nal expectation into the universal hope for the kingdom of God,
strong objections were raised by Abraham ben David of Posquieres, the
mystic, a fierce opponent of Maimonides, who referred to various Biblical
and Talmudical passages in contradiction to this view.(1223) On the other
hand, Joseph Albo, the popular philosopher, who was trained by his public
debates against the representatives of the Church, emphasized especially
the rational character of the Jewish theology, and declared that the
Messianic hope cannot be counted among the fundamental doctrines of
Judaism, or else Rabbi Hillel could never have rejected it so
boldly.(1224)

On this point we must consider the fine observation of Rashi that Hillel
denied only a personal Messiah, but not the coming of a Messianic age,
assuming that God himself will redeem Israel and be acknowledged
everywhere as Ruler of the world. As a matter of fact, too much difference
of opinion existed among the Tanaim and Amoraim on the personality of the
Messiah and the duration of his reign to admit of a definite article of
faith on the question. The expected Messiah, the heir of the Davidic
throne, naturally embodied the national hope of the Jewish people in their
dispersion, when all looked to Palestine as their land and to Jerusalem as
their political center and rallying point in days to come. Traditional
Judaism, awaiting the restoration of the Mosaic sacrificial cult as the
condition for the return of the _Shekinah_ to Zion, was bound to persist
in its belief in a personal Messiah who would restore the Temple and its
service.

10. A complete change in the religious aspiration of the Jew was brought
about by the transformation of his political status and hopes in the
nineteenth century. The new era witnessed his admission in many lands to
full citizenship on an equality with his fellow-citizens of other faiths.
He was no longer distinguished from them in his manner of speech and
dress, nor in his mode of education and thought; he therefore necessarily
identified himself completely with the nation whose language and
literature had nurtured his mind, and whose political and social destinies
he shared with true patriotic fervor. He stood apart from the rest only by
virtue of his religion, the great spiritual heritage of his hoary past.
Consequently the hope voiced in the Synagogal liturgy for a return to
Palestine, the formation of a Jewish State under a king of the house of
David, and