Q:
When and in what way did the Sadducees cease to exist?
A:
This gentleman is asking what happened to the Sadducees at the end.
Now the Tzedukim, the Sadducees, they operated among us all the way down to the churban Beis Hamikdash. And they were the most instrumental in the churban. The Tzedukim had the biggest part in the churban.
And at that time, after the churban, they got lost among the gentiles. Until then they were among us – they were a small group but they were the politicians and the powerful wealthy class. But when the Beis Hamikdash became ruined, they were not interested anymore in the Jewish people. The only reason they used to hang around was because there was a Beis Hamikdash that was a center of money, taxes and influence. And the great building, the edifice of the Beis Hamikdash, gave prestige to the kohen gadol. And anybody who ever served for a little while as the high priest was then afterwards suspended and another one bought the job with big money. And these people were called a company of kohanim gedolim, a chaburah of kohanim gedolim.
And these so-called aristocrats, they hobnobbed with the Romans. That’s where their heart was, in Rome. They used to spend a lot of their time in Rome anyhow. But now that the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed and the Jewish people lost their government, they were no longer interested.
It’s like rats that leave a sinking ship. And they all fled to Rome and they got lost among Rome. Even one of the better ones, one who is known to have been a friend of Rebbi – he helped Rebbi out – the Gemara (Chullin 87a) says that his family is still found among the gedolei Romi. It means even a better Tzeduki became assimilated. And the Chachomim pointed out a certain Roman family and said, that’s who used to be a Jewish family. They got lost among the Romans.
And we say baruch shepatrani. We’re happy to get rid of them. The Jewish nation is glad to get rid of all of those who are like leeches on the body of the nation. They sucked our blood.
And we were praying to get rid of them. Of course if they’d do teshuvah it would be still better. But the time comes and they fall off. like Yeshaya Hanavi says אשר בשלכת מצבת בם – when the fall comes the trunk still remains and all the withered leaves fall off and go lost; but זרע קודש מצבתה – the zera kodesh remains (Yeshaya 6:13).
TAPE # 339
