The disastrous result of the war which had been waged against the Romans during a period of four years, the destruction of the State, the burning of the Temple, the condemnation of the prisoners to labor in the lead-works of Egypt, to be sold in the slave-markets, or to become victims in the fights with wild beasts in the arena--all these calamities came with such crushing force on the remaining Jews that they felt utterly at a loss as to what they should do. Judæa was depopulated; all who had taken up arms, whether in northern or southern, whether in cis- or trans-Jordanic Judæa, were either dead or enslaved and banished. The infuriated conquerors had spared neither the women nor the children. The third banishment--the Roman Exile (Galut Edom), under Vespasian and Titus--had commenced amid greater terror and cruelty than the Babylonian Exile under Nebuchadnezzar. Only a few were spared--those who openly or secretly sided with the Romans, partisans of Rome, who, from the very commencement, had been devoid of patriotic feelings; the friends of peace, who thought that Judaism had a different task from that of combating the Romans by force of arms, thoughtful and careful men, who looked upon a contest with Rome as national suicide; and lastly those who, through party strife, had been forced to lay down their arms and to make separate terms with the Romans. This small remnant in the land of Judæa and the Jews of Syria, who had always hoped that Titus would respect the Temple (the center of worship and religion), were moved deeply, and thrown into despair at the destruction of the sanctuary protected by God. Their despair led to various results. Some were driven to lead an ascetic life, to deny themselves meat and wine; others were led thereby to join Christianity, seeking thus to fill the void in their hearts which was caused by the cessation of burnt-offerings. Judaism was threatened by the greatest danger; deprived, as it was, of its support and rallying-point, it appeared in imminent danger of stagnation or of falling to pieces. The communities in Syria, Babylon, and Persia, in Asia Minor, Rome, and in Europe generally, had until now turned their eyes to Jerusalem and the Temple, whence they drew their instructions and laws. The only independent congregation, that of Alexandria, had become helpless through the destruction of the Temple of Onias. What was to be the future of the Jewish nation, of Judaism? The Synhedrion, which had given laws to the entire community, and had regulated its religious life, had disappeared with the fall of Jerusalem. Who would step into the breach, and render a continued existence a possibility? There now appeared a man who seemed made to save the essential doctrines of Judaism, to restore some amount of strength to the nation, so that it might continue to live, and the threatened decay be averted.