The Ashkenazi Revolution

62depends upon time and in which it is permitted, even required, to maintaina synagogue in every location on the globe. With Yohanan Ben-Zakaibegan the great wandering, the wandering in the endless planes of time.Furthermore: At the same time, together with the reduction of the valuewhich is known as the dimension of space, and the strengthening of theformat of time in the Jewish outlook, Jewish time became wider and deeperin that in the Jewish outlook there was a reduction of attachment to thepresent and the near future and, in contrast, a strengthening of the goals andattachments that aspire to the days of the Messiah and to the end of days asthe goal and main point of living. Yohanan Ben-Zakai was among thegreat revolutionaries and politicians of all generations and the strength ofthe Diaspora world, whose foundations he laid, are rooted in the fact thatthis world is a natural link in the development of Judaism - whichrepresents a strengthening of the value of the dimension of time and theweakening of the value of the dimension of space. When he severedJudaism’s connection with the space of the Temple, Yohanan Ben-Zakaiaccomplished one of the most painful operations in the history of mankind.The principles that he represented remain powerful to this day, and manywho oppose them in the field of Jewish law, are subject to them in practice.The Jewish authorities in the State of Israel, in the year 1948, both beforeand after the official founding of the state, stubbornly avoided conqueringthe old city of Jerusalem because they were wary of the politicalcomplications involved with possessing territory that is holy to all thereligions. In their actions, they proved themselves to be faithful disciplesof Yohanan Ben-Zakai and they revealed how minor and limited is therevolution that they are creating.The approach of Yohanan Ben-Zakai paved the way for a compromisebetween the Jews and Romans and it is likely that it rescued the JewishPeople from total annihilation. This compromise was based upon theJewish obligation to refrain from any will or ambition for rule over space,and upon their promise to occupy themselves only in their specific area:The conquest of time and the assurance of continuity. Yohanan Ben-Zakai,who recognized well the pluralistic, and varied, Roman world, the multi-