History of the Jews, Vol. 2 (of 6)

by Heinrich Graetz

In Babylonia, on the contrary, the lively ardor and activity begun by Rab and Samuel, the founders of the study of the Law in their native land, continued to increase after their death. During the half-century over which their labors had extended, the study of the Law had taken so deep a root that the plant throve better in foreign than in its native soil. A lively emulation to acquire a knowledge of the Law, and to regulate their life by this standard, possessed all classes of society. It was accounted the highest honor to be recognized as a master of the Law (Zorba-me-Rabbanan), and the greatest disgrace to be reckoned among the ignorant. The immorality which had formerly obtained in Jewish Babylon vanished together with the gross ignorance, and domestic and public life fashioned itself according to the ideal which had been inculcated with such enthusiasm by the two great teachers, Rab and Samuel. Babylonia assumed, in many respects, the rôle of the Holy Land, even as regards the contributions to the priests, which seem, however, to have been applied to the uses of the teachers of the Law: learning was of more account than the priesthood. Babylonia had become a regular Jewish state, whose constitution was the Mishna, and whose public props were the Prince of the Captivity and the school assembly. This impetus to a higher life also communicated itself to the princes of the captivity, and they likewise applied themselves to the study of the Law. Nehemia and Ukban, Rab's grandchildren, and Nathan, their father, were appointed Resh-Galutas in this generation; by reason of their intimate knowledge of the Halacha they received the title of honor of Rabbana. This happy movement, which permeated all classes of Jewish society in Babylonia, was a sign that Judaism was not yet dead, but still possessed sufficient vigor to put forth new shoots. It was furthered to the utmost of their power by the successors of Rab and Samuel, of whom the most prominent were: Huna, who was the chief teacher of the Sora academy, and at the same time was regarded as religious head both in Babylon and abroad; Judah ben Ezekiel, who founded a new school in Pumbeditha, and introduced a new method of studying the Halacha; Nachman b. Jacob, who transferred his academy to Shekan-Zib on the Tigris, after the destruction of Nahardea (259); and finally Chasda, Sheshet, and Rabba bar Abbahu. Almost all of these Amoraïm possessed their own peculiar tendency, and thus variety and diversity were introduced into the narrow circle of scholars in the Babylonian schools.

Huna was born about 212, at Dio Kart, and died in 297. He was Rab's successor in Sora, and the authority of this period, to whom, as already narrated, the Amoraïm of Judæa voluntarily subordinated themselves. The story of his life presents at once a perfect picture of the manners of this period, and shows how indefatigable zeal for the Law went hand in hand with secular occupations, with agriculture and other industries. Although related to the Prince of the Captivity, Huna was not originally wealthy. He cultivated his small field with his own hands, and was not ashamed of his labor. He used to remark to his visitors, who came to him to judge their differences, "Bring me a man to till my ground and I will be your judge." Often he returned home from the field with his spade upon his shoulder. He was once perceived in this condition by Chama b. Anilaï, the richest, and at the same time the most charitable and generous man in Babylonia. This liberal man almost realized the ideal in his exercise of the Jewish virtue of being a father to the poor. Bread was baked day and night in his house for the relief of the poor, doors were placed on all sides, so that all who were needy might enter, and he who came hungry into the house left it satisfied. When Chama went out he held his hand continually in his purse, so as not to be obliged to keep those who felt ashamed to ask for charity in a painful situation while he was searching for his money.

At the time of the famine he caused wheat and barley to be left about at night for such persons as were prevented by their sense of honor from mixing with beggars. If an extraordinary tax was to be levied, Chama was certain to take a large share of the burden upon his own shoulders. This beneficent person possessed so much modesty, notwithstanding his extraordinary wealth, that whenever he met Huna returning from his labor, with his spade upon his shoulder, he begged to be allowed to carry it for him, out of reverence for the principal of the school. Huna, however, never permitted him to do this: "Thou art not accustomed to do such a thing in thine own town, therefore will I not allow it here."

Later on Huna grew rich, and had his fields cultivated by laborers, who received a portion of the crops; his cattle grazed on the steppes of South Babylonia. He employed his wealth in the most noble manner. On stormy days, when the winds which blow from the Syrian desert devastated the country and covered the city with ruins, he used to go about in a litter, in order to inspect the houses in Sora, and pull down any walls which might be in a falling condition. If the proprietors were not in a position to build their houses up again, Huna would have it done at his own expense. During the hours of meals, all the doors in his house were left open, and it was announced in a loud voice that all who were needy might enter and be satisfied. Other tales are related of his eager and assiduous charity. The indigent scholars who attended his school, which was situated in the neighborhood of Sora were maintained at his expense during the months of study, although their numbers were anything but small. Eight hundred attended his lectures, and there were thirteen expositors placed in different parts of the building, whose duty it was to make the discourse audible and intelligible to the whole assembly. The profound reverence with which his noble character, his erudition, and his modesty inspired his friends, was nevertheless incapable of blinding them to his faults, however small they were. The teachers of the Law were extremely severe with regard to one another's conduct, and were unrelenting towards any of their number who did not come up to the ideal of the Law.

It was during the time of Huna that public life in Babylonia, which was in most intimate connection with the schools, became organized in a manner that was unchanged for almost eight centuries. Gradually and involuntarily there was formed a hierarchy of the principal and subordinate dignitaries. The school, which met, as already mentioned, during certain months of the year, was called the Metibta (session), and the principal member of this assembly was known as the Resh-Metibta (Director). Next in rank to the President came the Reshe-Kalla (Professors), whose duty consisted in elucidating during the first three weeks of the Kalla month, the theme which the Principal would take as the text of his discourses. The judicial offices were separated from the professorships; as justice was still meted out, according to ancient custom, before the gates of the city, the judges were called, by reason of this circumstance, the Dayane-di-Baba (Judges of the Gate). In matters of theory they were subordinate to the Principal; they were appointed by the Prince of the Captivity, on whom they were dependent in matters of practice.

For forty years Huna presided over the Metibta, and by reason of his undisputed authority, Babylonia became completely independent of Judæa. He boldly acted upon the principle which his master Rab had been unable to carry through, and placed Babylonia on a footing of equality with Judæa as regarded the Law. "We consider being in Babylon just the same as being in the Holy Land," was a principle first established by Huna. He thus broke the last tie that united the land of the captivity to the mother-country, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he merely gave expression to the actual state of things, for, as a matter of fact, Babylonia far surpassed Judæa. Only as a mark of respect, or in case it was desired to obtain a solemn sanction of an opinion, was it usual in Babylonia to obtain a decision from the Holy Land. During the period over which Huna's labors extended, the Sora Metibta bore sway in Babylonia.

Huna died suddenly (297) when over eighty years of age, leaving his fame and his virtues to his son Rabba. The highest honors were paid to his remains by his friends and pupils. The funeral discourse opened with the following words: "Huna deserved that the Holy Spirit should descend upon him." His corpse was carried to Judæa, probably in execution of his dying wish; there it was met by the most distinguished men, such as Assi and Ami, who procured its interment in the vault of Chiya, another Babylonian. It gradually became a pious custom to be buried in Judæa's holy earth, to which was attributed an expiatory power. The resurrection was confidently expected to take place in that country, which, it was also believed, would be the scene of the coming of the Messiah. Those who had died in unhallowed countries would roll about in the light, loose earth, until they reached the Holy Land, where they would again be revivified. In place of living inhabitants, who were continually decreasing, Judæa was becoming every day more thickly populated with corpses. The Holy Land, which had formerly been one immense temple, inspiring great deeds and noble thoughts, was now a holy grave, which could render nothing holy but death. Of the numerous sanctuaries which had formerly existed, the dust alone now remained as an object of veneration. The entire central region of Judæa, the mountains of the King, was so exclusively inhabited by heathens, that it was proposed to declare it exempt from the tribute to the priests.

The antithesis and complement to Huna was his younger comrade, Judah ben Ezekiel (born 220, died 299). Although he had been a disciple of Rab, Judah seems to have inclined more to Samuel, whose characteristics he inherited. He possessed a strongly marked personality, and was highly talented, but at the same time had so many angles and edges that he was continually coming into collision with persons and circumstances. He was the descendant of an ancient Jewish stock, which was, perhaps, able to trace back its origin to families mentioned in the Bible, and for this reason he was unusually susceptible on the point of nobility of blood and purity of descent. A friend of simplicity in most matters, he vehemently attacked all who gave the preference to artificial refinement. Although he held the Holy Land in great reverence, he nevertheless blamed those who left Babylonia in order to be educated in the schools of Judæa, and was unrelenting towards such of his friends and pupils as emigrated thither. Judah founded for the first time an academy in Pumbeditha, which city, since the destruction of Nahardea, had become the center for northern Babylonia, as Sora was for the south. The Pumbeditha school, which, under Judah, was second only to the Soranian, attained in later times to the position of the leading academy. For nearly eight centuries it asserted its pre-eminence with but few intermissions, and was almost the last remnant of Jewish antiquity which beheld unmoved the birth of a new epoch.

True to the character of the inhabitants of his native city, Judah ben Ezekiel allowed the intellect to predominate so greatly over the heart, that he only consecrated one day in each month to prayer, the rest of the time being devoted to the study of the Law. He had already been distinguished by Samuel as the "acute," and later on became the creator of that acute system of dialectics which in former times had gained a transitory acceptance in Judæa, and now became current in and indigenous to Babylonia. This system differed materially from that employed by the Tanaites, for it went direct to the heart of the matter, while the other clung to the formulæ of the rules of interpretation. Judah's discourses were confined solely and simply to the treatment of matters of jurisprudence, as occult comparisons and distinctions, deductions and applications, here find their proper place, and theory and practice go hand in hand. The remaining portions of the Mishna were neglected at Judah's school; he seems, in fact, to have experienced a sort of aversion to studying such parts of it as contained Halachas treating of the laws of Levitical purity which had fallen into disuse. Under Judah's influence, the extensive subject-matter of the Law shrank to the contracted dimensions of a sphere in which nothing was included but what was applicable to reality and everyday life. He introduced the precise custom of communicating not only the matter of the traditions, but even the names of the persons who had handed them down. Nevertheless, it is remarkable that his own brother, Rami (R. Ami), questioned the accuracy of the traditions handed down by him, and even gave him the lie direct. "Accept not the decrees," he would often exclaim, "which my brother Judah puts forward under the name of Rab or Samuel; but thus and thus were they handed down." In another respect also, Rami was the opponent of his brother; he quitted Babylonia and emigrated to Judæa, although Judah severely censured such a course, which, he considered, constituted no slight crime against religion. He even regarded the return of the Babylonian exiles under Ezra and Zerubbabel as a violation of the Law, and considered that it had better never have come about; for the prophet Jeremiah had impressed on the captives that they should also die in Babylon. The only excuse which he found for the pious Ezra and his emigration was the assertion that the latter had led to Judæa such families as were of doubtful origin, in order to prevent their intermarrying with those whom he left behind.

As has already been mentioned, another of Judah's peculiarities was an extreme severity with regard to the purity of the race. He was so particular on this point that he delayed marrying his son Isaac long after the latter had reached maturity, because he was not certain whether the family from which he desired to procure him a wife was spotless beyond all dispute. Upon this point his friend Ulla pertinently remarked: "How do we know for certain that we ourselves are not descended from the heathens who violated the maidens of Zion at the siege of Jerusalem?" Judah's punctiliousness with regard to purity of descent caused him many a vexation. There once came to Pumbeditha a distinguished citizen of Nahardea, who claimed to be descended from the Hasmonæans, perhaps from the unfortunate king, Hyrcanus II, who had resided in Babylonia for several years. This Nahardean, who was connected with the most esteemed families of his native town, was exceedingly vexed that Judah ben Ezekiel should be conceded the priority on every occasion, and once exclaimed scornfully: "Who is this Judah bar Sheveskeel?" When this tale came to Judah's ears, he excommunicated the Nahardean for his irreverence, and when he heard that the latter actually called all persons slaves, he was so carried away by his passion that he publicly stigmatized him as a descendant of slaves. In consequence of this insult, the Nahardean complained to Nachman, the son-in-law of the Prince of the Captivity. Nachman, who was as overbearing as Judah was passionate, sent the latter a summons to appear before him to justify his conduct. The Principal of Pumbeditha was not a little astonished at thus being called upon to give an account of his conduct to Nachman, who was not only younger, but of less consequence than himself. Huna, however, with whom he took counsel, prevailed upon him to comply with this summons out of regard for the Prince of the Captivity.