The Short HIstory of Jews

[Eretz Yisrael]

The Jews of today are an ethnoreligious group, meaning a hybrid of their original ethnicity and followers of judaism regardless of their ethnicity.
According to the Tanakh, the Hebrews were founded by Ibrahim, whom God later renamed him Abraham,who roamed through the middle east from the Sumerian city of Ur under God's orders. Later the descendants of Jacob(later renamed by God as Israel) became the twelve tribes of the Hebrew race.But back then,the Hebrews were not a unified people, merely tribes that enjoyed peaceful relations due to kinship(much like the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Vikings, and Danes of Germany and Scandinavia). Later the tribes were unified by King Saul, later to be replaced by David of the Tribe of Benjamin. Out of this bloodline it is suggested in the Nevi'im that Y'shua(Jesus Christ) (the Nevi'im does NOT mention the name of the Messiah,exactly why Jews deny Jesus Christ as the Messiah) would come to cleanse mankind of its sins.
At first, the Kingdom of the Hebrews (today scholars name the kingdom the Unified Kingdom of Judah and Israel)under King David gained wealth and power as their military might and their religion spread across the modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan; the kingdom in its height of glory built the Temple of Solomon, and King Solomon surpassed in his father's footsteps of glory. But in Solomon's late years, it is said in the Hebrew Bible that Solomon drew away from wisdom and started to pursue a pro-southern (i.e Tribe of Judah) policy while making enemies in the South-east, called Edomites(pursumed by biblcal scholars, and historians as the offspring of Esau, the older brother of Jacob)led by the Egyptian-backed King called Hadad. After leaving such a mess to his succesor Rehoboam, Solomon died to to cause theUnited Kingdom split into two. The tension was caused when the Rehoboam issued even higher taxes; the ten tribes of Israel(except Judh and Benjamin)declared independence and crowned Jeroboam as the king of Israel. Jeroboam changed the religion of Israel during his reign by turning Israel into a pagan state, causing the Levites(Levites were the tribe annointed by God as Prophets of Judaism)to immigrate to the Kingdom of Judah.From here the Hebrews went into a spiral of decay, starting with Egypians sacking Jerusalem(it was in Kingdom of Judah),the Hitties, the Assryians,the Babylonians, and the Persians all collectively threathening Israel and Judah, while the latter two kingdoms destoryed the two kingdoms. The Hebrews eventually were freed by the Persian King Xerxes, who led by Nehemiah resettled Jerusalem, and Israel entered a short period of recovery as the Hasmonean (priest-kings of Israel)Dynasty reconquered thelands of the ancestors.
By the time Jesus was born though, the Kingdom of Israel was merely a shadow of its former glory; the independent Hasmonean Dynasty had been destoryed by Antipater the Idumaean and the Romans and the dynasty of Herod (Antipater's Dynasty as a client state of Rome)had almost come to an end.
The infamous Jewish diaspora began after the Jews rioted against Romans, who eventually destroyed the Jewish rebels and destroyed Jerusalem again. Duringthis revolt the famous general,later historian under Vespaspian's house, Josephus led Jewish rebels against Roman and other Jewish factions in the First Jewish-Roman War,only to be captured and accpetd into Vespasians house as a guest of honor. Later a second Jewish revolt was initiated by 'Nasi' (meaning prince)Simon bar Kokhba and the Jewish Sage Rabbi Akiva. The Jews succeded for three years, only to be slaughtered by the Romans.This is when Judaea was renamed by the Romans as Syria Palaestina (Syria Palaestina was in reference to the old enemies of the Israelites, the Philistines to insult the Jews).
The Jews by now a mixed enthinicy compared to their the ancestors, were compelled to hide in various corners of the world, where they further dilluted their ethnicity by intermarring and accepting new converts(the modern country of Israel accepts Jews, regardless of ethiniciy, as one of their own if he/she is willing to immigrate, for reference look into 'Law of Return' on Wikipedia ). The Jews after suffering proseucution refound their country through the help of the Zionists and Winston Churchill(he was Zionist all his life while being a persuer of Social Darwinism).
The Haganah and Jewish people fought to keep their precious land as the Arab(persumed by some as the descendants of Ishmael, the first born of Abraham and the father of the Midians) nations tried to strangle theinfant country. The War ended with the Jewish nation wining the war,thus perserving independence.
The subject of whether Israel is supposed to exist is heatedly debated by Jews, for it is a sacred land that is in Jewish propehcies(look for eretzYisrael on Wikipedia)and some jewish theologians argue that the Jewish nation can only be found under divine guidance, which they believe the present country is not.

 

[Agent327]

Apart from the fact that you are answering your own question (are you Jewish?), I seem to recall the Jewish diaspora started with the relocation to Babylon some centuries before Roman times. (Sorry, I'm not Jewish.)

 

[Eretz Yisrael]

Well, it is true tht I forgot to mention the Baylonian captivity;but remember the Jews went BACK later.
THE ROMANS started off with the true diaspora by kicking the whole population to not just one place, but EVERYWHERE！！！Even INDIA!!!
And the Jews only got back after more than 1500 years..........there's a difference of time here we are discussing.

 

[Eretz Yisrael]

Also Im NOT Jewish........LOL

 

[Arwon]

Except, of course, for the Jews who never left the area and considered themselves in exile even whilst still living in Palestine. One awkward thing for geneological studies in contemporary Israel is the evidence that quite a few Palestinian Arabs are probably descended from those Jews who stayed behind after the Roman dispersal, whilst a lot of Ashkenazim probably aren't genetically related to the dispersed Palestinian Jews - some are likely Khazar in origin, if not simply Europeans.

Further, the concept of "galut" or exile needs to be historicised. That whole idea of "returning" is somewhat problematic, and it's massively influenced by contemporary Israeli and Zionist myth-making about the concept of diaspora. The problem is there's two terms: Diaspora (the spiritual/messianic/religious idea) and diaspora (the idea of people living somewhere other than their homeland), as well as galut (meaning exile in a more spiritual than territorial sense) and when you conflate the three, you end up telling Jews that they belong in Israel and are in exile whilst they continue living in America, Europe, Russia, Australia, etcetera. And the idea that if you're Jewish you belong in Israel, and that Israel is the centre of the Jewish universe, is one which a lot of contemporary Jews reject.

Jewish thinking about the Disapora and diaspora has changed dramatically over time, and it wasn't until about 300 years ago that the idea really began to take on a territorial, as opposed to primarily spiritual, meaning. Just because contemporary Zionist thought constructs a narrative stretching back into ancient history doesn't mean that modern Jewish nationalism is necessarily such an old idea.

 

[Dachs]

THE ROMANS started off with the true diaspora by kicking the whole population to not just one place, but EVERYWHERE！！！Even INDIA!!!

Except in many cases it wasn't the Romani that ejected those Jews. There was definitely a Jewish presence in Baktrian Barygaza (Bharakuccha), for example.

Except, of course, for the Jews who never left the area and considered themselves in exile even whilst still living in Palestine. One awkward thing for geneological studies in contemporary Israel is the evidence that quite a few Palestinian Arabs are probably descended from those Jews who stayed behind after the Roman dispersal, whilst a lot of Ashkenazim probably aren't genetically related to the dispersed Palestinian Jews - some are likely Khazar in origin, if not simply Europeans.

Yes. During the early seventh century war with Khosrau II of the Sassanid Empire, the Jews are said to have opened the city of Jerusalem to the invading Sassanians, along with the connivance of some of the monophysites. Bit hard for them to do that if they're not in Ioudaia.

 

[Arwon]

Plus it's kinda just common sense. How could an ancient empire, even one with the power of Rome, effectively remove an entire ethnic group from an area the size of Palestine and ensure they don't return? It just seems to be beyond the administrative capacity and resources of such an empire. They probably kicked a bunch out of the big cities and ignored the farmers and then forgot about them after a few years anyway.

 

[Eretz Yisrael]

Except, of course, for the Jews who never left the area and considered themselves in exile even whilst still living in Palestine. One awkward thing for geneological studies in contemporary Israel is the evidence that quite a few Palestinian Arabs are probably descended from those Jews who stayed behind after the Roman dispersal, whilst a lot of Ashkenazim probably aren't genetically related to the dispersed Palestinian Jews - some are likely Khazar in origin, if not simply Europeans.

Further, the concept of "galut" or exile needs to be historicised. That whole idea of "returning" is somewhat problematic, and it's massively influenced by contemporary Israeli and Zionist myth-making about the concept of diaspora. The problem is there's two terms: Diaspora (the spiritual/messianic/religious idea) and diaspora (the idea of people living somewhere other than their homeland), as well as galut (meaning exile in a more spiritual than territorial sense) and when you conflate the three, you end up telling Jews that they belong in Israel and are in exile whilst they continue living in America, Europe, Russia, Australia, etcetera. And the idea that if you're Jewish you belong in Israel, and that Israel is the centre of the Jewish universe, is one which a lot of contemporary Jews reject.

Jewish thinking about the Disapora and diaspora has changed dramatically over time, and it wasn't until about 300 years ago that the idea really began to take on a territorial, as opposed to primarily spiritual, meaning. Just because contemporary Zionist thought constructs a narrative stretching back into ancient history doesn't mean that modern Jewish nationalism is necessarily such an old idea.

Yes I totally agree with you. There are actually a ironic part of the population left; the Sarmaritans, who are considered 'semi-Jew' and whose Judaism is different compared to comtemporary Judaism, has about 1000~2000 members left. Ironic thing is, the Jews despised the Sarmatians for religious and ethnic reasons until the Jewish Rebellions, when the Jews were kicked out. Now the Jews are back to find outthat the Sarmatians got to live Mount Gezirim, while the 'superior' Jews were kicked out only to return as a multiethnical people, whereas Sarmatians claim to be direct descendants from one of the Tribes of Israel.
If you look at the mytic elements of the Jewish religion,i.e Kabbalah, you'llfind out that they were indeed spiritual in the thoughts of the Sacred Land, and the Jewish religion changed enormously from its its old ways of Aaronic High priests and Levites, to the Pharisee, Seducees, Rabbinical judaism, to the Mystic Kabbalah and Hasidim.
The founder of Zionism was purely atheist........ The early Bolsheviks were comprised of many Jews too.... so the meaning of the word 'Jew' depends on the occasion. Also Semite DOES NOT MEAN Jews.
Anyone who learns languages nows that the Arabic, Hebrew, Aramic, etc are all part of the Semite language tree, which sggests kinship in ethnicity in one traces far back enough. Even in Hebrew tradition, the Tanakh names the father of Israel(Jacob) Isaac, and Isaac's older brother, Ishmael is the father of the Midians, who are probably the Arabs. The older borther of Israel(Jacob) , Esau lived near the mountains to the east of Negev, and his descendants were called Edomites. In King David's time, both nations did NOT like Israel. And they dont like them today anyways(But thats cuz they stole Palestinian land from the Palestinian Arabs).

 

[Arwon]

To be fair to Herzl, even though he was a secular European sort of thinker if not an outright colonialist chauvinist, as well as a guy who would have wanted Israel to be basically a reconstruction of the refined Vienna world he knew and loved... he primarily saw Zionism as necessary for Eastern Jewry rather than for himself and therefore probably having a religious basis.

 

[Eretz Yisrael]

To be fair to Herzl, even though he was a secular European sort of thinker if not an outright colonialist chauvinist, as well as a guy who would have wanted Israel to be basically a reconstruction of the refined Vienna world he knew and loved... he primarily saw Zionism as necessary for Eastern Jewry rather than for himself and therefore probably having a religious basis.

]I wonder how Moses would have felt when he saw a man who denied God Rasining the foundations for a Jewish nation....
I bet he'll bash the Ten Commandments on Herzl's head.....

 

[Sharwood]

I once dated - well, I didn't, but it's more polite to say that - a very attractive Chinese Jew. From Nanjing.

John Saffron, a popular Australian satirist, who used to have a show where he tried to join various religions, revealed, in the episode where he joined the KKK, that his mother is an Uzbeki Jew. That's the same episode where he declared himself "whiter than Hitler." All of which went down well.

The diapora had Jews located all around the world, even before the modern cosmopolitan global culture began to kick in, and I daresay much of it is based on conversion rather than ethnicity, not just in Europe and the Americas, but all throughout Asia, and even Africa. I think the only place the Jews didn't reach was Japan, and even that is changing.

Moral of the story: they're everywhere, and they're coming to get you. Be afraid, be very afraid.

 

[Eretz Yisrael]

I once dated - well, I didn't, but it's more polite to say that - a very attractive Chinese Jew. From Nanjing.

John Saffron, a popular Australian satirist, who used to have a show where he tried to join various religions, revealed, in the episode where he joined the KKK, that his mother is an Uzbeki Jew. That's the same episode where he declared himself "whiter than Hitler." All of which went down well.

The diapora had Jews located all around the world, even before the modern cosmopolitan global culture began to kick in, and I daresay much of it is based on conversion rather than ethnicity, not just in Europe and the Americas, but all throughout Asia, and even Africa. I think the only place the Jews didn't reach was Japan, and even that is changing.

Moral of the story: they're everywhere, and they're coming to get you. Be afraid, be very afraid.

WTH?NOW WE GOT ANTI-JEWS HERE??? NAZI HYPOCRITE

 

[Neonanocyborgasm]

The Jews of today are an ethnoreligious group, meaning a hybrid of their original ethnicity and followers of judaism regardless of their ethnicity...

I can't tell if you are drawing your history from the Old Testament accurately, but this is about the only accurate portion of your statement.

Here is what is actually known about the Jews and their origins.

The Jews did not hail from Ur, but were descendants of the same Canaanites they so supposedly abhored. Their polytheistic religion was eventually subsumed to a single god, Yahweh, who was likely the patron god of Judah. This transition was very slow and may not have been complete until after the return from the Babylonian Captivity. There are numerous references to Hebrews "succumbing" to worship of pagan gods. There is also much disagreement among archeologists and historians about whether there was ever even a unified kingdom, as evidence for it is scant. Jerusalem was never sacked by the Egyptians. What happened was that the kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians in the 8th century BC, and the population dispersed (to prevent uprising). This left Judah as the sole Hebrew state. It survived until conquered by the Babylonian Empire, about 150 years later. The ruling people were deported to Babylon, essentially to be watched for insurrection, until freed by the Persian shah Cyrus, not Xerxes. You are incorrect in that this led to a restoration of the Hebrew kingdom. All it did was allow the Temple at Jerusalem to be rebuilt. The Hasmonean Dynasty was not founded until 400 years later, during a revolt against the Seleucid Empire, a Macedonian descendant of one of Alexander's generals. This same dynasty became a client state of Rome, until internal family feuds over inheritance forced the Romans to make it a province under direct Roman authority.

There were two uprisings against Roman occupation thereafter, in 77 and 125. But these were not the first instances of diaspora. There were diasporas since the first sack of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. By 200 BC, there were already Jewish communities in Egypt, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia.

You are also incorrect about Josephus. He was not a leader of a revolt, but merely a member, who appears to have sold out to the Romans. He did not join the house of Vespasian. You're confusing him with Polybius, who was held as a hostage of the Scipiones.

 

[Mirc]

WTH?NOW WE GOT ANTI-JEWS HERE??? NAZI HYPOCRITE

Man... He wasn't serious in the last line, you know? It's called Sarcasm....

Edit: holy huge crosspost.

 

[Sharwood]

Man... He wasn't serious in the last line, you know? It's called Sarcasm....

Edit: holy huge crosspost.

I think he got it, hence his million smilies. But you know, I am a Mel Gibson fan.

 

[Agent327]

Well, it is true tht I forgot to mention the Baylonian captivity;but remember the Jews went BACK later.
THE ROMANS started off with the true diaspora by kicking the whole population to not just one place, but EVERYWHERE！！！Even INDIA!!!
And the Jews only got back after more than 1500 years..........there's a difference of time here we are discussing.

Some nuance please:

1) The Jews were allowed to go back later, yes.

2) The Romans kicked Jews to India? You mean past Parthia?

3) Some Jews returned in the 20th century yes; most Jews live outside Israel.

 

[Eretz Yisrael]

Some nuance please:

1) The Jews were allowed to go back later, yes.

2) The Romans kicked Jews to India? You mean past Parthia?

3) Some Jews returned in the 20th century yes; most Jews live outside Israel.

I know......
I already replied to Awron about this....
And yes, Jews DID go to India, but they by sea
But good point; who can get past Parthia?
Also, didnt the Parthian cavalry clad themselves in armour? Without stirrups?

 

[Dachs]

2) The Romans kicked Jews to India? You mean past Parthia?

Some of the Jews that were expelled by the Romani after the Zealot and Bar-Kochba revolts did end up in India, but the Jewish population of that time in India had its genesis earlier, mostly. Bene Israel certainly predates the Roman destruction of the Temple, and the Malabar Jews could be as early as the reign of Solomon (though most estimates place them in the seventh and eighth centuries BC(E); we do know that Jewish traders were active in Baktrian Barygaza and Demetrias-Patala).

 

[Eretz Yisrael]

I can't tell if you are drawing your history from the Old Testament accurately, but this is about the only accurate portion of your statement.

Here is what is actually known about the Jews and their origins.

The Jews did not hail from Ur, but were descendants of the same Canaanites they so supposedly abhored. Their polytheistic religion was eventually subsumed to a single god, Yahweh, who was likely the patron god of Judah. This transition was very slow and may not have been complete until after the return from the Babylonian Captivity. There are numerous references to Hebrews "succumbing" to worship of pagan gods. There is also much disagreement among archeologists and historians about whether there was ever even a unified kingdom, as evidence for it is scant. Jerusalem was never sacked by the Egyptians. What happened was that the kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians in the 8th century BC, and the population dispersed (to prevent uprising). This left Judah as the sole Hebrew state. It survived until conquered by the Babylonian Empire, about 150 years later. The ruling people were deported to Babylon, essentially to be watched for insurrection, until freed by the Persian shah Cyrus, not Xerxes. You are incorrect in that this led to a restoration of the Hebrew kingdom. All it did was allow the Temple at Jerusalem to be rebuilt. The Hasmonean Dynasty was not founded until 400 years later, during a revolt against the Seleucid Empire, a Macedonian descendant of one of Alexander's generals. This same dynasty became a client state of Rome, until internal family feuds over inheritance forced the Romans to make it a province under direct Roman authority.

There were two uprisings against Roman occupation thereafter, in 77 and 125. But these were not the first instances of diaspora. There were diasporas since the first sack of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. By 200 BC, there were already Jewish communities in Egypt, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia.

You are also incorrect about Josephus. He was not a leader of a revolt, but merely a member, who appears to have sold out to the Romans. He did not join the house of Vespasian. You're confusing him with Polybius, who was held as a hostage of the Scipiones.

Yes, I did skip the fact about the Maccabees and the Hasmonean Dynasty;
but they were unique in that they made the office of high priest and King into one position, thus conladti and legitimizing their rule.
I DID SAY about the various kngdoms that threathened Israel and Judah's existence; but you're right; the Assyrians DID take over Israel;the Kingdom of Judah didnt recognize Israel as a legitimate state in the first place.
AS I MENTIONED before, the diaspora HAD already started during the fall of Judah.
I must also say THAT I AM RIGHT about Josephus. Josephus wasnt a General, but he was a military leader of Galillee( Yosef Ben Matityahu ). He was later taken into the Flavian HOuse by Titus.
And yes, I do draw a lot of my quotes from the Hebrew works, for most of them DO make sense and are constitute much of what modern scholars know of Israel's past. You mentioned that they were Cannanites.
In a sense, you're right, for I did mention that they are all Semites. If you read the Tanakh, it mentions of Noah's sons being the fathers of our world's peoples. Shem's descendant was Abraham; Ham, the one whose son, Canaa was cursed for commiting an indecentcy, is the father of Canaanites.
Of course, Im drawing their history from the Tanakh and the Nevi'im, but then a quite a few of the Jews would agree on me using the Tanak as a referenece.

 

[Eretz Yisrael]

I can't tell if you are drawing your history from the Old Testament accurately, but this is about the only accurate portion of your statement.

Here is what is actually known about the Jews and their origins.

The Jews did not hail from Ur, but were descendants of the same Canaanites they so supposedly abhored. Their polytheistic religion was eventually subsumed to a single god, Yahweh, who was likely the patron god of Judah. This transition was very slow and may not have been complete until after the return from the Babylonian Captivity. There are numerous references to Hebrews "succumbing" to worship of pagan gods. There is also much disagreement among archeologists and historians about whether there was ever even a unified kingdom, as evidence for it is scant. Jerusalem was never sacked by the Egyptians. What happened was that the kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians in the 8th century BC, and the population dispersed (to prevent uprising). This left Judah as the sole Hebrew state. It survived until conquered by the Babylonian Empire, about 150 years later. The ruling people were deported to Babylon, essentially to be watched for insurrection, until freed by the Persian shah Cyrus, not Xerxes. You are incorrect in that this led to a restoration of the Hebrew kingdom. All it did was allow the Temple at Jerusalem to be rebuilt. The Hasmonean Dynasty was not founded until 400 years later, during a revolt against the Seleucid Empire, a Macedonian descendant of one of Alexander's generals. This same dynasty became a client state of Rome, until internal family feuds over inheritance forced the Romans to make it a province under direct Roman authority.

There were two uprisings against Roman occupation thereafter, in 77 and 125. But these were not the first instances of diaspora. There were diasporas since the first sack of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. By 200 BC, there were already Jewish communities in Egypt, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia.

You are also incorrect about Josephus. He was not a leader of a revolt, but merely a member, who appears to have sold out to the Romans. He did not join the house of Vespasian. You're confusing him with Polybius, who was held as a hostage of the Scipiones.

Yes, I did skip the fact about the Maccabees and the Hasmonean Dynasty;
but they were unique in that they made the office of high priest and King into one position, thus conladti and legitimizing their rule.
I DID SAY about the various kngdoms that threathened Israel and Judah's existence; but you're right; the Assyrians DID take over Israel;the Kingdom of Judah didnt recognize Israel as a legitimate state in the first place.
AS I MENTIONED before, the diaspora HAD already started during the fall of Judah.
I must also say THAT I AM RIGHT about Josephus. Josephus wasnt a General, but he was a military leader of Galillee( Yosef Ben Matityahu ). He was later taken into the Flavian HOuse by Titus.
And yes, I do draw a lot of my quotes from the Hebrew works, for most of them DO make sense and are constitute much of what modern scholars know of Israel's past. You mentioned that they were Cannanites.
In a sense, you're right, for I did mention that they are all Semites. If you read the Tanakh, it mentions of Noah's sons being the fathers of our world's peoples. Shem's descendant was Abraham; Ham, the one whose son, Canaa was cursed for commiting an indecentcy, is the father of Canaanites.
Of course, Im drawing their history from the Tanakh and the Nevi'im, but then a quite a few of the Jews would agree on me using the Tanak as a referenece.