The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Vol 1 - Predestination

Judseans, and the active pursuits that engaged men
in GhJilee. It was a common saying : ' K a person
wishes to be rich, let him go north; if he wants to
be wise, let him oome south'—and to Judffia,
accordingly, flocked, from ploughshare and
workshop, whoever wished to become ' learned in
the Law.' The vevy neighbourhood of the Gentile
world, the contact with the great commercial
centres dose by, and the constant intercourse with
foreigners, who passed through Galilee along one
of the world's great highways, would render the
narrow exclusiveness of the Southerners
impossible. Galilee was to Judaism ' the Court of
the Gentiles'—^the Rabbinic Schools of Judaea its
innermost Sanctuary. The natural disposition of the
people, even the soil and climate of Galilee, were
not &vourable to the all-engrossing passion for
Rabbinic study. In Judaea all seemed to invite to
retrospection and introspection; to favour habits of
solitary thought and study, till it kindled into
fanaticism. Mile by mile as you travelled
southwards, memories of the past would crowd
around, and thoughts of the future would rise