of Rabbi Jochanan when he made his
request? Any one else bearing such prophecies might have asked for
gold, honor, great political preferments, while this Hebrew sage asked
simply for a corner where he could study undisturbed. How could the
Hebrew nation exist when the leaders, their great men, lacked
ambition? Little did Vespasian dream that his granting of the Rabbi's
modest request would undo the whole work of the Roman conquest.

_The Fall of the Temple: Jabneh Succeeds Jerusalem_

In Jabneh, surrounded by his disciples, Rabbi Jochanan received the
terrible news of the fall of Jerusalem and the burning of the Temple.
Although he had foreseen the calamity, yet the news crushed the soul
of the great master. He and his disciples tore their garments and for
seven days wept and mourned in sackcloth and ashes. Jochanan, however,
did not despair, for he recognized the truth that Judaism was not
indissolubly bound with its Temple and its altar. He saw a new
spiritual Temple emerge from the ruins and smoke of the old one; he
beheld Judaism rising to a higher plane, offering faith, love, truth
and happiness to all humanity. He comforted his colleagues and
disciples by reminding them that Judaism still existed. "My children,"
he said, "weep not, and dry your tears; the Romans have destroyed the
material Temple, but the true altar of God, the true place of
forgiveness, they could not destroy, and it is with us yet. Would you
know where? Behold, in the homes of the poor, there is the altar;
love, charity, mercy, and justice are the offerings, the sweet incense
which pleases the Lord more than any sacrifice, as it is written: For
I take pleasure in mercy and not in burnt offerings." The next step
taken by Rabbi Jochanan and his friends was to convoke a Synhedrion at
Jabneh, of which he was at once chosen president. With no opposition,
Jabneh took the place of Jerusalem, and became the religious national
center for the dispersed community. It enjoyed the same religious
privileges as Jerusalem. All the important functions of the
Synhedrion, by which it exercised a judicial and uniting power over
the distant congregations, proceeded from Jabneh.

Rabbi Jochanan's motto was: "If thou hast learnt much Torah, ascribe
not any merit to thyself, for thereunto wast thou created." He found
his real calling in the study of the Law. His knowledge was spoken of
reverently as though it included the whole cycle of Jewish learning.
And not o