"Granny's Chapters" (on scriptural subjects) / The New Testament, with a Sketch of the Subsequent History of the Jews.

by Lady Mary Ross

After the rebellion under Coziba, numbers of the Jews who outlived it, were offered for sale at the same price as a horse, at the fair of Terebinth, held every year on the plain of Mamre. The horror of such a fate was doubled by the fact, that the plain of Mamre was looked upon by the Jews as a sacred spot; because here their great forefather Abraham received the angel, who gave him the promise of a son.

Those of the unhappy captives who were not sold at Terebinth, were taken to another fair, at Gaza, or sent into Egypt, to be disposed of there.

When this terrible war was at an end, Adrian caused the building of his city to be continued. He did all he could to profane, and hold up to contempt, whatever the Jews looked upon as most sacred: he placed a marble hog over the gate of the city nearest to Bethlehem; built a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus, on the spot where the temple of the Jews, the House of God, had stood; and used the stones which had been employed for the temple, to build a theatre.

As Adrian hated the Christians as well as the Jews, he set up statues of heathen deities at Bethlehem, where Jesus Christ was born; on the spot where He was crucified; and in the garden, from whence He rose again from the dead.

Adrian also forbade the Jews to enter Jerusalem, or even to go near enough to look upon its ruins. Before this time, they were constantly to be seen, clothed in rags, wandering sadly upon the Mount of Olives, and amongst the ruins of their once glorious temple and city: a Roman garrison was now charged to see that Adrian's harsh decree was obeyed, or to put the transgressors to death. But by giving money to the garrison, the unhappy Jews did get leave to go once a year, on the anniversary of the destruction of Jerusalem, to weep over the ruins of their beloved city.

Thus were the Jews forced to pay even for the privilege of shedding tears, in the places where they had purchased and shed the blood of Jesus Christ. Truly was "His blood," that is, the punishment for shedding it, "on them and on their children." When they had madly cried, "His blood be on us and on our children," they had, in fact, asked that the curse of God might come upon them; and heavily indeed had it fallen. The dreadful fate of the Jews should ever be a warning to each individual Christian. We have owned Jesus Christ to be the Messiah, the Redeemer of mankind; we are called by His name; His Word is in our hands: if we do not love and obey Him, shall we not deserve a greater punishment even than the Jews? whose history is given us as a warning of the hatefulness of sin, in the sight of the Almighty.

Whilst the Western Jews had been suffering as has been described, the Eastern Jews were more fortunate. The Emperor Adrian had agreed to let the Euphrates be the eastern boundary of the Roman Empire, and therefore the Jews on the eastern side were no longer subject to his power. Many of them, however, eager for the liberty of their country, went into Judæa to help their brethren, but they only added to the number of sufferers.

Little is known of these Eastern Jews: they chose chiefs, called "Princes of the Captivity," to preside over their synagogues; they founded schools, and encouraged learned men; so that some of their rabbis became famous for their learning. One of these rabbis, named Judah, wrote a book called "The Misna," of which some account must be given.

After the destruction of Jerusalem, the sect of Pharisees became very powerful amongst the Jews; the chief thing taught by them in the schools was, not the written Law of Moses, but all the traditions, or doctrines and precepts, handed down by word of mouth from father to son. Of course doctrines handed down in such a way, got sadly altered from what they had been at first; and thus the truth was corrupted. As time went on, fresh traditions were added, till at last they were so many, that the doctors, whose duty it was to explain the meaning of them, found it necessary to write them out, as it was impossible otherwise even to remember them. The disciples of the doctors again, took notes of the explanations given of these traditions; and all this made so much confusion, that the Rabbi Judah undertook to make a new arrangement of the traditions, or oral Law. The meaning of the word "oral," is "delivered by the mouth"; and this Law was called "oral," because it was originally given by the mouth. Judah, therefore, collected together all the traditions, with the commentaries or explanations given by the most famous amongst their teachers or doctors. This work occupied him for forty years; it contained all the laws and doctrines, with an account of the institutions and modes of life, which the Jews supposed themselves bound to observe, beyond those commanded in the Mosaical Law. The Jews held this work in the greatest possible veneration, and called it "The Misna"—Misna being a Hebrew word, meaning the Second Law. It was also called "The First Talmud." The Jews called it "The Misna," or Second Law, because they considered that it was as necessary to obey it, as it was to keep the Pentateuch, or First Law. The Misna did not, however, settle all the doubtful cases and questions often raised by the Jews; and another rabbi, with the assistance of two of Judah's disciples, wrote a commentary, or rather an addition to the Misna. This addition was called the Talmud of Jerusalem, because it was compiled or put together in the land of Judæa, for the benefit of those Jews who still remained in their native country.