HISTORY OF JUDAISM
HISTORY OF JUDAISM
Messiah
1- Beginning: Abraham
2- Slavery:
Moses
3- Promised
Land : Joshua 4-
Kings 5- Prophets
6-
Exile: Ark Lost... Synagogue 7- The Return: Ezra,
Hellenism, Maccabee
8- The
Times of Jesus
9-
Diaspora: The Holocaust 10-
Today's Judaism
The quest for "the
Messiah":
Judaism is a religion of great beliefs and practices... but the "character"
of Judaism is to be sought in the "historical experience"... a
"suffering" people, with many trials and tribulations, but always full of joy
and hope, anchored in the coming Messiah.
Judaism is an "assembly of giants"... ... a "chosen people" to
whom God will send the great person needed at the right time in history to solve the many
difficulties found in the road of salvation... salvation of the Jews, and salvation of the
entire human race... God will solve any problem... but always using a
"person"!... and the most important person is the Messiah, God incarnated, a
descendent of Abraham and of David, who brings eternal salvation for Israel and the whole
world.
- In Genesis 6 God used Noah to save the human race from
total physical destruction... the Messiah will save the world from spiritual destruction.
- In Genesis 12, he used Abram, from Ur, the actual Iran, to start the
"people of God", the "chosen people", and made him a
"promise": From his descendants will come the "Messiah" (the
"Christ", in Greek) , to save the Jews, and the entire human race. See
Judaism and
Messiah
- In Genesis 17, God changed his name into "Abraham", "a father
of many nations" you shall be... and in the "many nations" are included
today all Christians and Muslims... 3 billion, the half of the human raze.
- He was a "man of Faith", tested 3 times by the Lord:
...First, in Ur, when he left his country and kindred to go to the promised land,
trusting the Lord;
...second, when he was asked to believe that God would provide a son through his
old wife Sarah;
...third, when God told him to sacrifice his only son from Sarah,
Isaac.
- "Abraham" is the symbol of "God the Father".
- "Isaac" is the symbol of "God the Son".
- "Jacob" is the symbol of "God the Holy Spirit", transformed by the
action of the Holy Spirit from "Jacob", the cheat, into "Israel", the
kindest man in the Bible... so, the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" is the
symbol of "God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit" (Ex.3:6, 3:15,
Luk.20:37).
The 70 members of the family of Abraham who went to Egypt, became a 3 million nation, but ended in slavery, for 430 years!... and under slavery the Israelites kept their beliefs and practices, united with the hopeful joy of the coming Messiah.
- Now, God brought forth "Moses", to save his people from
physical slavery... the Messiah will safe his people, not from physical but from spiritual
slavery of sin...
- Moses lead the Exodus from Egypt.
- And 50 days later, on Pentecost, he received at Mount Sinai the Commandments, the Law,
and the Ritual... such a rich ritual!... for God the very best!... God looks like a
jeweler
when he gives instructions to Moses on how the priests should dress into the altar: their
breastpiece embroidered with pure gold, with 4 rows of precious stones: A carnelian,
topaz, emerald, a garnet, sapphire, diamond, a hyacinth ruby, amethyst, a beryl, onyx,
jasper... and all of this to be done by poor people in the desert!... (Ex.28).
- "Joshua" ("Jesus" in English), is the symbolism of the Messiah the conqueror, to bring us to the new eternal celestial Jerusalem...
Another group of giants.
To David was promised that one of his descendants, the Messiah, "shall build a
house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever"
(2Sam.12)... "for ever", "eternally"... an spiritual kingdom!... not a
material kingdom expected by many Jews.
King David as Shepherd
of the People of God
- "David himself", was chosen by God to be the shepherd of his kingdom on Earth;
David and his successors! (Ez.34)... the Messiah, Jesus, would do the same with
"Peter", he chose him to be the shepherd of his kingdom on Earth... Peter and
his successors... (Jn.21:15, Matt.16:19).
- David prophesied that the Messiah will die on a cross, 1,000 years before the Romans
invented the crucifixion... in his Psalm 22, he made 13 prophecies that were fulfilled to
the letter at Calvary, among them, "they have pierced my hands and feet",
"they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing cast lots", "I can
count all my bones"...
Solomon built the Temple to house the Ark of the Covenant, and Israel reached the
pick of its splendor...
... During this time, when things were going well, the rich literature of Israel appeared:
Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Wisdom of Solomon...
Another group of giants, who appeared when the Kingdom was divided, and things were going bad, to right them up!:
- "Isaiah", he prophesied the Messiah will be born from a "virgin" (7:14), ... and announced the "Servant Suffering" Messiah in chapter 53.
- The Northern Kingdom (Israel) fell in 722 AC to the Assyrians, and Tobit did in Ninive
what Daniel will do in Babylon.
- The Southern Kingdom (Judah) fell in 586: Exiled to Babylon, and Ezekiel and Daniel maintained the faith of the people, always with
the joyful expectancy of the Messiah.
- The Temple was destroyed and
the Ark of the Covenant
was lost: The Bible says that Jeremiah put it in a huge cave at Mount Nebo, and makes 2
prophecies:
1- It will stay there until God gathers his people together again, and...
2- at that time the columns of fire and cloud will be seen as in the times of Moses (2
Maccabees 2).
- The Ark is still at Mount Nebo, says the Bible (2Mac.2).
Ark of the Covenant:
The greatest and longest Miracle in the Bible, the
great Miracle to come at the End of Times
- The "Synagogue":
Since there was neither Ark nor Temple, the "Synagogue" worship
developed under Ezra: The Ark was replaced by the scrolls of scripture, the altar by the
pulpit, and the priests by rabbis.
- In Babylon, the Jews adopted the "Babylonian calendar", still the basis for
the Jewish year, and adopted the "Aramaic" as their second language.
- After 70 years in Babylon, the Jews returned to Jerusalem to rebuild
the City and the Temple, allowed by King Cyrus of Persia. They came in 3 groups lead by
Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah... and the first thing they built was an "altar".
- In the 313 BC, Alexander conquered Israel, and became the "Hellenistic era",
the establishment of Greek culture. One of the results was the need to translate the
Hebrew Scriptures into Greek; it was done in Alexandria by a group of 72 rabbis (6 from
each one of the 12 Tribes of Israel), and hence the name "Septuagint" given to
the translation (see Scriptures, page. 206).
- At the death of Alexander, at 33 years of age, his successors in Damascus, Syria,
conquered Israel, and the Seleucid Antiochus IV made the abomination of placing in the
Temple an altar to Zeus.
- The Maccabees, led a revolt, and cleansed the Temple in 165 BC... the
"Hanukkah", the "Feast of Lights" celebrates this event every year on
about Christmas time.
- In 63 BC, Pompey marched into Palestine, and Rome took control
setting up a puppet government, allowing vassal kings to rule in Israel:
- "Herod the Great": Ruled Palestine from 37 to 4 BC, he was
extremely cruel, but restored the Temple. At his death, his sons ruled various segments of
Palestine:
- "Herod Archelaus": Ruled Judea from 4 BC to 6 AC; under him Jesus
was born, and the Holy Innocents were slaughtered.
- "Herod Antipas": Ruled Galilee and Perea until 33 AC: He is the one
denounced by John the Baptist of adultery, and before him Jesus stood trial.
- In 6 AC, Herod Archelaus was removed, and replaced by the Roman Governor "Pontius
Pilate", famous for his judgment over Jesus.
He came as a humble person, he was not a Priest nor a Scribe, but a carpenter peasant, without any political power... he had no influential friends... but he declared himself the Son of God, the Messiah, God Himself Incarnated!... and did it with his words and deeds, making all kinds of miracles...
Genealogy of Jesus...
Toledot Jeshu:
Life of Jesus, Genealogy of Jesus...the Devastating Hebrew Book
After Jesus the Messiah, the Temple was destroyed, and the perpetual sacrifice ended, as foretold in the Scriptures. See "PRACTICES" AFTER CHRIST".
Without Temple nor sacrifices, the Priests simply faded out of existence.
The Zealots who brought the revolt that lead to the destruction of Jerusalem disappeared.
This left the Pharisees (the Rabbis) alone to carry on the Jewish faith... and the Rabbis
(teachers) emphasized the Law, and created the Talmud, as already commented in the
"Scriptures"... and the "rabbinic system", with the Talmud, was put in
place, and remains so to the present....
The Synagogue, is now the center of worship, not the Temple... a Judaism without altar,
nor sacrifices, nor priests!... if Abraham or Moses or David would come today to Israel or
New York, they would not recognize Judaism!...
In the Branches of Judaism,
we will comment on the different stages of the "Rabbinic Judaism": Age of the "Tannain"
(teachers), the "Amoraim" (makers of the Talmud), the "Geomin", under
Islam... the "anti-rabbinic reactions" in the 9th century, with the
"Karaites" (scripturalists), who made the "Masoretic Text" of the
Hebrew Bible... we will see the two main branches of Judaism of the 12th century, the
traditional "Sefardic" from Spain, and the more liberal "Ashkenazic"
from Germany, still the main thoughts of today's Judaism... we will also comment the two
mayor mystic branches of Judaism of the 12th century: The "Kabbalah"
("tradition") from Spain, and the "Hasidics" ("the pious
ones"), from Germany and Poland... and we will comment on the modern trends of
Ortodox, Reform, Conservative, Reconstrucionist, and the actual stage of Judaism in
Israel, America, Europe...
During all these 2,000 years, monotheism, the hope of the Messiah, the beautiful moral
ethics, and the daily practices, specially the Sabbath, have kept judaism alive among
incredible tribulations...
- Diaspora:
- The "dispersion of the Jews throughout the world" was foretold
in the Scriptures it would happen after the coming of the Messiah, "awake, O sword,
against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow... smite the shepherd, and the
sheep shall be scattered" (Zech.13:7).
... and after Jesus, the Jews were scattered around the world: To Africa, Asia, Europe...
and lately to America... "until God gathers his people together again and shows them
mercy", say the Scriptures (2Macc.2)... and this "gathering" may be what
apparently is happening today, after the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.
- Persecutions:
The Jews in the Diaspora flourished with new ideas and many good deeds, as
we shall comment later in the "Branches of Judaism"... ... but always among many
trials and tribulations, as it was foretold that would happen after the coming of the
Messiah, "and it shall come to pass, that in all the land two parts therein shall be
cut off and die, but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part
through the fire, and I will refine them as silver is refined..." (Zech.13:8--9).
- The Nazi Holocaust of 1938-44, tops them all, with 6 million of
Jews slaughtered... (See Art Gallery, Judaism, Holocaust)
But before that, many Jews were expelled from different European
nations, and many of them were killed:
The crusaders massacres in Germany, in 1096.
In England, there was the massacre of Jews in York in 1190, the Norwich blood libel in
1144, and expulsion from England in 1290.
The Talmud was burned in Paris in 1242, and expulsion from France in 1306 and 1394.
From Germany expelled in 1348.
From Spain and Sicily in 1942.
From Portugal in 1497.
From Naples in 1541.
The Chmielnicki massacre in Russia in 1648...
The "blood libel" concept is an incredible one, it was an honor to kill a
Jew for nothing, just for being Jew!.
The joyful hope of the coming of the Messiah kept alive Judaism during all these
tribulations, with the practices to honor the only God, specially the Sabbath and the
Pesach, and the glorious ethical way of living of the Law of Moses.
- The "Ghetto":
Italian, "gheta": foundry, started in Venice in 1516: An area in one sector of the city walled off, often with a single point of entrance.
Jews were restricted in their movements outside the Ghetto, they had to use a badge or
some distinctive form of clothing to be easily identified by the non-Jews, and were
usually required to be in the Ghetto by sundown.
... Jews were not allowed to own real state in other parts of the city. Since the Ghettos
remained fixed in size, any population increase meant overcrowded conditions.
... The term spread throughout the cities of Europe, and it was revived by the Nazis in
the Second World War, and served as points from which the Jews were transported to the
death camps.
... They were all closed by 1944.
- The "Emancipation:
It happened on Sept.28, 1791, when the French Revolution removed the legal
restrictions in France applying to Jews and Judaism. By 1860 much of Europe had followed
France's lead... ... but now in some places the religious hostility was replaced by
political anti-Semitism because the Jews were from another "nation".
... In Czarist Russia and Poland the older repressive policies continued: In 1804 the tzar
created the "Pale of Settlement", an area in western Russia as the only area
where Jews could reside, something like a "national Ghetto"; travel out of the
Pale required government permission.
Two kinds of Judaism:
1- The original one of Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, Jesus,
with temple, altar, sacrifices and priests.
2- The Rabbinic Judaism, the modern one, with synagogue and
teachers (Rabbis) but not temple nor altar nor sacrifice nor priests... if
Abraham or David would come today to New York or Jerusalem they would not
recognize Judaism, without altar? nor sacrifice? nor priests?
Two kinds of Christianity, as there are
mainly two kinds of Judaism:
1- The Catholic Christianity, like the Judaism of Moses
and Abraham, with altar, sacrifice, priests, temple... and also with the
synagogue, represented by the many "Catholic Associations".
2- The Protestant Christianity, similar to the Rabbinical Judaism, without
altar nor sacrifice nor priests, nor temple... only synagogues with teachers and
preachers...
Synagogue and Temple