Transcript Survey of Jewish History Introduction to Judaism Winter 2008

Survey of Jewish History
Introduction to Judaism
Winter 2008
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• Response Paper
• Key Terms Quiz
RELIG 210: Int roductio n to Judais m
Response Paper #1
Instructions:
Answer one of the foll owing t hree questions. Your answer should be two pages (doublespaced.) All papers are due at the start of class on January 16. Please include your name
and the question number on each page.
Your paper should begin with a thesis statement t hat clearly articulates your answer to t he
question and briefly outli nes the evidence you wil l bring to support your claim. A strong
paper will draw evidence from assigned readings and class lectures (please cite sources in
parenthetical citations.) However, papers should not contain a mere laundry li st of facts.
The goal is to demonstrate your understanding of the class material by analyzing sources
and reaching your own conclusions. Please note that writing mechanics and style (e.g.
spelli ng, gramm ar, logical organization) will also contribute to your grade.
Questions:
1. Did the rabbinic leadership between the 1st and 3rd century CE adopt an effective
strategy in response to the destruction of the Second Temple? Why or why not?
In answering this question, you should be sure to describe three of the reli gious,
poli tical, cultural, and/or geographical chall enges that Jews faced as a result of the
destruction. You should also evaluate the rabbinic leadershipΥs strategies for
responding to these distinct chall enges.
2. Do you think Jews fared better under Christianity or Islam from the 4t h century
CE until the early modern period (16t h century)? In making your argument, you
will want t o discuss at least three of the major simil arities and/or differences that
Jews experienced under each empire. For example, you mi ght consider poli tical
status, geography, religious beli ef or persecution.
3. Given our overview of Jewish history, do you think there is anything constant t hat
distinguishes Jews from their non-Jewish neighbors? Select three examples from
Jewish history, and for each one, explain how Jews have constructed their religion
and culture in dialogue with their surr oundings.
Part 3: The Hasmonean Dynasty
A Brief Moment of Sovereignty
(164-63 BCE)
Rule Under Antiochus IV (175163 BCE)
• Seleucid Empire succeeds Ptolemid
Empire
• Antiochus IV converts Temple into a
Pagan Shrine (167 BCE)
• Enforced Hellenization
• Abrogates Jewish Law (no Sabbath,
circumcision)
• Beginning of persecution
Competing Responses:
• Reorganize
Temple
• From Joshua to
Jason
• Build
Gymnasiums
• Good for my
Pocketbook
• Protect against
pagans
• Resist foreign
influence
• Maintain Jewish
culture
• Not good for rural
Jews
Maccabee Rebellion (166-60)
• Mattathias and his son Judah The
Maccabee (“The Hammer”)
• Rededicate Temple in 164 BCE
• Rule of Hasmonean Dynasty until 63
BCE
– From priestly protectors to Hellenistic
despots
– Sovereignty under rulers such as
Aristobulus I, Alexander Jannaeus
A Moment on Hanukkah
• Holiday celebrates rededication
• New Holiday-Story of Military Victory
• More complicated
– Jews vs. Jews
– Chrismukkakwanza
Roman Rule in Judea (63
BCE )
Rome and Jerusalem
• General Pompey annexes Land of
Israel in 63 BCE
• Continuation of Greco-Roman culture
• Look to local authorities to rule vassel
state
Herod “The Great”? (37-4 BCE)
• Edomite-Grandfather converted under
Hasmoneans
• Insider/Outsider
• Allegiance to Rome
• Tyrant-Massacred Family Members
• Leaves a tremendous legacy
Rebuilds the Second Temple
One of the Seven wonders of the Ancient World
A Winter Home on the
Dead Sea-Masada
Complete with
a heated sauna
and a
synagogue
A Culture of Sectarianism
• Leaves power vacuum
• Jews split into sects
– Sadducees
– Pharisees
– Essenes
– Zealots
Sadducees
• Party of Priests
• Political Power and Status under Herod
• Aristocratic
Essenes
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•
Monastic Sect in Qumran
Reject Jerusalem priest as corrupt
Messianic-Final Battle
Ritual Purity
Great Library! How do we know?
The Scrolls of Qumran
Life in Qumran
So What’s the Big Deal?
• Window into Second Temple Period
• Biblical Work, Apocryphal (Book of
Enoch), and Sectarian (Manual of
Discipline)
– Canon in development
– Variety of Judaisms at this period
Pharisees
• Non-priests with expertise in religious
law
• Focus on religious law, not sacrifice
• Forerunners of the Rabbis
A Common Judaism?
• Tremendous Diversity among “Jews”
• Sabbath, Circumcision, Dietary
Restrictions (Kosher)
• Strategy for interpreting texts
• Religious sources
• Temple as Central
The Great Revolt
• Revolt against Rome begins in 66 CE
– Sectarian or unified force?
• Emperor Vespasian and his Son Titus
• Temple destroyed, Population enslaved
• Masada
The
Great
Revolt
(70-66
CE)
Bar Kochba Revolt (132-135)
•Hadrianic Persecutions
(135-138)
•Popular revolt lead by Bar
Kokhba
•Deport Population of Judea
•New Name: Syria-Palestine
and Aelia Capitolina
“Year One of the Redemption of Israel”
What are the Challenges?
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•
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•
Religious
Demographic/Geographic
Leadership
Persecution
Rise of Rabbinic Culture
• From Temple-Based Sacrifice to Culture
Rooted in Domestic/Local Practice
• Establish religious and political
dominance
– Sanhedrin-legislative authority (c 140 CE)
– Patriarch (Judah the Prince)
• Center moves to the Galilee
The Mishnah or “Oral” Law
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•
Don’t add scripture, Interpret
Chain of Tradition, Not Revelation
Hermeneutic (Interpretive) Principles
How does this strategy solve
tradition/change dilemma?
The Rabbinic Strategy
Before the destruction of the Temple, when a
New Year fell on the Sabbath, the shofar
(ram’s horn) would only be sounded in
Jerusalem. The amended law allows for the
shofar to be blown wherever the Jewish
court of Sanhedrin would sit. (MishnahEarly Rabbinic Text)
Sepphoris-Seat of the
Patriarch and Site of the
Mishna’s Codification
The Mona
Lisa of the
Galilee (3rd
Century)
The
“Cardo”/Main
Street
The Cultural matrix of
Rabbinic Judaism
• Greek Gods (Dionysus), pagan symbols
(constellations) alongside Jewish
symbols (menorah)
• Hellenistic Material Culture
• Piyyut Liturgical Poem
• Mikvah (Ritual Baths)
A Rabbi and Philosopher Walk Into the Bath of Aph rodite:
Greco-Roman and Rabbini c Interactions in Palestine
Proklus the son of Phil osophus asked Rabban Gamali el (the Patriarch) who was bathing in Acco [a town on the
Mediterranean] in the Bath of Aphrodite. He said to him: t is written in your Torah, ΤAnd nothing of the
devoted (forbidden) thing should cli ng to your handΥ(Deuteronomy 13:17). Why are you bathing in the Bath of
Aphrodite?Σ He answered him: One ought not respond in a bath.Σ
When he came out he [Rabban Gamali el] said to him: I did not come into her borders, she came into mi ne!
People do not say, ΤLet us make a bath for Aphrodite,Υbut rather, Τlet us make Aphrodite an ornament for the
bath.ΥMoreover, even if they would give you a large sum of money, you would not approach your idol naked
and suff ering pollutions, and urinate before it; yet, this goddess stands at the mouth of a gutter and all the people
urinate before it. [Lastly] it is written ΤTheir godsΥ(Deuteronomy 12:3), that which they refer to as a god is
forbidden and that which is not referred to as a god is permi tted.Σ (Mishnah, Tractate Avodah Zarah (Idol
Worship) 3:4)
Palestinian Jews and the Rise
of Christianity
• Constantine I adopts Christianity (Early
4th century)
• What are the new challenges?
– Religion as a new category
– Christian vs. Roman Imperial Power
• St. Augustine (354-430) and the Jews
– “The Frail Theological Lifeline”
Power of Patriarch Diminishes
• Palestinian Talmud completed (4th century)
– Written in Aramaic
• Decentralization of religious worship
• Weakening Political Power of Sanhedrin (end of the
4th century)
• Laws diminish Jews religious and commercial
activities
To Sum Up..
• What cultural survival strategies did
Jews employ to weather rule by external
powers?
• Is there anything that defined Jews as a
distinct culture?
• Is acculturation necessary for survival or
does it lead to national suicide?
Two Centers:
Babylon and Jerusalem (4th10th Century)
Second Temple Judaism
Land of Israel
Jews in Palestine
Patriarch
Jerusalem Talmud
Rise of Christianity/Byazantine Empire
Jews in Babylonia
Exilarch
Babylonian Talmud
Creation of Talmudic Academies
Jews in the Sassanid Empire
• Long history in Babylon
• Is this Exile?
– “We have made ourselves in Babylonia the
equivalent of Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel.)”
(Talmud)
• Cultural split between Jewish
communities
The Sassanid Empire (224-642)
Life Under the Sassanids
• Political and religious autonomy
• Exilarch (Resh Galuta)
– Centralized and Recognized Leadership
• Operate outside Roman Empire
– Cultural autonomy (still demons!)
– No need to respond to Christianity
– Paradox of acculturation in Palestine vs. Babylon
Babylon as Jewish Authority
• Central academies move to Babylon
• Babylonia Talmud (5th Century CE)
– Longer, more sophisticated than Jerusalem
Talmud
– Central text from Babylon not Jerusalem
The Babylonian Talmud
Jews Under Islam and
Christendom
• What are similarities?
– Theological place for Jews
– Jews as second class citizen
• Differences?
– Islam sees Judaism as venerable
precursor
– Christianity ambivalent about Jews
• The Problem with Monotheistic Truth
Judaism and Early Islam
• Jews already highly integrated into Arabian
culture
• Biblical Culture had become Arabized
– Abraham as founder of sacred shrines
• Muhammad expects Jews to become
Muslims (submitters)
• Jews (as recorded in Qu’ran) refuse to accept
Muhammad
The Rapid Rise of Islam
• Muhammad (570-632) from Mecca
• Emigrates to Medina with Followers
• Following death, Islamic Empire
spreads rapidly
• Global Jewish popular share one culture
The Spread of Islam and the Jews
Jews Under Islam
• “Fight against those who do not believe in
God or in the Last Day, and do not forbid
what God and His messenger have
forbidden, and do not practice the religion
of truth among those who have been given
the book, until the pay the juzya[special tax]
of hand, humbled.” (Qur’an 9:29)
The Jew in Islamic Society
• What do you know about Islamic-Jewish
relations today?
• Jews and Christians: People of the Book
• Christians suspect--Trinity
• Second Class Status-Dhimmis
– Economic Restrictions
– Social Restrictions (clothes, horses)
– Religious Restrictions (new churches)
Jews Thrive Under Islam
• Islamic World center of culture, science, philosophy
(7-13th century)
• Center of Jewish life moves to Baghdad
• Saadia Gaon (882-942)
– Jewish philosophy in Arabic
– Refers to God as Allah
– First Jewish theology
• Karaites-”People of Scripture” (8th century)
The Golden Age of Spain
(9th-12th Century)
• Islamic Conquest spreads to Iberian Peninsula
• Jews Completely integrated into society
– Multi-ethnic, multi-religious
– Polygamy
– Rabbi Courtiers and Arabic love poetry
• Kahal-Jewish Communal Infrastructure
The Golden Age in Andalusia
Cordoba Synagogue, 1314
Wine, Woman, and Death
“There came a voice: ‘Awake!’
Drink wine at morning’s break
‘Mid rose and camphor make
A feast of all your hours…
How can we be carefree
Or raise our cups in glee,
When by all men are we
Rejected and despised?” (Dunash ben Labrat)
End of the Golden Age
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Almoravides from the South (12th Cent)
Christians from the North
Growing Pressure to Convert
Inquisition (1480) and “New Christians”
Expulsion in 1492 and Sephardim
Jews in Medieval Christian
Europe
• Christendom vs. Islamic Empire
• Frankish Kings bring Jews to
Central/Western Europe (9th century)
• Sets up basic economic tension
– Not in Feudal hierarchy
– Rely fully upon King, baron, or bishop
• Corporate communities
Rabbinic Leadership
• Scholasticism generates interest in
Jewish texts by Rabbinic leaders
• Rashi (1040-1105) in Troyes and
disciples
– Best way to study Old French!
The Crusades and Medieval
Persecution
• Rescue Christian Holy Sites (1099)
• Widespread massacres and forced
conversion
• Blood Libels (1144)
• Fourth Lateran Council (1215)
– Limited Usury, Jewish badge
• Talmud on-trial-Why?
• Black Death and Poisen Wells (1348)
Jewish Expulsion
• 1290 Expulsion from England
• 1306-1394 Jews expelled from France
• 1492 Expulsion from Spain
To Sum Up A Millennia
• What new challenges does post Second
Temple Judaism pose?
• Is there a Jewish geographical, textual,
linguistic center?
• How do Jews fare similarly/differently in
Christian vs. Islamic societies?