Religion paper

Jewish Figures, Events PRIVATE

SOME KEY FIGURES AND EVENTS IN ANCIENT AND RABBINICAL JUDAISM

1. MOSES: Liberator from Egyptian slavery and lawgiver who makes a covenant between God and the Israelites (ca. 1250 BCE), that will form the basis of the Torah (instruction, law).

2. DAVID: Ancient Israel's second king (1006-965) who wrote psalms, made the people secure from the Philistines (Goliath) and other enemies, and moved the capital to Jerusalem.

3. SOLOMON: David's son and successor (965-930) who built the first temple.

4. DIVIDED NATION: Period from 930-722 when the Jewish nation was split between Judah (S) and Israel (N)(in 722 northern state was destroyed by Assyrians and fades from history).

5. BABYLONIAN EXILE (587-538): Period after destruction of temple and Jewish state when much of the Jewish population was taken to Babylon to live in exile. They were freed by Cyrus the Persian in 538.

6. NEHEMIAH: Jewish governor sent by the Persians to restore Jerusalem by rebuilding its walls and repopulating the city (445-433).

7. THE PROPHETS (ca.750-450): Figures such as Isaiah, Jeremiah & Ezekiel called by God to talk about present injustices and only secondarily about future events.

8. HILLEL (Ca. 50 BCE-20 CE): One of the founders of the Pharisaic movement noted for his kindness and wisdom.

9. ROMAN OCCUPATION (63 BC-70 AD): The period of military occupation during which the Romans crucified Jesus and many other Jews. This led to a major revolt against the Romans in which Jerusalem and the rebuilt (second) temple were destroyed in 70. Jewish statehood ends then and is not reborn until 1948.

10. RABBINICAL/TALMUDIC PERIOD (90-650 C.E.): The period when a new type of Judaism takes shape, that of the rabbis who compiled the Mishnah and the two Talmuds, as well as the Midrashic literature (running commentaries on the Torah and certain other books in the Tanakh/Old Testament that take an allegorical approach to the meaning of the text).