History of Humanity

1
History of Humanity

• Canaanites, Assyrians, Ethiopians, Babylonians,
  Persians, Ishmaelites, Greeks, Pagan Romans,
  Christian Romans, Muslim Empires.

2
Who is Jewish?

• Religious Judaism
• Ethnic Judaism

3
Judaism Sacred Story

• Three elements of Judaism
• One God Shema
• Torah as word of God
• Future Salvation

4
Terminology

• Avoiding Christian-centric terminology
• BC-AD vs BCE-CE
• 1427 AH (on Jan 31)
• 5767 in Jewish calendar
• Old Testament vs Hebrew Bible/Tanakh

5
Biblical Myth

• Genesis 1-11
• Adam and Eve Garden of Eden Creation
• The Flood
• Tower of Babel

6
Biblical Legend

• Starts at Genesis 12
• Abram / Abraham and Sarah
• Ur
• c. 1900-1700 BCE
• 1st Patriarch

7
Biblical Legend

• Canaan
• Hagar
• Ishmael and Isaac

8
Biblical Legend

• Isaac
• Jacob / Israel
• God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
• The three patriarchs

9
Biblical History

• Moses in Egypt
• YHWH ????
• Exodus c. 1250 BCE
• Pesach or Passover

10
Biblical History

• Mt. Sinai
• Torah law
• Mitzvah commandment (pl. mitzvot)
• Mosaic Covenant
• treaty

11
Biblical History

• Canaanite gods Baal and Asherah
• Henotheism vs Monotheism
• Joshua
• 12 Tribes ruled over by judges

12
Monarchy

• Saul
• David (ruled c.
• 1000-960 BCE)
• Most famous king
• Most loved king

13
Monarchy

• David (ruled c. 1000-960 BCE)
• Model king
• Consolidation of the kingdom - Israel
• Peace and prosperity
• Jerusalem

14
Monarchy

• Solomon
• (ruled 960-21 BCE)
• Builds first Temple
• (completed c. 931 BCE)
• Solomon renowned
• for his wealth,
• wisdom, and
• international power

15
Monarchy Breaks Down

• 12 tribes united monarchy divided into two
  kingdoms
• Judah in the south
• Israel in the north (north of the Dead Sea)

16
Monarchy Breaks Down

• Changing political power internationally means
  Israel suddenly has enemies
• Assyrians sack northern Kingdom
• 721 BCE

17
New Enemies

• Babylonians sack Judah
• 587 BCE
• King Nebuchadnezzar
• levels Jerusalem
• destroys the First Temple
• scatters the aristocracy and land owners

18
New Possibilities

• Three features of this new Judaism
• The Diaspora Jew
• The Prophet
• The Septuagint (LXX)

19
The Second Temple

• Persians
• King Cyrus of Persia

20
The Second Temple

• Israelites invited to return (c. 538 BCE)
• Temple rebuilt completed in 515 BCE
• Ezra starts collection of scriptures
• Judaism vs the religion of the Israelites

21
The Joy of Sects

• Sects
• Sadducees
• Pharisees
• Sicarii
• Zealots
• Christians

22
Wars of Independence I

• 1) 66-73 CE
• Jewish War
• Rome destroys Second Temple in 70 CE
• Second Temple Judaism 515 BCE 70 CE
• 2) 132-35 CE
• Bar Kochba Revolt
• squashed by Rome

23
Rabbinic Judaism

• 70 - 500 CE
• New Religion?
• Synagogue vs Temple
• Prayer vs Sacrifice
• Talmud vs Torah

24
Medieval Judaism

• 500-1600 CE
• Encounter with Islam
• Philosophy

25
Medieval Judaism

• Saadia (12th c.)
• Judah Halevi (12th c.)
• Moses Maimonides (12th c.)
• Rabbi Moses ben Maimon RMBM Rambam
• Guide for the Perplexed

26
Responses to Persecution

• Mysticism
• Hasidism
• Modern Scepticism
• Zionism

27
Responses to Persecution

• 1) Mysticism
• Kabbalah
• The Zohar
• Rabbi Simeon bar Yochai (3rd c.), aka Moses ben
  Shemtov of Leon (13th c.)
• Shabbatai Zvi (17th c.)
• (1666 CE)

28
Responses to Persecution

• 2) Hasidism
• Israel ben Eliezer (18th c.)
• aka The Baal Shem Tov
• the master of the good name
• aka The Baal Shem
• aka Besht
• Lubavitch

29
Responses to Persecution

• 3) Modern Sectarianism
• Reform
• Moses Mendelssohn (18th c.)
• Acculturation
• Liberal interpretation of Torah

30
Responses to Persecution

• 3) Modern Sectarianism
• Conservative
• Zecharias Frankel in Germany
• Solomon Schechter in the US
• both in the 19th c.
• Stricter interpretation of Torah

31
Responses to Persecution

• 3) Modern Sectarianism
• Orthodox
• Samson Raphael Hirsch (19th c.)
• Strict interpretation of Torah
• As Gods word, Torah is not to be negotiated with

32
Responses to Persecution

• 4) Zionism
• Independence, security, language
• Theodor Herzl (1860-1904)
• Mixed reception among Jews (still)

33
Holocaust

• Shoah burnt offering
• 1933 Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of
  Germany
• Increasing persecution and public harassment of
  German Jews

34
Holocaust

• Nov 9/10 1938 Kristallnacht The Night of
  Broken Glass
• Judenfrage
• Final Solution

35
Holocaust

• Total European Jewry before the war
• 9,508,340
• Total killed
• 5,962,129 (63).
• 4 million in the extermination camps
• 1.5 million in mass executions over the war
• others of starvation and disease in Ghettos and
  throughout the war.

36
The Complicity of the West

• 1938 League of Nations conference of 32
  countries
• 1939 The St. Louis
• turned away by Cuba, the United States, Canada
• Had to return to Europe.

37
Zionism

• State of Israel 1948
• Palestinians
• Jewish Muslim Relations

38
Map of Religious Expansion

• http//www.mapsofwar.com/images/Religion.swf