Another Look at the Pharisees

A third-century rabbi, reflecting on the past history of his people, remarked, “Israel went into exile only after it became divided into twenty-four sects.”1 Although we cannot be sure of the exact number, there can be no doubt that at the time of the destruction of the Temple (70 A.D.) Judaism was divided into many sects. Modern historians also uphold his view that the downfall of the Jewi