em was taken; the Temple had become a ruin. The last vestige of
independence seemed to have been wiped out. All who had taken up arms
were either dead, or enslaved, or banished. The infuriated Roman
conquerors had spared neither the women nor the children. It seemed as
if Judaism had breathed her last in that terrible year 70. Sadduceeism
was annihilated; the Zealots were exterminated; the austere sentiment
of the Pharisees, continually looking back to ancient customs and
institutions, tried to assert itself. It is no longer permitted, they
announced, to eat meat or drink wine, now that the Temple has fallen,
because animals can no longer be sacrificed on the holy altars, nor
wine offered there as a drink-offering. By such asceticism, these
Pharisees of the strict school would have caused the destruction of
Judaism. But there was a Hillelite still alive--a man who had
inherited the spirit of Hillel, who rated conviction higher than
ceremony, and consulted the times more than the ancient forms. It was
he who kept the remnants together in close union, and did not permit
the spirit to vanish, although the material bond was broken. This
Hillelite was Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakkai.

_The Disciple and Favorite of Hillel_

Of the eighty disciples moulded by the great Hillel to continue his
policy, Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakkai was especially distinguished. Before
his death, Hillel is said to have designated Jochanan as "the father
of wisdom," and "the father of the coming generation." Tradition
divides Jochanan's life, like Hillel's, into three periods of forty
years each. The first forty years were spent in mercantile pursuits;
in the second he studied; and in the third he taught and managed the
affairs of the Jewish spiritual community.

Even before the destruction of Jerusalem, Jochanan's fame had spread
far and wide. He was a member of the Synhedrion and taught the holy
law within the shadow of the Temple. His school was called the "Great
House," and was the scene of many incidents which formed the subjects
for anecdote and legend. He was the first man who successfully
combatted the Sadducees, and who knew how to refute their arguments,
which were partly religious and partly juridical. But Jochanan's great
fame was chiefly due to the influence which he afterwards exercised at
Jabneh.

_Jochanan's Escape from Jerusalem_

Owing to his peaceful character, Rabbi Jochanan had joined the party
of peace when the Romans laid sie