The Rise of Judaism

• Israelites = Hebrews = Jews

• Judaism stood apart from other religions because of monotheism (belief in one all‐powerful god).

• Judaism shares many beliefs with two later religions: Christianity and Islam.

How was the first monotheism born?

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The early stages of the biblical history, the patriarchs,

Abraham, Moses…

An unified kingdom: David and Solomon, the Jerusalem temple XI- Xth century BC

-722: disparition of the Kingdom of Israel

A small territory: the kingdom of Judah

A new ‘Messiah’: the King Josias (-639 /-609)Will of strength and expansion having recourse /appealing to a glorious past.

Destruction of the Judah Kingdom in -586 and beginning of the exil to Babylon. Transition from an oral tradition to writing.

AA mythical tradition

The kingdom splits in two: weaker, decline

Start of the Bible editing (VII th C BC)

National history around:

a Kinga State/ capital citya TempleONE God

Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy.

his is a Greek word, a composition of pater)meaning "father" and archon meaning "leader", "chief", "ruler", "king", etc.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are referred to as the three patriarchs of the people of Israel, and the period in which they lived is called the Patriarchal Age.

What is a patriarch?

Abraham Moses

Abraham’s Journey to Canaan

Abraham is regarded as the first Jew.He and his followers left Mesopotamia and settled in Canaan (now Lebanon, Israel and Jordan) at the commandment of God, in 1900 BC.Abraham’s grandson, Jacob (Israel), had 12 sons who each led his own tribe.

Moses’story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEOMFjGFS7M

Slavery and ExodusFamine caused the Israelites to migrate to Egypt, where Jacob’s son, Joseph, lived. They were eventually enslaved.

Many of the monuments of Egypt’s New Kingdom were built by Israelite slaves.

The Kingdom of Israel

• The Israelites fought for 200 years before successfully reclaiming Canaan.

• Saul became the first king of Israel, uniting the 12 tribes for the first time.

Saul’s successor, David, ruled Israel from 1012 BC to 962 BC, and established Jerusalem as the capital.

David’s son, Solomon, built the magnificent temple in Jerusalem, at the cost of high taxes and intensive labor.

After Solomon’s death (922 BC), the two southern tribes split from Israel to create the kingdom of Judah.

Exile 1-Israel was conquered in 722 BC by the Assyrians, who scattered the Israelites throughout their empire.

2-Judah was conquered in 597 BC by the Chaldeans, under King Nebuchadnezzar.

3-In 586 BC, after a rebellion, they destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem and captured many Jews to be slaves in Babylon.

ExileJews continued to maintain their religion while in exile.

The Chaldeans were conquered in 539 BC by the Persians, under Cyrus the Great. He allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple.

After ExileJudah/Israel would eventually be ruled by:-the Greeks (Alexander the Great)-the Romans-the Islamic Empire (when it became known as Palestine)-the Ottoman Empire

Israel would not be an independent state until 1948.

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The early stages of the biblical history, the patriarchs, A……….,

M….…

An un.f….. kingdom: David and Solomon, the Jerusalem temple XI- Xth century BC

-722: disparition of the …….

A small territory: the kingdom of ……

A new ‘Messiah’: the King ……… (-639 /-609)Will of strength and expansion appealing to a glorious past.

Destruction of the Judah Kingdom in -…… and beginning of the exil to ………... Transition from an oral tradition to writing.

AA m……….. tradition

The kingdom splits in ………: w……., d………….

Start of the Bible editing (VII th C BC)

National history around:

a K………..

a S……../ capital citya T……..ONE ……….

What are the foundations of Judaism?The Torah: the Jewish holy book, believed to be written by Moses and inspired by God.

The Torah and subsequent books (collectively known as the Old Testament by Christians ) record the history of the Jews through the Babylonian exile.

Who wrote the Bible and why?• The editing of the Bible started at the time of Josias. The main goal was to

introduce him as a new messia by writing down a tradition and a glorious heritage.

• Its editing continues during the exile to Babylon then, also while the diaspora in order to build a common history and common practices. The Bible is before all a book of faith.

• This « recomposed past » aims to give to the hebrews and then the jews the conviction that Yahweh (God) protects them: he saved them in the past, gave them the Promised Land, took it from them because of their unfaithfulness. But he will free them one day.

• The Bible has been written to preserve and develop a national feeling., the national celebrations are designated to commemorate each year some specific events. From the moment the Jews lost their independence, and for a large number of them, left the Promised land., « the Bible, written Torah, has become the true homeland for the Jews. » (R. Nouailhat)

What is the Bible?

• The founding text of the first monotheist in History: Judaism.

• This text will also be used as a foundation to other monotheist religions: Christianity and Islam.

What is the diaspora?

Where are the main Jewish communities?

The menorah: the symbol of this diaspora

a seven-branched candelabrum which has been a symbol of Judaism for almost 3000 years and is the emblem of Israel. It was used in the ancient Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

What are the causes of this diaspora?

• The immediate cause of the dispersal of the Jewish people was the destruction of their Temple and their exile by their conquerors, the Romans.

Jerusalem's fall certainly marked the beginning of the end of a Jewish homeland, for the Diaspora soon saw Jews spreading across the world as their political and religious capital was no more.

Detail of the Triumphal Arch in Rome representing the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 BC.

What are the consequences of this diaspora?

• The grouping of the jews around the synagogue and the rabbis.

• The Jews are a people who do not have their own homeland and their nationality gets mixed up with their religion as the latter becomes their only way to express their identity:

• « the Bible, written Torah, has become the true homeland for the Jews. » until 1948 and the independence of the Israel.