Pharisee summary

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Pharisee , Member of a Jewish religious party in Palestine that emerged c. 160 bc in opposition to the Sadducees. The Pharisees held that the Jewish oral tradition was as valid as the Torah. They struggled to democratize the Jewish religion, arguing that the worship of God was not confined to the Temple of Jerusalem and fostering the synagogue as an institution of worship. Their belief that reason must be applied in the interpretation of the Torah and its application to contemporary problems is now basic to Jewish theology.

Johanan ben Zakkai Summary

Johanan ben Zakkai was a Palestinian Jewish sage, founder of an academy and an authoritative rabbinic body at Jamnia. He had a decisive influence on the continuance and development of traditional Judaism after the destruction of the Temple (ad 70). As is the case with all the Talmudic teachers (the

Flavius Josephus Summary

Flavius Josephus was a Jewish priest, scholar, and historian who wrote valuable works on the Jewish revolt of 66–70 and on earlier Jewish history. His major books are History of the Jewish War (75–79), The Antiquities of the Jews (93), and Against Apion. Flavius Josephus was born of an aristocratic