Essenes
The Essenes were a separatist Jewish sect of the Second Temple Period, a portion of whom had formed an ascetic monastic community. The Essenes have since been called Jewish "monks," but they were not found them in cloisters, or passing their time in total seclusion and meditation. They lived in small communities right away from their fellow-men, and, as they believe that the end of the world was approaching, they therefore wished to prepare for the life to come by living a life of purity and prayer. Many of them renounce marriage, the better to consecrate their lives to their work; but marriage is by no means forbidden them.
They presented a strange spectacle, with aprons and shovels and hatchets. These were a sign of purity - the apron to cleanse their hands, the shovel to cover impurities with earth, the hatchet to dig holes wherein to place refuse, whenever they find any. They were simply and plainly dressed, and, while some wore long, white, loose-fitting garments, others, with their flowing locks, were clothed in a rough blanket of camel's hair, fastened round their limbs with girdles of skin.
The Essenes attached great importance to the duty of personal cleanliness, and one of the first things they asked people to do in observing Judaism was to purify themselves with water. They thus followed Hillel's maxim : "As in a theatre or circus the statues of the King must be kept clean by him to whom they have been entrusted, so the bathing of the body is a duty of man, who was created in the image of the Almighty, King of the world." To them cleanliness seemed to be not merely "next to Godliness," but Godliness itself. This is why they were so careful to keep their streets clean (to them, therefore, holy) by covering up refuse whenever they find it - contrary to the general practice in the East.
The Essenes were communists - sharing everything in common - and none of them has a house of his own. They had one storehouse, and they had their meals together. Even the clothes each of them wore belonged to the whole community. Their wants were very few, and although they are different from all other men in the fact that they had no money, yet they considered themselves the richest of all because they had few wants and lived quietly and simply. They had no slaves like so many of the people of the time - all of them were free, and each served the others. Whatever they receive for their wages they did not keep as their own, but put into a common fund for the use of every one.
Their main rule was three-fold - love of God, love of man, and self-control. To show their love of God, their teacher told them they must live a life of purity and holiness, avoiding swearing and falsehood, and declaring that God causes only good and no evil whatsoever. To prove their love of virtue, they must not have any desire for money, or high position, or pleasure. They must cultivate temperance and endurance, simplicity and a mild temper. They must have no false pride, and they must be obedient to the Law. To show their love of man, they should be pleasant and kind to all alike.
The Essenes lived in small villages because they thought towns were the corrupters of morals, and were too the noisy and busy for a holy life and the easy carrying out of their principles. Like Elijah of old, they had left the twelve acres which they were to inherit, and have vowed bachelorhood and poverty, in order that they may devote their lives to elevate their nation's morals. As they tried to stem the mad rush hither and thither, they seemed like sailors doing their duty calmly in a burning ship during a storm.
One of their fundamental beliefs was the near appearance of the kingdom of God, and they make this announcement the foundation of their preaching. They called it the kingdom of heaven. They said that men must prepare themselves for this event, and that Judaism was on the verge of a terrible crisis, after which will come the times of the Messiah. To hasten the arrival of this blessed time men should sell their goods and give the money to the poor. They themselves put in practice this precept; they had sold their goods, which were unrighteous riches; and they have this advantage over the Pharisees that what they say they do, while the Pharisees say and do not: therefore the Essenes accuse the latter of being hypocrites.
Many Essenes occupied themselves in preaching and healing diseases. They also baptized and permit their disciples to baptize. A certain number performed miracles, and they acquired a great reputation by their supernatural cures. They applied themselves more particularly to casting out demons, and they were held to be most successful in the practice of exorcism.
They were believed to have the gift of prophecy and of miracles, and every one attached great importance to their words and actions. They enjoyed an authority which the Scribes never succeeded in gaining. They systematically abstained from politics, and carefully separated that which belonged to Caesar from that which belongs to God. They loved solitude and prayer, but at the same time were active and zealous. Their preferences led them among the poor and the sick. Of the greatest sobriety, they partook of only a single dish at a neal. It was their custom to go from place ;o place, surrounded by disciples, and one member of the little group carried the comnon purse. For that matter, they lived only on what was given to them, being little concerned with the material details of life.
The Essenes were, allegedly, the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls and were settled by the Dead Sea. Citing ancient historians as well as the nature of some scroll texts for substantiation, many scholars believe the Essene community wrote, copied, or collected the scrolls at Qumran and deposited them in the caves of the adjacent hills. Others dispute this interpretation, claiming either that the scroll sect was Sadducean in nature; that the site was no monastery but rather a Roman fortress or a winter villa; that the Qumran site has little if anything to do with the scrolls; or that the evidence available does not support a single definitive answer. The Dead Sea Scrolls, which date back to the events described in the New Testament, have added to our understanding of the Jewish background of Christianity. Scholars have pointed to similarities between beliefs and practices outlined in the Qumran literature and those of early Christians.
Jesus knew the Essenes well, and practised Essenism to a great degree.
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