What Really Happend at the Murder of James bro. of Jesus — Jos. & Talmd

Rabbi Gamaliel the Elder was the grandson of Hillel the Great, and the Head Rabbi of the Beyt Hillel ("House of Hillel", or Hillelite-school of of the Pharisees) around the time of the Messiah and the early Church.

Rabbi Gamaliel was a guardian of the early Messianic movement (Acts 5), and Saul Paulus was one of his Talmidim ("Disciples") before he acknowledged Yeshua as the Messiah (Acts 22:3).

The Talmud records that Gamaliel died nine years before the destruction of Jerusalem — to wit, in (70-9=) 61 AD. The Mishnah (part of the Talmud) states, "When Rabban Gamaliel the Elder died, the glory [or, reverence] of the Law ceased and purity and separateness died" (Mishnah Sotah, 9:15) [1]. Note that the Hebrew word Pharisee means "separated". Thus, this lament implies that Gamaliel was the last, and perhaps the best, exemplar of Pharisaism.

Now, (almost) at the same time, James the brother of the Messiah Yeshua, and Head of the Jerusalem Church, was murdered by the High Priest Hananiah in early 62 AD (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 20:9). This happened at Passover (Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiae, 2.23) [2].

Furthermore, a few weeks later, Yeshua b. Hananiah began preaching, "A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the holy house, a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice against this whole people!". This happened at Pentecost 62 AD (Josephus, Jewish War, 6:5:3).

Thus, the Talmud and Josephus both corroborate that the murder of James, brother of the Messiah Yeshua, coincides exactly with the end of "the glory and reverence of the Law" amongst the Jewish people, and the foretold beginnings of terrible sufferings by Roman hands (cf. Numbers 24:24 — the Romans are called Kittim in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and in the Book of Daniel [3]).

Indeed, the Talmud is even more precise — R. Gamaliel, guardian of the early Messianic Church, and last bastion of "reverence for the Law" amongst the Jewish folk, died first (61 AD), and only then was the Church attacked and James, brother of the Messiah Yeshua, murdered (62 AD). In turn, the prophecy of Numbers 24:24 was then then woefully fulfilled (66-70 AD).

Sources:

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamaliel
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_the_Just
[3] H. L. Ginzburg, Studies in Daniel (1948), pg. 72. Cited in: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. 3, pg. 46.

 

Ishmael ben Phabi — High Priest (59-61 AD)

Ishmael b. Phabi was High Priest of Israel from 59-61 AD, who was popular with the people, and considered one of the ten foremost citizens of Jerusalem [1]. At first, Ishmael "followed the Sadducean method of burning the sacrificial red heifer, but finally authorized the procedure according to the Pharisaic teaching" [1].

In 61 AD, the Temple Priesthood began building a wall that blocked the view of King Herod Agrippa II (from his palace), and the Romans (from Fort Antonia), into the Temple courtyards. This angered King Agrippa, as well as the Roman Procurator Festus* who ordered the wall torn down. Ishmael sailed to Rome and appeared before Emperor Nero, whose Jewish wife Poppaea Sabina interceded on the Jews' behalf. Although Festus' order was revoked, Ishmael was held in Rome as a hostage, and was therefore deposed as High Priest.

*Procurator Festus sent Paul to Rome in late 59 AD (Acts 24-26).​

(Later, after the destruction of Jerusalem, Ishmael was beheaded in Cyrene.)

Ishmael was praised by the Pharisees, as recorded in the Mishnah of the Talmud (Parah iii. 5; So?ah ix. 15; Pes. 57a; Yoma 35b).

It is also recorded that when Ishmael b. Phabi died, the "splendor of the priesthood ceased" [2].

Now, we saw that at the death in 61 AD of the Pharisee Gamaliel the Elder, reverence for the Law ceased, along with the true Pharisee movement. Likewise, the passing of the pro-Pharisee High Priest Ishmael b. Phabi — deposed at the same time, 61 AD — marked the end of the glory of the Israelite Priesthood.

THUS, the true Pharisee movement died out in 61 AD with the passing of Gamaliel the Elder, and the deposing of his ally the High Priest Ishmael ben Phabi.

The Zadokite (Sadducee) Priesthood, unchecked, the murdered James the brother of the Lord (62 AD). A prophet immediately began preaching woe and doom to Jerusalem and the Jewish nation, which was soon scourged by bloody war (66-70 AD).


Sources:

[1] http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=285&letter=I&search=ismael phabi
[2] Geza Vermes. Who's Who in the Age of Jesus. pp. 120-121.

 

The Talmud says that the true heart and soul of the original Pharisee movement essentially died with Gamaliel the Elder.

There are "Hasid" Jews today, but that movement was reconstructed several hundred years ago, and is not the same as the "Hasid" movement of Jesus' day.