It was not only in the expounding of ritual and civil law to which Rab devoted his energies, but also to raising the ethical standard of the people. For the austere simplicity and purity of Jewish life had sadly degenerated in Babylonia. Wonderfully salutary and effective was the influence of Rab in his moral crusade. He made the betrothal and marriage laws more strict and more decorous. He also strengthened the authority of the Courts of Justice by resort to excommunication of refractory persons. Deservedly was this modest man called the Hillel of his day.
Usually associated with the name of Rab was the versatile Mar Samuel, his contemporary. He was essentially the rationalist of his age who discouraged with his hard common sense the dreamers who were awaiting the speedy and miraculous coming of the Messiah. In Jewish Law his ability chiefly was directed toward the interpretation of civil jurisprudence, for which he was especially fitted. As judge of the Court of Nehardea, he made a brilliant record. His most famous decision and that which most affected the Jews, was expressed in the phrase, dina d'malchuthah dina,—"The law of the land is the law for us." This means that it is our duty as Jews to obey the laws of the countries in which we live. This principle tended to reconcile our fathers to the lands of their exile, taught them their true relation to them, and was in the spirit of the message of Jeremiah to the very first exiles in Babylon—"Seek the peace of the country whither ye are exiled and pray to the Lord for its welfare." The ultimate result of Samuel's dictum was that the better the Jew, the better the patriot.
Samuel had the courage of his convictions. For when the Persian king, Shabur I (under whose rule the Babylonian Jews were living), was engaged in war against Asia Minor, many Jews fell, who were fighting in the ranks on the opposing side. Yet he would not countenance mourning for his fallen coreligionists since they had fought against his king!
Babylonia, with its broad unbroken plains that gave such wide survey of the heavens, had early become the cradle of astronomy, and Babylonian Jews were expert in this science. So versed was Samuel in the course of the stars that he once said, "The tracks of the heavens are as familiar to me as the streets of Nehardea." His astronomical knowledge enabled him to arrange a fixed calendar and made Babylon further independent of Judea in deciding the dates of the festivals. As already stated (p. 186) these had previously been decided by the appearance of the New Moon in Palestine. Samuel was also a renowned physician and applied rational remedies, when the world of his day clung to superstitious nostrums. But medicine and astronomy were characteristic accomplishments of the Jewish rabbis. Samuel did not scorn to learn from the Persian sages. While greatly esteemed, not all of his contemporaries realized how profound a scholar he was. For in a sense he was a man in advance of his time. We understand him better to-day.
With all his intellectual gifts, he was modest, self-denying and wonderfully tender-hearted. He had many laws passed to safeguard the interests of the poor and helpless, and, decided that the Court must take orphans under its fatherly protection.
In the patriotic incident above mentioned, it was seen that he practised what he preached. Here is another instance. He had laws passed against exorbitant prices. When grain he had purchased cheaply, rose in price, he still sold it cheaply to the poor. What a needed lesson for our times! Here are two of his maxims:—
"Deceive neither Jew nor pagan."
"Respect the man in the slave."
Zoroastrism.
What was the religion of Israel's Babylonian neighbors? The Parthians were inclined toward Hellenism and exercised no religious influence on the Jews. But when the Persians again gained control of Babylonia (226 C. E.,) they brought with them their own religion—Zoroastrism. Zoroaster or Zarathustra was a great religious genius who flourished about 800 B.C.E. He reformed the old cult of the Magi, i. e., a caste of Persian priests and sages. His teachings are contained in the Parsee bible—the Avesta. The cardinal doctrine of this faith was dualism; that is, it explained the existence of evil in the world as the persistent conflict of two great spirits—Ormuzd, spirit of light and good (God), and Ahriman (devil), spirit of darkness and evil. In the process of ages Ormuzd and good will prevail. The sun is the visible representation of Ormuzd and fire the expression of his energy. So Ormuzd was worshipped under the symbol of fire. This worship spread over a large part of Asia. It did not deserve to be classed with the idolatries of the heathen world that brought so many immoralities in their train, for we see even while we must disagree with its recognition of a devil, that it expressed exalted ideas and urged its followers to live moral lives. But the rise of this Neo-Persian dynasty, awakening new religious energy, led later to a passing persecution of all non-fire-worshippers.
At the opening of the sixth century, Mazdak, a new zealot for the religion of the Magi in Babylonia, tried to impose on all under his rule certain dangerous doctrines of his own that tended to undermine the moral foundations of society. Naturally the Jews, always normally a chaste people, stoutly resisted. This meant fight. Again must they lay down the book for the sword, or rather, take up the sword for the cause of the Book. Led by the Resh Galutha Mar Zutra II, they actually succeeded in throwing off the Persian yoke altogether for some seven years; but they were, of course, ultimately brought into subjection, and consequently many martyrs were added to the Jewish roll of honor.