CHAPTER I

N a humble village not far from Nazareth in Gali.

IN

lee, there lived the venerable Rabbi Zacharias, and his good wife, Elizabeth, "also well stricken in years." This kindly old couple, though deeply devoted to one another, yet bitterly deplored their childless wedlock. When, therefore, the knowledge came to them that their ardent wish was to be fulfilled their gratitude to the most High was unbounded. And when the news was brought to Zacharias, who at the time was attending to his rabbinical duties in the Synagogue, that the expected child was a son, his cup of happiness was filled to overflowing. He then and there pledged the life of the boy to the service of the Lord and his people. "The child will become a prophet in Israel," he proclaimed," who will teach the people light, who now sit in darkness; blessed be the Lord God, for he hath raised up an horn of salvation for us."

On the eighth day after the birth of the child, he was circumcised, receiving the name of Johanan, signifying Yoh God, Hanan=gracious-gracious God. Johanan grew to be a sturdy lad, stout of limb and of uncommon good looks. Being constantly under the tutelage of his devoted father, Johanan soon mastered the intricacies of the Talmud and Midrash, and became at an early age an efficient and competent interpreter

of the law. His father never missed an opportunity to impress the youth with the sufferings inflicted upon his people by the cruel Romans since their conquest of Palestine, nor to stir his imagination by the relation of the heroic deeds of Judas Maccabeus, who, with a handful of enthusiasts, forced King Antiochus to give Israel its freedom (165 B. C.).

So impressed was Johanan by the recitals of these acts of valor, that his soul became fired with the ambition to free his people from the bondage of Rome.

The thought sowed in a vivid imagination and nurtured by an intense temperament became an obsession, and instead of seeking the companionship of his playmates and finding pleasure in their presence, he preferred to devote himself to the study of the history and the prophets of Israel. Thus he grew to be a seriousminded, earnest youth, who, though a boy in years, was a man in mind and body. Arriving at the fateful age of thirteen, when, according to the Jewish tradition each male member becomes responsible to God for his own acts, which hitherto had been assumed by his parents, he began to fulfill the duties devolving upon a member of the synagogue, and thereafter became a factor in the community.

The consciousness of his holy mission never left Johanan, and weighed heavily on his mind. He felt the necessity for self-communion, and he determined to seek inspiration in the seclusion and solitude of the wilderness or desert located to the East of Galilee. This region, called wilderness, was, according to the Hebrew term, not a land of desolation or destruction,

as is commonly believed, but merely an uncultivated tract inhabited by nomads and their herds. Johanan found this solitary spot an ideal place for reflection and meditation. Far removed from the turmoil and strife of communal life, he was master of his time and thoughts. Only occasionally was his solitude interrupted by the arrival of the great caravans, which usually chose this part of the country for a resting place during their march to the sea.

These caravans, connecting Asia with Egypt, supplied the only medium of commerce in those days. Owing to the danger from robbers and bandits who infested these regions, it was necessary for merchants and travellers to journey in large numbers for selfprotection. Therefore a caravan sometimes contained hundreds of persons from all the known lands of antiquity. There were merchants from India who brought brass ornaments, costly clothes and byssus, the latter a very finely spun linen used by the High Priest as a part of his raiment on the Day of Atonement. Then from Arabia came camels and pottery, while on the return trip merchants brought foodstuffs of varied kinds.

It is easy to imagine the commotion that the arrival of such a cosmopolitan crowd created in the otherwise lonely land. To the simple, inexperienced Galilean, such a heterogeneous gathering, consisting, as it did, of people from all corners of the known world, and representing every condition in life, was not only very interesting, but likewise most instructive. Johanan, fraternizing with the members of the caravans during

their sojourn in the desert, saw and heard many undreamed of things. Particularly congenial and attractive to him were the Buddhist missionaries who travelled with the caravans in order to visit their missions already established, and to found others wherever conditions permitted.

Some five hundred years before the Christian era, in the holy city of Benares on the banks of the Ganges, a prince of the realm, named Gautama-Buddha, began to teach his doctrine of peace on earth and good-will to men. In addition to purifying the spirit, Buddha also taught purity of the body as essential to a perfect life. The rite of baptism by immersion is one of the principal doctrines of Buddhism, and to this day the shores of the sacred river, Ganges, are crowded with pious Buddhists assembled from all points of the compass to bathe in the blessed waters and thus secure absolution.

Buddha had twelve disciples whom he sent in pairs to all lands to preach his doctrines. That this instruction to his devoted disciples was successfully carried out is amply evidenced by the numerous Buddhist communities existing in those days as far west as Egypt and Greece. In one of the old histories found in Ceylon and antedating Christianity by many hundred years, it is announced that on the occasion of the building of a Buddhist tope (temple) at Ruanwelli, enormous numbers of Buddhist priests came from Yona (Greece) and Alassada (Alexandria) for the celebration.

Only in Palestine, in spite of ceaseless efforts, the

Buddhist missionaries could gain no foothold. Zion, never doubting its holy character as the chosen of the Lord, and believing intensely in its mission, refused absolutely either to add to or in any way modify the laws of Moses. But Johanan, exalted by the thought of his great mission, listened eagerly and with interest. to the exposition of the strangers' doctrines.

Though an earnest and devout son of Israel, Johanan found nothing objectionable in the until then unknown rite of Baptism. On the contrary, he at once recognized its relevancy to the frequent ablutions of the priests prescribed by the laws of Moses, and accepted it as a welcome addition. "Baptisms," preached John, "is acceptable to God not simply for putting away of certain sins, but for the sanctification of the body after the soul had beforehand been thoroughly purified by righteousness." For cleanliness is next to godliness, and to touch food before performing the proper ablution is considered a grievous sin, says the Talmud. Besides, Johanan readily recognized the startling effect such a novel doctrine would have on the people, and the glory and renown its introduction would bring to him.

Being satisfied that the rite of baptism would not in any manner compromise Judaism, he found upon further investigation that Buddhism contained many wise and proper lessons not at all antagonistic to the Jewish religion, and to which no Jew, however pious, could object. In many instances indeed Johanan found remarkable similarities existing in the Jewish and Buddhist rituals, the underlying motif of both religions