
70 AD to 90 AD, Psalm 51: Yabne
This generation is that of the 70s and 80s.
- On which side [1] we cast our eyes, we saw nothing but flight and carnage. Many poor people were killed who were unarmed and unable to defend themselves. The area around the altar was full of piles of dead bodies of those that were thrown there after the slain on this holy place which was not intended to sacrifice such victims, and streams of blood running down its degrees.
(extract of the psalm 51 associated to this generation, verses 3 to 5 and first part of verse 6 )
- Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your kindness; according to Your great mercies, erase my transgressions.
- Wash me thoroughly of my iniquity, and purify me of my sin.
- For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
- Against You alone have I sinned, and I have done what is evil in Your sight,
- And the Lord [2] spoke to Moses, saying,
- This shall be the law of the person afflicted with tzara’ath, on the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the kohen.
- The kohen shall go outside the camp, and the kohen shall look, and behold, the lesion of tzara’ath has healed in the afflicted person.
- Then the kohen shall order, and the person to be cleansed shall take two live, clean birds, a cedar stick, a strip of crimson [wool], and hyssop.
- The kohen shall order, and one shall slaughter the one bird into an earthenware vessel, over spring water.
- [As for] the live bird, he shall take it, and then the cedar stick, the strip of crimson [wool], and the hyssop, and, along with the live bird, he shall dip them into the blood of the slaughtered bird, over the spring water.
- He shall then sprinkle seven times upon the person being cleansed from tzara’ath, and he shall cleanse him. He shall then send away the live bird into the [open] field.
(extract of the psalm 51 associated to this generation, end of verse 6 and verses 7 to 11 )
- in order that You be justified in Your conduct, and right in Your judgment.
- Behold, with iniquity I was formed, and with sin my mother conceived me.
- Behold, You desired that truth be in the hidden places, and in the concealed part You teach me wisdom.
- Purify me with a hyssop, and I will become pure; wash me, and I will become whiter than snow.
- Make me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that You crushed exult.
- Hide Your countenance from my sins, and erase all my iniquities.
- The [3] Pharisees of the time preceding the destruction of the Temple propagated a religiosity centered on the cult whose keystone was the Temple, like the worship of the priests in the Temple. What clearly differentiated them from the ideal of priests was that they did not practice (or not only) this piety in the Temple itself, but instead tried to transfer the sanctity of the Temple to others. areas of everyday life. In other words, they aspired to make of all Israel a people of priests, thus making of the particular house and better still of the personal table a Temple in miniature. As a consequence, the Temple and the worship attached to it were no longer absolutely indispensable, and we could do without it. By observing the rites of purity and dietary precepts, each one sanctified his house and his table and helped to spread throughout Israel the sanctity originally limited to the Temple alone.
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But a simple movement is not enough to meet the challenge, for that it takes a providential man, it is Yohanan ben Zakkai who is this one:
- The rabbi [4] to whom the reshaping of Judaism after the catastrophe of the year 70 is attached is Yohanan ben Zakkai. Nothing is known about him. Tradition has made it one of the main Pharisees at the time of the destruction of the Temple, but it is undoubtedly there retrospectively and this corresponds little to the historical truth; he is more likely to have embodied the « doctor of the Law » component (hence rather « soferim » than Pharisee) in rabbinic Judaism. It is almost certain, however, that he was responsible for some legal innovations that would allow the continuation of religious life after the disappearance of the Temple and are known under the name of « taqqanot Yabne » (emergency motions emanating from a rabbinical authority and not relying on biblical data). The Mishna, for example, transmits to us such a collection of taqqanot of Yohanan ben Zakkai:
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Eleazar said, « Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai has decreed this only about Yabneh. He was told: « It does not matter whether it is Yabne or any other place where there is a court of law. «
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- The small [5] town of Yabne / Jamnia, in the maritime plain (direct possession of the emperor) is closely related to the person of Yohanan ben Zakkai who made it the place of the resurrection of Judaism in the form of Rabbinic Judaism. Rabbinic literature recounts, in a famous account, how Yohanan ben Zakkai and his followers came to Yabneh (he fled from Jerusalem in a coffin to flee the insurgents and obtained the favor of Vespasian who held the siege by predicting its imperial future, which has some similarities with the story of Flavius Josephus at the siege of Iotapata). […]
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(extract of the psalm 51 associated to this generation, verses 12 to 19 )
- Create for me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
- Do not cast me away from before You, and do not take Your holy spirit from me.
- Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and let a noble spirit support me.
- I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You.
- Save me from blood, O God, the God of my salvation; let my tongue sing praises of Your charity.
- O Lord, You shall open my lips, and my mouth will recite Your praise.
- For You do not wish a sacrifice, or I should give it; You do not desire a burnt offering.
- The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; O God, You will not despise a broken and crushed heart.
(extract of the psalm 51 associated to this generation, verses 20 and 21 )
- With Your will, do good to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem.
- Then You will desire sacrifices of righteousness, a burnt offering and a whole offering; then they will offer up bulls on Your altar.
[1] Josephus Flavius: « Jewish Wars » / Book Six / Chapter 26. (French: « Guerre des Juifs »/Livre sixième/Chapitre 26).
[2] Vayikra – Leviticus – Chapter 14, verses 1 to 7.
[3] Peter Schäfer: « History of the Jews in antiquity » (French translation by Pascale Schulte) / Chapter: the inter-war period from 74 to 132. (French: « Histoire des Juifs dans l’antiquité », Chapitre : l’entre deux-guerres de 74 à 132 (p 160/161) ).
[4] Peter Schäfer: « History of the Jews in antiquity » (French translation by Pascale Schulte) / Chapter: the inter-war period from 74 to 132. (French: « Histoire des Juifs dans l’antiquité », Chapitre : l’entre deux-guerres de 74 à 132 (p 162/163) ).
[5] Peter Schäfer: « History of the Jews in antiquity » (French translation by Pascale Schulte) / Chapter: the inter-war period from 74 to 132. (French: « Histoire des Juifs dans l’antiquité », Chapitre : l’entre deux-guerres de 74 à 132 (p 164 à 166) ).