Expert: Rev. Frank Ricketts - 6/5/2007

Question
what are pharisees?

Answer
The word Pharisees comes from the Hebrew ôøåùéí prushim from ôøåù parush, meaning "separated" , that is, one who is separated for a life of purity (Ernest Klein, Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language). 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.

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