Timeline from Abraham to Modern Day Israel God's Dealings with Israel

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Timeline from Abraham to Modern Day Israel God's Dealings with Israel Timeline from Abraham to modern day Israel God’s dealings with Israel started with the unconditional promises that He made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Bible details events that would happen in the history of Israel. Many of these prophecies have been fulfilled, and others are being fulfilled in our day. 2000 BC Covenant with Abraham - God made unconditional promises to Abraham. [Genesis 12:2-3,7]. - The promises included the giving of the land of Canaan to the offspring of Abraham [Genesis 13:15, Genesis 17:8]. - later restricted to the offspring of Isaac [Genesis 26:3]. - and subsequently restricted to the offspring of Jacob [Genesis 28:13, Genesis 35:12]. - who God renamed Israel. [Genesis 35:10]. 1940 BC Abraham sent by God to sacrifice Isaac at Mount Moriah [Genesis 22:1-2]. - This was the place where King David would acquire the land for the building of the First Temple. 1460 BC The Exodus from Egypt. The Law was given to the Israelites through Moses at Mount Sinai. The Law was added to the promises because of the transgressions of the Israelites. [Galatians 3:19]. God warned Israel that if they did not obey the Law fully then He would scatter them out of the land. 1040 BC King David conquered Jerusalem. Jerusalem is also called Zion. [2 Samuel 5:4-7]. 1010 BC King David bought the Temple site; King David purchased the site of the future Temple in Jerusalem from Araunah the Jebusite for 50 shekels of silver. [2 Samuel 24:18-25; 1 Chronicles 21:18; 1 Chronicles 22:1; 2 Chronicles 3:1; Genesis 22:2]. 1000 BC End of King David’s reign. The start of King Solomon’s reign [1 Kings 2:10-12]. 997-990 BC Building of First Temple; King Solomon built the Temple on the site that his father David had acquired. [2 Chronicles 3:1-2]. 960 BC End of King Solomon’s reign [1 Kings 11:42-43]. Under King Solomon Israel occupied almost all the land that God promised to the offspring of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Divided kingdom. Ten tribes of Israel established a separate kingdom in the north. Judah and Benjamin had a kingdom in the south with Jerusalem as its capital. Timeline from Abraham to modern day Israel.docx 727 BC The Assyrians conquered Naphtali and the Israelite tribes east of the Jordan River [2 Kings 15:29; 1 Chronicles 5:26]. The start of the first exile. The scattering of the Jewish people began. 722 BC The Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel [2 Kings 17:3-7,13-15]. The survivors of the ten tribes of Israel were taken into exile. 680 BC The Assyrians attacked Judah [Isaiah 36:1]. Cities were destroyed, but not Jerusalem. 608 BC Egyptians took King Jehoahaz captive; King Jehoahaz taken captive to Egypt. [2 Kings 23:31- 34]. 590 BC The promise of a new covenant was made through the prophet Jeremiah [Jeremiah 31:31-34]. 586 BC Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah; The First Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jews were taken into exile in Babylon. [Jeremiah 52:27-30]. (See also 2 Kings, chapters 24 & 25) 539 BC Cyrus the Persian conquered Babylon; King Cyrus made a proclamation to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. [Ezra 1:1-4]. Only a few tens of thousands of Jews returned to Israel from the exile in Babylon. Most remained scattered out of the land. 520-515 BC Zerubbabel built the Second Temple in Jerusalem The Second Temple (see Ezra 1 to 6) was a shadow of its former glory but, hundreds of years later, King Herod would spend 46 years turning it into a magnificent building. 500 BC Canonization of the Torah; The Torah – Law of Moses – the first of the three major divisions of the Hebrew Bible – was accepted by the rabbis as authoritative. 450 BC Nehemiah rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem; See the book of Nehemiah. Israel was slowly recovering from its desolation and the first scattering. The re-gathering was partial and the Jews did not return from all the quarters of the world. 400-350 BC Canonization of the Nevi'im; The Nevi'im – the Prophets – the second of the three major divisions of the Hebrew Bible – were added to the canon. Timeline from Abraham to modern day Israel.docx 350-250 BC Canonization of the Ketuvim; The Ketuvim – the Holy Writings – the third of the three major divisions of the Hebrew Bible – were added to the canon. By the time of Jesus the full canon of Hebrew Scripture – known as the Tanakh, an acronym of the Hebrew for the Law, the Prophets and the Holy Writings – had been accepted by the Jews for hundreds of years. 333 BC Alexander the Great conquered Persia; Alexander brought Greek culture and thinking, and the Greek language, to Israel and the Middle East of the time. 250-100 BC Septuagint; The Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek. 168-165 BC Revolt of the Maccabees; The Seleucid Empire had succeeded Alexander. Under the rule of Antiochus the Temple had been defiled. The Jews, led by the Maccabees, captured Jerusalem and rededicated the Temple. Jews celebrate the event with the non-biblical Feast of Dedication, also called Hanukkah. 150 BC The Essene sect of the Jews established a monastery at Qumran on the edge of the Dead Sea; Observant Jews were trying to live out the Law isolated from Greek influences and the corruption of the priesthood in Jerusalem. 63 BC The Romans occupied Israel; Rome became the dominant power in the world and established peace through ruthless suppression of all dissent. 37-4 BC Herod the Great; Herod, and his successors, owed allegiance to Rome. Herod the Great was famous for his many building projects. The Second Temple renovations were started in 18 BC and would take 46 years, being completed after his death. The disciples of Jesus would, like everyone else, be impressed with the huge stonework but Jesus would be dismissive [Matthew 24:1-2, Mark 13:1-2]. 6 BC Jesus was born in Bethlehem 30 AD The death and resurrection of Jesus; Giving of the new covenant [Luke 22:17-20]. Start of the church, for many years comprising entirely Jewish believers in Jesus the Messiah. Timeline from Abraham to modern day Israel.docx 40-90 AD The New Testament was written by Jewish believers in Jesus; Gentiles started to come to faith in Jesus in great numbers, largely, but not exclusively, through the missionary efforts of the apostle Paul. 60 AD Deaths of the apostles Paul and Peter 66-73 AD First Jewish Revolt against Roman rule; 70The Romans under Titus captured Jerusalem; The Romans destroyed the Second Temple. The Essenes fled the monastery at Qumran after hiding their library in caves around the Dead Sea. Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai established a model of Judaism that did not depend on the Temple building or sacrifices for atonement. In the absence of the Temple altar, this fell far short of the Torah requirements. Rabbinic Judaism, as practiced today, with its hoped-for salvation by works and good deeds, can be dated from ben Zakkai’s academy in Yavneh during this period. 90 AD Death of the apostle John 132-135 AD Second Jewish Revolt under Bar Kochba; The Romans put down the revolt with great ferocity. Hundreds of Jewish communities in Israel were destroyed. The Jews were scattered from the Promised Land for the second time. 135 AD The Romans conquered Israel; The Temple Mount was ploughed with salt and Jews were banished from Jerusalem on pain of death. Jerusalem was renamed Aelia Capitolina and the land was renamed Syria Palestina (or Palestine, as it was known until 1948). This was done in a deliberate attempt to humiliate Israel by favoring their ancient enemies, the Philistines. The Arabic word for Philistine is Falastin, from which comes the English word for the Palestinians. 303-311 AD Persecution of the church by Rome; Multitudes of Christians became martyrs for their faith. 312 AD Emperor Constantine of Rome converted to Christianity; The Edict of Milan decreed toleration of Christianity in the Roman Empire. 325 AD Church Council of Nicaea; There was a call for “seclusion and humiliation” of the Jews. By this time the vast majority of Christians were non-Jews. After the start of an all-Jewish church of believers in Jesus, Christianity had become a Gentile enterprise. Timeline from Abraham to modern day Israel.docx 330 AD Christianity made a “state religion”; Constantine declared Christianity to be the official state religion of the Roman Empire 370 AD The New Testament canon was settled 406-455 AD Barbarians invaded the Roman Empire. This signaled the start of the Dark Ages. 476 AD Last Roman emperor abdicated 622 AD Moslem religion of Islam established. Islam was established by Mohammed in Mecca. 632 AD Death of Mohammed 638 AD Caliph Omar conquered Jerusalem. Under Moslem rule Jews were permitted to return to the city. 691 AD Construction of the Dome of the Rock. Moslem presence established on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. 694 AD Jewish religion outlawed in Spain 1050 AD Resurgence of wealth and civilization in Europe 1054 AD Schism arose between Catholics of Rome and Orthodox Christians of Constantinople. 1095-1099 AD The first Crusade. Jews were massacred across Europe as the Crusader armies marched toward the Holy Land. 1099 AD Jerusalem captured by Crusaders. The Jewish and Moslem inhabitants were slaughtered. Timeline from Abraham to modern day Israel.docx 1140-1300 AD Period of building by the church.
Recommended publications
  • History of Israel
    History of Israel FALL-Tuesday and Thursday, 9:30–10:45, CBA 4.340 Course Description Israel is a country of contrasts. Merely 263 miles long, one can drive from its northernmost point to the southernmost one in six hours, passing by a wide variety of landscapes and climates; from the snowy capes of Mount Hermon to the arid badlands of the Negev Desert. Along the way, she might come across a plethora of ethnic and religious groups – Jews originating in dozens of diasporas all over the world, Palestinians, Druze, Bedouins, Bahá'ís, Samaritans, Circassians, Armenians, Gypsies, Filipinos, Sudanese, Eritreans, and more – and hear innumerable languages and dialects. From the haredi stronghold of Bene-Beraq to the hedonistic nightclubs and sunny beaches of Eilat; from a relative Jewish-Arab coexistence in Haifa to the powder keg that is East Jerusalem; from the “Start-up Nation” in Ra’anana and Herzliya to the poverty-stricken “development towns” and unrecognized Bedouin settlements of the Negev; from the messianic fervor of Jewish settlers in the West Bank to the plight of African refugees and disadvantaged Jews in South Tel Aviv – all within an area slightly smaller than the State of Vermont. This is an introductory survey of Israel’s political, diplomatic, social, economic, ethnic, and cultural history, as well as an overview of Israeli society nowadays. We will start with a brief examination of the birth of the Zionist movement in nineteenth-century Europe, the growth of the Jewish settlement in Palestine, and the establishment of a modern Jewish State. Next, we will review a number of key moments and processes in Israeli history and discuss such crucial and often controversial topics as the Israeli-Arab and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts; ethnic and social stratification in Israel; civil-military relations and the role that the armed forces and other security agencies have played in everyday life in the country; Israel’s relations with the world and the Jewish diaspora; and more.
    [Show full text]
  • The Covenant Renewal Ceremony As the Main Function of Qumran
    religions Article The Covenant Renewal Ceremony as the Main Function of Qumran Daniel Vainstub Department of Bible, Archaeology and Ancient Near East, Ben‑Gurion University, Beer Sheva 8410501, Israel; [email protected] Abstract: Unlike any other group or philosophy in ancient Judaism, the yahad sect obliged all mem‑ ˙ bers of the sect to leave their places of residence all over the country and gather in the sect’s central site to participate in a special annual ceremony of renewal of the covenant between God and each of the members. The increase of the communities that composed the sect and their spread over the en‑ tire country during the first century BCE required the development of the appropriate infrastructure for hosting this annual gathering at Qumran. Consequently, the hosting of the gathering became the main function of the site, and the southern esplanade with the buildings surrounding it became the epicenter of the site. Keywords: Qumran; Damascus Document; scrolls; mikveh 1. Introduction The subject of this paper is the yearly gathering during the festival of Shavuot of all members of the communities that composed the yahad sect.1 After close examination of the Citation: Vainstub, Daniel. 2021. The ˙ evidence for this annual gathering in the sect’s writings and analysis of the archaeological Covenant Renewal Ceremony as the data on the development of the site of Qumran, it became evident that in the generation Main Function of Qumran. Religions 12: 578. https://doi.org/10.3390/ following that of the site’s founders, the holding of the annual gathering became the main ¶ rel12080578 raison d’ tre of the site and the factor that dictated its architectural development.
    [Show full text]
  • Jerusalem in Classical Ages: a Critical Review
    Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, Vol. 14, No 2, pp. 139-154 Copyright © 2014 MAA Printed in Greece. All rights reserved. JERUSALEM IN CLASSICAL AGES: A CRITICAL REVIEW Sultan Abdullah Ma'ani1, Abd alrzaq Al-Maani 2, Mohammed Al-Nasarat2 1Queen Rania Institute of Tourism and Heritage, Hashemite University, Jordan 2Department of History, Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, Ma’an, Jordan Received: 07/10/2013 Accepted: 06/12/2013 Corresponding author: [email protected] ABSTRACT This study is a review and in several cases it sheds light upon the history of Jerusalem City during the Roman and Byzantine epochs through focusing on a) the demography of the city, b) the names which had been mentioned in historical sources, c) ancient inscrip- tions and d) its urban design. The review goes through Jewish sources, particularly those which deal with the reign of the Roman leader, Pompey (Pompey the Great) and the Maccabees (Machabees); the reign of the Roman Emperor, Titus, during which the Jews were tortured; the reign of the Roman king of Jews, Herod (or Herod the Great); the reign of the Roman Emperor, Ha- drian; and the converting of the City from paganism to Christianity. KEYWORDS: Jerusalem, Roman epoch, Byzantine epoch, Hasmonean dynasty, historical sources, inscriptions. 140 MA'ANI et al 1. DEMOGRAPHY OF THE CITY The Jewish historian, Josephus, said that Herod built in the City a sports stadium and Jerusalem is a city fenced with valleys, a horse-racing hippodrome (Al-Fanny, 2007, situated above a mountains range in Central p.15). Palestine. This range extends between the Jerusalem, as the other big cities of Pales- Palestinian coast to the west and the Negev tine and Syria, uses the Latin language as an desert to both the east and south.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Jews, Gentiles, and the Modern Egalitarian Ethos
    Jews, Gentiles, and the Modern Egalitarian Ethos: Some Tentative Thoughts David Berger The deep and systemic tension between contemporary egalitarianism and many authoritative Jewish texts about gentiles takes varying forms. Most Orthodox Jews remain untroubled by some aspects of this tension, understanding that Judaism’s affirmation of chosenness and hierarchy can inspire and ennoble without denigrating others. In other instances, affirmations of metaphysical differences between Jews and gentiles can take a form that makes many of us uncomfortable, but we have the legitimate option of regarding them as non-authoritative. Finally and most disturbing, there are positions affirmed by standard halakhic sources from the Talmud to the Shulhan Arukh that apparently stand in stark contrast to values taken for granted in the modern West and taught in other sections of the Torah itself. Let me begin with a few brief observations about the first two categories and proceed to somewhat more extended ruminations about the third. Critics ranging from medieval Christians to Mordecai Kaplan have directed withering fire at the doctrine of the chosenness of Israel. Nonetheless, if we examine an overarching pattern in the earliest chapters of the Torah, we discover, I believe, that this choice emerges in a universalist context. The famous statement in the Mishnah (Sanhedrin 4:5) that Adam was created singly so that no one would be able to say, “My father is greater than yours” underscores the universality of the original divine intent. While we can never know the purpose of creation, one plausible objective in light of the narrative in Genesis is the opportunity to actualize the values of justice and lovingkindness through the behavior of creatures who subordinate themselves to the will 1 of God.
    [Show full text]
  • Conversion to Judaism Finnish Gerim on Giyur and Jewishness ​ ​ ​ ​
    Conversion to Judaism Finnish gerim on giyur and Jewishness ​ ​ ​ ​ Kira Zaitsev Syventävien opintojen tutkielma Afrikan ja Lähi-idän kielet Humanistinen tiedekunta Helsingin yliopisto 2019/5779 provided by Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk CORE brought to you by Tiedekunta – Fakultet – Faculty Koulutusohjelma – Utbildningsprogram – Degree Programme Humanistinen tiedekunta Kielten maisteriohjelma Opintosuunta – Studieinriktning – Study Track Afrikan ja Lähi-idän kielet Tekijä – Författare – Author Kira Zaitsev Työn nimi – Arbetets titel – Title Conversion to Judaism. Finnish gerim on giyur and Jewishness Työn laji – Aika – Datum – Month and year Sivumäärä– Sidoantal Arbetets art – Huhtikuu 2019 – Number of pages Level 43 Pro gradu Tiivistelmä – Referat – Abstract Pro graduni käsittelee suomalaisia, jotka ovat kääntyneet juutalaisiksi ilman aikaisempaa juutalaista taustaa ja perhettä. Data perustuu haastatteluihin, joita arvioin straussilaisella grounded theory-menetelmällä. Tutkimuskysymykseni ovat, kuinka nämä käännynnäiset näkevät mitä juutalaisuus on ja kuinka he arvioivat omaa kääntymistään. Tutkimuseni mukaan kääntyjän aikaisempi uskonnollinen tausta on varsin todennäköisesti epätavallinen, eikä hänellä ole merkittäviä aikaisempia juutalaisia sosiaalisia suhteita. Internetillä on kasvava rooli kääntyjän tiedonhaussa ja verkostoissa. Juutalaisuudessa kääntynyt näkee tärkeimpänä eettisyyden sekä juutalaisen lain, halakhan. Kääntymisen nähdään vahvistavan aikaisempi maailmankuva
    [Show full text]
  • Betar and Aelia Capitolina: Symbols of Jewish Suffering Dr
    Betar and Aelia Capitolina: Symbols of Jewish Suffering Dr. Jill Katz Professor of Archaeology and Anthropology, Yeshiva University Of the five specific tragedies that warrant fasting on Tishah b’Av (Mishnah Taanit 4:6), two are related to the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome. The first is the capture of the city of Betar (135 CE) and the second is the plowing of Jerusalem one year later. At first glance, these calamities do not seem to be of the same scale as the destruction of the First and Second Temples. The Jews were neither forcibly removed en masse to a distant land nor was a standing Temple destroyed. Perhaps one could argue that their inclusion within the list was simply due to their still being fresh in people’s memories. Surely, the rabbis of the Mishnaic period would have encountered eyewitnesses to these events and been moved by their recollections. Yet, if this were so, then the Mishnah really need only include one reference to the rebellion. By including two, the Mishnah is teaching us something about the magnitude of this tragedy and the challenges that lay ahead for the Jewish people. Betar If not for the Bar Kokhba rebellion, it is unlikely many people would be familiar with Betar. The ancient city (Khirbet el-Yahud – “ruin of the Jews”) was a modest settlement southwest of Jerusalem in the Judean Hills. Surveys and brief excavations have demonstrated that Betar was first settled during the period of the Shoftim and became a city of moderate importance by the time of Hizkiyahu.
    [Show full text]
  • Reading the Old Testament History Again... and Again
    Reading the Old Testament History Again... and Again 2011 Ryan Center Conference Taylor Worley, PhD Assistant Professor of Christian Thought & Tradition 1 Why re-read OT history? 2 Why re-read OT history? There’s so much more to discover there. It’s the key to reading the New Testament better. There’s transformation to pursue. 3 In both the domains of nature and faith, you will find the most excellent things are the deepest hidden. Erasmus, The Sages, 1515 4 “Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’” Luke 24:44 5 God wishes to move the will rather than the mind. Perfect clarity would help the mind and harm the will. Humble their pride. Blaise Pascal, Pensées, 1669 6 Familiar Approaches: Humanize the story to moralize the characters. Analyze the story to principalize the result. Allegorize the story to abstract its meaning. 7 Genesis 22: A Case Study 8 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore.
    [Show full text]
  • Aliyah and Settlement Process?
    Jewish Women in Pre-State Israel HBI SERIES ON JEWISH WOMEN Shulamit Reinharz, General Editor Joyce Antler, Associate Editor Sylvia Barack Fishman, Associate Editor The HBI Series on Jewish Women, created by the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, pub- lishes a wide range of books by and about Jewish women in diverse contexts and time periods. Of interest to scholars and the educated public, the HBI Series on Jewish Women fills major gaps in Jewish Studies and in Women and Gender Studies as well as their intersection. For the complete list of books that are available in this series, please see www.upne.com and www.upne.com/series/BSJW.html. Ruth Kark, Margalit Shilo, and Galit Hasan-Rokem, editors, Jewish Women in Pre-State Israel: Life History, Politics, and Culture Tova Hartman, Feminism Encounters Traditional Judaism: Resistance and Accommodation Anne Lapidus Lerner, Eternally Eve: Images of Eve in the Hebrew Bible, Midrash, and Modern Jewish Poetry Margalit Shilo, Princess or Prisoner? Jewish Women in Jerusalem, 1840–1914 Marcia Falk, translator, The Song of Songs: Love Lyrics from the Bible Sylvia Barack Fishman, Double or Nothing? Jewish Families and Mixed Marriage Avraham Grossman, Pious and Rebellious: Jewish Women in Medieval Europe Iris Parush, Reading Jewish Women: Marginality and Modernization in Nineteenth-Century Eastern European Jewish Society Shulamit Reinharz and Mark A. Raider, editors, American Jewish Women and the Zionist Enterprise Tamar Ross, Expanding the Palace of Torah: Orthodoxy and Feminism Farideh Goldin, Wedding Song: Memoirs of an Iranian Jewish Woman Elizabeth Wyner Mark, editor, The Covenant of Circumcision: New Perspectives on an Ancient Jewish Rite Rochelle L.
    [Show full text]
  • Bibliotheca Sacra and Theological Review
    1868.] THE LAND OF MORIAH. 760 ARTICLE V. THE LAND OF MORIAH. BY DV. SAlIUEL WOLCOTT, D.D., CLEVELAND, OHIO. A QUESTION has been raised witbin a. few years respecting tbe locality designated in the divine direction to Abraham to offer his son Isaac in sacrifice. The command was: "Take now tby son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee iuto the land of,Moriah, and offer bim there for a burnt­ offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of" (Gen. xxii. 2). The name Moriah QCcurs but in one more passage in the sacred scriptures, and in this it is given as the site of the temple which Solomon built: "Then Solomon began to build tbe bouse of the Lord at Jerusalem, in mount :Moriab, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David bad prepared in the threshiug-Hoor of Orna.n the Jcbusite" (2 ebron. iii. 1). Is the Mount Moriah in Jerusalem on which the temple stood identical with one of the mountains in the land of lIeriuh on which Abraham was directed to offer Isaac? Such has boon tbo accepted tradition and current belief. The identity, naturally suggested by the name, does not appear to bave been seriously questioned, except by the Sa.ma.ritaus in behalf of Mount Gerizim, which has been rejected by others as the unfounded cla.im of an interested party. This discredited claim found, at length, a champion in Professor Stanley, who in his " Sinai and Palestino" gav!! his reasons for adopting it, and in his later" Lectures on Jewish History," ventured to assume it as an ascertained and estab­ lisI1ed site.
    [Show full text]
  • The King Who Will Rule the World the Writings (Ketuvim) Mako A
    David’s Heir – The King Who Will Rule the World The Writings (Ketuvim) Mako A. Nagasawa Last modified: September 24, 2009 Introduction: The Hero Among ‘the gifts of the Jews’ given to the rest of the world is a hope: A hope for a King who will rule the world with justice, mercy, and peace. Stories and legends from long ago seem to suggest that we are waiting for a special hero. However, it is the larger Jewish story that gives very specific meaning and shape to that hope. The theme of the Writings is the Heir of David, the King who will rule the world. This section of Scripture is very significant, especially taken all together as a whole. For example, not only is the Book of Psalms a personal favorite of many people for its emotional expression, it is a prophetic favorite of the New Testament. The Psalms, written long before Jesus, point to a King. The NT quotes Psalms 2, 16, and 110 (Psalm 110 is the most quoted chapter of the OT by the NT, more frequently cited than Isaiah 53) in very important places to assert that Jesus is the King of Israel and King of the world. The Book of Chronicles – the last book of the Writings – points to a King. He will come from the line of David, and he will rule the world. Who will that King be? What will his life be like? Will he usher in the life promised by God to Israel and the world? If so, how? And, what will he accomplish? How worldwide will his reign be? How will he defeat evil on God’s behalf? Those are the major questions and themes found in the Writings.
    [Show full text]
  • A New Essenism: Heinrich Graetz and Mysticism
    Trinity College Trinity College Digital Repository Faculty Scholarship 1998 A New Essenism: Heinrich Graetz and Mysticism Jonathan Elukin Trinity College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/facpub Part of the History Commons Copyright © 1998 The Journal of the History of Ideas, Inc.. All rights reserved. Journal of the History of Ideas 59.1 (1998) 135-148 A New Essenism: Heinrich Graetz and Mysticism Jonathan M. Elukin Since the Reformation, European Christians have sought to understand the origins of Christianity by studying the world of Second Temple Judaism. These efforts created a fund of scholarly knowledge of ancient Judaism, but they labored under deep-seated pre judices about the nature of Judaism. When Jewish scholars in nineteenth-century Europe, primarily in Germany, came to study their own history as part of the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement, they too looked to the ancient Jewish past as a crucia l element in understanding Jewish history. A central figure in the Wissenschaft movement was Heinrich Graetz (1817-1891). 1 In his massive history of the Jews, the dominant synthesis of Jewish history until well into the twentieth century, Graetz constructed a narrative of Jewish history that imbedded mysticism deep within the Jewish past, finding its origins in the first-cen tury sectarian Essenes. 2 Anchoring mysticism among the Essenes was crucial for Graetz's larger narrative of the history of Judaism, which he saw as a continuing struggle between the corrosive effects of mysticism [End Page 135] and the rational rabbinic tradition. An unchanging mysticism was a mirror image of the unchanging monotheistic essence of normative Judaism that dominated Graetz's understanding of Jewish history.
    [Show full text]
  • Dvar Torah - Lech Lecha
    Dvar Torah - Lech Lecha Did you know that Sheva Brachot are in the Paraha of Lech Lecha? Immediately after Hashem commands Avram and Sarai to uproot them- selves from the land of Mesopotamia in order to make Aliyah ‘el ha’aretz asher areka’ – to the land which Hashem will show them. Hashem follows up by giving seven blessings to Avram; ‘Ve’escha L’goi gadol’ - and I will make you into a great nation, ‘v’avarechecha’ - and I will bless you, ‘Veagadla Shemecha’ - and I will make your name great, ‘v’heye bracha’ - and you will be a blessing, ‘V’avarcha mevarachecha’ - I will bless those who bless you, ‘umcallecha a’or’ - and I will curse those who curse you. And the seventh blessing is ‘v’nivrechu vecha kol mishpachot ha’adama’ - and may every family on earth be blessed thanks to the impact you will have on them. Such wonderful blessings! And actually these seven blessings match the sentiments that accompany our good wishes to every bride and groom for whom we recite ‘sheva brachot’ under the ‘chupa’ and during the first seven days of their marriage. We want them to be blessed by Hashem, we want them to have a positive impact on their surroundings. We want Hashem to be with them always and to prevent others from standing in the way of their success. There is a further strong comparison. You see the term ‘lech lecha’ appears twice in the bible, once in our parsha of Lech Lecha and the second, fascinat- ingly, in a weeks’ time, when we will read in Parashat Va’eira, ‘v’lech lecha el eretz hamoria’ - uproot yourself, make an Aliyah, to the land of Moriah and that’s where the akeida (the binding of Isaac) took place.
    [Show full text]