To be considered a good Jew is to truly have a eye-sight and goal to attain the ultimate degree of holiness in the sight of God. Jesus of Nazareth was a Jew, and during his life span there emerged a variety of categories whose ultimate goal was to check out and put into practice what God expected of his people. Among these, there stood three major groups known as the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes. In attempt to be a conscientious first century Jew, in comparison to the other teams, I feel as though the Pharisees hold the most interesting position in terms of living a genuine and legitimate spiritual life.
During the time of first century Judaism, many teams conformed to his teachings however many made an attempt to struggle his judgment. Stepping in to the Hasmonean period, sometime before 135 BCE, in terms of social class, the Pharisees arose as an organization more applicable to a "common people" however it did consist of a few priests (Sanders, 44). Considering my place in world in the 20th Century, I really believe it would be accurate to presume that in Jesus' life time, I could place myself one of the commoners alternatively than area of the elite. This slight detail plays a component in my own decision of choosing the Pharisees as an appealing group to participate. Granted the fact that they are of my public standing, they would be able to relate to my needs best therefore we'd share lots of the same religious and political views. In ways, during the Hasmonean Dynasty, the Pharisees is religious professors of regulations. "Theologically, the Pharisees shared common Jewish orthodoxy" (Sanders 44), thinking in Israel as the chosen country, the law through which was given to Moses, and the concept of repentance and forgiveness. As these beliefs were shared among the common Jews of that time period, it makes sense as to the reasons a first century Jews, as well as myself, would turn to the Pharisees as religious teachers.
The Hebrew phrase for Pharisees is Perushim, signifying those people who have a inclination to withdraw or to separate themselves. You can suppose this name could relate to "the Pharisaic mode of life which dictated a demanding parting from all impurity and unclean foods" (Isaacson 24). Nonetheless it could correlate with the reality that the Pharisees do not share one uniform take on things; thus there have been two sets of Pharisees, The Shammai and the Hillel. Inevitably, amongst these two groups there were disagreements. The Shammai stood on the conservative left wing aspect of the spectrum while The Hillel held a more liberal position. Fundamentally, the Shammai followed a more rigorous and zealous observance of regulations. They were powerful until 68 BCE plus they educated aristocratic, wealthy families over a longer period of their time. The Hillel became more widely known after 68 AD. They appealed more to the eye of those in lower classes because they demanded training and did not have such a literal knowledge of the law. In my own view it is inevitable for disputes to occur among different classes of population especially regarding similar traditions. Nevertheless the two sets of Pharisees still were able to put their differences aside and allow intermarriage. That is a prime example of something that Jesus would encourage people to do, and because the Pharisees could recognize this, is another reason as an initial century Jew I would find them an excellent group to adhere to.
As well to be religiously linked with the middle course people of society, the Pharisees "continued the tradition of scribes and the men of Great Assembly" (Isaacson 240). Just like the Scribes have, the Pharisees believed in the expert of oral custom as well as the Torah. In addition they maintained the notion of afterlife as well as believing that God would send a Messiah to create peace around the world. In spite of this, it's important to comprehend that the society of Judea developed as time passes and the Pharisees helped guide this development by creating new laws as well progressing the synagogue and temple. Relating to Josephus "they used the highest ideals both in their approach to life and in their discourse" (Sanders, 44).
The Pharisees did not neglect to understand the importance of Laws already developed by their predecessors however they initiated change in the expanding Judea society by adding new regulations for individuals as well as taking a non-literal method of Biblical Rules. They closely used the doctrine of immortality therefore laws such as "an attention for an attention" were described in an methodology that may be more much like the existing circumstances of people. In their work to build new laws and regulations for more modern day population, they formed a purity guideline in regards to the Mosaic Law. That is a law where one must bathe to be able to remove impurities before coming into the temple. The Pharisees instructed people to rinse their hands before the Sabbath and holy meals, which eventually led Jews to wash their hands before each meal in order to clean away impurities. Because of their commitment to the religiosity of people, the Pharisees were popular amidst Jews that filled their communities. It is stated that even though the Jews made special rules for them to follow, they did not force them on everyone else (Sanders 44). I could appreciate that the Pharisees were overall trying to better the Jewish community however they did not try to enforce their customs on others.
In the second century the Pharisees improved the Jewish Temple with the development of the synagogue as well as the enforcement of dental traditions to prospects who resided within their communities. The Pharisees greatly treasured the written legislations however they presented near them the oral teachings with their fore fathers. As being a educator to the people, the Pharisees did not question whatever was passed down to them; they simply interpreted these practices and handed it down orally to the people. The Pharisees "wanted to embrace the whole people particularly through education. It had been their desire and purpose that everyone in Israel achieve holiness through the study of the Torah" (The Maccabees 93). The Pharisees cared about the temple producing all together in a manner that fit the needs of current culture. Not only did the Pharisees not impede their ideas on the Jews of the time, they respected that society is always changing. With this, the Pharisees created the temple to be a place that fit into the life of the commoner. Being a Jew at the time, I could choose the Pharisaic movements to help me understand and practice my beliefs in a way that I could best relate with.
Along with the Pharisees, the Sadducees were among the earliest groups to create during the Hasmonean dynasty. Generally, the Pharisees and the Sadducees were seen as opposition to one another politically and religiously. The word Sadducee is thought to have originated from Zadok, Solomon's High Priest. This explanation seems justifiable given the fact that the Sadducee's consisted of people of the aristocratic, conventional, elite status of population. The Pharisees were more popular as they enticed the "commoners" of society, the Sadducees were a minority that placed great power over Kings and embraced Hellenization, forcing Greek culture upon society. One of the biggest conflicts between both of these groups involved the actual fact that the Sadducees declined the doctrine of immortality. The Sadducees took a literal method of the written regulation, following it word for word while the Pharisees were open to interpretation of the Torah. The Sadducees did not believe in after life therefore not experiencing the importance of the dental law. Because of this, they "rejected new laws and regulations and innovations which the Pharisees introduced in response to historical requirement" (Isaacson 240). In regards to the temple, the Sadducees looked at it as untouchable, in the end denying the Pharisaic try to develop and combine new ideas into the temple. Evidentially the two groupings were at frequent disagreement with one another and this business lead to pressure within the second temple time. Eventually, a civil war broke out during the Hasmonean dynasty banishing the Sadducees as a whole giving only the Pharisees to fully recover. Given these facts I'd not have wished to be a Sadducee because of their unwillingness to simply accept that society is forever changing and therefore observance of regulations needed to change with it. I really do not think it is appealing that they were only considerate to the needs of those higher up in modern culture as well as perhaps this is excatly why they were struggling to regain power later.
