- in early days of jewish nation, the cult of yahweh existed side-by-side with a variety of other polytheistic foreign religion cults. Originally, yahweh was considered to be the god of tribe of the israelites. Abraham, the original patriarchal leader of israelites, believed in a god whom he called el shaddai (divinity of the mountain)
- besides important moral and doctrinal aspects of jewish religion, it was incumbent upon the people to make a variety of sacrificial offerings and perform various religious rituals.
- during the reign of king ahab (9th c bce), in order to finalise an alliance between israel and phoenicua, ahab's father arranged for his son ahab to marry jezabel of tyre. Under pressure from his wife, ahab introducedvtge cult of baal into israel. Prophet elijah protested such a move. He claimed that he was commissioned by yahweh to anoint hazael, the ruler of kingdom of aram, as punishment to israelites.
- in fourth century bce, a concerted effort was made to create a new theocratic state of judea. Persians realised that judea served as a sort of buffer between persia and other surrounding nations. They were willing to allow religious and political reform measures instituted by the judeans since it was believed that such reforms would only help to settle things down in judea. Ezra and nehemiah sought to rid judea of any customs and practices that were no based upon torah and traditions of the past - jewish men should not be allowed to have foreign wives; strict dietary regulations should be followed; torah needed to be read publicly to the people; many of the old religious holidays and feasts of the past were once again reinstituted; governmental rule was placed in the hands of high priests and scribes who also served a dual purpose of interpreting torah and preaching in the synagogue.
- in 5th c bce, book of jobs took up the issue of suffering and evil - providing an adequate theological explanation for the existence of evil in the world. The concept of afterlife and final judgment at the end of history were introduced to make amends for all the injustices experienced in this life. There was a new perspective of people looking to the future in hopeful anticipation that god would restore his kingdom on earth. (influence from persian dualism)
hellenistic period
- [m&p] During hellenistic period the small jewish community in judean hills around jerusalem were divided bw a hellenised educated upper class whuch broadly accepted seleucid rule and a peasantry which clung to their judaic faith. In 168bc the seleucid king antiochus epiphanes ordered the altar of zeus 'the abdomination of desolation' to be set up in holy temple in jerusalem, judas maccabaeus, son of a priest, led the fervent jews in a revolt.Although judas was killed, tge family founded a dynasty of priest-princes --the hasmonaeans-- who gradually extended their rule to cover most of palestine as the eleucid empire disintegrated. They were succeeded under the romans by the related house of herod. Herod was from idumaea (edom), an arab by race, was a jew in practice and saw himself a protector of jews.
During the reign of seleucid kings (312 BC to 63 BC), there was the hasmonean rebellion (The Maccabean Revolt (Hebrew: מרד החשמונאים) was a Jewish rebellion, lasting from 167 to 160 BC, led by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire and the Hellenistic influence on Jewish life) The rebels were victorious and udah once again became an independent state. Event after roman empire took control of the state of israel, the jews continued to practice their religion. During these times, the city of jerusalem and its temple functioned as the spriitual center of the jewish people. Pilgrimages were made to the temple in jerusalem for religious celebrations and great feasts. At a certain point, synagogue replaced the temple of jerusalem as the central place of worship. From then on, greater emphasis was placed upon the interpretation of god's law. The scribes, who were experts in the art of interpretation, became the new power brokers of the nation. The hebrew scribes combined many skills and functioned as both quasi lawyers and theologians.
- another powerful group within the jewish nation was the sadducees, who were the reputed descendants of zadok. The sadducees represented the conservative school of thought since they only accepted the laws and traditions of the pentateuch, rejecting the new religious doctrines such as resurrection of the dead. They controlled the sandhedrin (counil that assisted the high priests in running the country). They were in charge of the system of tithing which was used for the maintenance of the temple. Once the romans took control of israel, the power of sadducees was primarily religious. The sadducees usually cooperated with the romans in order to keep intact their financial control of the temple.
- pharisees took a liberal interpretation of the law. They accepted oral traditions and were more open to more up-to-date interpretation of the law. However, they were very ritualistic.
- zealots advocated violent resistence to roman occupation. A zealot named judas of galilee led a revolt in 6 ce.
- some believe that zealots were connected to qumran comunity, who were better known as essenes, was a group of jewish people who had left the mainstream of jewish life in palestine (considered as too corrupt) sometime in 2nd c bce and did so primarily on religious grounds. They chose to live in isolation in desert in the area of the dead sea. The dead sea scrolls provide an insight into many of the community's ascetic practices and religious beliefs. They were heavily influenced by jewish apocalyptic writings such as those found in the book of enoch (hope for messiah to restore davidic dynasty with the throne of messiah located in jerusalem; desire for 12 tribes of israel to return from foreign lands and once agian live in holy land; history is divided into two ages: the present age and the age to come. The present age is about to come to end, signaled by appearance of messianic woes, the climax of evil the appearance of anti-christ. The end times are preceded by a series of strange events, including weather and astronomical disturbances such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, solar and lunar eclipses, trees dripping with blood etc; iranian ideas of a general resurrection of the dead and a final judgment will occur once the end-times arrive[rejected by sadducees]; in the new age, the righteous shall witness the comimg of messiah who is described in a variety of terms).
- The sinking of the Patria by the Haganah is the worst instance of Jews killing other Jews — and is now barely remembered https://www.thejc.com/news/features/the-story-that-followed-the-patria-sinking-1.508814
The Hasmonean dynasty[4] (/ˌhæzməˈniːən/ (audio); Hebrew: חַשְׁמוֹנַּאִים, Ḥashmona'im) was a ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during classical antiquity. Between c. 140 and c. 116 BCE the dynasty ruled Judea semi-autonomously from the Seleucids. From 110 BCE, with the Seleucid Empire disintegrating, the dynasty became fully independent, expanded into the neighbouring regions of Samaria, Galilee, Iturea, Perea, and Idumea, and took the title "basileus". Some modern scholars refer to this period as an independent kingdom of Israel. The dynasty was established under the leadership of Simon Thassi, two decades after his brother Judas Maccabeus (יהודה המכבי Yehudah HaMakabi) defeated the Seleucid army during the Maccabean Revolt. According to 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, and the first book of The Jewish War by Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (37 CE–c. 100),[6] Antiochus IV moved to assert strict control over the Seleucid satrapy of Coele Syria and Phoenicia[7] after his successful invasion of Ptolemaic Egypt was turned back by the intervention of the Roman Republic.[8][9]He sacked Jerusalem and its Temple, suppressing Jewish and Samaritan religious and cultural observances,[7][10] and imposed Hellenistic practices.[10] The ensuing revolt by the Jews (167 BCE) began a period of Jewish independence potentiated by the steady collapse of the Seleucid Empire under attacks from the rising powers of the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire. In 63 BCE, the kingdom was invaded by the Roman Republic, broken up and set up as a Roman client state. The family name of the Hasmonean dynasty originates with the ancestor of the house, called by the Hellenized form Asmoneus or Asamoneus (Greek: Ἀσαμωναῖος) by Josephus Flavius,[11] who is said to have been the great-grandfather of Mattathias, but about whom nothing more is known.[12] The name appears to come from the Hebrew name Hashmonay (חַשְׁמוֹנַאי).[13] An alternative view posits that the Hebrew name Hashmona'i is linked with the village of Heshbon, mentioned in Joshua 15:27.[12] Gott and Licht attribute the name to "Ha Simeon," a veiled reference to the Simeonite Tribe.
- "Ma'oz Tzur" (Hebrew: מָעוֹז צוּר Māʾōz Ṣūr) is a Jewish liturgical poem or piyyut. It is written in Hebrew, and is sung on the holiday of Hanukkah, after lighting the festival lights. The name is a reference to the Hasmonean stronghold of Beth-zur. This Hebrew song is thought to have been written sometime in the 13th century. It was originally sung only in the home, but has been used in the synagogue since the nineteenth century or earlier. In more recent years, of its six stanzas sometimes only the first stanza is sung (or the first and fifth).The hymn is named for its Hebrew incipit, which means "Stronghold of Rock" and is a name or epithet for God. "Ma'oz Tzur" is thought to have been written in the 13th century, during the Crusades.[1] The first letters of the first five stanzas form an acrostic of the composer's name, Mordechai (the five Hebrew letters מרדכי). He may have been the Mordecai ben Isaac ha-Levi who wrote the Sabbath table-hymn "Mah Yafit",[2] or even the scholar referred to in the Tosafoth to Talmud (Bavli) Niddah 36a. Or, to judge from the appeal in the closing verse, he may have been the Mordecai whose father-in-law was martyred at Mayence (now Mainz, Germany) in 1096. The hymn retells Jewish history in poetic form and celebrates deliverance from four ancient enemies, Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Haman and Antiochus. Like much medieval Jewish liturgical poetry, it is full of allusions to Biblical literature and rabbinic interpretation.
- Herod (or Herodes, if you prefer the Latin form) was the legitimate king to the Maccabean throne. Judaea was a client state of the Roman Empire, not an integral part of it. The Maccabean King took care of the internal issues of Judaea and its government. The King (melek) acted as the secular counterpoise to the Temple Clergy - the High Priest (kohen gadol) had extremely strong ecclestical power and influence over the matters of Judaea. Pontius Pilatus (or Pilate, if Anglified) was the procurator of Judaea. He was an Imperial official, and reported to Rome. He acted as the Man behind the Man. https://www.quora.com/Herod-was-a-king-and-Pilate-was-a-governor-of-the-same-area-in-the-Roman-Empire-What-were-the-different-powers-and-duties-of-these-offices
During the reign of seleucid kings (312 BC to 63 BC), there was the hasmonean rebellion (The Maccabean Revolt (Hebrew: מרד החשמונאים) was a Jewish rebellion, lasting from 167 to 160 BC, led by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire and the Hellenistic influence on Jewish life) The rebels were victorious and udah once again became an independent state. Event after roman empire took control of the state of israel, the jews continued to practice their religion. During these times, the city of jerusalem and its temple functioned as the spriitual center of the jewish people. Pilgrimages were made to the temple in jerusalem for religious celebrations and great feasts. At a certain point, synagogue replaced the temple of jerusalem as the central place of worship. From then on, greater emphasis was placed upon the interpretation of god's law. The scribes, who were experts in the art of interpretation, became the new power brokers of the nation. The hebrew scribes combined many skills and functioned as both quasi lawyers and theologians.
- another powerful group within the jewish nation was the sadducees, who were the reputed descendants of zadok. The sadducees represented the conservative school of thought since they only accepted the laws and traditions of the pentateuch, rejecting the new religious doctrines such as resurrection of the dead. They controlled the sandhedrin (counil that assisted the high priests in running the country). They were in charge of the system of tithing which was used for the maintenance of the temple. Once the romans took control of israel, the power of sadducees was primarily religious. The sadducees usually cooperated with the romans in order to keep intact their financial control of the temple.
- pharisees took a liberal interpretation of the law. They accepted oral traditions and were more open to more up-to-date interpretation of the law. However, they were very ritualistic.
- zealots advocated violent resistence to roman occupation. A zealot named judas of galilee led a revolt in 6 ce.
- one of jesus' disciples, simon, was a zealot
- some believe that zealots were connected to qumran comunity, who were better known as essenes, was a group of jewish people who had left the mainstream of jewish life in palestine (considered as too corrupt) sometime in 2nd c bce and did so primarily on religious grounds. They chose to live in isolation in desert in the area of the dead sea. The dead sea scrolls provide an insight into many of the community's ascetic practices and religious beliefs. They were heavily influenced by jewish apocalyptic writings such as those found in the book of enoch (hope for messiah to restore davidic dynasty with the throne of messiah located in jerusalem; desire for 12 tribes of israel to return from foreign lands and once agian live in holy land; history is divided into two ages: the present age and the age to come. The present age is about to come to end, signaled by appearance of messianic woes, the climax of evil the appearance of anti-christ. The end times are preceded by a series of strange events, including weather and astronomical disturbances such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, solar and lunar eclipses, trees dripping with blood etc; iranian ideas of a general resurrection of the dead and a final judgment will occur once the end-times arrive[rejected by sadducees]; in the new age, the righteous shall witness the comimg of messiah who is described in a variety of terms).
ww2
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