Response to “The Tribe”

• Pogrom

• What are Jewish values?

• Hard to put a finger on “what it means to be a Jew”– Is Judaism a “race”

• Is there one source of authority?

Intro to Judaism

Lecture 2

January 9, 2007

Geographical Coordinates

According to Hebrew Bible…19th-11th Century BCE

• Abraham’s Migration to Canaan• Jacob and his sons flee to Egypt • Enslavement of Israelites in Egypt• Moses-“Let My People Go”• Exodus from Egypt (c 13th century BCE)• Wandering in the Sinai Desert• Israelite Conquest of Canaan

• Federation of tribes and rule by Judges (13-11th century BCE)

Abraham’s Journey

The Route of the Exodus

The Twelve Tribes

Bible Emerges from Ancient Near Eastern Setting

• Bible reflects interactions with surrounding cultures

• Bible culls from local traditions, narratives, rituals

• Imagines community of Israelites as distinct and separate

Establishing Boundaries

• Genealogy

• Shared Narratives

• Ritual Boundaries (Circumcision)

• Food

• Time/Sabbath

According to the Hebrew Bible11th-6th Century BCE

• United Monarchy (King Saul, David, Solomon) (c. 1050-922 BCE)

• Kingdom Divided into North (Israel) and South (Judah) (922-721 BCE)

• Fall of Israel (Northern Kingdom) (721 BCE)

• Fall of Judah (Southern Kingdom) 587 BCE)

The United Monarchy (c. 922)

The Biblical Account of Solomon’s Temple

Highest Point: 207 Feet

Holy of Holies with Tablets

Divided Kingdom (922-721)

The Fall of the Israelite Kingdom (c 721 BCE)

The Fall of Judah (587 BCE) and the Beginning of Diaspora

“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion…How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.” (Psalm 137)

Jews In Judea under Great World Empires

(538 BCE-4th Century CE)

1. Persian Period (515 BCE-332 BCE)

2. Early Palestinian Hellenism (332 - 164)

3. Hasmonean Dynasty (164 BCE -63 CE)

4. Roman Rule (63 BCE - )

Key Questions…

• What strategies does Jewish culture employ to survive rule by foreign powers?

• How do Jews both adopt and adapt aspects of the external cultural milieu?

• How diverse are expressions of Jewish culture?

The Persian Period

• The Return (for minority) and Restoration of Temple (515 BCE)

• Independent?

• Theocracy based on Bible

• What do Ezra and Nehemiah do?

Why organize, edit, and promulgate the Torah?

Part 2: Early Palestinian Hellenism (332 BCE-164 BCE)

Alexander the Great and the Rise of Hellenism (333 BCE)

How does Hellenism influence Biblical Religion and Jewish Culture?

•Flexible Pantheon of Gods

•Cosmopolitan Culture

•Greek language, literature, and art

•Critical and Empirical Thinking

•Economic Globalization

Jewish Response

• Not a binary, either..or choice

• Adopt and Adapt

• Integrate into Hellenistic Society

• Tell Jewish stories in Greek (literally and figuratively)

The Exagoge

• Live at Broadway Amphitheater : The Exile in Five Acts

• By Ezekial (2nd Century BCE)

• Moses as Greek God not Biblical Prophet

Demetrius and the Hebrew Bible in 3rd Century BCE

• How did Jacob have 12 sons in 7 years?

• The challenge of Greek history

Septuagint

• Why would Jews translate Torah into Greek in the 3rd century BCE?

• What does the fact that this was done in Egypt tell us?

Architecture-The Synagogue

Strategies for Differentiation

• Aristobulus (2nd Century BCE)

• Hellenic ideas come from Hebrew roots

• Number 7

Wow. That Torah Has some great ideas!

Adopting and Adapting

• How can differentiating also justify entrance into Greek culture?

• Is there a “Jewish” culture?

• Is acculturation a good thing-creative synthesis or suicide?