The Everything Jewish History and Heritage Book: From Abraham to Zionism, all you need to understand the key events, people, and places

By Richard D Bank

A Simon & Schuster eBook. Simon & Schuster has a great book for every reader.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Release date: Dec 15, 2011
• ISBN: 9781605505282

Book preview

Introduction

PREPARE YOURSELF FOR AN EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURE! In the following pages, you’ll traverse a time continuum spanning more than 4,000 years as you learn about the history of the Jewish people.

We’ll begin in the area known as the Fertile Crescent, the cradle of civilization and the home of the early Hebrews. Then, we’ll move forward in time and place to follow the footsteps of Abraham and descend with Jacob’s clan into Egypt, emerging years later as a nation searching for freedom and the Promised Land. We will witness the founding of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, their destruction, the re-establishment of the Second Temple, and how it, too, was destroyed.

The loss of the Temple led to a 2,000-year exile, the Diaspora. During this time, the Jews dwelled in all parts of the world, often strangers among their countrymen. The pressure to give up their religion and their culture was great, but despite all the hardships—including social and cultural isolation, as well as religious persecution—the Jewish people persevered. Then, out of the ashes of the Shoah (Holocaust), one of the most horrific acts ever visited upon a people in human history, arose the modern State of Israel.

What kept the Jewish people together over the two millennia of exile and separation is a mystery unique in civilization. One answer is their adherence to Judaism—a shared set of beliefs, practices, and laws. (If you’d like to learn more about Judaism, you can turn to Richard Bank’s The Everything® Judaism Book.) However, there is another explanation—their cultural heritage, which we will examine as we explore Jewish history.

Because the narrative of the Jews begins so long ago, the only sources for their earliest history are the Bible and the oral tradition—the stories that have grown around the biblical narrative. What is more, the first part of the Bible, or Pentateuch, is essentially uncorroborated by independent data. Whether the incidents related in it are truth or fiction is, at least to some extent, a matter of belief, but the fact remains that this is indeed how the Jewish people view their history. We see heroic figures, prophets, kings, and scholars in all their glory and with all their blemishes and foibles. We see a people with a repetitive history of turning away from God, repenting, and turning away yet again. We see the Jews as slaves and as conquerors, showing mercy as well as cruelty. It’s because this saga is so human that it speaks to everyone—Jew and gentile alike.

For the non-Jews, The Everything® Jewish History & Heritage Book should make for interesting and rewarding reading on a number of levels, not the least of which is the fact that Christianity and Islam trace their roots to Judaism and the Jews. Christians believe that Jesus of Nazareth was a divine figure, but they also recognize that he was a Jew who lived in Palestine before the destruction of the Second Temple. Muslims accept as history the story of Abraham and his two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, and they honor Moses as a major prophet. And because of the Jewish Diaspora, much of Jewish history is deeply interconnected with the history of the rest of the world.

For Jewish readers, however, this book serves an additional purpose—to help them remember those who have come before us. Why do the Jews cling so tenaciously to memory, especially when that memory is replete with so much suffering? According to Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, it’s because they must: It is human nature to forget what hurts you…. But the Jews live by other rules. For a Jew, nothing is more important than memory. He is bound to his origins by memory. It is memory that connects him to Abraham, Moses and Rabbi Akiba. If he denies memory he will have denied his honor.

Memory is what all Jews have in common, whether they are Orthodox Jews from London, Reform Jews from New York, or nonpracticing Jews from Tel Aviv. As the story of the Jewish people unfolds in the following pages, bear in mind that it is the collective memory of the Jews from one generation to the next that is the cornerstone of the Jewish people. And it is this memory, perhaps more than anything else, that has held them together for over four millennia and continues to be a unifying force today.

Chapter 1

The Age of the Patriarchs

According to the Jewish tradition, Jewish history begins with Abraham and the other patriarchs, leaders of the nomadic Hebrew tribes that came from Mesopotamia and wandered throughout Canaan, eventually ending up in Egypt. Not much is known about this early period. The two sources are the Bible and archaeological findings. Unfortunately, they don’t always present the same version of the story.

Where Jewish History Begins

While no one can say for certain where the first human beings appeared on the planet, it is believed that civilization germinated in the Middle East, in an area known as the Fertile Crescent. Geographically, the Crescent was a fertile agricultural area surrounded by arid deserts. The fecundity of the terrain was ensured by four mighty rivers that surrounded or flowed through the region. To the west, it was supported by the Nile in Egypt; to the east it was nourished by the Tigris and Euphrates.

Archaeologists believe that humans first settled down to farm the land around 5000 B.C.E., in the region between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, known as Mesopotamia (parts of modern-day Iraq and Turkey). Eventually, prosperity in agriculture paved the way for the emergence of powerful city states. It is to this region that we trace the origins of the early Hebrews.

Abraham’s Covenant with God

Abraham was born in the city of Ur, also known as Ur Kasdim (Ur of the Chaldees), in the southern part of Mesopotamia, sometime between 1950 and 1800 B.C.E. The baby boy’s father, Terah, gave him the name of Abram. When Abram was still a youth, Terah moved with his family to the city of Haran in northern Mesopotamia, and that is where Abram grew into adulthood.

For centuries, the existence of Ur Kasdim was shrouded in mystery, and it was not until the nineteenth century that archaeologists began excavating this ancient city. Established over two and a half centuries B.C.E., Ur was one of the major cities of Ancient Sumer, an empire that thrived in southern Mesopotamia until its fall to the Babylonians.

Terah was a Semitic merchant of idols but, legend has it, his young son was not convinced by the logic of idol worship. One day, young Abram went into his father’s shop and smashed all the idols, save the largest one. When Terah returned, he was dumbfounded—all the idols were destroyed, except the largest one, which was holding a hammer. Aghast, Terah demanded an explanation, so Abram calmly told his father that the biggest idol destroyed all the smaller ones.

Ridiculous! his father exclaimed. Idols can’t move! Abram rejoined that if that were the case, there’s no point to worship them. How could his father worship these statues if he believed them so powerless as to be unable to destroy one another?

This legend foreshadows a change in Abram’s beliefs—that there is one God. Today, all three monotheistic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—credit Abram for this belief, which is central to their faith.

God Calls on Abram

From the Bible, we have the story of how God called on Abram and bid him to leave his home and family and go to Canaan, where he would make Abram the father of a great nation and bless him and his descendants. According to the Book of Genesis, God said, Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house and I will make of you a great nation and curse him that curses you and all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you. Abram obeyed, and that is how the covenant (b’rit) between God and the Jewish people was established.

Part of God’s promise to Abraham’s descendants was territory (hence the concept of the Promised Land). In the Bible, God is very specific in delineating the boundaries of the region that stretches from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates River and includes the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites. However, in another biblical passage, the Promised Land only includes Canaan.

A Nomadic Lifestyle

Abram left the city of Haran and headed west, accompanied by his wife, Sarai, and his nephew Lot, as well as a full entourage of servants. Thus Abram assumed the lifestyle of a nomad, and his wanderings led him all the way to Egypt and then back to Canaan.

Abraham was a formidable warrior as well as a savvy diplomat, employing his might or his wits—whichever proved most appropriate—when dealing with petty kings and local chieftains. Eventually, he amassed a great fortune, and was lucky in all but one respect: He and Sarai remained childless.

Sodom and Gomorrah

One day, three strangers came to visit Abraham. In keeping with the well-established custom of hospitality, he invited them into his tent and he set out a feast before them.

The three strangers were messengers from God, and they informed Abram that God intended to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, two cities whose inhabitants were wicked and cruel. Despite all the crimes and transgressions of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abram pleaded with God on their behalf, pointing out that even ten just men didn’t deserve to die for the crimes of the rest of the town. Apparently, though, the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah were so depraved, that not even ten just men lived among them. The only righteous family was that of Abram’s nephew Lot, who resided in Sodom. Because he was a good man, God’s messengers traveled there to bring him out of the city before God annihilated Sodom and Gomorrah.

Lot’s family had to flee quickly, and they were told not to look back. However, Lot’s wife couldn’t bear to leave her home behind without one last look, and so she turned around—and instantly turned into a pillar of salt. Today, visitors to the Judean Desert in Israel stop at a rock that, tradition holds, is Lot’s wife, staring back at what used to be the city of Sodom.

The tale isn’t necessarily meant to be taken literally, but it reveals something about the man whom the Jewish people see as their patriarch. Even in the face of evil and depravity, Abram was prepared to argue with God in favor of justice. Despite Abram’s absolute loyalty to God, he was willing to question God’s judgment.

Father of Two Nations

Eventually, Abram grew old. He began to doubt that God’s promises would come true and that he would have as many children as there are stars in the sky—already, his wife had grown too old to bear children. Knowing that she could not provide a son, Sarai offered her maidservant Hagar as a wife to Abram. Polygamy was common to the peoples of the region, and making the union even more desirable was the fact that Hagar was Pharaoh’s daughter, who had been given to Abram when he had traveled through Egypt. Soon, Hagar had a son, and he was named Ishmael.

However, God told Abram that Ishmael would not be a part of His promise. Instead, he would become the father of another nation. Eventually, Hagar and Ishmael were sent away; according to the Bible, the angel of God continued to watch over them and in time Ishmael became the father of the Arab people.

Arabs trace their lineage from Ishmael and believe themselves to be descendants of Abram. In fact, the story of Hagar and Ishmael figures prominently in the Qur’an. According to a Muslim legend, Hagar and Ishmael found refuge in the desert, at a site that is now the Muslim holy city of Mecca.

From Abram to Abraham

God promised Abram that he would have a son from his wife Sarai and that this son, Isaac, would inherit God’s Covenant, which would be established between God and all of Abraham’s and Isaac’s descendants. From then on, Abram would be known as Abraham, father of many; Sarai, which means my princess in Hebrew, would be known as Sarah, "the princess."

As a sign of the Covenant between him and Abraham, God decreed that throughout the ages, every male child is to be circumcised at the age of eight days. The rite of circumcision was also binding upon Abraham who, it is said, circumcised himself at the age of ninety-nine. Circumcision, as a mark of the covenant between God and Abraham and all his descendants, has been a practice carried out throughout all generations of the Jewish people to the current times, even when they lived among people who did not practice it.

Circumcision, or brit milah, is one of the oldest Jewish traditions. The ceremony, which takes place eight days after a baby boy’s birth, is a very special occasion for Jewish families because with this act the baby is included in the covenant made between God and Abraham, as well as all of his descendants.

As God promised, Sarah did indeed conceive and gave birth to a son at a place now known as Beersheba. The boy was named Isaac or Yitzchak (from the Hebrew word for laughter), because Sarah laughed when she heard that she would have a child in her old age and because the name reflected Abraham’s joy in becoming a father.

Tel Sheva, the excavated walls of the biblical city of Beersheba (Be’er Sheva).

The Story of Isaac

From what we know from the biblical narrative, Isaac appears as a somewhat weak, enigmatic figure. One of the most dramatic stories in the Torah is the story of Isaac’s sacrifice.

As a trial of Abraham’s faith and obedience, God commanded him to sacrifice Isaac, and Abraham dutifully set out with his son to carry out God’s commandment at Mount Moriah. When they reached the summit, he bound his son and placed him upon the sacrificial rock. As he raised up the knife to kill his son, God spoke to him and told him to spare Isaac and sacrifice a ram instead.

Marriage and Family

When Isaac grew up, a family servant went to Haran to find him a wife. The servant returned with Rebecca, and she and Isaac got married; soon, Rebecca became pregnant with fraternal twins. It is said that the rivalry between the two boys was so strong that they were even fighting in the womb, causing a difficult pregnancy for their mother. After they were born, their battle of wills only intensified.

Abraham died when he was 175 years old and was buried in a tomb next to Sarah, in a village that is now the city of Hebron. His son, Isaac, would, as promised, become the next patriarch of the Jewish people.

Jacob and Esau: A Story of Sibling Rivalry

Though twins, two people could not have been more different than Isaac’s sons. Esau, the older of the two by a few minutes, was swarthy and hairy while Jacob was lanky and smooth-skinned. Their personalities differed as well. Esau was a man of action. He loved to hunt and was quite adept at it. Jacob, on the other hand, was more spiritual in nature, prone to contemplation before deciding upon his course of conduct.

The sense of competition between Jacob and Esau was fueled by the fact Isaac favored Esau while Rebecca preferred Jacob. Because Esau was the elder, he was entitled to the blessing of the firstborn, which meant that wealth and power would pass on to him. But with the riches and authority also came the responsibility to continue with the mission of his grandfather and father, and this was something Esau did not desire.

Birthright for a Bowl of Stew

Esau gave little thought to his birthright; he sold it to Jacob for a bowl of lentil stew because he was hungry and, he reasoned, what can a man who dies of hunger do with a birthright?

When the time came for Isaac, who had grown old and blind, to give his blessings to each of his sons, Rebecca schemed to trick her husband into giving the blessing of the firstborn, with its entitlements, to Jacob instead of Esau. While Esau was hunting, Rebecca covered Jacob’s arms with a goat skin. Though Isaac recognized the voice of Jacob, he felt the hands and arms of Esau and bestowed the blessing upon Jacob that had been meant for Esau.

Returning from the hunt, Esau learned that Jacob had received the blessing that was meant for him. Esau begged his father for the second blessing, but Isaac realized that Jacob was meant to continue the mission of his forefathers—that he would have the ability to instill in his people the values of learning and spirituality. Esau, a man of the sword, would be the father to a mighty nation of Edom—the Roman Empire.

Understandably, Esau was very angry, and Rebecca was afraid that his anger would lead him to murder his brother. And so, wishing to get her favored son as far away from danger as possible, she dispatched Jacob to her brother’s house in Haran, where he was to take a wife.

Jacob Becomes Israel

Jacob arrived in Haran without means or prospects and had to rely on the benevolence of his uncle Laban. Setting his eyes on his cousin Rachel, Jacob was immediately smitten and he asked for her hand in marriage. Seizing the opportunity, Uncle Laban demanded that Jacob work for him for seven years before the marriage could take place.

At the end of the required time, the marriage ceremony was held, but Laban had tricked Jacob and substituted his older daughter Leah in Rachel’s stead. Undeterred and still determined to take Rachel for his wife, Jacob worked an additional seven years for his uncle and then married Rachel. Subsequently, Jacob married the respective handmaidens of Rachel and Leah, Zilpah and Bilhah, and with these four wives, he sired twelve sons and one daughter.

Time to Go Home

Although Jacob worked for his miserly uncle/father-in-law, he was able to amass substantial wealth, and he eventually decided to return to his homeland—despite having to face Esau’s wrath. Upon hearing of his brother’s return, Esau set out to meet him with an army of 400 men. Rather than risk a violent confrontation, Jacob dispatched gifts to his brother and sent his caravan ahead, spending the night alone.

During the night, a stranger appeared. Jacob wrestled with the man until dawn, at which time Jacob, who overpowered the stranger, demanded that he receive a blessing. The stranger, who then revealed himself to be an angel, blessed Jacob and bestowed upon him the new name of Israel (Yisrael), which means the one who wrestled with God.

The offspring of Jacob/Israel in Canaan became known as the Israelites, and even today, the Jewish people are called the children of Israel. The founders of the Jewish state in Palestine were mindful of this connection when they named their new country Eretz Yisrael—the Land of Israel.

Jacob’s Sons—the Twelve Tribes of Israel

Emerging from the night-long struggle with the angel, Jacob went on to meet his brother Esau. Jacob’s good-faith offerings succeeded and peace prevailed when the siblings met. Although still not enamored with the brother who had deceived him, Esau saw the wisdom in combining his strength with the ingenuity of his brother, and he invited Jacob to accompany him and take up residence in Har Sa’ir. Jacob agreed to join his brother but he never did.

Jacob spent very little time in Canaan; with the exception of Benjamin, all his children were born in Mesopotamia or Syria. Toward the end of his life, Jacob’s travels took him to Hebron where his grandfather Abraham had lived and his father Isaac dwelled. At the age of 180 years, Isaac died, and Esau and Jacob buried him.

During Jacob’s lifetime, his followers came to regard themselves as linked to the land of Canaan. Indeed, even after Jacob and his tribe went down to Egypt, a good many Hebrews remained in Canaan.

Who were the forefathers of the twelve tribes of Israel?

Jacob’s twelve sons, who were born to his four wives. Leah gave birth to Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; Joseph and Benjamin were born to Rachel, who died while giving birth to Benjamin; Bilhah had Dan and Naphtali; and Zilpah bore Gad and Asher.

Who Were the Early Hebrews?

So far, we have covered the biblical narrative of the Age of the Patriarchs, but the Bible is a religious text written much later than the events it described. Because we are reaching back more than 4,000 years, there is little we know for certain about the early Hebrews. In fact, we cannot even be sure of the origin of the word Hebrew, though there are plenty of theories on the subject.

According to one, the term did not appear until much later, when the Hebrews dwelt in Egypt, since it derives from the Egyptian word apiru, or foreigner. Another possibility has to do with the fact that Abraham came from the other side (eber) of the Euphrates River and was thus called a Hebrew. A third argument is that the Hebrews believed themselves to be descendants of Eber, one of the ancestors mentioned in the complex biblical genealogy.

However they came about their nomenclature, the early Hebrews were a nomadic people who wandered in tribal groups organized around the rigid hierarchy of kinships. It is certain that they lived side by side with other groups, but there was one thing that separated the Hebrews from their neighbors—their beliefs.

Today, we know that the Hebrews were a Semitic people who lived in Ancient Palestine and claimed to be descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In the Pentateuch, the word Hebrew refers to the children of Israel, and is meant to emphasize their status as a distinct people.

A New Concept

While other tribes worshipped multiple deities, it appears that the early Hebrews had developed a cult of one god whom they thought superior and more powerful to all others. Although this was not yet the monotheistic faith it would gradually evolve into, it probably set the Hebrew tribes apart and united them together, providing them with a common identity. Perhaps it was in one of these groups that a leader such as Abraham emerged and established that there was only one true God responsible for creating the entire world.

Chapter 2

From Slavery to Freedom

From the story of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the epic continues to the next period of Jewish history—the Hebrews’ migration to Egypt, their enslavement, and then their liberation and departure, celebrated by Jews during the holiday of Passover as one of the central milestones of Jewish history.

Jacob’s Favorite Son

As you already know, Jacob had twelve sons—and Joseph, the eleventh son, was the special one, ever since the beginning. For a long time, Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel, could not conceive, and so her son Joseph’s birth was a long-awaited and much anticipated event. Unfortunately, being the center of his father’s attention did not bode well for Joseph.

When Joseph was seventeen, it was time for him to join his brothers, who herded their father’s livestock. For this important occasion, Jacob gave his favorite son a lavish gift, a coat of many colors. Naturally, this made his brothers even more envious. What is more, Joseph’s personality only exacerbated the relationship with his siblings. He never hesitated to report to Jacob any of his brothers’ misdeeds. Even Joseph’s special talent for dream interpretation, which would prove so useful during his sojourn in Egypt, would have been better set aside when he explicated his dreams to his brothers. His explanation