DOCSLIB.ORG

The Beth El Bulletin December 2019 Kislev-Tevet 5780

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Beth El Bulletin December 2019 Kislev-Tevet 5780 The Beth El Bulletin December 2019 Kislev-Tevet 5780 From the desk of… Rabbi Rachel Safman Inside this issue: “Self-Dedication” 2 Service Schedule Despite its prominence in American Jewish life, President’s Message 3 Chanukah is a relatively minor inclusion in the tradi- tional Jewish calendar. In most parts of the Jewish Messages Continued 4 world (including Israel), the festival is observed in a Beth El Bylaws relatively low-key fashion with the lighting candles or oil lamps (with appropriate blessings), the singing of holiday songs (Mi Cantor’s Visits/ 5 Yimalel and Ma'oz Tzur being the most widespread) and the consumption of Hanukkah Reminder oil-rich holiday treats (latkes for those of Ashkenazi heritage, sufganiyot – Beth El Gift Shop/ 6 jelly-filled doughnuts - for those under the sway of contemporary Israeli Milton Seed Turns 95! tastes). Potluck Supper 7 Its relative obscurity notwithstanding, Chanukah actually does involve some fairly significant alterations in our liturgical practices. For each of the Donations/ 8-9 eight days of the festival, our morning service includes the singing of the full Mazel Tov Hallel (a collection of festive psalms recited in comparable abundance only at Sukkot), the lighting of candles, and the recitation of Psalm 30, which for Our Treasured Memories 10 the duration of the holiday takes on a peculiar preface: Mizmor shir chanukat 11 ha-bayit l'David ("A Song for the Dedication of the Temple by [King] Da- Birthdays & Anniversaries/ Simcha Shabbat vid"). There are many things that are unusual about the association of Psalm 30 Blanket Brigade/ 12 with the Chanukah festival, but this dedication – which on the surface seems Thank you from Hillel to explain the relationship between the holiday and the text – is perhaps the Thank You’s/ 13 most bizarre. For the body of the psalm itself makes no mention of the Habitat for Humanity Temple – or, indeed, of any edifice. In fact, the psalm talks about the spiritu- al elevation of a person (the Kabbalists claim that this person is specifically Condolences 14 King David), not about the structure in which this was intended to occur. The mystery deepens when we look at the Kabbalists' explanation of Yahrzeits 15 Psalm 30. They claim that by reciting it we are elevating ourselves from the realm of Olam HaAsiyah (the material realm of, among other things, brick- Beth El Book Club/ 16 and-mortar) to Olam HaY itzirah (the realm of spirituality or creative energy). Train to Lead Services In other words, we shift our focus from the material to the spiritual. December Calendar 17 Taken in this light, the association of Psalm 30 with the festival of Chanu- kah, which might date to as late as the 15th century – the period when the Food Donations/ 18- Jewish community was being driven out of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Advertisers 19 Portugal) – was something of a veiled critique of the historical Maccabees (also known as the Hasmoneans). For when the Maccabees faced an existen- tial challenge to their faith and culture, they decided to invest their energy in shoring up Jewish "real estate," taking back the Temple compound that had been overrun and defiled by the Seleucid Greeks. But what the Iberian Kabbalists seem to be emphasizing, in similarly threatening circumstances, was the need to focus on the cultural and spiritual underpinnings of the Jewish enterprise. If this was their message, history would suggest the medieval thinkers Continued on page 4 December 2019 The Beth El Bulletin Kislev-Tevet 5780 SERVICE SCHEDULE FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER Service Candle Daily Lighting Shabbat ends Services Weekly Morning Svc. Monday & Thursday 7:00 a.m. at Shaw Street* Daily Evening Svc. Sunday—Thursday 7:30 p.m. at Shaw Street 6:00 p.m. Friday 12/6 Musical Kabbalat 4:00 p.m. Shabbat 9:30 a.m. Saturday 12/7 SimchaShabbat 5:08 p.m. at Inn on Ocean Ave. (917 Ocean Ave.) 6:00 p.m. Friday 12/13 Kabbalat Shabbat 4:01 p.m. Saturday 12/14 9:30 a.m. 5:09 p.m. 6:00 p.m. Friday 12/20 Musical Kabbalat 4:03 p.m. Shabbat & Potluck Saturday 12/21 9:30 a.m. 5:12 p.m. 6:00 p.m. 4:07 p.m. Friday 12/27 (preceded by 6th Kabbalat Shabbat Chanukah candle) 10:00-11:30 a.m. 5:16 p.m Saturday 12/28 (followed by 7th Short Shabbat Chanukah candle) *Please note that the morning service, held on Mondays and Thursdays at 7:00 a.m., will now be taking place at our Shaw Street office. Unless otherwise announced, all Shabbat services will take place at Crossroads (70 Cross Rd., Waterford). *Should you wish to ensure a minyan to say kaddish, please notify the office at least 2 days prior so that we may announce it to the congregation. Please also ask your friends and family to come. 2 December 2019 The Beth El Bulletin Kislev-Tevet 5780 Our Mission Statement: The mission of Congregation Beth El is to foster a welcoming, diverse, and egalitarian community within the framework of Conservative Judaism, and to enrich the lives of its members through worship, learning, fellowship, celebration and tikun olam—healing the world. President’s Message Dear Beth El Members, I’d like to use this column to address quesons that I have received from congre‐ gants. The first queson regards the donaon that Temple Emanu-El (TE) received last June that allowed TE to pay off its mortgage. Q: I heard a rumor that one of the spulaons for the anonymous Temple Emanu- El donaon was that TE NOT combine with Congregaon Beth El (BE). Is this true? A: No, this is not true. The only spulaon was that TE could not sell the building. BE and TE are free to enter into a long-term lease so that BE can build a chapel with‐ in the TE footprint. Assuming that TE and BE reach agreement, this generous donor has enriched the enre Jewish Community. Rather than paying rent to another landlord, BE’s rent will be going toward supporng the Community Campus. Q: Do TE and BE have a dra lease? A: No, not yet. We have a verbal agreement in concept and now we are trying to come up with a design for a chapel that hopefully everyone can get excited about. Q: You could build three temples in five years. Why does it take that long for a chapel? A: It doesn’t. We met with an architect in November, and it is enrely possible that we could have a chapel by November 2020. We will have to work hard to make that happen, but it is possible. Q: What happens down the line if there is a problem with the lease? A: We will dra a long-term lease that will address BE’s needs. Q: Who gets priority if both congregaons want to use, say, the kitchen, at the same me. A: Inially, TE will get priority. However, once BE books the use of the kitchen or any other part of the facility, TE will not be able to “bump” BE’s use of that poron of the building. That said, both sides need to be reasona‐ ble. If BE has booked the sanctuary, and TE needs it for say a funeral, then of course, the two pares will need to discuss the relave importance of the two events and reach an amicable soluon. Calendar management and reasonable minds are the key. Q: What happens at High Holidays? A: As I stated in my Kol Nidre address, BE will connue to celebrate High Holidays at the Holiday Inn or other off -site locaon. Q: How can we connue to spend more money than we receive in yearly dues? A: We can’t. The money from the sale of the building has been generang income, and we have used that in‐ come to off-set our yearly deficit. We can hire a full-me rabbi for the next few years, but long-term, we cannot afford a full-me rabbi. We will need to hire a part-me rabbi or share a rabbi with Beth Jacob or Temple Emanu-El. We are open to other soluons, but you are correct—we can’t connue to spend more money than we receive in yearly dues. Q: Let’s go in on a facility as three equal partners and do it quickly. A: We can’t go into the TE building as an equal partner for the following reason: As discussed above, TE can‐ not sell BE half of its building. [Even if BE were able to purchase half of the TE building, the $600K cost (it Continued on page 4 3 December 2019 The Beth El Bulletin Kislev-Tevet 5780 From the desk of… Rabbi Rachel Safman Continued from Page 1 were not entirely off-base. For, as it turns out, the Maccabees' reconquest of the Temple and its rededi- cation, a victory we celebrate each year at Chanukah, was to prove short-lived. While the besieged warriors did, indeed, re-establish Jewish control of the Temple compound and even installed as Israel's dynastic leader Simon Thassi, brother of Judah the Maccabee, they did not address the underlying erosion of the society over which they presided. As a result, within less than two centuries (a blink of an eye in Jewish time) the independent Jewish kingdom had become a Roman client state, its leadership mere puppets to the emperor. As we recite Psalm 30 this year, it's worth contemplating the balance that our forebears tried to find between the importance of building and maintaining a house of worship and the need to invest in the spiritual and scholarly vitality of their communal lives.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Chronological Particular Timeline of Near East and Europe History
    Introduction This compilation was begun merely to be a synthesized, occasional source for other writings, primarily for familiarization with European world development. Gradually, however, it was forced to come to grips with the elephantine amount of historical detail in certain classical sources. Recording the numbers of reported war deaths in previous history (many thousands, here and there!) initially was done with little contemplation but eventually, with the near‐exponential number of Humankind battles (not just major ones; inter‐tribal, dynastic, and inter‐regional), mind was caused to pause and ask itself, “Why?” Awed by the numbers killed in battles over recorded time, one falls subject to believing the very occupation in war was a naturally occurring ancient inclination, no longer possessed by ‘enlightened’ Humankind. In our synthesized histories, however, details are confined to generals, geography, battle strategies and formations, victories and defeats, with precious little revealed of the highly complicated and combined subjective forces that generate and fuel war. Two territories of human existence are involved: material and psychological. Material includes land, resources, and freedom to maintain a life to which one feels entitled. It fuels war by emotions arising from either deprivation or conditioned expectations. Psychological embraces Egalitarian and Egoistical arenas. Egalitarian is fueled by emotions arising from either a need to improve conditions or defend what it has. To that category also belongs the individual for whom revenge becomes an end in itself. Egoistical is fueled by emotions arising from material possessiveness and self‐aggrandizations. To that category also belongs the individual for whom worldly power is an end in itself.
    [Show full text]
  • The Maccabees
    The Maccabees Written by Steven G. Rhodes Copyright Case# 1-3853893102 Date: Nov 26, 2016 Steven G. Rhodes 1830 NW 1st Ave., Apt D. Gainesville, FL 32603 305-766-5734 941-227-5997 stevengrhodes @yahoo.com REM: Order of Day 8 Chanukah: Circa 1930’s Europe. (hidden until ACT III) REM: WATCH JUDITH MOVIES ON NETFLIX. REM: WATCH ADAM AT SOLSTICE MOVIES OJ NETFLIX REM: WATCH LEVIATHAN MOVIES ON NETFLIX 1 REM PROLOGUE: READ BY NARRATOR (RABBI DALLMAN) 1 Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days beginning on the 25th of Kislev (mid- to late-December). Since Hanukkah falls four days before the new moon (the darkest night of the month) and close to the winter solstice (the longest night of the year), it seems only natural that a key element of this holiday is light. In fact, one of its other names is the "Feast of Lights" (along with "Feast of Dedication" and "Feast of the Maccabees"). The only essential ritual of Hanukkah is the lighting of candles. The Hanukkah candles are held in a chanukkiah, a candelabra that holds nine candles. (The chanukkiah is different from a menorah, which is a candelabra that holds seven candles and is pictured on the official emblem of the State of Israel.) The candle (shammash) in the middle of the chanukkiah is used to light the others. The idea of a seder is of course best known from Passover, where a progression of 15 steps shapes a complicated process that allows us to re-live and re-experience the Exodus from Egypt. In the same way, we are used to daily and Shabbat services flowing through a fixed progression of prayers found in the siddur [prayerbook] (from the same root as seder).
    [Show full text]
  • Episode 108: Mark Part 48—Greater Than the Temple
    Episode 108: Mark Part 48—Greater than the Temple As a preview of chapters 11 and 12, where Yeshua/Jesus condemns and increasingly replaces the Temple as the overlap between Heaven and Earth, we’ll be reviewing some of the “greater than” claims about Yeshua in the Bible and talking about the implications of Malachi, Isaiah and 4QFlor, which discusses the important concept of mikdash adam, the living Temple of the Qumran community. If you can’t see the podcast link, click here. This is going to be really different because this teaching is a pre-emptive overview of Mark chapters 11-12, and to a certain extent, all the way through to chapter 16. The story Mark is telling is the title of this teaching—namely, that Yeshua/Jesus is “Greater than the Temple” and He will, in fact, increasingly judge and functionally replace it over the course of these chapters. This is not to say that the Temple was not used, and even used by the disciples after His resurrection but when we look at the functional purpose and meaning of the Temple, Yeshua is going to really put things into perspective for us. I know this may come as a shock to some people but I hope you will hear me out. I have been studying the Temple for years and it is incredibly fascinating and a very difficult area of study, but Mark’s meaning is also very clear. And so, we’re going to explore it and this will even help us understand why, in Revelation, there is no Temple per se—in fact, the entire city is set up as though it is one big communal Temple.
    [Show full text]
  • Historical Jesus 9: Jewish Groups
    Historical Jesus 9: Jewish Groups Four Main Jewish Groups “The Jews had for a great while had three sects of philosophy peculiar to themselves; the sect of the Essenes, and the sect of the Sadducees, and the third sort of opinions was that of those called Pharisees;…But of the fourth sect of Jewish philosophy, Judas the Galilean was the author.” (Josephus, Antiquites of the Jews 18.11, 23) Two centuries before Jesus’ began his ministry, a Greek empire ruled over the land of Israel. The empire outlawed the Law of Moses (Torah) and defiled the Temple by sacrificing a pig to an idol there. This caused a revolution led by the Hasmonean family who presided over Israel from 167-63 bc. 1 They won their religious freedom and eventually political freedom. During this period, several groups emerged including the Pharisees, Essenes, and Sadducees. 2 Pharisees and Sadducees in the Hasmonean Period 3 167 - Mattathias initiated revolution --- military leader --- 166 4 167 -160 Judah the captured and cleansed son of Mattathias military leader --- Maccabee Temple 160 -143 Jonathan Apphus achieved religious son of Mattathias high priest possibly instigated freedom Essenes to withdraw 142 -135 Simon Thassi achieved political freedom son of Mattathias high priest --- 134 -104 John Hyrcanus minted coins, conquered son of Simon high priest supported Pharisees Samaria, Idumea then Sadducees 104 -103 Judah Aristobulus conquered Galilee son of Hyrcanus king & high infuriated Pharisees priest by claiming kingship 103 -76 Alexander conquered Iturea, Gaza brother
    [Show full text]
  • Editor:Sam. Eisikovits [email protected]
    1 בס''ד נפלאות הבריאה Chanukkah Editor:Sam. Eisikovits [email protected] 2 Chanukkah Hanukkah (/ˈhɑːnəkə/ HAH-nə- ,חֲנּוכָּה ḥanuká, Tiberian: ḥanuká, usually spelled חֲנֻכָּה :kə; Hebrew pronounced [χanuˈka] in Modern Hebrew, [ˈχanukə] or [ˈχanikə] in Yiddish; a transliteration also romanized as Chanukah or Ḥanukah) is a Jewish festival commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire. It is also known as the Festival of .(ḥag ha'urim ,חַג הַ אּורִ ים :Lights (Hebrew Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar. The festival is observed by lighting the candles of a candelabrum with nine branches, called a menorah (or hanukkiah). One branch is typically placed above or below the others and its candle is used to light the other eight ,שַמָּ ש :candles. This unique candle is called the shamash (Hebrew "attendant"). Each night, one additional candle is lit by the shamash until all eight candles are lit together on the final night of the festival. Other Hanukkah festivities include playing the game of dreidel and eating oil- based foods, such as latkes and sufganiyot, and dairy foods. Since the 1970s, the worldwide Chabad Hasidic movement has initiated public menorah lightings in open public places in many countries. Although a relatively minor holiday in strictly religious terms, Hanukkah has attained major cultural significance in North America and elsewhere among secular Jews as a Jewish alternative to Christmas, and is often celebrated correspondingly fervently.
    [Show full text]
  • NABATEAN CIVILIZATION PROFILE Version 0.2, by Ismael Silva (A.K.A
    NABATEAN CIVILIZATION PROFILE Version 0.2, by Ismael Silva (a.k.a. Aghilas) and Atenmeses52 Email: [email protected] Civ Emblem: • Historical Period: Although the Nabataeans were literate, they left no lengthy historical texts. However, there are thousands of inscriptions still found today in several places where they once lived; including graffiti and on their minted coins. The first historical reference to the Nabataeans is by Greek historian Diodorus Siculus who lived around 30 BC, but he includes some 300 years earlier information about them. • The Twelve Sons of Ishmael: Nebaioth, Qedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, Kedemah. • Civilization Overview: The Nabataeans, also Nabateans, were an Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the Southern Levant, and whose settlements, most prominently the assumed capital city of Raqmu, now called Petra, in AD 37 – c. 100, gave the name of Nabatene to the borderland between Arabia and Syria, from the Euphrates to the Red Sea. Their loosely controlled trading network, which centered on strings of oases that they controlled, where agriculture was intensively practiced in limited areas, and on the routes that linked them, had no securely defined boundaries in the surrounding desert.Trajan conquered the Nabataean kingdom, annexing it to the Roman Empire, where their individual culture, easily identified by their characteristic finely potted painted ceramics, became dispersed in the general Greco-Roman culture and was eventually lost. They were later converted to Christianity. Jane Taylor, a writer, describes them as "one of the most gifted peoples of the ancient world". • Notes on Warfare: Hence we come to a lightly armoured but swift-moving force which was used for raiding or fighting off raiders.
    [Show full text]
  • Thy Kingdom Come: a Sketch of Christ's Church in History – Book I
    THY KINGDOM COME A SKETCH OF CHRIST’S CHURCH IN HISTORY Book I : Christ’s Church in its Formation and Jewish Dispensation Compiled and edited by J. Parnell McCarter “our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.” – I Corinthians 10:1-4 Dedicated to the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. As one branch of Christ’s Church here on Earth, she has sought to faithfully proclaim the historic reformed and Biblical faith. Compiled and edited by J. Parnell McCarter ©2001 J. Parnell McCarter. All Rights Reserved. 6408 Wrenwood Jenison, MI 49428 (616) 457-8095 The Puritans’ Home School Curriculum www.puritans.net 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Timeline…………………………… p. 4 Chapter 1 : The Church in History……………p. 5 Chapter 2 : The Promise to the Faithful………p. 8 Chapter 3 : The Patriarchs…………………….p.12 Chapter 4 : The Years in Egypt………………p. 15 Chapter 5 : The Church in the Wilderness……p. 19 Chapter 6 : The Church in Canaan Led by Judges………..p. 25 Chapter 7 : The Kingdom of Israel……….p. 29 Chapter 8 : The Kingdom of Judah………p. 34 Chapter 9 : The Kingdom of Samaria……..p. 37 Chapter 10 : Nineveh…………………….p. 41 Chapter 11 : The Captivity…………………p. 46 Chapter 12 : Babylon………………….p. 50 Chapter 13 : Cyrus………………….p. 54 Chapter 14: The Rebuilding of the Temple………..p.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Slides
    “The days are coming," declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land — not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.” -Amos 8:11 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar!” -Malachi 1:10 “For my part, I assure you, I had rather excel others in the knowledge of what is excellent, than in the extent of my power and dominion.” ~Plutarch, Life of Alexander “And when the book of Daniel was showed him, wherein Daniel declared that one of the Greeks should destroy the empire of the Persians, he supposed that himself was the person intended; and he was then glad.” Josephus, Antiquities 11:8:5 “The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king. The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power.” -Daniel 8:21-22 -Robs the Temple -Ends the Daily Sacrifice -Forbids Circumcision -Forbids Assembly for Prayer -Forbids Possession of Scripture -Sacrifice of Pig upon the Altar -Forces Jews to eat the flesh of pigs -Incites Rebellion Revolt Led by Mattathias the Priest John (Gaddi) Simon (Thassi) Judas (Maccabeus) Eleazar (Avaran) Jonathan (Apphus) Commissioned to clear the seas of piracy Resolves the Civil War between the Sadducees and Pharisees Conquest of Jerusalem “Go and make a careful search for the child.
    [Show full text]
  • New Evidence for the Dates of the Walls of Jerusalem in the Second Half of the Second Century BC
    ELECTRUM * Vol. 26 (2019): 25–52 doi: 10.4467/20800909EL.19.002.11205 www.ejournals.eu/electrum NEW EVIDENCE FOR THE Dates OF THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE SECOND CENTURY BC Donald T. Ariel Israel Antiquities Authority Abstract: Alongside a critique of a new analysis of Josephus’ long account of Antiochus VII Sidetes’ siege of Jerusalem in his Antiquities, this paper presents new archaeological support for the conclusion that, at the time of the siege, the “First Wall” enclosed the Southwestern Hill of the city. Further examination of the stratigraphic summaries of the Hellenistic fortification system at the Giv‘ati Parking Lot proposes that the system constituted part of the western city-wall for the City of David hill. The addition of a lower glacis to the wall was made in advance of Sidetes’ siege. In other words, in addition to the “First Wall” protecting the western side of an expanded Jerusalem, John Hyrcanus also reinforced the City of David’s wall, as an additional barrier to the Seleucid forces. Later, after the high priest’s capitulation to Sidetes (132 BC) and the king’s death in Media (129 BC), Hyrcanus again reinforced the same fortification with an upper glacis, which never was tested. Keywords: Jerusalem, “First Wall”, Southwestern Hill, Giv‘ati Parking Lot, Antiochus VII Sidetes, John Hyrcanus. Introduction In understanding human settlement, size is a basic jumping-off point. However, for a large ancient settlement to be defined as a city, it must also have a defensive wall around it. Tracing the growth and decline of a city has often been undertaken by measur- ing the amount of land within its city-walls.
    [Show full text]
  • 581 Appendix 3B, II, Attachment 5 CHARTED EXPLORATION of FAMILIAL RELATIONSHIPS JOHANAN/JONATHAN/[Y]JEHOHANAN/JOHN to JOHN HYRCA
    Appendix 3B, II, Attachment 5 CHARTED EXPLORATION OF FAMILIAL RELATIONSHIPS JOHANAN/JONATHAN/[Y]JEHOHANAN/JOHN TO JOHN HYRCANUS I Note: Source Quotations with citations are given in Appendix 3B, II, Attachments 4 and 6. Antecedents, Attachment 2 Sanballat / / / [ / + ? --------------------------------------------------------------Johanan/Jonathan//Y[Jehohanan/John-----------+--------Daughter / Delaiah and 1 [ / + ? / / + ? [ / + ? / / + ? / / Shemaiah ] 2 3 / [Daughter / / / [Manasseh? ] fn. / 4 / + Manasseh? ] / / / / / Jaddua / Jaddua / / / + ? / / + ? Nicasio + Manasseh 5 / / / [?Daughter + Manasseh? ] 6 [? + a Jesus ?Daughter-----+-----? Onias I [------+----Daughter? ] / / + ? / + ? or / 7 [?Daughter +-------?: Eleazar [#1] Simon the Just / / / + ? / +? /-----------+ ?----------/ / + ? 8 9 [Sirach? / Onias II Jesus/Jason Menelaus/ [Lysimachus? ] Daughter [ / + ? / / / Onias III + Simon of 10 [Jesus of Ecclesiasticus? ] -------------continued next page----------- Bilgah 1 Sanballat sons, or sons-in-law? 2 ”Jaddua had a brother [or brother-in-law?] whose name was Manasseh.” 3 Relates to fn. 1. 4 Relates to fn. 2. 5 ”Manasseh...was son-in-law to Jaddua.” 6 If Jonathan had this daughter, it may explain differing versions of Ecclesiasticus 50:1: “Simon the high priest, son of Onias” (Cambridge Apocrypha referenced in this work); “Simon the priest, son of Jochanan” (The New American Bible, Wichita, Kansas: Catholic Bible Publishers, 1974-1975 Edition). 7 If Eleazar’s mother was either a sister of Manasseh or a daughter of Johanan, Manasseh could be referred to as Eleazar’s “uncle.” However, it appears that Eleazar only could be referred to also as a brother of Simon if the latter were true, i.e. Johanan’s daughter were mother of Eleazar and Simon; see preceding footnote. 8 Referred to as being “young” when his father Simon died. 9 At one point, ”Menelaus left his brother, Lysimachus” in his place in the high priesthood.
    [Show full text]
  • 821 the Undesignated “Brother of Hyrcanus
    Appendix 4B, Attachment 1 CHARTED EXPLORATION OF DESCENDANCIES/FAMILIAL RELATIONSHIPS 1 THE ASAMONAEANS/MACCABEES /HASMONAEANS Note: Sources of data are reference-quoted narratives in Appendices 4B I-III unless otherwise cited. Roman numerals that distinguish same-named individuals correspond with those assigned in its internal data. Sequencing of siblings on a line does not indicate chronological order of births. [Continued from Appendix 3B, II, Attachment 5] / Mattathias / + ? / + ? / + ? / + ? / + ? Judas/Maccabeus / Jonathan/Apphus John/Gaddi/Gaddis Eleazar/Avaran/Auran / ? + ? Simon/Thassi/Matthes / / + ? / + ? / + ? / + ? “brother of Daughter Judas [#2] Mattathais / Hyrcanus” + Ptolemy [#2] / Son of Aububus John Hyrcanus I – continued below ? + ? / (Salome-) Alexandra I John Hyrcanus I / + ? / + ? / + ? / + ? / + ? ? + ? Judas/Aristobulus I Antigonus I Alexander I Unnamed son Unnamed son / Left widow, “Salome,” Janneus Absalom, who the Greeks + “uncle and father-in-law called “Alexandra” [I] Alexandra I (Aristobulus I’s widow) of Aristobulus II” / / / / + ? ? Hyrcanus II Aristobulus II [-----------------------------+ Daughter] / + ? / + ? / + ? / + ? / + ? 2 3 Alexandra II ----+---Alexander II Antigonus II Alexandra III Unnamed 4 / / / / + ? + Philippion Daughter? A Daughter Aristobulus III MARIAMNE/MIRIAM I Unnamed + Ptolemy Menneus 5 + Pheroras + Herod the Great Daughter (Philippion’s father) Continued in 4 B, Attachment 2 + Antipater III betrothal [? + Ptolemy, son of [4B, Att. 2, B] / Menneus Lysanias] The undesignated “brother of Hyrcanus [I]” was sent to Antiochus VII by Jerusalem leaders as a hostage. AJ XIII.VIII.3; BJ I.II.3. Judas #2 and Mattathais #2 both were assassinated with their father, high priest Simon Matthes, by Ptolemy, son of Abubus, in 134 b.c. Aristobulus I, Hyrcanus I’s “eldest son.” Antigonus I, son of Hyrcanus I, was slain by Judas/Aristobulus I.
    [Show full text]
  • Definitions Are from the Harper Collins Bible Dictionary (Condensed Edition), Edited by Mark Allan Powell, 2009
    Definitions are from the Harper Collins Bible Dictionary (condensed edition), edited by Mark Allan Powell, 2009. Maccabees (mak´uh-beez), a family(properly the Hasmoneans) that provided military, political, and religious leaders for Judea during much of the second and first centuries BCE. Their exploits are recorded in the books of Maccabees, included among what Protestants call the OT Apocrypha and Roman Catholics designate as deuterocanonical writings. The events leading to the rise of the Maccabees were related to attempts by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, Seleucid king of Syria, to foster Hellenism in Judea by tyrannically suppressing Judaism (see 1 Macc. 1–2; 2 Macc. 5–7). The arrival of officers to carry out Antiochus’s decrees at the village of Modein, where an aged priest named Mattathias lived with his five sons (John “Gaddi,” Simon “Thassi,” Judas “Maccabeus,” Eleazar “Avaran,” and Jonathan “Apphus”), gave occasion for the outbreak of a spontaneous revolt that was to turn into a full-scale war. Mattathias died soon after the beginning of the revolt, leaving military leadership in the hands of Judas, whose surname “Maccabeus” (meaning “hammer”) became the source of the popular name given to the family and its followers. Independence was eventually won and Israel was ruled by the Hasmonean dynasty (descendants of Simon, the only son of Mattathias to survive the war). magi (may´ji), sorcerers who, according to Matt. 2, traveled to honor the infant Jesus when he was born. The NRSV’s “wise men” is an inaccurate translation for the Greek magi, which comes from a root meaning “magic.” The magi in Matthew are presented as astrologers who are guided by the stars (2:2) and as Gentiles who do not know scriptural prophecies concerning the location of the Messiah’s birth (2:2–6).
    [Show full text]