1. Ancient Israel

2. Historical Overview ► Ancient Israel is the birthplace of the 3 great monotheistic religions of the world: Judaism, Christianity and Islam

3. What is in a name? ► Hebrew means “From across”- name given to Abraham and his followers ► Israelites: Abraham’s grandson Jacob renamed Israel which means “he who has wrestled with God”. His descendants were called “Israelites” ► Jews: named after Jacob’s son Judah, ancient father of tribe of King David’s dynasty

4. Tracing Roots of Israel’s History ► Mesopotamian society dominated by polytheism ► God (Yahweh) appeared before Patriarch Abraham and told Abraham “to go and raise a great nation” ► This began the monotheistic tradition of the Hebrew ► Abraham settled in Canaan

5. Jacob (grandson of Abraham) ► Abraham’s grandson Jacob took name “Israel” which means “God ruled” and organized Israelites into 12 tribes ► Some tribes settled in Egypt (due to drought and famine) and where subjected to Pharaoh rule and slavery

6. Moses ► An illustrated story of Moses Moses

7. Moses & Exodus: “Let My People Go!” ► Moses received revelations from God: burning bush, rod / staff, 10 plagues, parting of the Red Sea ► End of 13 th century BCE- Moses led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt during Rames II reign called the EXODUS ► Moses led the 12 Tribes of Israel to Mount Sinai where Yahweh gave him the 10 Commandments, uniting the Hebrews under one God

8. According to Jewish tradition, God gave the Jewish people 613 mitzvot (commandments) All 613 of those mitzvot are equally sacred, equally binding and equally the word of God. The 10 Commandments are seen as classifications of mitzvot.

9. Kings of Israel ► 1020 BCE: first king of Israelites was Saul, then David, then Solomon ► Under King David the Israelites captured city of Jerusalem ► King Solomon built the Temple of Jerusalem ► Solomon’s Temple was destroyed during Babylonian invasion, rebuilt in 6 th century BCE, and destroyed again in 70 CE by the Romans ► Only remaining part of Solomon’s Temple is the Western Wall

10. Lost Tribes of Israel ► After the death of Solomon, Kingdom of Israel split into two (north= Israel; south= Judah) ► Israel was conquered by Assyrians in 722 BCE and the scattered people were known as the ‘Lost Tribes of Israel’ ► Judah was eventually destroyed by Babylon in 586 BCE ► Released by Persians in 538 BCE and returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple

11. Diaspora ► Diaspora is a Greek word meaning “sowing of seed” or “dispersal” which refers to Jewish population living outside of Israel ► 64 BCE, Jerusalem fell to Romans and the Kingdom of Judah became one of the provinces of the Roman Empire (Judea). The people living there were called Judeans, and it is from this word that we get the word Jew ► In 66 CE the people of Judea revolted against Rome. This uprising was crushed ► Despite the dispersion of Jewish people throughout Europe after 70 CE, their culture and religious beliefs have been by far the most influential of all the ancient cultures of the Near East

12. Torah ► 1 st 5 books of the Bible  Genisis  Exodus  Leviticus  Numbers  Deuteronomy ► Written as a scroll ► Each temple has a Torah which teaches about Jewish history and laws

13. Star of David ► Used as a symbol of Judaism and was originally the symbol of the shield used by King David when he went into battle.

14. Sabbath ► Weekly services to worship. ► Starts at sundown on Friday and goes to sundown on Saturday ► People go to the temple to worship.

15. Formation of Israel ► Land that was originally settled by Abraham in Caanan ► The country of Israel was created in 1948 by the United Nations following the horrors of WWII. The land prior to this had been part of Palestine which was Arab controlled. ► 1/3 of the world’s Jews live in Israel (5.6 million) and 80% of country is Jewish.

16. Different Levels of Devotion

17. Keeping Kosher ► Some very observant Jews keep a kosher kitchen. ► Keeping kosher has to do with the foods that a Jewish person chooses to eat. ► Meats are chosen because they chew their cud or have split hooves and (lamb and beef are in, pork is out) and how the animals are killed (shooting is out) and butchered. ► Fish must have scales (shellfish is out). ► Meat and Dairy must be kept separate including plates, silverware, pots & pans.