For the want of a comma. Sorry, CM, I meant “Pharisaic, minority”. I am sure the afterlife was the majority belief for the Pharisees. But wasn’t Phariseeism itself a minority in the Judaism of the time?
mipsman:
Not according to my sources, but to be fair, those are very much biased in favor of Orthodox Judaism, the theological heirs of those Pharisees.
It’s impossible to say for certain, because no “Saducee” or “Pharisee” box ever existed on censuses.
Also confusing the issue is that many references you’ll see to “Pharisee” will be referring to Pharasaic Rabbis and not to their followers. However, even the Rabbinical schools of the Pharisees were well-populated. The academy of Rabbi Akiva numbered in the five digits, and maybe even more.
According to Rabbi Berel Wein’s “Echoes of Glory”, the Saducees were mostly amongst the aristocracy and in some segments of the priesthood, while the common folk held to Pharasaic belief.
The Pharisees come across in Christian writings as being a minority, but that might very well be the slant of Christian writers, as JC and the Pharisaic Rabbis were not very well liked by one another…the fact that Christianity never took large hold amongst the Jews could very well speak for a Pharasaic-believing majority.
“The Lubavitcher sect continues to shill their brand of Judaism to anybody who will listen, as well as anybody who won’t” (Cap’n Crude).
–Not exactly. They approach people they think or know to be Jewish and invite them to the Chabad House or whatever. They do not consider this to be proselytizing.
Yeah, but sometimes I really wonder how they decide who’s Jewish. Once in college, I was walking down the street with a Puerto Rican friend, speaking Spanish, and was approached by the Lubavitchers, who had parked their “Mitzvah Tank” (a large truck sort of thing) on Washington Square in NY. (My friend was not approached.) The Lubavitchers wanted me to join them on the Mitzvah Tank and recite some prayers, but first asked me if I was Jewish. I said, “What do you mean by that?” (since I’m not so observant). They laughed and said, “You’re Jewish, alright, answering a question with a question!”
I don’t know how they knew, since I’m frequently mistaken for all sorts of things: Hispanic, Romanian, Armenian, pretty much any group which tends to have dark hair and olive-toned skin. (Last time it was Moroccan, by two different Moroccans, I might add.)
Maybe instead of the gaydar that is typical for NY, they have Jewdar?