nd priesthood were no more, but the words of the
prophets and the songs of the Levites remained to kindle the people's
longing for God with a new zeal. Until then prayer was rare and for
special occasions. Hannah's prayer at Shiloh filled even the high priest
with amazement.(840) The prophets alone interceded in behalf of the
people, because the ordinary man was not considered sufficiently clean
from sin to approach the Deity in prayer. But on foreign soil, where
sacrifices could not be offered to the God of Israel, the harp of David
resounded with solemn songs expressing the national longing toward God.
The most touching psalms of penitence and thanksgiving date from the
exile. A select class of devout men, called the godly or pious ones,
_Hasidim_ or _Anavim_,(841) assembled by the rivers of Babylon for regular
prayer, turning their faces toward Jerusalem, that the God of Israel might
answer them from His ancient seat.(842) Thus the great seer of the exile
voiced the hope for "a house of prayer for all peoples" to stand in the
very place where the sacrifices were offered to God.(843) The congregation
of Hasidim elaborated a liturgy under the Persian influence, in which
prayer was the chief element, and the secondary part, the instruction from
the Torah and the monitions of the prophets. The Synagogue, the house of
meeting for the people, spread all over the world, and by its light of
truth and glow of fervor it soon eclipsed the Temple, with all its worldly
pomp. In fact, the priesthood of the Temple were finally compelled to make
concessions to the lay movement of the Hasidim. They added a prayer
service, morning and evening, to the daily sacrifices, and opened the Hall
of Hewn Stones, the meeting place of the High Court of Justice, as a
Synagogue in charge of the priests.(844)

8. In this manner the ancient sacrificial cult, thus long monopolized by
the priesthood, was gradually superseded by congregational prayer which
was no longer confined to a certain time or class, and justly called by
the rabbis "a service of the heart."(845) Moreover, the Temple itself lost
much of its hold upon the hearts of the people, owing to the more
spiritual character of the Synagogue. Thus the torch of the Roman soldiery
which turned the Temple into a heap of ashes broke only the national bond,
but left the religious bond of the Synagogue unbroken. True, the hope for
the restoration of the Temple with the priestly sacrifices was not
re