Corey G. '14 gives this abridged overview of the history of the Jewish people.

1. The History of Your People:
An Abridged Version
By Corey G. „14

2. Why?
 The tenth and eleventh grade Jewish History curricula
cover content in great breadth and depth, leaving you
with a lot of information to synthesize in the midst of
your rigorous junior year
 To aid in your understanding of the progression of Jewish
History, this presentation outlines the major eras and
topics of study within Jewish History

3. Divisions of Presentation
Review
Tenth
Grade
Curriculum
Preview
Eleventh
Grade
Curriculum

4. Some Terms
Acculturation
Accommodation
Assimilation
Responses
to
Surrounding
Culture
Periodization
Ancient
Medieval
Modern
Post
Modern

5. Why Are We Starting Here?
 We only have one source for the time leading up to this
period: the Torah, the Five Books of Moshe
 This poses various challenges to our academic
understanding of ancient Jewish history
Benefits
Challenges
•Starting point
•Preservation provides
evidence
•Insight into
cultural/social norms
•Religious
information/Talmudic
tradition
•Narrow window
•Lack of chronology
•Interpretation
•Contradicts archeology
•Theology book
•Emotional factor

6. Tenth Grade
Curriculum
The Divided Kingdoms and
the Assyrians
to
Jews and the Birth of Islam

7. Identify this
Primary Source
• Includes the first
mention of Israel
outside of the
Tanakh, “Haberew”
• 1210 BCE
This is the:
• Merneptah Stele
http://mattakers.blogspot.com/2011/01/merneptah-stele.html

8. The Divided Kingdoms
 Israel had reached its zenith at the beginning of King
Solomon‟s rule; the Temple had been built
 The Israelites were divided in ancient Israel into twelve
tribes which owned pieces separate of land
 Solomon‟s reign had inherent difficulties
 He was the last king of the United Kingdom of Israel
 922 BCE – Solomon‟s death
 928 BCE – Division of Kingdom

9. The Divided Kingdoms
 At the end of Solomon‟s
reign, the kingdoms split
 Northern Kingdom:
Kingdom of Israel
 Southern Kingdom:
Kingdom of Judah
 After
invasions, attacks, and
the division of the
kingdoms, the Ten
Tribes were exiled and
assimilated among other
peoples
 Beginning of diaspora
Wikipedia

10. The Northern Kingdom and the
Assyrians
 738 BCE – Assyrian King conquers a civilization by
Canaan; deports the native population of dissenting
thought and replaces these people with Assyrian
loyalists (population transfer of the periphery)
 This weakens the chance of protests and rebellion, while
diluting Israel
 722 BCE – Northern Kingdom conquered by King
Sargon II of Assyria; upper class, women, and skilled
workers deported
 The Assyrian imports and lower class Jewish remnants
were called Samaritans
 Those deported either went to Judah or Assyria

11. The Southern Kingdom
 Deuteronomic reforms alter the practice of Judaism
 Personal responsibility
 Sole loyalty to God
 Central location for sacrifice
 Contrasts the pagan view of sacrifices
 Keeps Jews focused on Judaism and sacrifices halakhic
 Hezekiah, the ruler of Judah from 727 - 698 BCE, retains control
despite the threat of the Assyrians in the Northern Kingdom

12. The Fall of the Southern Kingdom
 Babylonia replaces Assyria as the new world empire
 597 BCE – Jerusalem is captured, upper class is exiled
(first exile) and King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia
puts in place a vassal king, Tzidkiyah
 586 BCE – Judah revolts and the Temple is destroyed
by the Babylonians; Jerusalem emptied of Jews (second
exile)
 582 BCE – Gedaliah, the new governor, revives
Jerusalem economically, but is assassinated leading to
the exile of the remaining Jews (third exile)

13. Destruction & Exile: Beginning of
Jewish Life in the Diaspora
 Exiled Jews join emerging Jewish communities
 Leaders, exiled before the rest of the population, have
set up these communities
 Diversified Jewish economy contributes to society
 Jews embrace personal responsibility when it comes to
practicing their religion; they unite as they look toward
the shared goal of a future in Israel

14. Destruction & Exile: Beginning of
Jewish Life in the Diaspora
 539 BCE – Persia replaces Babylonia as the new world
empire
 Book of Esther may have occurred during this time (no
corroborating historical evidence)
 Cyrus presents a policy change; grants Jews permission
to return to Israel, however most are comfortable and
choose to remain in exile
 516 BCE – 70 years after Jeremiah‟s prophecy in 586
BCE, the Second Temple is built
 Jews were autonomous in the diaspora, yet secular
rulers had connections to the Jewish communities and
often enforced Jewish law (corporatism)

15. Destruction & Exile: Beginning of
Jewish Life in the Diaspora
 Intermarriage first emerges as a problem in response
to the enticing Persian culture
 The Jews of Elephantine assimilate yet remain
connected to their Jewish roots; in their corporate
community structure, they embrace aspects of outside
culture yet remain connected to Israel from the diaspora

16. Hellenism
 331 BCE – Greece replaces Persia as the new world
power; Alexander the Great conquers
 Greeks impose rule and culture, leading to hellenization
 Greek becomes the official language in much of the territory
 Greek intellectual culture is enticing (modern western world
influenced by Graeco-Roman ideology)
 Gymnasium demonstrates assimilation; circumcision
contradicts the cult of the body
 Seders demonstrate acculturation
 Jews must determine how much of Greek culture they
will embrace

17. The Septuagint
 Translation of the Torah into Greek
 Completed in Alexandria, Egypt by 70 rabbis
 For Ptolemy II‟s personal library (supposedly)
 Some Jews embraced the assimilation and the Greek
culture/language while others believed that the
Septuagint was terrible for Jewish tradition

18. Jews During the Greek Empire
Life in Judea
 Greek rule with Jewish autonomy
 Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek were all spoken
 High priest collected taxes
 Great influence of Hellenism
Life in the Diaspora
 Introduction of synagogues; new form of worship
without temple
 Increasing Jewish populations; Jews concentrated in
some areas

19. The Effect of Hellenism on Judea
Factionalization of Jews
Embrace Greeks
and Hellenism
Hellenizers
Upper Class
City dwellers
Pious ones
Hasidim
Lower class
Less urban

20. Judea Under Seleucid Rule
 200 BCE – Seleucids (Syrian Greeks) take control of
Judea
 Jason purchases his position of high priest;
Hellenization increasingly corrupts Jerusalem
 175 BCE – Antiochus IV Epiphanes takes power
 New priest, Menelaus, replaces Jason and steals Temple
funds
 168 BCE – revolt is led by Jason, but it is crushed by
Antiochus; greater Greek scrutiny and encroachment on
autonomy; extreme outlawing of Jewish observance and
practice

21. Maccabean Revolt
Maccabean Revolt
begins as a guerilla
war
For the first time, Jews
fight on Shabbat
•They chose to break
commandments, live, and
win battles (
)
166 BCE – Mattathias
is killed in battle
Judah takes command
and leads the revolt
into Jerusalem
Antiochus dies
164 BCE – Maccabees
win and retake the
Temple
Idols and pagan
objects removed from
the Temple;
rededication
Chanukah Story
(rabbinic- miracle of
oil, Book of Maccabees
– military, Josephus –
religious freedoms)
160 BCE – death of
Judah Maccabee in
battle; Jonathan takes
over; war with Greece
NOT OVER

22. Beginning of the Hasmonean
Dynasty
 5-7 years after the Chanukah miracle the Greeks were
defeated militarily
 Confluence of factors allow for independence for Judea and
the birth of the Hasmonean Dynasty
1. Rome doesn‟t conquer but keeps Greeks in check through
sphere of influence
2. Breakup of Seleucid Empire into warring factions
3. Maccabees (Judah, Jonathan…) were especially strong leaders
4. Growing population  continually growing army
 Through military victory and “God said so” Maccabean
leaders established their legitimacy
 “Establishing your legitimacy does not
mean you are illegitimate!” – Mrs. Frank

23. The Hasmonean Dynasty
 140 BCE - Simon becomes the founder of the
Hasmonean dynasty
 Hellenization continues; building campaigns sweep
Israel; coercive conversion campaign by Jews
 Hasmonean leadership breaks with the people of Judea
when Alexander Yonai crucifies 800 Pharisees; corrupt
 Diaspora Jews remain connected to Judea
 Encouraged Cleopatra to protect Judea and not alienate
Jews in Egypt
 37 BCE - Civil war breaks out and Rome is invited in to
keep order; end of Hasmonean Dynasty

24. Meanwhile…
Jewish Sectarianism
 Different views of Judaism and ways of accessing the
Jewish establishment emerged
 From 2nd century BCE to 2nd century CE
Why?
 Period of transition and upheaval in response to
Hellenistic influences
 Urbanization leads to alienation
 Problematic nature of Hasmonean leadership

25. Meanwhile…
Jewish Sectarianism
 Small, voluntary frameworks with unique identities
 Urban, wealthy, educated people associated themselves
with sects (Jerusalem society)
 All sects were equally passionate about Judaism
Pharisees
•Progressive
group of people
•Forerunner of
rabbinic
Judaism
Saducees
•Connected to
the priestly
class
•Believed
Pharisaic
Judaism was
wrong
Essenes
•Emphasis on
“holiness”
•Communitarian
rules
 Zealots grew to capture the majority of the Jewish public
opinion by the time of the Great Revolt

26. Dissatisfaction with Roman Rule
 37 BCE - Herod ascended to the throne, hated by Jews
(b/c he kills wife and opposition) but embraced by the
secular population (building campaigns, strong leader)
 Puppet ruler for Rome which has seized power
 Rules until he dies in 4 CE
 Procurators reign after Herod; bought their positions
and were often corrupt
 Dissatisfaction with Roman procurator rule led to
increased Jewish zealotry

27. Meanwhile…
The Birth of Christianity
 During his lifetime, Jesus was a Jew
 30 CE – Jesus was crucified (Christians blame San
Hedrin, however only Romans utilize capital punishment and
Christ was dangerous to Roman rule)
 A Jewish sect, Christianity, emerges with innovations like
baptism, proselytizing, and Graeco-Roman influences
 Paul (5-67 CE) was the founder of normative Christianity, a
separate religion; innovations including
 Acceptance by pagans and gentiles
 Freedom from Jewish law
 The New Covenant: God has rejected the Jews and chosen the
Christians
 New theology of God: the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)

28. Meanwhile…
The Birth of Christianity
Religions of the
Roman Empire In
30 CE
 Normative Christianity
grew quickly; it attracted
many because
 Baptism and faith were
the only requirements
Jewish
Pagan
Christian
 Balanced between the
more sophisticated
monotheism and the
generally accepted
“paganism”
 30 CE – first pope, St.
Peter, becomes spiritual
head of the religion

29. The Revolt Against Rome
66-73 CE:
Great Revolt
68 CE: Destruction
of Qumran
70 CE: Temple
Destroyed
 Proximate cause:
Flavius, the
emperor, disrespected
Jewish sensibilities and a
priest refused to offer a
sacrifice on his behalf
 Zealots supported the
revolt while the Pharisees
were split
 After the revolt:
73 CE: Masada
Captured
 Jewish rule of Israel is
over until 1948
 Accommodation is the
only way for Judaism to
survive

30. A Departure from Temple Based
Judaism
 Mourning for the Temple must be permanent, but not
constant
 Pharisees gain power as rabbis become the prime
leadership
 Judaism can no longer rely on the Temple
 Shift to only synagogues  “portable Judaism”

31. Dissatisfaction with Roman Rule
 132-135 CE – Bar Kochba Revolt
 Causes: Hadrian‟s rule was oppressive and the Jews‟
situation led to a messianic fervor
 Impact: the Jews managed to hold off the Romans for a
while and achieved some autonomy
 Ultimately the revolt failed

32. Advances in Rabbinic Literature
 220 CE – Mishnah codified by Rabbi Yehuda HaNasih
 He aimed to make a framework, not a complete, definitive
code, for Jews in the diaspora and for future generations

33. The Early Church and the Jews
 Early Fourth Century CE – Rome adopts Christianity
and Constantine moves the capital to Constantinople
 Constantine kept Judaism a religio licita (permitted) as
Jews are needed for the Doctrine of the Witness
 Evidence of Christian superiority
 Witnesses to the Bible and Jesus
 Vulgate is a Latin translation of the Bible to further
marginalize the Jews
 361-363 CE – Julian the Apostle rejects Christianity and
wishes to return to paganism; strengthens the Jews to
weaken Christianity; perishes in a fire

34. Meanwhile…
Developments in the 5th Century
 Fifth century CE – Midrash put together; very
important for diaspora Jewry as it contributed to Oral
Law and clarified aspects of Written Law
 Midrash Aggadah: narrative expansions
 Midrash Halacha: laws and legal notes
 475-476 CE – Germanic tribes and other eastern
invaders bring an end to the Roman Empire

35. Jews and the Birth of Islam
 Mohammed (572-632 CE) was born in Mecca; he
preaches monotheism
 Mohammed taught that the Torah is distorted
 Islam descends from Ishmael instead of Yitzchak
 Judaism and Islam share a similar calendar, law
code, and are both strictly monotheistic

36. Jews and the Birth of Islam
 Mohammed tries to convert Jews in Mecca to
Islam, prompting some to convert and others to leave
 Major conflicts between religions even though Judaism
aligns closer to Islam than Christianity
 Torah corrupted?
 Land conflict
 632 CE – Mohammed dies
 638 CE – Palestine becomes a Muslim territory
 750 CE – Muslim empire expands from Persia to Spain

37. Jews Under the Islamic Empire
 Some Jews in Babylonia after the first exile (these Jews
created the Babylonian Talmud)
 A handful of Jews were in Rome and would later settle in
Europe
 Majority of Jews are under Muslim rule
 Pact of Umar ensures minorities like Jews and
Christians safety and protection but requires that they
stay separate and quiet about their religions
 Dhimmi status allows Jews to preserve their religion
safely but assigns Jews second class status

38. Eleventh Grade
Curriculum
Medieval Christendom
to
American Jewish History

39. Jews in Medieval Christendom
 1040–1105 – Rashi, and French rabbi, lived and
contributed greatly to commentaries
 Jewish life precarious under charters; life at the whim of
the current ruler
 Two periods of anti-Semitism in medieval Jewish history
 Up to 13th century (Jews widely tolerated this)
 13th to 15th centuries (increasing due to
political, economic, ecological stress)
 Blood libels targeted Jews
 Accusations of host desecration
 Expulsion

40. Jews in Medieval Christendom
 Christians saw Jews as a necessary witness (Doctrine of
the Witness) of God‟s New Covenant with the Christians
 Jewish autonomy: Jews lived in a corporate unit while
struggling with rabbinic authority
 “Don‟t tell them because they may come to do wrong acts
on purpose instead of by accident”  authority was weak
 Cultural cross pollination between Jews and Christians
 1290-1492 – All of Western Europe [with the exception
of Italy] expelled Jews

41. Expulsions Sparked Jewish
Migration
Jews fled Central
and Western
Europe
Arrived in the
Polish-Lithuanian
Empire
Arrived in the
Ottoman Empire

42. Jews in the Polish-Lithuanian
Empire
 Conditions deteriorated in Southern and Western Europe;
after expulsion many fled to Poland
 Polish nobles invited them to manage their estates
 Jews had strong legal status in Poland; less precarious life
 Jewish life flourished and Jews had autonomy
 Yiddish remained the predominant language
 Minimal integration
 Council of Four Lands – representative communal
organization
 1648-1649 – Chimielnicki massacres leads to the murder
of ¼ of the Jewish population in Poland
 Peasant uprising targeting nobles

43. Meanwhile…
Jews Flee to the Ottoman Empire
In Spain…
 1391 – Pogrom like attacks on Jews, sometimes forcing
Jews to convert
 1478 – Spanish Inquisition targets New Christians (Jews
who converted insincerely)
 1492 – Alhambra Decree expels Jews from Spain; most
go to Portugal
In Portugal…
 1497 – Jews face forced coversion
 1506 – Conversos flee to the Ottoman Empire

44. Meanwhile…
Jews in the Ottoman Empire
 The Ottoman Empire, and Islamic Empire, historically
had good associations with the Jews
 Jewish communities left to themselves
 Similar status to dhimmi
 Great commercial freedom; religious autonomy
 Kabbalah emerges
 Shabbetai Tzvi – false messiah of the period; clear that
he is false when he dies

45. Era of Mercantilism
 16th century – early 18th century
 Mercantilism – the state exists to make money
 Jews start to return to countries from which they were
expelled
 Jews create successful communities with some former
conversos and some Ashkenazim; very close knit and
not integrated with other communities; only
economically integrated
 Relationship with State is good; see Jews as useful and
doesn‟t expel them any more; corporate community
structure

46. The Birth of Chassidism
 1700-1760, in Poland
 BeSHT, a mystical healer with revolutionary ideas, emerges
in Poland and begins the Chassidic movement
 Maggid of Mezrich, the BeSHT‟s student, sent out disciples
to attract people to Chassidism
 Emphasis on prayer, joy, kindness toward fellow Jews, kavanah
(intent with mitzvot), the centrality of the rebbe, etc.
 After 1760, Mitnagdim emerge in opposition to Chassidism;
they felt that Chassidism was anti-intellectual and anti-halakhic

47. Haskalah: The Jewish
Enlightenment
 Transition between mercantilist ideas (Jews are useful)
to Enlightenment ideas (Jews are human and have some
intrinsic value)
 Early 18th – mid 19th centuries
 Only affected Germany and only spread among the elite
and well educated
 Yiddish was not accepted; only German and Hebrew
 Later movement spreads Jewish enlightenment thought
to Eastern Europe in a different form
 Yiddish is adopted as Jews prefer it to Russian and Hebrew
is a dead language

48. Moses Mendelssohn
 Father of the Jewish enlightenment
 Encourages Jews to modernize:

Speak the vernacular (German)

Have secular educations

Join accepted trades

Be better, more loyal, more integrated citizens of their states
 Declared that states had to be more accepting of Jews in
return (tolerance, humanism)

49. Meanwhile…
Colonial Jewry
1654-1820
 1654 – Recife 23; 23 Jews come to the British North
American colonies
 1776 – 2000 Jews in the United States
 High assimilation, low observance, pockets/communities
 Primarily Sephardic

50. First Period of Emancipation
 1750-1789 – Pre-emancipatory period
 Affected by Enlightenment ideas
 French Revolution occurs during this time
 Rational humanitarianism is a belief that it is useful for a
society to enfranchise its members to create a productive
society; this led to emancipation

51. Second Period of Emancipation
 1789-1871 – Emancipatory period
 Started with France and ended with Germany
 Non-Jewish enlightened thinkers are reluctant to extend
rights despite enlightenment thought

52. Emancipation in France
 1790 - Sephardim (seemingly more sophisticated) are
emancipated before Ashkenazim
 1791 - Berr Isaac Berr wrote “A Letter to my Fellow
Citizens” telling the Ashkenazim of Alsace Lorraine how
to integrate to make the French like them; actually
targeted the French
 1806 – Napoleon convenes the Assembly of Jewish
Notables to answer 12 questions on behalf of the Jewish
community; sends a message to Napoleon, the
French, the Jewish people, and the world
 1807 – Napoleon convenes the Sanhedrin to ratify the
Assembly‟s answers, setting a standard for the
international Jewish community and yielding more
control to Napoleon

53. Emancipation in Germany
 To attain emancipation, Jews had to become cultural
Germans
 Religious reform
 Aesthetic – organs, vernacular sermons
 Ideological – “temples,” removing Hebrew, Temple
references, sacrifice references, abandoning ritual halakha
 1818 – first Reform Temple: Hamburg Temple

54. Neo-Orthodoxy: A Reaction to
Reform in Germany
 In Germany, Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch (1808-1888)
led this new movement in response to Reform‟s
declaration that ritual law was no longer binding
 Encouraged aesthetic reform and secular education
 Did not encourage getting rid of
messianism, abandoning Israel, removing Hebrew

55. Incarceration in Russia
 1796 – Catherine creates the Pale of Settlement to avoid
integration with the Jews; here the Jews are forced to lived
 1827 – cantonism, a policy of forced conscription for Jews
in the French army, led to many conversions and young
Jews dying
 Crown schools were created by the czars to appear as
Jewish day school but actually encourage assimilation and
conversion
 Jews were not welcome to integrate; did not want to
integrate; were too big of an impoverished population
 Led to the formation of political movements like
socialism, nationalism, and Eastern European Zionism
(1870s)

56. Third Period of Emancipation
 1871-1945 – Backlash period
 Jews integrated but still not liked
 Resurgence of anti-Semitism in this period
 1881, Poland – Alexander II assassinated and rumors
blame Jews, leading to pogroms
 prompts a massive migration of Eastern European Jews
west to the US and Palestine from 1881-1924
 1894 – Dreyfus Affair: French Jewish soldier unfairly
convicted of treason
 Inspires Herzel to push for a Jewish state because
assimilation is not working

57. Meanwhile…
German Migration
1820-1880
 Population increases from 5,000 to 250,000
 60% German, 40% Eastern European
 First rabbi, rabbinical school (Hebrew Union College)
 Minimal rabbinic authority

58. Meanwhile…
Eastern European Migration
1880-1924
 Population increases from 250,000 to 5.5 million
 Quota Act restricts vast waves of immigrants
 Yiddish emerges in the US
 1902 – JTS founded
 1916 – YU founded

59. Emancipation Turns to AntiSemitism Turns to Nazism
 1902 – Protocols of
the Elders of Zion:
created by the Russian
secret police; a fake
account of Jews
planning to take over
the world
 1911 – Bellis Affair:
Jews is accused of
ritually murdering a
Christian boy
Western
Europe
Eastern
Europe
Created advocacy
organizations for
Jews in trouble
Lots of political
activity
•Socialists
•Zionists
•Anarchists
Emigration in mass
numbers
Sent monetary aid
to E.E. Jews
Wary that E.E.
Jews‟ status would
jeopardize their
status in Western
civilization

60. World War I
 August 1, 1914 – November 11, 1918
 1.5 million Jews in armies across Europe
 Jews excited for war effort; excited to show loyalty to
countries

61. The Holocaust
1933 – Hitler comes to
power without being
elected by a majority;
overstepped his
authority
November 9-10, 1938
– Kristallnacht; “The
Night of the Broken
Glass”
September 21, 1939
– Heydrich Order calls
for Jews to become
concentrated in areas
near railroads for the
purpose of deportation
The Holocaust begins in
1939
1941-1942 – The term
“final solution” is used
as extermination is
decided upon
1945 – The Holocaust
ends after 6 million
Jews have perished

62. Meanwhile…
Interwar & WWII Years
1924-1945
 Jewish community nervous by the tumult across seas
 In the US, Jews remain reasonably comfortable and safe

63. The End
Until the twelfth grade curriculum: “Zionism & Israel”