Pharisees

From Wikipedia:

The Pharisees were, depending on the time, a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews that flourished during the [|Second Temple] Era (536 BCE–70 CE). After the destruction of the Second Temple, the Pharisaic sect was re-established as [|Rabbinic Judaism] — which ultimately produced normative, traditional Judaism, the basis for all contemporary forms of Judaism (with the possible exception of the [|Karaites]).

The Pharisee ("separatist") party emerged largely out of the group of scribes and sages who harked back to Ezra and the Great Assembly. The meaning of the name is unclear; it may refer to their rejection of Hellenic culture or to their objection to the Hasmonean monopoly on power. It is difficult to state at what time the Pharisees, as a party, arose. [|Josephus] first mentions them in connection with Jonathan, the successor of [|Judas Maccabeus] ("Ant." xiii. 5, § 9). One of the factors that distinguished the Pharisees from other groups prior to the destruction of the Temple was their belief that all Jews had to observe the purity laws (which applied to the Temple service) //outside// the Temple. The major difference, however, was the continued adherence of the Pharisees to the laws and traditions of the Jewish people in the face of assimilation. As Josephus noted, the Pharisees were considered the most expert and accurate expositors of Jewish law.

The Pharisees believed in a written and an oral Torah. -Differed in views from the Sadducees and Essenes Jews.