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Jewish History Essay Research Paper Jewish History (стр. 1 из 4)

Jewish History Essay, Research Paper

Jewish History (1)

All this happensduring the time of Beit Hamikdash II when Bnei Yisrael was together, anation in their own land.

A few dates:

-Assyria (Ashure)came in 719 B.C.E.

-Babylonia (Bavel)came in 586 B.C.E.

-Beit Hamikdash IIwas built in 516 B.C.E.

Alexander theGreat (Alexander Mokdan-Macedonia) captured Eretz Yisrael in 332 B.C.E. He captured everythingfrom the Middle East through India. He introduced Hellenistic culture into the land (Paganism, importance of the body, Greek literature, Philosophy).The importance of the body was the most important thing in Hellenism- sportswere a religious thing.

Polis- (city state) a Greek city with Greekcitizens (conquered by Alexander) and special people dwell there.

They built gymnasiums, ephebeums (schools where they learned about sports and theirbodies).

The Greeks lovedmoney and business. We know this because of the Zenon Papyrii. Zenon wasthe agent to the Greek treasurer. He wrote letters to someone and they foundseveral thousand of those letters. In them he only spoke of money and business-not of culture and religion.

Alexander’s Meeting With the Jews:

The sources are Josephus and the Talmud (Yoma and Taanit)

There are plenty ofcontradictions in the stories of Josephus and the Talmud. Tcherikowerdidn t believe the story was right according to Josephus.

His problems:

A. Talmud

1.At the time Shimonthe Tzaddik was the Cohen Gadol

2.It says they metin Antipatrus

Josephus:

1.At the time Yaduahwas the Cohen Gadol

2.It says they metin Yerushalaim

B.If he did go toYerushalaim, then that would be way out of the way of where he was coming formand where he had to go. He had to do this al in 7 days, which did not give himenough time to go to Yerushalaim, which was out of his way.

C.Tcherikower was asecular philosopher so he says that if the Jews showed Alexander Sefer Danielit couldn t be possible because that was written later than the time he came.

D.Also Josephussays that the Chaldeans (Casdim) came with Alexander but at the timethat he came he had not yet captured Bavel where the Chaldeans lived.

E.Another problemis that Alexander s meeting with the Jews is not mentioned in the stories ofthe Greeks Historians.

So Tcherikowercomes to a few conclusions:

1.Alexanderdefinitely did meet with the Jews

2.Alexanderdefinitely did give the Jews the right to live according to the laws of theirfathers

3.There was adebate between the Shomranim. [The Shomranim were Jews who had theirMikdash on Har Gerizim and it says in the Talmud, Taanit, that youcannot fast on that Yom Har Gerizim.]

The DiadochiPeriod 323- 301 B.C.E.

In 323 B.C.E.Alexander died. The Diadoci were those who wanted to rule after Alexander sdeath:

Ptolemy (Talmai)- Egypt

Seleucid (Selekus)- Syria

[Antigonus- Greece-but not that important]

Ptolemy andSeleucid fought over Eretz Yisrael- it was a very chaotic period in Jewishhistory.

The Ptolemaic Rule over Eretz Yisrael

301 B.C.E.- PtolemyI captured Eretz Yisrael

Sources:

Hecataeus says that there were good relations betweenthe Jews and Ptolemy

Agatharchides says that there were bad relations betweenthem

Answer- some Jewsliked Ptolemy and some Jews liked Seleucid, so both sources could be right. (Weknow that the Jews guarding the gate in Yerushalaim supported Seleucid.)

So there were twobig families:

The Oniadfamily (Choniah)- they were the Cohanim Gedolim- (prostasia- thespiritual and political leadership privilege given to the Cohen Gadol)

The Tobiadfamily (Tuviah)

Choniah did notlike Ptolemy because he made the taxes too high, and he refused to pay them.Someone from the Tuviah family, Yosef ben Tuviah, said to Ptolemy Ifyou give me the prostasia, I will get Choniah to pay you taxes. Ptolemy saidOK.

In 205 B.C.E.Ptolemy IV died and the next in line was too young to rule so the Seleucidfamily comes to rule.

The SeleucidRule over Eretz Yisrael-198 B.C.E.

When the Seleucidfamily came into power and wanted to start a new calendar to mark thisoccasion. The Jews used this calendar for a long time and it was called MinyanShetarot. They gave the Jews the privalege to live according to the laws oftheir fathers.

According to thatcalendar 312 B.C.E.= 0 in the Minyan Shetarot

Septuagint- Targum Shivim

Sources:

Gemarah

Aristeas- theletter of Aristeas

They both say that70 elders came together to translate the Torah from Hebrew to Greek. Why?Ptolemy II had a library and had every book in the world in it and also wantedHebrew books to add to the collection so the Torah was translated. Our Rabbis saythat the day that the translated the Torah was like the day that Bnei Yisraelsinned with the Golden Calf, because the holy Torah is being translated into anunholy language. However, this was good for the Jews in Alexandria who werebeginning to assimilate and were forgetting Hebrew.

Secular Books- not from Tanach and were written duringthe time of Bayit II

These were the Apocrypha,books that were supposedly prophecies yet were not written in Ruach Hakodesh.

Their content:

History- Macabees Aand B, The Letter of Aristeas

Mussar- Ben Sirah

Halachot- Yovel(Jubilees)

Prophecies for thefuture which was the apocalypse- an ugly, bloody and violent end to theworld- Revelations.

In the Genizah inthe attic in an old Shul in Cairo they found many important things. One of themwas a Mussar book called Ben Sirah- this is the only book mentioned inthe Gemarah, and they found it in the original Hebrew.

Pseudopigrepha- were secular books supposedly written byfamous prophets or rulers- but they were really written by anonymous phonypeople. Our Rabbis knew the truth and knew they were phony. Some of the secularbooks were put in the Christian Bible- New Testament.

Gerousia – counsel of elderswho were there to greet Antiochus III when he came.

The Hasmonaeans- The Story of Chanukah (2)

So we ended offlast time saying that Antiochus III was a good king for the Jews and helpedthem build up Yerushalaim. (The Gerousia, the counsel of elders, greetedAntiochus III when he came to Yerushalaim, showing that they liked him).

A. So now AntiochusIV comes along and he is horrible (he s the Antiochus from Chanukah)- Why didhe decree such bad things against the Jews? (We ll find out later what thereasons were)

At the time therewere different political parties in the nation:

1) The Bnei- Choniah family (Oniads)- they werethe traditional Jews and the Cohanim Gedolim of the nation.

2) The Bnei- Tuviah family (Tobiads)- they weremoderate Hellenisers.

3) The 3 Brothers (Gimmel Achim)- Simon,Lysimachus, and Menelaeus. They were radical Hellenisers and were very evil.

B. The Sources:

1. The Gemarah

2. Macabees A and B(Apocrypha)

Weprefer to go according to Macabees A. Why?

a. A is a real source by someone who livedduring the time, while B is only a summary of what Jason of Cyrene said

b. A is in Hebrew, while B is in Greek

c. A is orderly and neat, while B is confusingand mixed around

d. A includes more information while B onlydiscusses Yehudah the Macabee

3. Josephus- Jewwho lived during the time of Beit Hamikdash II- and after the destruction, wascaptured and taken to Rome

His works included:

Antiquities- The story of the Jews fromthe creation of the world until the days of Josephus

Contra Apion- Apion was a Greekanti-Semite so this work was against him

Bellum Iudoreum- The war of the Jews-goes into horrible detail about the suffering of the Jews during the timeof the destruction of Bayit II

Vitae- Josephus autobiographySo back to thestory:

Jason, the brotherof Choniah (NO connection to the one in Macabees B) wanted to be the CohenGadol and wanted to introduce Hellenistic culture into Yerushalaim. He tellsSeleucid that if he gets the prostasia, he will give Seleucid money. Now whywould Seleucid want money from a puny little Jew? Because this money goes tohis military so he needs it. This story shows how much the Jews, unfortunately,hated each other back then and shows how the non- Jews mixed in with stateaffairs and religious affairs. Jason built a gymnasium and an ephebium inYerushalaim and made the city a Polis called Antioch (Antioch is also acity in Syria). Though the Jews weren t thrilled, they stayed put because Jasonlet them practice their religion.

Now Simon (one ofthe 3 brothers) told Seleucid that there are treasures in the Beit Hamikdash soSeleucid sent Heliodorus to take those treasures- not good.

Now Menelaeus wentto Antiochus and said he d give him more money than Jason for the prostasia,and in order to pay the king that money, he took out precious treasures fromthe Beit Hamikdash. He puts statues all over Yerushalaim. Another thing: He snot from the right family of Cohanim Gedolim.

He arranged thedeath of Choniah, the Cohen Gadol. So the Jews are really mad at him but theycan t just kick him out because then Antiochus would be upset that they kickedout the guy he chose.

A rumor spread tothe Jews of Yerushalaim that Antiochus was killed so they kicked Menalaeus out.Jason wanted to be leader now, but the Jews chased him out. Antiochus was notdead and he comes back from war and he s really upset at the Jews. The year is168 B.C.E. and he builds an Akra (tower) in Yerushalaim and puts Katoikia(soldiers) to watch over the Jews (Apolonius was the head military guy who wasin charge of building the Akra). These soldiers were horrible to the Jews somany of them ran away.

The first people torebel were the Chasidim, against the Greeks (Menelaeus), but they weren tsuccessful because they didn t fight on Shabbat, didn t have good strategies,and only fought for religious independence.

In 168- 167 B.C.E.Antiochus started decreeing horrible things against the Jews and Judaism- theycouldn t:

Do Brit Mila

Make sacrifices (Korbanot) to Hashem,and were forced to use the alter (Mizbeach) for idol worshipping andpaganism

Keep Shabbat

Keep Kashrut

Keep holidays (Chagim)In Modiin livedMattityahu (son of a Cohen) and he was willing to kill anybody that practicedpaganism. He had 5 sons: Yehudah the Macabee (the most famous), Yochanan,Yonatan, Eliezer, and Simon. Yehudah was the leader of the rebellion.

In the Talmud, ofcourse, there’s the story of Chanah and her 7 sons.

Another story:Yehudit- she went to the head military guy Heliphornus, got him drunk, choppedoff his head, and brought it out to show all.

Now why did theHasmonaeans win?

They fought on Shabbat, which theChasidim didn t do

They used guerrilla warfare and hadgood strategies, which the Chasidim didn t have

They fought for both religious ANDpolitical reasons, while the Chasidim only fought for religious. Also note that theJewish Hellenisers fought for the Greeks.

Another BigQuestion- WHY did Antiochus give the decrees???????????

Polybius (a historian during Greektimes)- He says that Antiochus was a Meshugenah, he was nuts andirrational

Tcherikower- He says he made thedecrees for political reasons. He says first the Jews revolted and then hegave the decrees because he wanted to strengthen his empire and show Romehe has power. In order to do this he must have RELIGIOUS UNITY in hisempire. Hence the reason he tried to force the Jews to stop being Jewish.It wasn t against the Jews specifically; rather it was for his ownpolitical reasons.

Bickerman (a Jewish Historian)- He saysthat the Jewish Hellenists went to Antiochus and asked them to put thedecrees on the Jews. (He says, contradicting Tcherikower, that the decreeswere given first and then they revolted.)

Bickerman also says that he made thedecrees because he loved Hellanistic culture and wanted to spread it andwanted everyone to be a part of it- even the Jews.

The Chain ofEvents of the Revolt:

First, Yehudah the Macabee (with theChasidim) fought against Apolonius

Seron was sent by Antiochus. AfterYehudah killed Apolonius and Seron, many more Jews came to fight in thewar

Two head military guys were sent byAntiochus- Nicanor and Gorgias- they ran away from the Jews like cowards

Lysias was sent next. Yehudah wonagainst him but sometime during this Eliezer the Macabee diedYehudah capturedall of Yerushalaim except for the Akra. And they took out all of the idols andpurified the Mikdash and the whole story of Chanukah happened. However, thereare still soldiers in the Akra. In 164 B.C.E. Lysias placed a siege aroundYerushalaim, so the Jewish victory wasn t so victorious. Antiochus IV died andAntiochus V is too young to take over as ruler of the Seleucid family so hewent back to Syria.

As of now theChasidim accomplished what they wanted to in the war- religious independence.The Hasmonaeans, however, weren t done yet and they wanted to punish their enemiesand there was a dispute- whether to continue fighting or to stop now.

Another problemwas- who s going to be the Cohen Gadol?

The Chasidim wanted Alcimus to be CohenGadol but the Hasmonaeans didn t want him Lysias now wants tomake peace with the Jews. Since he wants to be king he doesn t have time tofight with the Jews. He sends messengers to the Jews telling them that underhis rule they live according to the laws of their fathers, and they can worshipfreely in Beit Hamikdash. He commands Menelaeus (whom the Jews hate) to bekilled. The Chasidim liked this but the Hasmonaeans didn t because they wantedpolitical independence as well.

Demetrius and Lysias fight for thecrown and Demetrius wins- so now he is the new king of Syria. Demetriussends Nicanor to fight and Yehudah kills Nicanor. He killed him on 13Adar- so in Megilat Taanit it says you can t fast because it s YomNicanor (13 Adar is Taanit Esther)Yehudah wants tomake peace with the Romans saying that if enemies come against Rome, the Jewswill help and vice versa. (This is a bad thing and because eventually theRomans want to capture Eretz Yisrael.

In 161 B.C.E. Bachides comes from Syriaand kills Yehudah. So now Yonatan is the new leader. Yonatan captures thenon- Jews on the coast of Eretz Yisrael and either kills them or forcesthem to convert. This is a means of revenge against them because theyhelped Syria. In Syria there is acivil war going on between Demetrius and Alexander Balas. Both sent messengersto Yonatan for his help. Yonatan chose Alexander Balas and in the end Alexanderwon. Alexander, however, was very evil and tricked Yonatan into coming to avictory party- and he killed Yonatan there.

In 140 B.C.E. Simoncame into power. He was the most successful of all the brothers: he capturedalmost all of Eretz Yisrael and the Akra. A gathering of Rabbis appointed Simonto be president and Cohen Gadol. Signs of independence came from Simon s time.They found coins in Eretz Yisrael from his time that said Year 1 to the redemptionof Yerushalaim. /

The Sects in the Time of Beit Hamikdash II (3)

(Sorry about thereally bad transliterations)

A sect is aminority group amongst the majority. There were 2 major ones at this time:

The Pharisees(Prushim) and The Sadducees (Sdukim)

The sources:Talmud, Josephus, Roman Historians, and the Apocrypha

The Pharisees:

Believed in Torah Shebichtav and TorahShe Baal Peh (written and oral) b. What s the meaning of Prushim?

- Perush- meaning theywrote the Perushim on the Torah

- L Hafreesh- means toseparate, meaning they separated themselves form the rest of the nation to makesure not to become impure

They were the leaders of the nation

Believed in the revival of the dead(Techiat Hametim)

Believed in reward and punishment inthe world to come (Olam Habah)

Believed in Divine Intervention(Hashgachat Pratit) The Sadducees:

They only believed in Torah Shebichtav(written) and read the Torah literally

They were the Aristocrats

Believed to have come from SadokHaCohen (I think)

Didn t believe in the revival of thedead

Didn t believe in reward and punishmentin the world to come

Didn t believe in Divine InterventionThere was alsoanother sect called the Essenes:

Sources for them:Josephus, Pliny the Elder, Philo from Alexandria (He was a Jewish Philosopherwho wanted to make a fusion between philosophy and Judaism.)

What is the meaningof Essenes? (You have to see the words in Hebrew in order to understand)

- One interpretationsays it comes from a word in Hebrew meaning hidden, and they were a hiddengroup

- Another explanationis a word in Hebrew that means healers- they were faith healers

The Essenes wereclose to the Prushim in their beliefs just they didn t believe in BechirahChofshit (that you can choose what you want to do in life).

The Essenes:

The Essenes lived in the desert, andKumran (where the Dead Sea Sect lived) is in the desert

Wore white clothes and believed inpurification and going into the Mikvah

They believed in shared property- noprivate property (like an early Kibbutz)

Believed in celibacy (where they didn tget married)

Didn t have any pleasures from thisworld

They didn t believe in the holiness ofthe Beit Hamikdash and didn t accept authority of the Cohanim inYerushalaim.With the Dead SeaScrolls they found the full Tanach (except Megilat Esther) and some of thesects own Megilot, which described a bloody end of days- they were anApocalyptic Group.