Chaverim-Chasidim-P'rushim

[James and Terry Hamilton]

Chasidim, P'rushim and Chaverim

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Written by a noteworthy friend

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What follows is what I've been able to glean from numerous scholarly works, but this is only a "working model" that I'm presenting here. This subject requires a book in order to be properly examined, but ... here goes nothing.

I submit that at least an element within the School of Hillel were Chasidic-Pharisees (Benevolent-Separatists), perhaps only his inner-circle of Sage-Prophets, which is not to say that they were "card carrying" members of the communalistic Essenes or former Pharisees (Separatists) who'd joined the commulaistic or "non-communalistic" Essenes.

The sect of the Pharisees grew out of the ancient Chasidim (Pious-Benevolent Ones), who were themselves divided along socio-economic, geo-political and religio-ideological lines; being represented by Torah-observant plebeians (simple merchants, laborers and country folk) and Torah-observant patricians (wealthy, provincial landowners and/or city dwellers).

Although the plebeian and the patrician Chasidim (Pious-Benevolent Ones) joined forces to wage war against the threat of Hellenistic expansion by the Seleucid Empire and both sanctioned the installment of the Hasmonean "King-High Priest" ... they were soon disappointed by the short-comings and betrayal of the Hasmonean leadership.

Most of the plebeian Chasidim all but turned their back on the intrigues taking place in the Holy City and turned their attention toward their homes in the country, while a relative few plebeian Chasidim joined forces with the patrician Chasidim and became increasingly embroiled in the politics surrounding the Temple and the Throne.

These plebeian and patrician "religio-political" Chasidim became the Pharisees, which was initially a pejorative term used by the Hellenistic priests and probably meant "Persians" (PaRaSYiM) - an allusion to the angelology and demonology (etc) that was brought out of the Exile (Y. Rosh Hashanah 56d) - or "Excrement" (PeReSH). Of course, these "religio-political" Chasidim took these pejorative terms and spun them to mean "Separatist" (P'rushim), that is to say, "those who distinguished themselves from others by their separation from Hellenism and their belief in the Oral Traditions."

Eventually, an element of these Pharisees split away and became the Essenes and when things came to a head in their conflict with the Hellenistic priesthood ... a faction within these Essenes completely turned their back on the corruptions in the Temple and the Holy City and became the communalistic Essenes, while others where content to simply separate themselves from the "political" intrigues that obssessed the patrician class of Pharisees. These "non-political and non-communalistic" Essenes focused on purely spiritual and religious matters; they maintained a representative presence on the Religious Sanhedrin of Seventy-One, but most retired to their home towns or their quarter within the Holy City. They were not fully communalistic, but organized themselves into a Society of Chaverim (Associates), which restricted their dealings on many levels to vetted members of their Association.

It was this devotion to "Chaverism," if you will, that created the close working relationship between the Chasidic-Pharisees (Benevolent-Separatists) of the House of Hillel and Menachem the Essene, who became Hillel's Av Bet Din (lit., Father of the House of Judgment). Indeed, these non-communalistic Essenes, the Hillelites and the Netzarim-Ma'aminim (Believers) maintained close ties via the institution of the "Society of Chaverim" at least until the time of the Second Jewish Revolt, when "messianism" truly became an issue and a dividing factor in Judaism. Prior to that time, however, what bound these groups together in polite social and religious intercourse was their devotion to the laws of purity and tithing, which allowed them to conduct business with one another and provided them with the willingness to help each other in times of need.

Sadly, in circa 20-10 BCE, the patrician Pharisee Shammai attempted to push forward "Eighteen Measures" and his Zealot associates ended up killing a number of Hillel's Sage-Prophets, in order to tip the vote in favour of creating stricter rules of separation between Jews and Gentiles. As a result of these murders, Menachem the Essene, his disciples and perhaps some of Hillel's disciples departed to Damascus and joined the ranks of the communalistic Essenes there and/or Qumran.


So, by Yeshua's day and age, we have the following:

1. Patrician Pharisees, represented by the House of Shammai.
2. Plebeian Pharisees, represented by the House of Hillel, who harkened back to the old school "Chasidim" (Benevolent Ones).
3. Communalistic Essenes, who'd abadoned the corruptions of the Temple and the intrigues of the Holy City in order to await the Eschaton (End Time).

4. Non-Communalistic Essenes, who eschewed political intriuge, but continued to avail themselves of the Temple cultus and continued to maintain close ties with the Chaverim of the House of Hillel.