NEXT PAGE TIMEBASE CATALOG SEARCH PEOPLE WORDS MAPS REFS HOME	"THE SAGA OF THE JEW" by Rabbi Morris N. Kertzer The story of the Jews begins, as does all history, in misty origins. The age of the Jewish patriarchs, Abraham, Issac, Jacob and Joseph, and even the life of Moses, are the subject of much controversy among historians. Traditionalists accept every detail of the biblical narrative as fact. Modernists are inclined to accept only the broad outline of the bible story as it relates to this early period. The settlement of the Hebrews in Canaan (later called Palestine, after the native Philistines) took place sometime between 1300 B.C.E. and 1200 B.C.E. The first kingdom, established under David and Solomon about ten centuries before the Christian Era, was a union of twelve separate tribes. After Solomon's death, Palestine was divided into two separate states, Israel, comprising ten of the original tribes, and Judah, comprising the remaining two. In 722 B.C.E. a disaster of major proportions occurred: Israel, the kingdom of the ten tribes, was destroyed by the imperial power of Assyria. That marked the end of Hebrew history and the beginning of Jewish history. The word Jew, is simply an abbreviation of Judaean. (It might be mentioned that the ten tribes were not lost: they were obliterated as a united people. But a number of well-meaning people cling to the idea that somehow the "lost ten tribes," like the sheep of little Bo Peep, will come home again. Several letters I have received assured me that the tribes were still to be found in Africa, South America or the British Isles.) At all events, Judah continued as a small nation leading a precarious existence in the shadow of mighty empires, until 586 B.C.E. when it was laid waste by by the conquering armies of of the Babylonians. It's capital, Jerusalem, was destroyed, and most of its residents were driven in exile to Babylonia. These critical centuries, full of bloodshed and chaos, produced the greatest spirits of ancient Israel, the moral prophets -- Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Hosea and Micah. It was this group of spiritual leaders who gave the Jewish religion its distinctive character. The second Jewish commonwealth, re-established in 516 B.C.E. continued for 600 years, through many storms and crises, first under Persian rule, then under the Greeks and Syrians, and finally under Roman domination, except for a century of Independence under the Maccabees. After the year 70 of the Christian Era, the Jews of Palestine were dispersed throughout the world -- a few reaching far-off places in Central Asia, some settling in the hills of Ethiopia, and others in Italy and Spain. Although Egypt became, for a time, an important center of Jewish life, it was in Babylonia, that part of the world in which the first Hebrew, Abraham, was born, that a strong community was established, lasting well over a thousand years. Here under benevolent skies, Judaism developed and created such historic institutions as the Synagogue, academies of higher learning, the Talmud and the foundations of modern Jewish law. Jews came to Europe as early as the days of Julius Caesar, but there were only scattered settlements until the eleventh century. Then Spain became the center of Jewish life. In an era called "The Golden Age of Jewish History," under the benign rule of Moslems, Judaism produced more philosophy, poetry, science and religious literature than in any other period of its history. The turning point was 1492 -- the expulsion of Jews from Spain after more than a century of relentless and devastating persecution at the hands of the Church. Communities of some consequence grew up in Turkey, Holland and Germany, but it was in Eastern Europe that the concentration was most marked. Despite the hostility of Czarist regimes, a flourishing community came into being -- largely self-contained -- creating incomparable institutions of learning, a stable family life, and at least a minimum amount of economic security. By the end of the nineteenth century, the Russian-Polish community contained most of the Jews of the world. Germany had a vigorous group, but it was relatively small in size. And the United States, which saw its first Jewish settlers in 1654, had barely a million Jews at the turn of the century (937,000 in 1897). Another one and a quarter million immigrated here in the first four decades of the twentieth century. Then in the 1930's and 1940's came the Nazi massacres, in which almost forty per cent of the Jewish population of the world lost their lives. The deep trauma of that decade of horror spurred the drive for the re-establishment of Israel as a Jewish state, and as a haven for those who miraculously survived the Holocaust. Today, in all of Europe there remains, except for Great Britain and France, only a skeleton Jewish community. For of those who lived through the Hitler era, only a minute handful have chosen to continue living among the haunting reminders of that period. The rest -- all the rest who could physically manage the journey -- have emigrated, either to the new and budding nation of Israel, or to the western hemisphere, where today the number of Jewish residents equals the total of Jews in other parts of the world. In the United States, Canada, and Latin America, a new Jewish communal life has been developing in the past several decade, based for the first time in all the centuries of Jewish immigration to America, based on native-born spiritual leadership and cultural resources. Since World War II, this new world community -- and Israel -- have inherited the torch of Jewish learning and tradition. For the great European libraries of Judaism have been razed; the shrines of Jewish scholarship in Poland, Lithuania, Germany and Hungary have been effaced; and most of the outstanding spiritual leaders of prewar Europe perished in the gas chambers and the crematoriums. With the survivors, largely in Israel and the western world, then, rests the future of Judaism as a way of life. As in the past, it will be a way of life influenced and to a considerable extent altered by the surrounding culture. But despite the changes and the innovation, the basic traditions of Judaism will remain and will be handed down to our children as cherished and intact as they have remained for three thousands of years. Copyright © 1960 The World Publishing Company. Courtesy of the Macmillan Company 866 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10022 Home Page

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"THE SAGA OF THE JEW"

by Rabbi Morris N. Kertzer

The story of the Jews begins, as does all history, in misty origins. The age of the Jewish patriarchs, Abraham, Issac, Jacob and Joseph, and even the life of Moses, are the subject of much controversy among historians. Traditionalists accept every detail of the biblical narrative as fact. Modernists are inclined to accept only the broad outline of the bible story as it relates to this early period. The settlement of the Hebrews in Canaan (later called Palestine, after the native Philistines) took place sometime between 1300 B.C.E. and 1200 B.C.E. The first kingdom, established under David and Solomon about ten centuries before the Christian Era, was a union of twelve separate tribes. After Solomon's death, Palestine was divided into two separate states, Israel, comprising ten of the original tribes, and Judah, comprising the remaining two.

In 722 B.C.E. a disaster of major proportions occurred: Israel, the kingdom of the ten tribes, was destroyed by the imperial power of Assyria. That marked the end of Hebrew history and the beginning of Jewish history. The word Jew, is simply an abbreviation of Judaean.

(It might be mentioned that the ten tribes were not lost: they were obliterated as a united people. But a number of well-meaning people cling to the idea that somehow the "lost ten tribes," like the sheep of little Bo Peep, will come home again. Several letters I have received assured me that the tribes were still to be found in Africa, South America or the British Isles.)

At all events, Judah continued as a small nation leading a precarious existence in the shadow of mighty empires, until 586 B.C.E. when it was laid waste by by the conquering armies of of the Babylonians. It's capital, Jerusalem, was destroyed, and most of its residents were driven in exile to Babylonia.

These critical centuries, full of bloodshed and chaos, produced the greatest spirits of ancient Israel, the moral prophets -- Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Hosea and Micah. It was this group of spiritual leaders who gave the Jewish religion its distinctive character.

The second Jewish commonwealth, re-established in 516 B.C.E. continued for 600 years, through many storms and crises, first under Persian rule, then under the Greeks and Syrians, and finally under Roman domination, except for a century of Independence under the Maccabees.

After the year 70 of the Christian Era, the Jews of Palestine were dispersed throughout the world -- a few reaching far-off places in Central Asia, some settling in the hills of Ethiopia, and others in Italy and Spain. Although Egypt became, for a time, an important center of Jewish life, it was in Babylonia, that part of the world in which the first Hebrew, Abraham, was born, that a strong community was established, lasting well over a thousand years. Here under benevolent skies, Judaism developed and created such historic institutions as the Synagogue, academies of higher learning, the Talmud and the foundations of modern Jewish law.

Jews came to Europe as early as the days of Julius Caesar, but there were only scattered settlements until the eleventh century. Then Spain became the center of Jewish life. In an era called "The Golden Age of Jewish History," under the benign rule of Moslems, Judaism produced more philosophy, poetry, science and religious literature than in any other period of its history.

The turning point was 1492 -- the expulsion of Jews from Spain after more than a century of relentless and devastating persecution at the hands of the Church.

Communities of some consequence grew up in Turkey, Holland and Germany, but it was in Eastern Europe that the concentration was most marked. Despite the hostility of Czarist regimes, a flourishing community came into being -- largely self-contained -- creating incomparable institutions of learning, a stable family life, and at least a minimum amount of economic security.

By the end of the nineteenth century, the Russian-Polish community contained most of the Jews of the world. Germany had a vigorous group, but it was relatively small in size. And the United States, which saw its first Jewish settlers in 1654, had barely a million Jews at the turn of the century (937,000 in 1897). Another one and a quarter million immigrated here in the first four decades of the twentieth century.

Then in the 1930's and 1940's came the Nazi massacres, in which almost forty per cent of the Jewish population of the world lost their lives. The deep trauma of that decade of horror spurred the drive for the re-establishment of Israel as a Jewish state, and as a haven for those who miraculously survived the Holocaust.

Today, in all of Europe there remains, except for Great Britain and France, only a skeleton Jewish community. For of those who lived through the Hitler era, only a minute handful have chosen to continue living among the haunting reminders of that period. The rest -- all the rest who could physically manage the journey -- have emigrated, either to the new and budding nation of Israel, or to the western hemisphere, where today the number of Jewish residents equals the total of Jews in other parts of the world.

In the United States, Canada, and Latin America, a new Jewish communal life has been developing in the past several decade, based for the first time in all the centuries of Jewish immigration to America, based on native-born spiritual leadership and cultural resources. Since World War II, this new world community -- and Israel -- have inherited the torch of Jewish learning and tradition. For the great European libraries of Judaism have been razed; the shrines of Jewish scholarship in Poland, Lithuania, Germany and Hungary have been effaced; and most of the outstanding spiritual leaders of prewar Europe perished in the gas chambers and the crematoriums.

With the survivors, largely in Israel and the western world, then, rests the future of Judaism as a way of life. As in the past, it will be a way of life influenced and to a considerable extent altered by the surrounding culture. But despite the changes and the innovation, the basic traditions of Judaism will remain and will be handed down to our children as cherished and intact as they have remained for three thousands of years.

Copyright © 1960 The World Publishing Company. Courtesy of the Macmillan Company
866 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10022

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