Page:Chapters on Jewish literature (IA chaptersonjewish00abra).pdf/25

Rh ception that Judaism could survive the loss of its national centre. He felt that “charity and the love of men may replace the sacrifices.” He would have preferred his brethren to submit to Rome, and his political foresight was justified when the war of independence closed in disaster. As Graetz has well said, like Jeremiah Jochanan wept over the desolation of Zion, but like Zerubbabel he created a new sanctuary, Jochanan’s new sanctuary was the school.

In the “Vineyard” at Jamnia, the Jewish tradition was the subject of much animated inquiry. The religious, ethical, and practical literature of the past was sited and treasured, and fresh additions were made. But not much was written, for until the close of the second century the new literature of the Jews was oral. The Bible was written down, and read from scrolls, but the Rabbinical literature was committed to memory piecemeal, and