Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 1.pdf/413

365 ;

Ni'w conflicts arose under Nero and Vespasian, closely connected with the frreiit Jewish uprisinLc in In AIe.au<lria a very serious slruiri;le Palestine. broke out, at about the same time as in Palestine, the cause of which was insifrnificant, but in which the Jews took such a llireateninjr stand that the

Persecution.

governor, Tiberius Alexander, a Jew birth aii<l a son of the alabarcb .lcaM(icr, wasoliliired lo call out the

iiy

Peace Kiiniun trooiis ai^ainsl tlicin. restored only after much shed-

was

of blood ("15. J."ii. IH. tj 7)." A few years later. after the close of the war in Palestine, a serious revolt, instigated by the Sicarii in .Alexandria, was suppressed by the more considerate element of the (linjr

Jewish population. Nevertheless, the governor, Lupus, thought it advisable, after the destruction of the Temi)le of Jerusalem, lo close the one at Leontop-

The great revolt of the Egypolis(" B. J."' vii. 1(1). tian Jews under Trajan (114-117) was attcndedby At lirst the Jews had the adloss of life. vantage over the (Irecks. who in a battle outside the gates of Alexandria were beaten and compelled to retreat into the city; but here they gainecl the upper Land, and massacred the Jewish irdiabitants.* Notwithstanding the marked c<intrast between the views of life held by the Jews and the pagans, the influence of llellenisin did not tail to impress a i)eculiar stamp upon the intellectual development of Indeed, the conuuingling the Alexandnan Jews. of the Jewish religious teachings with the spirit of Hellenism nowhere went so far as in that city; llniugh here, as elsewhere, the Jews remained true,

enormous

ill

Alexandria, Eg^pt

THE JEWISH EN'CYCLOPEDIA

365

Renewed



all essentials, to

the religion of their furefathers.

Of this slatemrnt there are many Hellenism mnvincing eonlirmiilions. Like their Influences

brethren in Palestine, they assendjled in the synagogue every i^abbath to hear the reading of the Law and the Prophets, and for the other religious services. According to Philo. there were many synagogues (Tpoafi'.i-ai) scattered throughout the city of AlexanOne of thini is menlioned by him as being esdria. pecially large and magnilicentf I)e Legatione ad Cajinn." ^iOicd. Mangey. ii. 508). Itis, without doubt, the same .synagogue which is described in the rabbinical writings us being constructed in the form of It contjiincd seventy-one golden a large basilica. <hairs corresponding with the number of the elders. In the center was a woinlen plalfnrm. upon which stood the ha/.an, who. at the eiinelusidn of each blessing, gave the signal with a Hag for the congregation to respond with the .men. The worshipers were not indiscriminately si iiled. but were separated according to their rcspeelive trades (Tosef. .Suk. iv.

Judaism,

,

" De LoiratlnnP nd Cnlnm " (compare ".tnl." xvtil. 8, B I). The nvftitly lilscnver*'*! pupyrf Ihmw fiirllH-r llirlil on UiI.h sut)Ji*ct. TtH'y show litiw Claudln.M tiniit.^tiiil tin- liistlk'utoi-H <>r Ihe jwrseI'Utlon. I'hllii iiioiitlciii.s Ishliini.s iiml I.iiiii|h>ii ili thi' two worst Itoili were imliTt'il uffltatiini i"( "iitni Klmiiiiii." SH 4. t')-17i. n.iistint,' i>( til Iloini' Ijy ( hiuiliu.s; iiiiil In ii snli'iiiii roiiiirll iilxlii>ii of iini.siiliir nmk. Ihry wt-m tdiiliuul riinilriiiiii'il til iliMitli. Thl.i ii|>|»'iir(wquent p*Tliiil. It apin-ars (hat Uii' si-ntrnc** wa-t rarrliHl Into ••Itect (""I'lie inyrhynrliu't i'apyrl." iil. liy (in-nffll ami Hunt, )i«rt 1., imiH, No. Xl; IkRiniaiin, "Tlicoloirlsibo I.llernlur/eltnnK," IstKi. cols, ot; iKKli. • Tticne mi'iiln an' nionliil by Eiis<'liliis (" Hist. Feci." Iv. 2 "Clinmlcon,"e •viMit.s. lonipan- Deri'niKinrH, " Esaul snr I'llLstoin, ilr lu l'uli-.clni'." pp. lliMlL'i. Tlio city (tjiclf must have snITrnil i-i'iislili-nihly fmni tht-s*' i-onti-ntlons. for llailrlan founil It nii-i*H.Hary to rt'^l'in' It In great |mrt (Eusvblns, "Chninlion ").

twtiiitv-tlvi' si'iiutin-s mill

(Ancient,

Zuckermandel, p. 198; Yer. Suk. v. i.). There can be little doidit that the Alexandrian Jews also observed the new moon and the annual festivities in the .same manner as did the other Jews. Two feasts peculiar to the Alexandrians are casually mentioned one in commemoration of the translation of the Bible into Greek (Philo, "Vita Mosis," ii. § 7; ed. Mangey. ii. H) tl «ii/.), and a second in celebration of the miiaeulous deliverance from the elephants. Very little reliable information is at hand concerning the part taken by the Alexandrians in the cult of the temple at Leontopolis. It is probable that they otfered sacrilices there without in the least neglecting their duties toward the Temple of .lerusalem. Philo remarks ineidentjilly that lieliimself proceeded to the paternal Sixnctuary (in Jerusalem) as a delegate tO|)rayandto sacritiee(" De Providentia " Eusebius. ' Pritpanitio Evangelica." VIII. .xiv. 04. ed. Gaisford; according to the Armenian translation in Aucher, "Philonis Juda;i Sennones Tres," etc., p. UG).* cd.



.Ml hough the religion of their forefathers was so faithfully followed, the .lews of Alexandria nevertheless imbibed, lo a great degree, the culture of Not many generations after the foundthe Greeks. ing of the comnuinity. the Torah was translated into Greek (perhaps under Ptolemy II. at all events not much later). It was read in Greek in the syna;

gogues; indeed this was the language chiefly used in the service (Scliiirer. the Ritual. "Gesch." ed., iii. <ja-9.5). Greek must, therefore, have been the vernacular of the lower classes also. The better clas.se9 studied Greek literature in the schools, and read Homer, the tragic jioets, Plato, Aristotle, and the .Stoics. This intimate acquaintance with Greek literature naturally exerted a profound influence upon the Alexandrian Jews. They became Greeks without, however, ceasing to be .Tews. The ]diilosoiiliers whose views were accepted !)}• a few of the highly educated Jews were Plato. Aristotle, and the Stoics. Under such influences the Jews of -Mexanilria produced an extensive and They wrote history and philosovaried literature. phy, as well as epic and dramatic poetry. Apologetics and ])oleiuics against the heathen found an important place in their literature, for the battle between the two camps was fought out also in the Distinguished Alexandrian literati lit<'rarv arena. attacked Judaism very bitterly (Manetho [or JlaneThe Ihon]. Lysimachus, C'lueremon. and .Vpion). Jews, on llieir side, conducted their defense chiefly in such a manner as to bring out the sublinnty of They their faith and the grandeur of its history. someiiines took the offensive, and disclosed the inanity of idolatry and the ethical evils of paganism, exhorting and admonishing the heathen i)opiTheir favorite method was to lation to convei'sion. allribiile such adinonilory utterances to ]>agan atiIhorities. particularly the highly venerule4This blending of n-ligious ideas prevailed !14). li-Uigent.

llnllah. Iv. in. the .l)>iandr1nn» Alan i.i JiTiLiiilcni, which. hnweviT, wiw not acSoni.. .^li'Sanilrlan .lews suliinllliil vitrlium liv'l i|ll«tloiw lo Ituhhl Joshua U'n llaimnlah i.Nt-it. xlv. 13: .NldOali, iWb " AK- Tuu." I. 18&-1K7, 18W). r» ivi/. ; comiwn' lUu-lwr,

'AcmnllnK to Ilii- MIshnali

Imintrht Uii'lr llalluh

ci.pU'il.