JEWISH SECTS. A term applied to certain divergent schools of religious thought, which grew up in the midst of Judaism during the three centuries preceding the Christian Era. In this restricted sense we have only two Jewish sects, the Pharisees (q.v.) and the Saddnicees (q.v.). It should, however, he added that the adherents of these 'sects' not only belonged to the same reli gious community, but also adhered to the same practical religious law, and consequently could not well look upon each other as heretics. The Pharisees and Sadducees represent parties rather than ii.ects, and illustrate the two tendencies of Jewish religious thought—the one emphasizing tradition and the other bringing into greater prominence the element of faith, combined, how ever, with theological speculation. Apart from political differences which also existed, the chief points at issue between them were cer tain abstract doctrines in connection with the peculiar manner in which the law, as far as it is contained in the Scriptures, was interpreted and further developed. The Pharisees claimed for certain time-hallowed observations and doc trines not found in the Bible a divine origin, tracing them back through tradition to Aloses and Sinai. The Saddurces rejected the divine origin of the 'oral law,' a; well as certain spir itual dogmas not distinctly set forth in the sacred record. More distinctly a sect, were the Essciff.s (q.v.), who formed a kind of brother hood, chiefly intent upon the exercise of practical virtues, and ruled by a severe (-ode of morals. The SomaritunR, earlier than either Pharisees. Sadducees, or Essenes. may also he regarded as a Jewish sect, inasmuch as they recognized merely the Pentateuch and Book of Joshua as authorita tive sacred writings, established a cult of their own on Mount Gerizim (see KRAL AND GERIZIM ), and during the entire post-exilic period to the days of Jesus maintained opposition to the Jeru salem cult, and took no part in the movements that led to the establishment of Rabbinical Juda ism. A remnant of them still exists at Nablus (the modern Shechem). See SAMARITANS.
At a later period, shortly before and after Christ, numerous divergent religious doctrines, for the most part the result of a confused mix ture of Judaism and Hellenism, or rather Alex andrianism, were promulgated, and found ad herents both within and without the pale of Judaism. Many and obscure are the names of thee 'sects' recorded by the early fathers of the Church, but vely little is known respecting their history and dogmas.
In the eighth century various religious move ments among the .Tews led to the rise of a number of sects. These movements should be studied in connection with the contemporary religious fer ment among Mohanunedans, who separated about this time into several distinct schools of thought. (See A1011.‘MMEDAN SErrs.) Persia was the cen tre of this ferment, and there, about 750, arose a certain Ohadiah :dm isa ilm Ishak of Ispahan, who led the ,Jews in a revolt against the yoke of Talmudical authority, though he retained quite a number of the specifically Talmudical regula tions. He adopted some of the rites and customs
of Islam: and while not claiming to be the Mes siah:, as a certain Serenus had done some thirty years previously. to whom the movement of Alm lsa can in a measure he traced, yet did maintain that he was the forerunner of the Messiah. lie incited his followers to revolt against the rule of the caliphs, and fell in battle. His followers maintained themselves as a sect up to the tenth century. known as Isavites or Ispahanites. A little later another movement. likewise inspired by a spirit of opposition to the Talmud. began in another part of Persia under the lead of Judah Judghan of Hamadan. It attacked the anthropo morphic conceptions of the deity still current among the Jews, and in other respects repre sented the adaptation of the rationalistic theol ogy advocated by the Mutazilites. (See MOHAM MEDAN SECTS.) Abstention from meat and wine, frequent prayers, and fasts were among the rites emphasized by Judah, whose follow ers maintained themselves for a long time, though they were gradually absorbed by the most successful sectarian movement of the time, and the most decided and thorough reaction against the Rabbinic spirit which claimed the same validity for Talmudic law as for biblical ordinances—i.e. Karaism. Anan hen David, a member of a distinguished fam ily, living in Bagdad, about 765, set up a doctrine which rejected the and Slidrash as the work of man, and only allowed such laws and ordinances tc be binding upon the community as resulted immediately from a simple and natu ral Scriptural exegesis. The sect thus founded, within an astonishingly brief period, spread over Palestine. Egypt, Greece. Spain. Syria. Tartary, the Byzantine dominions, Fez, and Morocco. The Karaites are now, however, found only in small numbers in Russian Poland, Galicia, Odessa, the Crimea, Constantinople, Jerusalem, and Alexan dria. The name Karaites designates them as ad herents of the Jlikra (i.e. the written), which is the essentially Jewish name of the Bible. Abro gating the 'rabbinical' traditions, they erected a traditional system of their own, derived from what they regarded as a strictly literal interpre tation of biblical laws as they stand. Prayer, fasting, pilgrimages to Hebron. are the points of religious practice to which they pay the greatest attention. Their general conduct is even by their antagonists allowed to be of the highest moral standard. They have produced an extensive spe cial Hebrew literature of their own, chiefly con sisting of works on theology, philosophy, gram mar, mathematics, astronomy, etc. Some of their principal authors are Anan (S80-930), Solomon ben Jeruham (885-960). Joseph hen Abraham al Bazir (880-930), Jehndah ben Eliah Hadassi (1075-1160), Aaron ben Joseph (c.1270-1300), .Tephet ben Ali (c.950-990), Eliah ben Moshe Bashiatzi (1420-91), and others.