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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
Perhaps yes, since it was the daughter-religions (Christianity and Islam) who did most of the spreading of these beliefs and values. See also: The influence of Judaism
Answer 1
According to the Bible, God made the Jews; they were originally known as Hebrews and Israelites, but eventually they came to be known as Jews. If you do not believe in the Bible, there are many historical and sociological theories about the origins of the world's religions; like many other faiths from thousands of years ago, Judaism undoubtedly emerged when the Hebrews were trying to understand the various phenomena in their world. That led them to create explanations for why things happened the way they did. Those explanations were elaborated upon by great leaders (Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc) and eventually, that resulted in rituals and beliefs and customs, many of which are part of Jewish practice even today.
It is worth noting that in both historical investigation and Jewish religious belief that Jews are not distinct from other humans. All people are of human stock, both the Jew and the Gentile.
Answer 2
God would not have unilaterally made the Jewish people as such. He created the world, and its plants, animals and humans, and waited for a person or a nation to come forward and demonstrate the desire to serve Him. Only then would He grant them His covenant. Since Noah was the most righteous person in a very sinful time, he was chosen to be the one to repopulate the Earth when God devastated it in the Flood (Genesis ch.6-10). After the Flood, God again waited to see who would choose to serve Him. Abraham was by far the most righteous person in the generations before or after the Flood. He chose to serve God, decades before God granted him prophecy. After he persisted in his perfectly righteous behavior for many years, God chose him (see Genesis 18:19) as the founder of what would become called the Jewish people, and He made His covenant with him (Genesis ch.15 and 17).
Further background:
Abraham, tenth generation descendant of Noah, of Hebrew lineage, was the son of Terah, uncle of Lot, father of Isaac, grandfather of Jacob, and ancestor of the Israelites. His story is in Genesis ch.11 (end), through ch.25. Jewish tradition states that he was the first to teach belief in One God; and it is in his merit that Jews continue to exist (Genesis 18:19, and ch.17).
Abraham (18th century BCE) came from ancestry that had been God-fearing a couple of centuries earlier but had afterwards slipped into idolatry (Joshua 24:2). Nimrod, the idolatrous tyrant, had brought Abraham's father (Terah) from the Semitic ancestral seat near the conjunction of the Balikh and the Euphrates, and instated him in a position of power in his army in the royal Babylonian city of Ur, where Abraham was born. Nimrod persecuted any who would question his idolatrous cult.
The Kuzari (Rabbi Judah HaLevi, 1075-1141) states that Abraham was gifted with high intelligence; and, as Maimonides (1135-1204) describes, Abraham didn't blindly accept the ubiquitous idolatry. The whole populace had been duped, but the young Abraham contemplated the matter relentlessly, finally arriving at the conclusion that there is One God and that this should be taught to others as well. This is what is meant by his "calling out in the name of the Lord" (Genesis ch.12). As a young man, he remonstrated with passersby in public, demonstrating to them the falsehood of their idols; and our tradition tells how he was threatened and endangered by Nimrod.
Subsequently, Terah relocated to Harran; and it is here that Abraham began to develop a circle of disciples (Rashi commentary, on Genesis 12:5).
Later, God told Abraham in prophecy to move to the Holy Land, which is where Abraham raised his family.
He continued his contemplations, eventually arriving at the attitudes and forms of behavior which God later incorporated into the Torah given to Moses.
Abraham, with God's help, singlehandedly trounced the supremacy of the evil Nimrod. He received God's promise of inheriting the Holy Land (Genesis 13). He strove to raise a family (Genesis ch.15, 17, and 24) which would serve God (Genesis 18:19); and God eventually blessed his efforts, granting him many children (ibid., ch.16, 21 and 25), as He had promised (Genesis ch.17). Abraham founded the Jewish people and lived to see his work live on in the persons of Isaac and Jacob; and he taught many other disciples as well (Talmud, Yoma 28b). He saved the population of the south of Canaan from invading foreign kings (Genesis 14); and he was feared by neighboring kings (ibid., ch.12 and 20). Abraham gave tithes (Genesis ch.14), made a covenant with God (Genesis ch.15 and 17), welcomed guests into his home (Genesis ch.18) unlike the inhospitable Sodomites (Genesis ch.19), prayed for people (Genesis ch.18), rebuked others when necessary (Genesis ch.20), eulogized and buried the deceased (Genesis ch.23), and fulfilled God's will unquestioningly (Genesis ch.22). He became renowned as a prince of God (Genesis 23:6).
All of these forms of behavior were based upon the ways of God, which Abraham comprehended through his contemplations. These, and similar personality traits, were the teachings of Abraham and his descendants (unlike idolatry, which had tended to go hand in hand with cruel, licentious and excessive behavior, since the caprices which were narrated concerning the idols were adopted as an excuse to imitate those types of behavior).
It is therefore clear why God expresses His love for Abraham (Isaiah 41:8) and calls Himself the God of Abraham (Genesis 26:24), and says that Abraham obeyed Him fully (Genesis 26:5). And this is why, according to our tradition, Abraham is credited with having begun the religion which became known as Judaism. However, Abraham and his descendants observed their traditions voluntarily, until the Giving of the Torah to Moses 3325 years ago, when God made it obligatory.
You're thinking of the next-to-last sentence, beginning with "Yehei shlama." However, there are also many Hebrew words in the earlier sentences of the Kaddish too. This is because the Jews in all generations were quite familiar with the simple Hebrew words and phrases in question, despite not always using Hebrew for daily conversation. Like the Kaddish, the Talmud is a mixture of Hebrew and Aramaic, with only a relatively small amount of difficult words in either language. So the answer is that the relevant mixture was the way in which they felt best able to express the desired content while keeping the whole perfectly understandable.
Elie Wiesel is foreshadowing the road ahead for the Jews in the ghetto was far worse than they believed it would be. The Jews believed that the Allies were not far off and their salvation was imminent. Unfortunately, they were wrong and many of them would perish in what would come.
Were Sephardic Jews in Egypt during the time of the Pharaoh?
If you believe in the story of the Exodus, the ancestors of all Jews were in Egypt, not just Sephardim. As for the first Jewish communities in Egypt (that would eventually become the Mizrahi Jewish Egyptian population), these began to crop up during the Ptolemaic Greek period. While the Ptolemies used the term "Pharaoh" to describe themselves, they were Greek both ethnically and in ruling-style.
Why was God important to ancient Hebrews?
God is not only important to the ancient Hebrews but also to the present generation. These people at that time saw that there is a supreme being controlling the universe. Life originates from the Almighty and as such everything depends on Him.
Is it true that in the year 77 CE the Romans gave the Jews their independence?
77 B.C was three years after the Roman's final victory in the war for the suppression of the Great Jewish Revolt (66-73) during which Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple were destroyed and some 97,000 Jews were taken to Rome as slaves. This was a very hard fought and costly victory and there is no way that the Romans would have given the Jews independence a few years later. There were two further revolts against the Romans. One was the Kito War or "Rebellion of the Exile" (115-117) during which Jews in Mesopotamia, Egypt and Cyprus killed many Romans and Greeks. The Bar Kokhba revolt (132-136 CE) broke out because the emperor Hadrian banned circumcision built Roman temples in Jerusalem and planned to rebuild this city as a Roman city. The rebellion was suppressed bloodily. Hadrian then issued anti-Judaism law, forbad the Jews from entering Jerusalem and renamed Judea, calling Syria Palaestina.
What did Solomon do to the kingdom because of his sins?
1) Because of King Solomon's errors, God decreed that, later, Solomon's country (Israel) would be split into two, leaving Solomon's descendants with the minority of the Israelite Tribes, while the majority would be under Yerav'am (1 Kings ch.11).2) Trouble was caused for Solomon by Haddad the Edomite and Rezon ben Elyada (1 Kings, ibid).
It should be noted that "Solomon's sins" is putting it too bluntly. Jewish tradition states that King Solomon made a couple of mistakes but was otherwise eminently righteous.
A) Following the system of prophecy, which was to spotlight and severely castigate any errors in God's eyes, Solomon is blamed as if he personally worshiped foreign gods (1 Kings, ibid), although it was actually only some of his foreign-born wives who did so (Talmud, Shabbat 56b). Solomon's error was in not supervising their households more carefully.
B) The Torah prohibits Israelite kings from being very ostentatious (Deuteronomy ch.17). Solomon did permit himself to do so, which was wrong, but his motivation was the desire to be seen as lavish by foreign monarchs (1 Kings 10:23) in order to attract them to the service of God. In this he had success (1 Kings 10:1 and 10:24), but he died too young to bring about the fruition of his grand idea (he died at the age of 52).
See also:
What is the definition of Bar?
"Bar" is an Aramaic word meaning "son". The Hebrew world for son is "ben". The reason for "Bar" in "Bar Mitzvah" is that ceremony came into existence when Jews still corresponded in Aramaic.
Who let Jews rebuild their temple?
The tradition is that it was Cyrus the Great, king of Persia.
Additionally:
King Cyrus of Persia made a decree allowing the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. The construction of the Temple continued under King Darius and was completed in 516 BCE. (Ezra 6:15).
No. Jews cannot drink pig milk according to the laws of Kashrut.
What is the difference between european jews and middle eastern jews?
As shown by DNA studies, all Jewish communities come from the Middle East originally. Later, during the Middle Ages the Sephardim were in the Mediterranean area (Spain, North Africa) and points east of it, while the Ashkenazim were to the north in France, Germany, Russia and Eastern Europe. This variety of locales has led to some differences in customs, but not in the Torah-laws themselves.
See also:
What do Jews call the Messiah?
Jews call "the Messiah" as "the Messiah" or in Hebrew "HaMoshiach" (המשיח). However, as opposed to other religions, such as Christianity or Islam, Judaism does not believe that the Messiah has come yet and therefore is not identified with any person. For example, Jews don't believe that Jesus was the Messiah and, therefore, do not accept the Christian or Islamic claims that he was a God prophet or God/son of God.
Why did Babylon take revenge against Judah?
Throughout the checkered history of the kingdoms or houses of Israel and Judah, they strayed from the ways of their Faithful father Abraham's God... and the LORD their God had to remind them of their sins [disobedience to His Laws - I John 3:4], warn them to repent and return to Him, and too often had to remove His Divine Protection from them, and allow their enemies to punish them for their hardhearted, self-destructive ways and rebellious rejection of Him.
Such was the case with the House or Kingdom of Judah [the Jews] some 130 odd years after the LORD their God removed their sister Kingdom of Israel, which never returned from their scattering and exile from their land by Assyria.
God kept comparing the House of Judah to their rebellious [and absent] sister kingdom, and warning them to repent again and again in advance of their pending defeat by the Babylonian empire.
"...'I remember how eager you were to please Me as a young bride long ago, how you loved Me and followed Me even through the barren wilderness. In those days Israel was Holy to the LORD, the first of My Children. All who harmed My people were considered guilty, and disaster fell upon them...'" (Jer.2:2-3 NLT New Living Translation)
"...'What sin did your ancestors find in Me that led them to stray so far? They worshiped foolish idols, only to become fools themselves.'" (verse 5)
"Has any nation ever exchanged its gods for another god, even though its gods are nothing? Yet My people have exchanged their Glorious God for worthless idols! The heavens are shocked at such a thing and shrink back in horror and dismay, says the LORD. For My people have done two evil things: they have forsaken Me - the Fountain of Living Water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no Water at all!
"Why has Israel become a nation of slaves? Why has she been carried away as plunder? ... YOU HAVE BROUGHT THIS ON YOURSELVES BY REBELLING AGAINST THE LORD YOUR GOD when He wanted to lead you and show you the way!
"What have you gained by your alliances with Egypt and Assyria? ...YOUR OWN WICKED WAYS WILL PUNISH YOU. You will see what a bitter thing it is to forsake the LORD your God, having no Fear of Him. I, the LORD, the LORD Almighty, have spoken!" (verses 11-19)
The bottom line is that the House of Judah [and Israel] could have spared themselves the ordeal of Babylon altogether if they had repented of their rebellious attitude toward the LORD their God and shed themselves of their idolatrous ways. [which is the case of any nation that professes the name of the LORD]
But they refused to do it.
"O Jerusalem, cleanse YOUR HEARTS that you may be saved. How long will you harbor your evil thoughts? ...Warn the surrounding nations and announce to Jerusalem: the enemy is coming from a distant land... YOUR OWN ACTIONS HAVE BROUGHT THIS UPON YOU. This punishment is a bitter dose of your own medicine. It has pierced you to the heart!" (Jer.4:14-18 NLT)
"And when your people ask, 'Why is the LORD our God doing this to us?' you must reply, 'YOU REJECTED HIM and GAVE YOURSELVES TO FOREIGN GODS IN YOUR OWN LAND. Now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.'" (Jer.5:19 NLT)
That is the answer to the question [and the answer for any nation, that suffers needlessly, that is founded on the principles of the Laws of Abraham's God.]
They brought it upon themselves -- rejecting Him and giving themselves over to foreign gods in their own land.
"Listen, you foolish and senseless people - who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear. Do you have no respect for Me? Why do you not tremble in My Presence? I, the LORD, AM the One who defines the ocean's sandy shoreline, an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the bounds I set." (verses 21-22)
"A horrible and shocking thing has happened in this land - the prophets give false prophecies, and the priests rule with an iron hand. And WORSE YET, My people like it that way! But what will you do when the end comes?" (verses 30-31)
"Run for your lives... Warn everyone that a powerful army is coming from the north to destroy this nation." (Jer.6:1 NLT)
"This is your last warning, Jerusalem! If you do not listen, I will empty the land... Disaster will fall upon you... To whom can I give warning? Who will listen when I speak? Their ears are closed, and they cannot hear. They scorn the Word of the LORD. They don't want to listen at all. So now I AM filled with the LORD's fury. Yes, I AM weary of holding it in!" (verses 8-11)
That's why Babylon took revenge against Judah.
What is the significance of holocaust during World War 1?
The Holocaust did not take place during WW 1, it was during WW 2.
Why were British soldiers occupying Jerusalem in the 1940s?
Jerusalem was part of the British Mandate of Palestine from 1919-1948, as a result, British troops were stationed in Jerusalem. It is a naturally advantageous military position since Jerusalem sits on a hill with clear sight lines in all directions.
Who did the ancient Hebrews believe would one day return and restore Israel to its former greatness?
Answer 1
The Hebrews didn't hold such a belief, unless you are talking about the concept of the Messiah, which is just a name for the next king of Israel.
Answer 2
Belief in a future redeemer (messiah) is one of the basic Jewish beliefs, as codified by Maimonides and recorded in our prayers. The redeemer will be the one who will:
* Build the Third Temple (Ezekiel 37:26-28)
* Gather all Jews back to the Land of Israel (Isaiah 43:5-6)
* Usher in an era of world peace: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall man learn war any more." (Isaiah 2:4)
* Spread universal knowledge of the God of Israel, which will unite humanity as one: God will be King over all the world -- on that day, God will be One and His Name will be One" (Zechariah 14:9)
* The messiah must be descended on his father's side from King David (Genesis 49:10 and Isaiah 11:1)
* The messiah will lead the Jewish people to full Torah observance.
Note on Messiahs:
It is important to note that the Messiah in Judaism is not (yet) any historically identified person, so there is nothing more definite in Judaism to "point him out" than "he will come". This is as opposed to Christianity, Islam, and Baha'i which all claim that the Messiah has come and it is Jesus Christ.
When did the Jewish people stop believing in Jesus as the Messiah?
The question is based on the incorrect supposition that the Jews of today had ancestors who accepted Jesus's claim to "Messiah-hood" and later rejected it. This is not true. Jews consistently disbelieved Jesus's claims because they contradicted Torah values and Jewish customs. It was only those Jews that Jesus convinced to believe in him that became Christians, the rest remained as they were, as if Jesus had never lived.
Anne Frank was a German Jewish concentration camp victim, born in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany. She fled from the Nazis to Holland in 1933 with her family. After the Nazis took over Holland, she hid with her family and four others in a sealed-off office back room in Amsterdam from 1942 until they were betrayed in August 1944. The animated diary she kept during the time she was hiding was published in 1947, and was dramatized and filmed. Anne Frank became a symbol of suffering under the Nazis. Her name was given to villages and schools for refugee children throughout Western Europe.
Annelies Marie Frank was born on June 12, 1929 in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany. Her parents thought that was a long name for a baby, so after awhile she was called Anne. Anne Frank loved to play tennis and swim. She enjoyed being with her friends in school and couldn't resist chatting during class. Although the family was German, it was also Jewish.
30,000 Jews lived in Frankfurt out of a population of 540,000 people in 1929. Frankfurt was the second largest community in Germany for Jewish people after Berlin City. In 1929, Otto Frank and Edith Frank were celebrating their anniversary, but it was not a good year for Germany. There were rules for Jewish people forcing them to leave their homes and live somewhere else called the ghetto. A lot of businesses were closed and closing, and thousands of people were out of work. A quarter of Frankfurt's population was unemployed.
When times started to get worse, more people joined a party called the National Socialists. The supporters blamed the bad times on the government and on the Jews. The Jews were always being blamed for things that they had not done, so it wasn't the first time. Edith Frank, Otto Frank, and other Jews hoped that this ill feeling towards them would soon go away and be forgotten. But soon the problem got worse, and the Nazis got stronger.
In 1933, Adolf Hitler, who was already the party's leader, was elected the head of a government made up of many parties. Two months later he was in control of everything. All the other political parties in the country were outlawed, and the people who were against the Nazi party were sent to prison camps. Laws were made that did not allow Germans to shop in stores that were owned by Jews. It was forbidden for people who were not Jewish to consult a Jewish doctor or a Jewish lawyer. By mid-April 1933, a law was made stating that all public employees who had even one Jewish grandparent were to be fired from their jobs. Jewish teachers were not able to teach in their schools. As Jews lost their jobs, there was more work for other Germans.
Suddenly, the Franks found that they were not Germans after all-they were Jews living in Germany trying to convince themselves that these laws would not last. In 1933 when the Nazis came to power, the Franks left Frankfurt and moved to Amsterdam, Holland. When the Frank family arrived in Holland, more than
100,000 Jews were living there. Anne and Margot Frank were enrolled in the Montessori School, which was just a few blocks from their home. They quickly made friends. Anne had thirteen other Jews in her class.
On May 10, 1940, Germany invaded Holland. It all came as a complete surprise. Within days, the country was forced to surrender. Many Dutchmen were forced to go to Germany and work in the factories. The people who stayed in Germany found themselves under new laws. All Jews had to sew a yellow six-pointed star on their clothing. Anne and her sister Margot couldn't do any public things. Anne was forced to leave her school, along with the other thirteen Jews in her class. Anne wept when she said goodbye to her teacher. Anne and Margot enrolled in the Jewish Secondary School. They were sad that they had to leave behind many good friends. Anne's father tried hard to protect his daughters from realizing just how desperate things were for Jews. For Anne's thirteenth birthday she received a diary. Anne was really happy because she felt that she needed something to write her feelings and thoughts in. Anne decided to name her diary Kitty.
Less then a month after Anne's birthday, the Franks received a postcard. Sixteen year old Margot Frank was being taken away to work in a German factory. Otto Frank knew that he and his family could not leave Holland, so he arranged a hideaway plan somewhere in Holland. Some other Jews had started to hide. It was called "diving." Very early in the morning on July 6, 1942, Anne was awakened. Following her mother's instructions, Anne put on layer after layer of clothing. It was the day the Frank family was going into hiding, and it was too risky too be seen carrying suitcases. Anne had no clue of what was going on. Soon some of the Franks' friends came to hide with them.
Anne and her family walked to the building at 263 Prinsengracht. The house had been constructed awhile ago. Each item they brought into the building was secretly brought. Anne noticed that the room had everything that they could ever need. There were not many rooms in the building, but it was enough. Some of them had to share rooms. The building was two upper floors of the warehouse connected to Mr. Frank's place of business. Each floor had two rooms. Eight people were crowed into this area. Besides the Franks, there were Mr. and Mrs. Van Daan, their son, Peter, and Albert Dussel. Mr. Van Daan was a business associate of Mr. Frank. Dr. Dussel was a dentist. They all were Jews, all afraid, and all wanted to live.
They all had to be very quiet and whisper because of the workers below them in the office. They also had to tiptoe. Some of their friends would bring them food and things that they needed. The eight Jews were happy to be alive. They got on each other's nerves a lot because they were so close together and because they were always together. They were often without heat. There was never enough food. They could only speak in whispers in the daytime. They couldn't move around much, and they couldn't run water. They did these things so that the workers in the office wouldn't hear them. Anne was always writing in her diary about everything that happened in the hideaway. She wrote about her fears, thoughts, and feelings.
For awhile while they were in the building, they could hear the German police coming around to find all Jews. Soon they were caught. The eight prisoners were taken to Gestapo headquarters. They where all locked in a room together. While they were locked up, they would whisper to each other. After a few days, they were transported to Westbork, a camp in eastern Holland. It was a place where Dutch Jews were sent before they were sent to a German camp. Anne was fascinated by all the views from the train window, but she did not enjoy the ride.
Three months after Anne and her family set out, the train arrived in Auschwitz. They were separated. Anne, Margot, and Edith Frank had to get their heads shaved. A number was stamped on their arms to identify them. Anne and Margot were moved on Oct. 30, while their parents remained. Anne felt terrible about everything that was happening The sisters were sent on another train to a camp in Bergen Belsen, Germany. That place was so crowed that the first few nights they had to sleep in a tent on the ground. In March 1945 Margot Frank (who had been really ill) died of typhus. Anne was also very sick. Soon after her sister's death, Anne died, too. Anne died less than two months before the war ended and three months before her sixteenth birthday.
The war finally ended. Otto Frank was the only one from the Franks' secret hideout who survived the war. He was hoping to find his family, but he didn't. Otto Frank found many notes from Anne's diary. Soon he actually found the diary itself. He read everything that his daughter, Anne Frank, had written. Otto decided to publish Anne's diary. It was first published in 1947.
Today, her diary has been translated into sixty-seven languages and is one of the most widely read books in the world. The house at 263 Prinsengracht is open for many people to come in and see it, so that many people could see how Anne lived and how things were back then in the building.
The man named Israel was identical with Jacob, to whom God gave the additional name of Israel (Genesis ch.35). His father was Isaac (Genesis ch.25).
Isaac (Yitzhak) was a son of Abraham (Genesis ch.21); and God said that His covenant with Abraham would continue with Isaac (Genesis 17:18-19). Isaac had facial features that were identical to Abraham (Rashi commentary, Genesis 25:19).
God tested Abraham by asking him to offer Isaac as an offering (see Genesis ch.22); and this readiness for self-sacrifice bestowed a special holiness upon Isaac (Talmud, Yevamot 64).
Isaac married Rebecca (Genesis ch.24), his second cousin. Rebecca gave birth to two sons, Esau and Jacob (Genesis ch.25).
God spoke to Isaac, confirming His covenant with him (Genesis ch.26).
Despite harassment from the Philistines, Isaac enjoyed great success (ibid.). He reopened all the wells which his father had dug and the Philistines had stopped up (ibid.). The king of the Philistines, unable to ignore Isaac's phenomenal success, petitioned him to make a mutual treaty of non-aggression (ibid.).
In his advanced years, Isaac sought to bless his elder son Esau (Genesis ch.27). Rebecca took pains to thwart this and to ensure that Jacob would receive the blessing, since she had learned through prophecy (Genesis 25:23) that Jacob would be more favored by God. (See: Isaac's blessing)
Later it became apparent that Isaac admitted to Rebecca's having done the right thing, since he blessed Jacob again (Genesis 28:1-4) even after he found out what had happened (see Genesis 27:6-16).
Isaac sent Jacob to the ancestral family seat in Mesopotamia to choose a wife (Genesis ch.28). Though Jacob didn't return for over twenty years (Genesis 31:38), God granted Isaac extra years, so that he lived on for two decades after Jacob's return.
Isaac was buried next to his father Abraham, in Hebron (Genesis 49:31).
Jacob, son of Isaac, was the last of the Patriarchs (Talmud, Berakhot 16b). He spent a lot of time in the tents (Genesis 25:27) studying his ancestors' teachings (Rashi commentary, ibid.); and eventually, like Abraham and Isaac before him, attained prophecy, in which God confirmed His covenant and promised His protection (Genesis 28:10-15).
When the opportunity presented itself, Jacob asked his elder twin brother Esau to sell him his birthright (Genesis 25:29:34), since he sensed that Esau wasn't pious enough to fully deserve it. Thus began the fulfillment of the prophecy which Rebecca had heard, that Jacob would become the dominant of her two sons (Genesis 25:22-23).
Jacob's life was replete with tribulations (Rashi commentary, Genesis 43:14). He managed to come out ahead despite the wiles of the deceitful Laban (Genesis 29:25 and 31:41) and the danger presented by the angry Esau (Genesis 27:41 and 32:12).
There were painful events with his daughter Dinah (Genesis 34:1-7) and with his being separated for two decades from his beloved son, Joseph (Genesis ch.37); and his wife Rachel died at a young age in childbirth (Genesis 35:16-19).
These troubles were a portent for the tribulations of the Jews in their times of exile. But Jacob received God's affirmation of His covenant and blessing (Genesis 28:13-14; 35:9-12; 46:2-4), signifying that the exile would eventually end. God gave Jacob the honor-title of Israel, indicating his eventual ascendancy (Genesis ch.35).
What is Abraham's wife's name before she got married?
The Jewish patriarch Abraham's first wife was called Sarai, and her name was changed to Sara when being the mother if Isak (Yitzchak).
Abraham also married Hagar and Ketura, both bearing descendants to him.
Surnames of the modern kind were not common in those days, but a woman could be identified as "daughter of NN" which wouldn't change with marriage, but she would also be known as "wife of MM".
How are events in the history of Judaism important?
The important events in the history of Judaism include:
- The founding of Western monotheism by Abraham
- The giving of the Torah, which includes the Ten Commandments.
The long, rich history of Judaism gives the Western world much of its shape today. Many of the laws, traditions, culture and values are directly attributable to Judaism. Here are a few examples:
1) The Jews' monotheistic religious tradition (Deuteronomy 6:4) shaped the Western beliefs about God.
2) The 7-day week (Exodus ch.20), including a day of rest for everyone. This weekly rest was a concept unique to the Israelites.
3) The concept of morality (Leviticus ch.18-19) was also the work of the Hebrews, including the dignity (Genesis 5:1) and value of a person (whereas idolatry had tended to go hand in hand with cruel, licentious and excessive behavior, since the caprices which were narrated concerning the idols were adopted as an excuse to imitate those types of behavior).
4) Women's rights were carefully maintained in Judaism. Israelite women could own property, could initiate court cases, could have their own servants, and could own fields and businesses; and the Torah specifies marital rights for women (Exodus 21:10).
5) Under Israelite law, everyone had recourse to the courts. A child, widow, wife, poor person, etc., could initiate legal action against any citizen to redress perpetrated harm. Compare this to those societies in which only mature, land-owning males had any legal status.
6) The Western diet is a reflection of much of the Judaic dietary law. With the exception of the pig, Western society does not eat species not contained in kosher law (Deuteronomy ch.14). Owls, mice, insects, rats, snakes, cats and dogs are not eaten by most Westerners and it is a direct result of Jewish culture.
7) Parents are responsible for teaching children (Deuteronomy ch.11). Illiteracy among Israelites, in every generation, was rare. Universal education in the Western world is taken for granted today, yet this is a recent development. In Judaism, however, it goes back for more than 3300 years. Judaism has always maintained that education is the highest goal of man in his pursuit of godliness. This tradition has now been passed on to Western culture.
8) Infants are to be cherished, protected and cared for, whether or not they turned out to be the gender you were hoping for. Compare this to societies in which unhealthy babies, or females, were killed.
9) Cruelty to animals is not acceptable.
10) Government is accountable to a higher authority. In other ancient societies, the monarch was all-powerful. Among the Israelites, however, the king was under the constant scrutiny of the Divinely-informed prophets, who didn't hesitate to castigate him publicly for any misstep in the sight of God. And, other than for the crime of rebellion, the king couldn't punish any citizen by his own decision. He was obligated by the Torah-procedures like everyone else (Talmud, Sanhedrin 19a).
11) A robber repays double to his victim (Exodus 22:3), or works it off. Cutting off the hands of a robber is a punishable crime. Debtors are not imprisoned or harmed. They are made to sell property and/or work to repay what they owe. Compare this to the Roman practice by which anyone could accuse a man of owing them money and the debtor could be killed (Roman "Twelve Tables of Law" code, 3:10).
12) Western jurisprudence in general is based in part upon Judaic Torah-observance. A quick look at the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) and the laws that follow (Exodus ch.21-23) gives a summary of most modern law.
13) It is the responsibility of the community to support the poor (Deuteronomy ch.15), the widow, the orphan, and the stranger passing through (Exodus 22:20-21).
It is important to note that all of the above were instituted among the Hebrews (a.k.a. the Israelites) thousands of years earlier than in other nations. Here's one example: Infanticide was practiced among classical European nations until it was stopped by the influence of Judaism and its daughter-religions. Professor and former President of the American Historical Association, William L. Langer (in The History of Childhood): "Children, being physically unable to resist aggression, were the victims of forces over which they had no control, and they were abused in almost unimaginable ways."
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What influences did the Zionists have where they relocated?
The Zionists had an number of important influences on the Israeli state structure and culture (since most of them relocated to Israel). Some of those influences include:
1) European Business Culture: Most of the Zionists were from Europe and were used to doing business along European timelines as opposed to Turkish or Arab timelines. This meant longer work hours and generally more productive agricultural techniques.
2) University Establishment: As most of the Zionists were relatively educated European Jews, they founded several institutions of higher learning and lead to the increase in local literacy and development.
3) European Foods: Zionists brought their foods with them. Modern Israel has a melange of typical Levantine foods, like shwarma, felafel, humus and pita, and simple salads, but also has European Jewish foods like kishka, schnitzel, and cholent.
4) Infrastructure Development: The Zionists set to building many roads, improving the Ottoman train tracks and and improving general connections country-wide.
5) Land Acquisition: The Zionists took an active role in buying territory from the Turkish landowners in Mandatory Palestine to create more space for the Jewish immigrants and settlements to develop. This land acquisition directly led to the Jewish National Fund and the modern Israeli land policies.
