III. The Age of National Independence.— In spite of the loving warnings and wise safe guards of the Mosaic legislation, the Hebrews when restored to the occupancy of Canaan did not remain faithful to their local mission, but, to a greater or less degree, fraternized with heathen nations to the extent of adopting their idolatrous ways and principles. The prophets urged to higher conceptions, but not always successfully: a superficial ceremonialism seems to have been the highest point attained by the yet uncultured people. °To obey is better than sacrifice, and to harken than the fat of rams,* (1 Sam. xv, 22) was Samuel's reproof to Saul. It was not until David ascended the throne and brought to the national ceremonialism the ele ment of reverential, spiritual elevation that Judaism at all approached the higher plane to which Moses inspired it. An elaborate central worship was planned and prepared for by David, with accessories of music and psalmody. and found its grand culmination in the stately temple of Solomon (a.c.e. 1018). But although the lofty religious spirit of David and the other psalmists found expression in this elaborate public ritual and exerted due influence over the popular mind, it needed all the energy and de votion of the prophets during the reigns of Solomon's successors in the twin-kingdoms into which the Hebrews then divided, to maintain these lofty ideals. The golden age of a spirit ually exalted Judaism was surely reached when its preachers held up as the religion's highest teachings God's desire that men should be just and merciful, upright and generous, in prefer ence to being ceremonially observant and ostentatiously pious (Isa. i, 12-17; Hos. v, 14, 15, 24; Micah vi, 6-9); God's willingness to extend forgiveness to repentant sinners (Isa. lv, 7; Jer. iii, 22, iv, 1, 2; Ezek. xviii, 21-32; Hos. xiv, 2); God's exalted spiritual nature, above all picture or comparison (Isa. xl, 18 25) ; the ineffable superiority of His thoughts and His ways to men's thoughts and ways (Isa. lv, 8, 9); and His intimate, interested knowl edge and supervision of men's deeds (Ps. xciv, 7-11; Jer. xx, 12, xxiii, 24).
Political independence of other nations, however, might have had the evil result of sug gesting that Israel's religion was the exclusive prerogative ofIsrael's people. Against this narrow conception, too, the prophets contended, with their teachings of the Fatherhood of God unto all men (Isa. xlv, 22-24; Jer. x, 6. 7; Zech. xiv, 9, 16; Mal. ii, 10) and with the de scription of a glorious epoch to come when "many nations should go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, to learn of His ways and to walk in His (Micah iv, 1, 2). The strongest opposition to the growth and maintenance of all such ideals centred in the political ambitions of the people, and their frequent approximations — for polit ical reasons fundamentally — to the paganism of one or other of their powerful neighbor states; so that the history of the Hebrews under their own kings is a record of continual re lapses into idolatry and heathen immorality, together with revulsions, now and again, back to purer Judaism. The most enduring and prominent contribution to Judaism traceable to this age of religious storm-and-stress is the be lief in the coming of a Messiah ("anointed one, king"), who was to be a descendant of the royal house of David, and, as earthly monarch over a reunited Israel, would restore the pure worship of the spiritual One God of their fathers (Isa. xi, 1-10).
IV. The Age of Exile and When the above-mentioned political ambitions of the sister-kingdoms culminated in the de struction of both (Israel in 720 and Judah in 586), the population of the smaller one, Judah, deported to the plains of Babylon, found there leisure and inclination for a closer and more devoted attention to their religion, which re sulted in the growth of a minute formalism of observance and petty precept, substantiated and elaborated upon the foundation of the Mosaic law. Its multitudinous details are collected in
the Talmud (see article THE TALMUD in this section), and for many generations after the Jews' return to Palestine (536), the rabbis and sages of this epoch, both in Palestine and among those remaining in Babylonia, impressed their extremist piety upon the people; not al together, however, without protest. Not that the lofty ideals of the prophets were ignored; to the contrary, they were treasured and still further developed in many a noble dictum and many a shining example. But the popular senti ment threw itself by preference into the re ligion of ceremonial and observance, and when, after a brief oeriod of independence under the Asmoneans, the Jews succumbed to the military might of Rome in 70 C.E, this ceremonial bent proved the chief source of spiritualizing strength to teachers and people alike in the en suing centuries of exile and oppression. A most elaborate accumulation of ritual observ ance grew up in their new homes, in North Africa, Spain, France, Germany and Poland, codified from time to time by such Talmudical experts as Isaac of Fez, usually called "alfazi)) (died at Lucena 1103) ; Moses Maimonides, lived in Spain and Egypt, 1135-1204; Jacob ben Asher, died in Spain, before 1340, author of the Turim> (Four Rows'); Joseph Karo, lived in Spain and Turkey (1488-1575), author of the Aruch> Obedience to these voluminous codes of ceremonial law constitutes to-day the chief difference between Jews of the and wings of modern Judaism, the former accepting, the latter rejecting, their binding force.
But while ceremonial formalism absorbed the religious thought and activities of the masses of the people in all their foreign homes, the growing culture of the ages appealed forci bly to the superior intellects of the Jews, espe cially in such countries as Spain (both Moor ish and Christian), southern France, Italy, etc., and deep philosophical expositions became numerous (see article JEWISH PHILOSOPHICAL WRITERS). Their chief aim was still to maintain and fortify the doctrines of that spiritual sole God whom Abraham and Moses taught, not so much now in contravention of heathenism as inprotest against the doctrines of the Christian Church. Perhaps as complete a presentation as is possible of Judaic tenets in this age may be found in the 'Credo' drawn up by Maimonides, 13 articles of belief, which to-day are printed in the Orthodox Hebrew prayerbook, both in a prose version (they were written originally in Arabic), and in a metrical form composed by Daniel ben Judah Dayyan in 1404, the °Yigdal.)) The modern school of Reform-Judaism adopts these in the main, like wise including the Yigdal in its ritual (con sult Union Prayerbook, compiled by the Cen tral Conference of American Rabbis, Cincinnati 1894, Vol. I, pp. 162-163; Vol. II, pp. 120-121). They include the unity, omniscience and incor poreality of God, the truth of the prophecy of Moses and the • prophets, future reward and punishment, the coming of Messiah, immortal ity of the soul.