were making pilgrimages to Jerusalem to see this marvel of the ancient world and make sacrifices. But the rebels within the Jewish community were not impressed. The Essenes The Essenes did not believe Jews should fight the Romans. Their belief was that God had allowed a Roman occupation because the Biblical prophecy of the End of Days was at hand. Their solution was to withdraw from civilization and to live as perfect a life as possible by forsaking worldly possessions and sexual relations. They spent most of their time copying religious texts and hiding them in caves near Qumran. Their legacy is the Dead Sea scrolls. When Herod died in 4 BC, chaos erupted as rebels attacked the traitorous upper class Jews. To the Romans, they were brigands, but to many Jews they were seen as Robin Hoods. Their aim of ending Roman rule was misguided as all they accomplished was social anarchy. Hillel Hillel and the Pharisees believed whoever was the worldly master of Judea did not matter. What mattered was how one lived their life according to their covenant with God. Furthermore, they did not believe one had to be a member of the priesthood to communicate with God, just study His word in the Bible. When challenged to sum the Torah up "while standing on one foot", Hillel replied “What is hateful to you, do not do to your friend. The rest is the explanation; go and learn.” Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, who was influenced by Hillel according to the documentary, went a few steps further by preaching “turn the other cheek” and to make the world a better place. He also was influenced by the Biblical End of Days prophecies. To Rome He was just one more rabble rousing messiah. To His followers, His talk of a Heavenly Kingdom was a reference to an afterlife and was not a part of this world. The Zealots In 52 AD a new group of zealots, the Sicarii, began committing political assassinations. Anyone who collaborated with the Roman authorities was worthy of death. The people of Jerusalem were deeply divided until the Roman governor attacked the Temple in 67 AD. It was a miscalculated move as all Judeans within Jerusalem united and forced the Roman garrison to flee the city. A disciple of Hillel, Yochanan ben Zakai, was one of the most passionate voices for peace. He preached that