Historical Background
In the Old Testament, it is described how God chose the Jews to be an example to the world, and how God and his chosen people worked out their relationship.
During the Bronze Age is when the Jewish history begins in the Middle East. The first 5 books of the Bible tell of the birth of the Jewish people and the start of Judaism. Abraham was chosen by God to be the father of the Jews, who would be special to God and would be the example of good behavior to the rest of the world.
God guided the Jewish people through many troubles and through Moses gave them a set of rules by which they should live, the Ten Commandments.
Under God’s guidance, the Jews became a powerful people with kinds such as Saul, David, and Solomon, who later built the first great temple. After this Jewish worship was focused on the Temple and it became the only place where certain rites could be carried out.
Around 920 BCE, the kingdom fell apart, and the Jewish people split into groups. This was the time of prophets.
Around 600 BCE the temple was destroyed and the Jewish leadership was killed. Many Jews were sent into exile in Babylon and began the tradition of the Jewish tradition of the Diaspora.
In 175 BCE the King of Syria desecrated the temple and implemented a series of laws aiming to wipe out Judaism in favour of Zeus worship. There was a revolt (164 BCE) and the temple was restored. The revolt is celebrated in the Jewish festival of Hannukah.
In 63 BCE Pompey the Great lay siege to and entered the Temple, Judea became a client kingdom of Rome.
Year 1 CE Jewish teacher named Jesus is born. Once thought to be the Messiah, he found anew religion, Christianity.
1CE to 70 CE was the time of Rabbinic Judaism in which the Rabbis encouraged the Jewish people to observe ethical laws in all aspects of life, and observe a cycle of prayer and festivals in the home and at synagogues.
70 to 200 CE was the time of the destruction of the Temple. This was a period of great change in which political, religious, cultural, and social turmoil abounded in Palestine. The Jews led two revolts one in 70 CE, which resulted in the destruction of the temple, and one in 132 CE that resulted in deaths of hundreds of thousands of Jews.
Judaism developed rapidly from 200 to 700 CE. Around 200 CE, scholars compiled the Mishna, the collection of teachings, sayings and interpretations of the early Rabbis. The academies continued their work and several generations of Rabbis followed. Their teachings were compiled in the Talmud which expands on the interpretations of the Mishna and established an all-encompassing guide to life.
In 439 CE the Romans banned synagogue building, and barred Jews from official jobs.
When the Crusades began, the armies first attacked Jewish communities on their way to Palestine, especially in Germany. Thousands of Jews were slaughtered and enslaved as well as Muslims.
From the 1650’s to the 1860’s was a period of Jewish expansion. Jews were allowed to return to England and their rights of citizenship steadily increased.
In 1760 the main representative organisation for British Jewry, The Board of Deputies of British Jews, was founded.
In the 19th Century was the birth of Reform Judiasm, which began in Germany and held that Jewish law and ritual should move with the times, and not be fixed. It introduced many changes to worship, and customs, and grew rapidly into a strong movement. It continues to flourish in Europe and the USA.
The 20th Century:
This was the century of Jewish immigration in Britain and America, with great numbers of Jewish people arriving to escape the pogroms in Poland and Russia.
The Jewish population of Britain increased by 250,000 in 30 years.
Political Zionism began in the mid-19th Century and towards the end of the century it gained strength as many Jews began to feel that the only way they could live in safety would be to have a country of their own. The Zionist movement, whose aim was to create a Jewish state, was rooted in centuries of Jewish prayer and yearning to return to the land of Israel.
Over the next few years Jewish immigration increased and important institutions were founded such as the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, and the Hebrew University.
Jewish history of the 1930s and 1940s is dominated by the Holocaust, the implementation on an industrial scale of a plan to wipe the whole Jewish people from the face of Europe.
The Nazi government of Germany and their allies carried out the Holocaust.
During the Holocaust 6 million Jewish people were murdered with 1 million of them being children.
The events of the Holocaust have shaped Jewish thinking, and the thinking of other people about Jewish issues ever since. The tragedy affected much of the religious thinking of Jews, as they try to make sense of a God who could allow such a thing to happen to his chosen people.
The second defining Jewish event of the century was the achievement of the Zionist movement in the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.
There had been strong and paramilitary opposition to British colonial rule for many years, and in 1947 the United Nations agreed a plan to partition the land between Jews and Arabs. The surrounding Arab States invaded and the new Jewish State was forced to fight the first of several major wars. Notable among these were the 6-day war in 1967 and the Yom Kippur war in 1973.
The first steps towards a permanent peace came when Israel signed a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979, and with Jordan in 1994.
For most of its history Israel has had an uneasy relationship with the Arab states that surround it, and has been greatly sustained by the help and support of the USA, where the Jewish community is large and influential.
The 21st century began with great political uncertainty over Israel and its relationship with the Palestinian people, and this continues.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/history/history_1.shtml
During the Bronze Age is when the Jewish history begins in the Middle East. The first 5 books of the Bible tell of the birth of the Jewish people and the start of Judaism. Abraham was chosen by God to be the father of the Jews, who would be special to God and would be the example of good behavior to the rest of the world.
God guided the Jewish people through many troubles and through Moses gave them a set of rules by which they should live, the Ten Commandments.
Under God’s guidance, the Jews became a powerful people with kinds such as Saul, David, and Solomon, who later built the first great temple. After this Jewish worship was focused on the Temple and it became the only place where certain rites could be carried out.
Around 920 BCE, the kingdom fell apart, and the Jewish people split into groups. This was the time of prophets.
Around 600 BCE the temple was destroyed and the Jewish leadership was killed. Many Jews were sent into exile in Babylon and began the tradition of the Jewish tradition of the Diaspora.
In 175 BCE the King of Syria desecrated the temple and implemented a series of laws aiming to wipe out Judaism in favour of Zeus worship. There was a revolt (164 BCE) and the temple was restored. The revolt is celebrated in the Jewish festival of Hannukah.
In 63 BCE Pompey the Great lay siege to and entered the Temple, Judea became a client kingdom of Rome.
Year 1 CE Jewish teacher named Jesus is born. Once thought to be the Messiah, he found anew religion, Christianity.
1CE to 70 CE was the time of Rabbinic Judaism in which the Rabbis encouraged the Jewish people to observe ethical laws in all aspects of life, and observe a cycle of prayer and festivals in the home and at synagogues.
70 to 200 CE was the time of the destruction of the Temple. This was a period of great change in which political, religious, cultural, and social turmoil abounded in Palestine. The Jews led two revolts one in 70 CE, which resulted in the destruction of the temple, and one in 132 CE that resulted in deaths of hundreds of thousands of Jews.
Judaism developed rapidly from 200 to 700 CE. Around 200 CE, scholars compiled the Mishna, the collection of teachings, sayings and interpretations of the early Rabbis. The academies continued their work and several generations of Rabbis followed. Their teachings were compiled in the Talmud which expands on the interpretations of the Mishna and established an all-encompassing guide to life.
In 439 CE the Romans banned synagogue building, and barred Jews from official jobs.
When the Crusades began, the armies first attacked Jewish communities on their way to Palestine, especially in Germany. Thousands of Jews were slaughtered and enslaved as well as Muslims.
From the 1650’s to the 1860’s was a period of Jewish expansion. Jews were allowed to return to England and their rights of citizenship steadily increased.
In 1760 the main representative organisation for British Jewry, The Board of Deputies of British Jews, was founded.
In the 19th Century was the birth of Reform Judiasm, which began in Germany and held that Jewish law and ritual should move with the times, and not be fixed. It introduced many changes to worship, and customs, and grew rapidly into a strong movement. It continues to flourish in Europe and the USA.
The 20th Century:
This was the century of Jewish immigration in Britain and America, with great numbers of Jewish people arriving to escape the pogroms in Poland and Russia.
The Jewish population of Britain increased by 250,000 in 30 years.
Political Zionism began in the mid-19th Century and towards the end of the century it gained strength as many Jews began to feel that the only way they could live in safety would be to have a country of their own. The Zionist movement, whose aim was to create a Jewish state, was rooted in centuries of Jewish prayer and yearning to return to the land of Israel.
Over the next few years Jewish immigration increased and important institutions were founded such as the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, and the Hebrew University.
Jewish history of the 1930s and 1940s is dominated by the Holocaust, the implementation on an industrial scale of a plan to wipe the whole Jewish people from the face of Europe.
The Nazi government of Germany and their allies carried out the Holocaust.
During the Holocaust 6 million Jewish people were murdered with 1 million of them being children.
The events of the Holocaust have shaped Jewish thinking, and the thinking of other people about Jewish issues ever since. The tragedy affected much of the religious thinking of Jews, as they try to make sense of a God who could allow such a thing to happen to his chosen people.
The second defining Jewish event of the century was the achievement of the Zionist movement in the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.
There had been strong and paramilitary opposition to British colonial rule for many years, and in 1947 the United Nations agreed a plan to partition the land between Jews and Arabs. The surrounding Arab States invaded and the new Jewish State was forced to fight the first of several major wars. Notable among these were the 6-day war in 1967 and the Yom Kippur war in 1973.
The first steps towards a permanent peace came when Israel signed a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979, and with Jordan in 1994.
For most of its history Israel has had an uneasy relationship with the Arab states that surround it, and has been greatly sustained by the help and support of the USA, where the Jewish community is large and influential.
The 21st century began with great political uncertainty over Israel and its relationship with the Palestinian people, and this continues.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/history/history_1.shtml