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History of Judaism
The History of Judaism is the history of the Jewish people, their religion and culture, tracing back to the Biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob of the 18th c. BCE. The earliest mention of Israel as a people was discovered in an inscription on the Merneptah Stele from the 1200s BCE.
1,396 Questions
Why are Zionist Jews proud of the fact that they killed Jesus Christ?
Answer 1
Zionism was a Jewish nationalist movement whose goal was to create and support a Jewish national state in Palestine. They were not a movement at the time Jesus was crucified. If there are any "Zionist" today who are proud, as you say, of the fact they killed Jesus, then they are misguided and need our prayers.
Answer 2
Jews, regardless of whether they are Zionist or not, do not recognize the Christian claim that they killed Jesus. Jesus was executed by a bloodthirsty Roman Tyrant: Pontius Pilate. However, Paul and Peter could not sell Christianity to the Gentiles while claiming that the Roman people were responsible for the Death of the Savior, so the line in Matthew ascribing bloodguilt to the Jews was added to avoid condemning the Romans for their act. Jews, while not major fans of Jesus are not responsible for his death and therefore are not proud or remorseful for it.
What king introduced monotheism?
Abraham introduced monotheism 3800 years ago.
The answer that you are looking for is "Josiah," but it is mistaken. It is the view of secular academe, and flies in the face of tradition. Judaism had already been monotheistic for eight centuries by the time of Josiah. All he did was to eradicate the idolatrous influences of those Jews who had strayed from their own religion. This had happened repeatedly (such as with Jehoshaphat [2 Chronicles 17:6], and Samuel before him [1 Samuel 7:3-4]); and those who strayed into pagan practices never encompassed the entire people.
What explains why Hebrew law provided more humane treatment of the lowest members of society?
The explanation is that Hebrew law is from God (Exodus 24:12). That is why it has influenced the world so strongly. Other codes, such as those of Hammurabi, Eshnunna, Lipit-Ishtar and the Hittites, are long-defunct.
Judaism is egalitarian and values all individuals, both men and women. The wealthy have no privileges; and the poor are valued, treated well and their opinions listened to. (Compare this to those societies in which only mature, land-owning males had any legal status.)
Judaism applied laws, and rules of moral behavior, to all its members equally. The laws of Moses form much of Western legal background.
Quote:
"I will insist that the Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation ... fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations" (John Adams, 2nd President of the United States).
"Certainly, the world without the Jews would have been a radically different place. Humanity might have eventually stumbled upon all the Jewish insights, but we cannot be sure. All the great conceptual discoveries of the human intellect seem obvious and inescapable once they had been revealed, but it requires a special genius to formulate them for the first time. The Jews had this gift. To them we owe the idea of equality before the law, both Divine and human; of the sanctity of life and the dignity of human person; of the individual conscience and of collective conscience, and social responsibility" (Paul Johnson, Christian historian, author of A History of the Jews and A History of Christianity).
What does Belshazzar promise to anyone who can read the writing on the palace wall?
He'll be dressed in purple (royal robes), a gold chain will be put on his neck, and he'll be made the third most powerful person in the kingdom (Daniel ch.5).
What is Zionism and how did it affect the region?
Zionism is the belief that the Jews should have political self-sovereignty and is the patriotic sentiment behind the Establishment of the State of Israel.
It resulted in the creation of the State of Israel and is one of the leading causes in the Arab-Israeli Conflict. (Other leading causes include Arab Ethnic Nationalism, Religious Intransigence and Holy Lands, etc.)
What was the first all-Jewish city and when was it founded?
Cities - No.
The Jews have never had a provision a la Saudi where only Jews are permitted entry to a certain city or region. Judaism provides for "Stranger Among Them" or "Ger Bitokham" (גר בתוכם). Therefore, there has never been an exclusively Jewish city.
However, most ghettos and other Jewish neighborhoods in the Medieval Period (especially in Europe) were exclusively Jewish because both non-Jews and Jews wished to live separately. Similarly, in the Arab World, there were a number of Jewish tribes which lived in their own encampments outside of the larger metropolises of that era. These, though, are not considered cities. Finally, there were a number of kibbutzim and moshavim in Israel that have always been selectively Jewish or only attracted Jewish membership. These also are not Jewish cities because a kibbutz or a moshav is never large enough to be an urban center.
I believe this is a mix up of the phrase 'boom times' meaning a period of prosperity and the word 'boon' meaning a blessing or benefit.
Was Herod the Great an Arabian by descendant?
Why do Russian Jews have German names?
The language of the Jews throughout eastern Europe was Yiddish. Yiddish is in large part derived from an old form of German.
When the Jews of eastern Europe were required by their local governments to take surnames during the early and middle 19th century, many of them were able to choose their own names. Often they used patronymics, nicknames, or other terms from their Yiddish language.
The names of Russian Jews are often Yiddish in origin, but because Yiddish has much in common with German, the uninformed think they are German names.
How large was the wilderness area that the Israelites wandered in?
The Sinai peninsula is 60,000 square kilometers (23,000 square miles), but the Israelites did not journey through all of it (they were never in the Western Sinai). On the other hand, they also passed through the wildernesses of Ammon and Moab (Jordanian desert) and east of Edom (Deuteronomy ch.2). See also:
When were the Writings brought together into one Jewish book?
The Writings are the third part of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible).
Jewish tradition (Talmud, Bava Batra 14b) states that the Writings were written by the authors whose names they bear: Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah. Ruth was written by Samuel; Lamentations was written by Jeremiah; Psalms was set in writing by King David; Chronicles was written by Ezra; Proverbs, Song of Songs and Kohellet (Ecclesiastes) were written by King Solomon; and Esther was written by Mordecai and Esther. The Writings were written between 900 BCE (Ruth) to the 300s BCE (Esther, Daniel, Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah).
Concerning Job, the Talmud states more than one opinion as to when it was written.
The Hebrew Bible Canon: Our tradition is that from the time of the First Destruction, God's presence was no longer felt as clearly as before (see Deuteronomy 31:17-18). In addition, exile is not conducive to prophecy (Mechilta, parshat Bo). At that time, the last of the prophets realized that prophecy would soon cease; and that the dispersal of the Jewish people, plus the almost continuous tribulations from the First Destruction onwards, made it imperative to seal the canon of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). The Sages of the time, including the last living prophets, convened a special synod for a couple of decades, which was called the Men of the Great Assembly (Mishna, Avot ch.1). This group, who functioned some 2360 years ago, composed the blessings and the basic prayers of the siddur (prayerbook) and the early portions of the Passover Haggadah, made many of the Rabbinical decrees, and (most importantly) sealed the canon of the Tanakh. It was they, for example, who set the twelve Minor Prophets as (halakhically) a single book, and who set the books of the Tanakh in their traditional order (see Talmud, Bava Batra 14b). It was the Men of the Great Assembly whom Esther had to approach when she felt that the Divinely inspired Scroll of Esther should be included in the canon (see Talmud, Megilla 7a).
Since the sealing of the Tanakh, no Jewish sage has ever claimed prophecy.
Anti-Zionism is a movement which denies the right of Israel to exist, and the right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel. However, Israel has been the Jewish homeland since biblical times.
Although much of Anti-Zionism is devoted particularly to the State of Israel, Anti-Zionists reject the idea of any Jewish State anywhere in the world as an unnatural, undesirable, and wrong situation.
What did the ancient Israel do for entertainment?
We know from the Tanakh (Bible) about musical instruments, dance, wine and song. Beyond that, not much is said, since unlike the ancient Greeks, the Israelites (until mid-Second Temple times) did not build theaters or arenas.
According to the Bible, Abraham was the first of the three Hebrew patriarchs. He is generally credited with being the first since Noah and his sons to recognise that there was only one God, although strictly speaking the Bible does not credit Abraham with being monotheistic - the insight that there is only one God was given to Abraham in a midrash (non-binding opinion) written shortly before the Christian era.
Almost all scholars dismiss Abraham as a historical person, so he really made no contribution to the development of the Jewish religion. Perhaps his real contribution is as a figurehead for Jews to believe in and base their faith on.
Moses
According to the Bible, Moses was the great leader chosen by God to lead the Israelite slaves in the Exodus out of Egypt. He received the Ten Commandments from God and built the Ark of the covenant, both to hold the tablets on which the commandments were written, and to support the mercy seat on which God rode as the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Moses is traditionally credited with writing the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch.
Over 90 per cent of scholars are reported to believe that there was no Exodus from Egypt as described in the Bible. Therefore there was no Moses, and he made no real contribution to the development of the Jewish religion. Biblical scholars attribute the Pentateuch to a number of anonymous sources, writing many centuries after the time attributed to Moses.
David
According to the Bible, David was the great king who united all the Israelite tribes and went on to conquer a great empire. David was not a prophet and is not credited with any direct contribution to the development of the Jewish religion, but the Jews needed a glorious past with great leaders that they could be proud of, and David seems to provide that past. The last judge of the Israelites, Samuel, was commanded to anoint David king, evidence both of God's existence and his interest in the development of Israel. David is traditionally credited with writing many of the psalms.
Historians accept that David was probably a real, historical person, but say he was more likely a local warlord or tribal chieftain whose influence never extended far beyond the region that would later become the kingdom of Judah. Many scholars dismiss the idea of a United Monarchy as described in the Bible. the psalms are regarded as a genre unknown at the time attributed to David.
Solomon
According to the Bible, Solomon was David's son and successor who became the wisest of kings and ruled over a prosperous kingdom, living a lavish lifestyle and entertaining the legendary Queen of Sheba. His contribution to Jewish religion would be his request that God give him great wisdom. Because of that wisdom, he is credited with writing some of the psalms and the wisdom books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.
Historians accept that Solomon was probably a real, historical person, but say his influence would never have extended far beyond the region that would later become the kingdom of Judah. Most say there was no great United Monarchy at this time. Archaeologists say that Israel of the eleventh century BCE could not have supported the lavish lifestyle attributed to Solomon in the Bible. Lester L. Grabbe (Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It?) says the story of the Queen of Sheba was invented by the post-Deuteronomic redactor.
The Books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes were compiled after the Babylonian Exile, centuries after the time attributed to Solomon. Ecclesiastes even contains some Persian loan words, which would only have been possible after 500 BCE.
What are the ancient Hebrews laws of god are called?
They have several names:
- The Torah (תורה)
- Halakha (הלכה) (which means "the way")
- The 613 Commandments (תרי״ג מצוות)
- Jewish Law
What did the Romans do to Jews?
Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, the two sons of the Jewish King Yannai (Johanan Hyrcanus, 1st century BCE), got the Romans involved in Judea when they asked the Romans to settle a dispute. At first the Romans were cordial; and they actually became party to a military treaty with Judea (Talmud, Avodah Zara 9a). A couple of decades later, however, they unilaterally abrogated the treaty, and placed Roman governors over the land who afflicted the Jews with crushing taxation (Talmud, Yoma 9a). In the first two centuries CE, things got worse, with the Romans destroying the Second Temple and temporarily outlawing Torah-observances, and the Jews attempting to revolt. The Romans destroyed large numbers of Jewish communities in the Holy Land, and they killed some of the leading Jewish sages.
(During those times that the Romans didn't interfere with the internal life of the Jews, the reason was because the Romans wanted to receive their taxes. That, and making sure none of their colonies planned rebellions, was usually the only thing that the Romans were really concerned about.)
How did Mesopotamia influence Jewish and Phoenician culture?
I'm not sure about Phoenician culture, but the Jews adopted a similar governmental system to the Mesopotamians.
Mesopotamian culture was the dominant culture in the Middle East for an expansive period of history. Mesopotamian influences included art-forms, economic systems, roads and public trading routes, clothes, and the concept of writing. Phoenicians and Hebrews borrowed these traits and modified them to fit their own indigenous beliefs.
The Essenes were a sect belonging to the Second Temple Judaism. They lived an existence of self-imposed poverty, and dedicated themselves to asceticism.
Answer:
The Essenes were a small sect in Judea who eventually went extinct. They styled themselves "observant; pious ones." The normative, majority religious community viewed them as breakaways from the common stream of Jewish tradition, because of their beliefs and practices. Their beliefs included an excessive amount of dabbling with the names of angels, messianic fervor, gnosticism and eschatological speculation; and their practices were more like Christian monasticism than the generally accepted Jewish way of living. The practices of the Essenes included vegetarianism, dwelling in isolated groups, communal ownership, monastic asceticism and avoidance of money, commerce or private property, and (among some of them) celibacy. Also, they had some forms of non-traditional observances (such as round phylacteries [tefillin]). Some researchers identify the Essenes as a form of early Christianity, taking also into account the fact that early Christianity was far from uniform and was, for a time, thought of as a kind of modified Judaism.
