BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

The Limits of Tolerance: Halakhah and History

Schisms in Jewish History: Part 1

This post was originally published on Professor Schiffman’s website as the first part of a series of articles on schisms in Jewish history. Bible History Daily republished this article with the consent of the author. Visit lawrenceschiffman.com for print and multimedia resources on the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Babylonian Talmud, Jesus, Hellenism, Christianity and more.


 

The Definition of the Problem

The problem of Jewish unity and disunity is not a new one. In fact, it is one which runs like a constant motif throughout the Biblical period, the Hellenistic age, Medieval and modern times. As the Jewish community in America faces the breakup of old alliances and new challenges, it is only fitting that we follow the advice of the Book of Deuteronomy: “Go and inquire of days gone by” (Deut. 4:32). We shall therefore devote this study to an account of a variety of sectarian controversies and their effects, specifically asking why certain controversies result in total separation of a group from the Jewish people, while others seem to be tolerated. We will investigate four specific disputes: those of the Samaritans, the sects of the Second Temple period, the early Jewish Christians and the Karaites.

In each case, our central concern will be to discover the litmus test of Jewish unity. We will see that it is the permissibility of marriage with other Jews. Put simply: Whenever a group takes issue with the accepted criteria for Jewish identity, the mainstream of the Jewish people eventually respond by prohibiting marriage with this group. Once marriage is prohibited there is little to be done to prevent the eventual separation of this group from the Jewish people at large. Henceforth, they are a separate people, no longer considered to be Jews.

We will examine four precedents, as noted above. Yet we need first to demonstrate the relevance of such precedents. After all, one can argue that such precedents are of questionable value, since conditions and times appear to have been so different.


Read “How to Study a Dead Sea Scrolls Text” by Lawrence H. Schiffman in Bible History Daily.


canaanite-hazor.jpg

Known as “the head of all those kingdoms” in the Book of Joshua, Hazor was one of the mightiest of the Canaanite city-states in the period before the Israelite settlement. Photo: Sky-Balloon courtesy of Amnon Ben-Tor/The Hazor Excavations.

But we would argue otherwise. The conditions in which Judaism finds itself today are analogous to those in which it found itself in each of the historical periods we will discuss.

Today the Jewish community is living in the aftermath of radical changes in its nature and structure wrought by the process of modernization. Modernization brought in its wake a variety of secondary processes: polarization and assimilation, enlightenment, emancipation. Yet these same processes occurred before in Jewish history.

The first period in which these processes operated was the period of the Judges and the Monarchy, after the Israelites entered and conquered Canaan. The Bible describes at length the struggles of religious and group identity which took place. Jews, just as they did in recent times, confronted a “modern” society. Canaanite society, archaeologists tell us, was far in advance of that of the primitive desert tribesmen who swept into Canaan. Israelites were faced with a variety of options, from that advocated by the Bible—complete separation from the ways of the Canaanites—to complete assimilation. All kinds of intermediate options also existed. This very same process was repeated in the Hellenistic era, when Jews faced the “modern” society of Hellenism and the very same reactions occurred. After the Islamic conquest of the seventh century C.E. the Jews again were faced with similar possibilities, although here assimilation was a much less practical option than in the Biblical and Hellenistic periods, and certainly than in modern times.

The problems faced by Jews when confronted by “modern” societies, in which the external cultures appear more advanced, commercially attractive and somehow more open are similar throughout Jewish history. Certain elements in the Jewish tradition, along with the economic, political and social role of the Jews, as well as the way in which external cultures react to the Jews, all combine to create a history which, to use a cliché, repeats itself. To understand any one period, therefore, others must also be examined. To understand the contemporary Jewish condition, its problems and its glories, we must appeal to the evidence of the past. It is in this spirit that this study will examine, in turn, the Samaritan schism, Jewish sectarianism in the Second Temple period, the rise of gentile Christianity and the rise of Karaism.

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Lawrence H. Schiffman is the Judge Abraham Lieberman Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies in New York University’s Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies. He is also the director of the Global Institute for Advanced Research in Jewish Studies. He has extensive experience analyzing and publishing the Dead Sea Scrolls, including positions as co-editor-in-chief of the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls (2000) and editor-in-chief of the Center for Online Judaic Studies from 2005 to 2008.


Lawrence H. Schiffman on Schisms in Jewish History

Part 1: The Limits of Tolerance: Halakhah and History

Part 2: The Samaritan Schism

Part 3: Sectarianism in the Second Temple Period

Part 4: The Jewish-Christian Schism

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2 Responses

  1. coletteg says:

    It is clear in scripture that Isreal is to obey the laws of the Father until the final comming of the Massiah. I say final for all the religions of the world. So whether the belief is he came already or not yet, we will say the final time of the Father. His entire purpose for Israel is NOT finished. It is not paraded in front of mankind. It is not up for debate. It is not necessary to approve the Fathers plan for mankind. His final appearance, note appearance, he is with us. The entire world will witness. No person, government, religion or all the books, awareness or philosophy’s out of the mouths of man can lead Isreal. Only the Father has any rights to the people of Isreal. Isreal can marry outside if the outside party follows the laws of the Father. And not in a way to rock the boat. The reason is clear. Your children. There are yet to be born children who’s only strong guidance to the Father will be Isreal. The rest of the world is also dictated by the Father. It’s purpose is not to become Isreal but to work the Fathers purpose for the flesh. In doing that the world is vulnerable to accepting any thing and every thing that is also done in the animal kingdom. Without the faithfulness of Isreal the rest of the worlds children would wander in the wilderness. They cannot for our sakes lose the laws of the Father at any time in the future for the future beyond future. The judge not least ye be judged……do not judge any works of the Father whether they be for spirit or flesh. Both are battles. A general must focus on his own troops in his own part of the war. However both generals fight for the same Nation.

  2. Stephen H. Funck says:

    Wonderful I would hope it would continue to be expanded. Suggestion.
    There are hints that Western Judaism was different from Jerusalem and Eastern concepts.
    I have not been able to discover what those differences were. Not just Rome but Lyon, Gaul, Hispanic, North Africa had large populations that would have been affected by local cultures and affected by the long distance, separation from the “Holy Land”. Later they adopt the standard Talmudic teachings. Or did many become Christians? What can we learn about what they thought and what they practiced?

Write a Reply or Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


2 Responses

  1. coletteg says:

    It is clear in scripture that Isreal is to obey the laws of the Father until the final comming of the Massiah. I say final for all the religions of the world. So whether the belief is he came already or not yet, we will say the final time of the Father. His entire purpose for Israel is NOT finished. It is not paraded in front of mankind. It is not up for debate. It is not necessary to approve the Fathers plan for mankind. His final appearance, note appearance, he is with us. The entire world will witness. No person, government, religion or all the books, awareness or philosophy’s out of the mouths of man can lead Isreal. Only the Father has any rights to the people of Isreal. Isreal can marry outside if the outside party follows the laws of the Father. And not in a way to rock the boat. The reason is clear. Your children. There are yet to be born children who’s only strong guidance to the Father will be Isreal. The rest of the world is also dictated by the Father. It’s purpose is not to become Isreal but to work the Fathers purpose for the flesh. In doing that the world is vulnerable to accepting any thing and every thing that is also done in the animal kingdom. Without the faithfulness of Isreal the rest of the worlds children would wander in the wilderness. They cannot for our sakes lose the laws of the Father at any time in the future for the future beyond future. The judge not least ye be judged……do not judge any works of the Father whether they be for spirit or flesh. Both are battles. A general must focus on his own troops in his own part of the war. However both generals fight for the same Nation.

  2. Stephen H. Funck says:

    Wonderful I would hope it would continue to be expanded. Suggestion.
    There are hints that Western Judaism was different from Jerusalem and Eastern concepts.
    I have not been able to discover what those differences were. Not just Rome but Lyon, Gaul, Hispanic, North Africa had large populations that would have been affected by local cultures and affected by the long distance, separation from the “Holy Land”. Later they adopt the standard Talmudic teachings. Or did many become Christians? What can we learn about what they thought and what they practiced?

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