MEET THE… JEWISH

The codification Pand furtherEOPLE development of existing traditions, like Judaism, during the Classical period provided a bond among people and an

ethical code to live by.

Judaism traces its origins to Mesopotamia and the founding patriarch, Abraham, in the 18th century BCE. Jewish tradition regards Abraham as the first person to have believed that God is one. In Judaism faith is less a matter of affirming a set of beliefs than of trust in God and fidelity to his law. As a result of Abraham and the upholding of God’s laws, Jews understand themselves as a chosen people, bound by a covenant with God to be a “holy people”. A second major theological event in Judaism was the exodus of the Jewish people led by Moses from Egyptian slavery in c1300 BCE. This event, shortly followed by Moses’ presentation of God’s Ten Commandments, is regarded as evidence of the covenant and marked Jews birth as a nation. According to Jewish tradition, Abraham was commanded by God to leave Mesopotamia and settle in the land of Canaan. This land became known as Israel and its people as Israelites. The classical history of the Israelites often begins in c960 BCE when King Solomon solidified the formation of a Jewish kingdom in the region following Israelites return from Egypt and built the Temple in Jerusalem. This was the central site of Jewish prayer and pilgrimage until Babylonian conquest in 589 BCE destroyed the Temple and exiled Jews. When Persia conquered the region fifty years later, Jews were allowed to return to Israel. Upon return, there was a renewed focus on Jewish customs and resistance to outside influences. When Roman conquerors took control of the eastern Mediterranean in 63 BCE, the Jewish people refused to submit to Roman rule or accept the deification of Roman emperors. There were frequent conflicts between the two cultures, so the Romans often housed a sizeable garrison in the province, which they named Palestine. Under the Romans, the Jews were allowed a Jewish client-king selected by the Romans, and Romans generally tolerated Judaism as long as the Jews paid their taxes. But, increased Romanization of the region heightened tensions between the Jews and Romans. During the 1st century CE, a series of rebellions erupted in Palestine. In 69 CE, Emperor Vespasian laid siege to Jerusalem to subdue the Jewish revolt. When the Jews refused surrender, the Roman’s destroyed Jerusalem’s Second Temple. Ultimately, the destruction of the temple brought about the near- complete expulsion of Jews from the eastern Mediterranean and their dispersal throughout the Roman Empire and the Middle East. This event became known as the Jewish Diaspora. Initially, the Jewish Diaspora helped to advance the diffusion of Judaism into regions where it had previously been unknown. By the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century CE, Jewish enclaves were well- established throughout the Roman world, and there was a rich cultural exchange with Christianity. Early Christians adopted many Jewish beliefs and practices. In time, as the Christian Church gained authority in the early Middle Ages and Islamic caliphates controlled the eastern Mediterranean, Judaism faced growing threats. Dispersed in small, minority enclaves, Jewish communities gradually became objects of discrimination and persecution, known as anti-Semitism. The situation of the Jews in Europe steadily deteriorated, especially following the Crusades, Black Death, and Spanish Reconquista. Jews living in Europe faced successive waves of expulsion, forced conversion, and segregation into ghettos as Christians attempted to constrain the development of a Jewish community. For example, in 1215 Jews were required to wear special insignia so that the Christian populace would avoid them. By 1500, Western Europe was virtually empty of Jews, leaving the Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania in Eastern Europe largely as the center of Ashkenazi Jewish culture. In the Islamic world, Jews were treated less harshly, but Muslims similarly distinguished themselves from Jews and at times persecuted Jews through forced conversion. The Jewish community that developed in Islamic Spain, known as Sephardic Jews, are credited with a rich intellectual life that included refinements to Greco-Roman science and philosophy. By the late 18th century, Jewish intellectuals influenced by the Enlightenment believed that the contemporary mission of the Jewish people was to adapt to their surroundings and find ways to participate in society on equal terms with other citizens. These advocates called for civil integration of the Jews and modifications to Jewish ritual practice intended to harmonize Judaism with modern life. In other places, the idea of Jewish integration and acculturation was not as readily embraced. In the late 19th century, Tsar Alexander II of Russia was more liberal minded than his predecessors having emancipated the serfs and promoted tolerance of Jews. In 1881, Tsar Alexander II was assassinated, sparking a new round of violence toward Jews, known as pogroms. The pogroms pushed the Jews of Eastern Europe toward Jewish nationalism and greater interest in reestablishing a Jewish state at the site of the original Jewish homeland. This movement, known as Zionism, became more popular and increasingly Jews immigrated to Palestine during the early 1900s. Following the horrors of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany, the United Nations created the modern state of Israel.

Sources: Lesley, Arthur M. "Ghetto." New Dictionary of the History of Ideas, edited by Maryanne Cline Horowitz, vol. 3, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2005, pp. 934-935.

Mendes-Flohr, Paul. "Judaism." Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices, edited by Thomas Riggs, 2nd ed., vol. 1: Religions and Denominations, Gale, 2015, pp. 543-576.

"The Romans Destroy the Second Temple in Jerusalem: 70." Global Events: Milestone Events Throughout History, edited by Jennifer Stock, vol. 5: Middle East, Gale, 2014.

Snyder, Holly. "Jewish Diaspora." New Dictionary of the History of Ideas, edited by Maryanne Cline Horowitz, vol. 2, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2005, pp. 583-585.