi'i Muslim , Melkite Orthodox , Melkite Catholic , Latin Catholic , and Protestant backgrounds, Armenians of

6984-525: The mosque is void of congregation". * Indicates families. Henry Light, who visited Jerusalem in 1814, reported that Muslims comprised the largest portion of the 12,000-person population, but that Jews made the greatest single sect. In 1818, Robert Richardson, family doctor to the Earl of Belmore , estimated the number of Jews to be 10,000, twice the number of Muslims. Between 1838 and 1876, conflicting estimates exist regarding whether Muslims or Jews constituted

7081-513: The needs of the time. These included prohibitions to prevent an infringement of a biblical prohibition (e.g. one does not take a Lulav on Shabbat "Lest one carry it in the public domain") called gezeirot , among others. The commandment to read the Megillah ( Book of Esther ) on Purim and to light the Menorah on Hanukkah are Rabbinic innovations. Much of the legal system is based on "what

7178-475: The other sects of Judaism. The Mishna in the beginning of Avot and (in more detail) Maimonides in his Introduction to Mishneh Torah records a chain of tradition ( mesorah ) from Moses at Mount Sinai down to R' Ashi, redactor of the Talmud and last of the Amoraim . This chain of tradition includes the interpretation of unclear statements in the Bible (e.g. that the "fruit of a beautiful tree" refers to

7275-518: The population of Jerusalem has rapidly increased. The number of Jews is now estimated at 15,000 to 20,000, and the population, including the inhabitants of the new suburbs, reaches a total of about 40,000 souls." In 1881–82, a group of Jews arrived from Yemen as a result of messianic fervor, in the phase known as the First Aliyah . After living in the Old City for several years, they moved to

7372-472: The population of Jerusalem suggest something in the neighbourhood of a hundred thousand". A minimalist view is taken by Hillel Geva, who estimates from archaeological evidence that the population of Jerusalem before its 70 CE destruction was at most 20,000. Al-Maqdisi , a 10th-century native of Jerusalem writing prior to the crusades, reports that "everywhere the Christians and Jews have the upper hand and

7469-606: The priests and the sages developed during this time, when Jews faced new political and cultural struggles. This created a sort of schism in the Jewish community. After Alexander's death in 323 BCE, Judea was ruled by the Egyptian-Hellenic Ptolemies until 198 BCE, when the Syrian-Hellenic Seleucid Empire , under Antiochus III , seized control. Then, in 167 BCE, the Seleucid king Antiochus IV invaded Judea, entered

7566-412: The rabbis believe that they themselves are projections of heavenly values onto earth. The rabbis thus conceive that on earth they study Torah just as God, the angels, and Moses, "our rabbi," do in heaven. The heavenly schoolmen are even aware of Babylonian scholastic discussions, so they require a rabbi's information about an aspect of purity taboos. The commitment to relate religion to daily life through

7663-479: The reign of Queen Salome Alexandra . As Josephus was himself a Pharisee, his account might represent a historical creation meant to elevate the status of the Pharisees during the height of the Hasmonean Dynasty. Later texts like the Mishnah and the Talmud record a host of rulings by rabbis, some of whom are believed to be from among the Pharisees, concerning sacrifices and other ritual practices in

7760-492: The sages constructed via logical reasoning and from established practice". Also, the blessings before meals and the wording of the Amidah. These are known as Takanot . The Pharisees based their authority to innovate on the verses: "....according to the word they tell you... according to all they instruct you. According to the law they instruct you and according to the judgment they say to you, you shall do; you shall not divert from

7857-522: The school of Hillel were ultimately taken as authoritative. Following the Jewish–Roman wars , revolutionaries like the Zealots had been crushed by the Romans, and had little credibility (the last Zealots died at Masada in 73 CE). Similarly, the Sadducees, whose teachings were closely connected to the Temple, disappeared with the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The Essenes too disappeared, perhaps because their teachings so diverged from

7954-467: The school, replicates on earth the heavenly academy, just as the disciple incarnates the heavenly model of Moses, "our rabbi." The rabbis believe that Moses was (and the Messiah will be) a rabbi, God dons phylacteries, and the heavenly court studies Torah precisely as does the earthly one, even arguing about the same questions. These beliefs today may seem as projections of rabbinical values onto heaven, but

8051-441: The schools of the Pharisees and rabbis were and are holy: "...because there men achieve sainthood through study of Torah and imitation of the conduct of the masters. In doing so, they conform to the heavenly paradigm, the Torah believed to have been created by God "in his image," revealed at Sinai, and handed down to their own teachers ... If the masters and disciples obey the divine teaching of Moses, "our rabbi," then their society,

8148-536: The soul was immortal and the souls of good people would be resurrected or reincarnated and "pass into other bodies," while "the souls of the wicked will suffer eternal punishment." Paul the Apostle declared himself to be a Pharisee even after his belief in Jesus. Fundamentally, the Pharisees continued a form of Judaism that extended beyond the Temple, applying Jewish law to mundane activities in order to sanctify

8245-435: The successor of Judas Maccabeus. One of the factors that distinguished the Pharisees from other groups prior to the destruction of the Temple was their belief that all Jews had to observe the purity laws (which applied to the Temple service) outside the Temple. The major difference, however, was the continued adherence of the Pharisees to the laws and traditions of the Jewish people in the face of assimilation. As Josephus noted,

8342-482: The support of Mark Antony and Octavian , and secured recognition by the Roman Senate as king, confirming the termination of the Hasmonean dynasty. According to Josephus, Sadducean opposition to Herod led him to treat the Pharisees favorably. Herod was an unpopular ruler, perceived as a Roman puppet. Despite his restoration and expansion of the Second Temple , Herod's notorious treatment of his own family and of

8439-477: The verb pāraš ( פָּרַשׁ ). It may refer to their separation from Gentiles, sources of ritual impurity or from irreligious Jews. Alternatively, it may have a particular political meaning as "separatists" due to their division from the Sadducee elite, with Yitzhak Isaac Halevi characterizing the Sadducees and Pharisees as political sects, not religious ones. Scholar Thomas Walter Manson and Talmud-expert Louis Finkelstein suggest that "Pharisee" derives from

8536-479: The wars of expansion of the Hasmoneans and the forced conversions of the Idumeans , the political rift between them became wider when a Pharisee named Eleazar insulted the Hasmonean ethnarch John Hyrcanus at his own table, suggesting that he should abandon his role as High Priest due to a rumour, probably untrue, that he had been conceived while his mother was a prisoner of war. In response, he distanced himself from

8633-489: The word they tell you, either right or left" (Deuteronomy 17:10–11) (see Encyclopedia Talmudit entry "Divrei Soferim"). In an interesting twist, Abraham Geiger posits that the Sadducees were the more hidebound adherents to an ancient Halacha whereas the Pharisees were more willing to develop Halacha as the times required. See however, Bernard Revel 's "Karaite Halacha" which rejects many of Geiger's proofs. Just as important as (if not more important than) any particular law

8730-404: Was an unstated idea about it in existence. Every Jewish community in a way possessed their own version of the Oral Torah which governed their religious practices. Josephus stated that the Sadducees only followed literal interpretations of the Torah. To Saldarini, this only means that the Sadducees followed their own way of Judaism and rejected the Pharisaic version of Judaism. To Rosemary Ruether,

8827-430: Was believed, apparently in contrast to the more elite Sadducees, who were the upper class. Pharisees claimed Mosaic authority for their interpretation of Jewish religious law , while Sadducees represented the authority of the priestly privileges and prerogatives established since the days of Solomon , when Zadok , their ancestor, officiated as high priest. Pharisees are notable by the numerous references to them in

8924-498: Was deprived of the remainder of political authority and ultimate jurisdiction was given to the Proconsul of Syria , who ruled through Hyrcanus's Idumaean associate Antipater , and later Antipater's two sons Phasael (military governor of Judea) and Herod (military governor of Galilee). In 40 BCE Aristobulus's son Antigonus overthrew Hyrcanus and named himself king and high priest, and Herod fled to Rome. In Rome, Herod sought

9021-461: Was in conflict with Hyrcanus, and tried to seize power. The Pharisees seemed to be in a vulnerable position at this time. The conflict between the two sons culminated in a civil war that ended when the Roman general Pompey intervened, and captured Jerusalem in 63 BCE. Josephus' account may overstate the role of the Pharisees. He reports elsewhere that the Pharisees did not grow to power until

9118-542: Was juridical-religious, between those who emphasized the importance of the Temple with its rites and services , and those who emphasized the importance of other Mosaic Laws . A specifically religious point of conflict involved different interpretations of the Torah and how to apply it to current Jewish life, with Sadducees recognizing only the Written Torah and rejecting Prophets , Writings , and doctrines such as

9215-399: Was often called a house of prayer. While most Jews could not regularly attend the Temple service, they could meet at the synagogue for morning, afternoon and evening prayers. On Mondays, Thursdays and Shabbat , a weekly Torah portion was read publicly in the synagogues, following the tradition of public Torah readings instituted by Ezra. Although priests controlled the rituals of the Temple,

9312-549: Was simultaneously revealed to Moses at Sinai, and the product of debates among rabbis. Thus, one may conceive of the "Oral Torah" as both based on the fixed text and as an ongoing process of analysis and argument in which God is actively involved; it was this ongoing process that was revealed at Sinai along with the scripture, and by participating in this ongoing process rabbis and their students are actively participating in God's ongoing act of revelation . As Jacob Neusner has explained,

9409-405: Was the value the rabbis placed on legal study and debate. The sages of the Talmud believed that when they taught the Oral Torah to their students, they were imitating Moses, who taught the law to the children of Israel. Moreover, the rabbis believed that "the heavenly court studies Torah precisely as does the earthly one, even arguing about the same questions." Thus, in debating and disagreeing over

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