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January, 2007
John the Baptist (also called John the Baptizer, or Yahya the Baptizer) is regarded as a prophet by four religions: Christianity, Islam, Mandaeanism, and the Baháʼí Faith. This is asserted in the Synoptic Gospels, the Qur'an and the Baháʼí Writings. He is also commonly referred to as John the Forerunner/Precursor because Christians (but not Mandaeans) consider him as the forerunner of Christ. In Mandaic he is called Yihja jahane. The Gospel of Luke provides the sole account of his infancy. According to Luke, John the Baptist was the son of Zecharia and Elisabeth; his birth, name, and office, were foretold by the angel Gabriel to Zecharia, while Zecharia was performing his functions as a priest in the temple of Jerusalem. Zecharia was a priest of the course of Abijah, and his wife, Elisabeth, was of the Daughters of Aaron; consequently John automatically held the priesthood of Aaron, which, to the Jews' eyes, gave him authority to baptize in the name of God. Luke states that John was born about six months before Jesus, and that Zecharia's unbelief over the birth of his son led to him losing his power of speech, which was only restored on the occasion of John's circumcision. According to the Canonical Gospels, John the Baptist's public ministry was suddenly brought to a close, probably about six months after he had baptized Jesus. According to these Gospel narratives, Herod Antipas jailed him, with the Gospel of Luke arguing that Herod was punishing John for condemning Herod's marriage to Herodias, the former wife of Herod Philip, Herod's own brother. The narrative states that although Herod himself respected John's authority and the clout of his following, to the extent that he would do John no further harm, Herod's bloodthirsty wife had other ideas, and persuaded her daughter, Salome, to trick Herod. At a party for Herod, Salome danced so beautifully that, according to the Canonical Gospels, Herod foolishly offered her anything she requested. She asked for John's head on a silver platter, and so John was beheaded. His disciples, after consigning his headless body to the grave, told Jesus all that had occurred.
February, 2007
According to the Bible, Noah's Ark was a massive vessel built at God's command to save Noah, his family, and a core stock of the world's animals from the Great Flood. The story is contained in the Hebrew Bible's book of Genesis, chapters 6 to 9. According to one school of modern textual criticism — the documentary hypothesis — the Ark story told in Genesis is based on two originally quasi-independent sources, and did not reach its present form until the 5th century BC. Nevertheless, many Orthodox Jews and traditional Christians reject this analysis, holding that the Ark story is true, and that any perceived inadequacies can be rationally explained. The Ark story told in Genesis has extensive and striking parallels in the Sumerian myth of Utnapishtim, which tells how an ancient king was warned by his personal god to build a vessel in which to escape a flood sent by the higher council of gods. By the beginning of the 18th century, the growth of biogeography as a science meant that few natural historians felt able to justify a literal interpretation of the Ark story. Nevertheless, Biblical literalists continue to explore the region of the mountains of Ararat, in northeastern Turkey, where the Bible says Noah's Ark came to rest.
March, 2007
Torah (תּוֹרָה) is a Hebrew word meaning "teaching," "instruction," or "law". It refers primarily to the Five Books of Moses, also known as the Law of Moses (Torat Moshe תּוֹרַת־מֹשֶׁה) or the Pentateuch (Greek for "five containers," which refers to the scroll cases in which books were being kept). Other names include Hamisha Humshei Torah (חמשה חומשי תורה, "[the] five fifths/parts [of the] Torah") or simply the Humash (חומש "fifth"). A Sefer Torah is a formal written scroll of the five books, written by a Torah scribe under exceptionally strict requirements. The term is sometimes also used in the general sense to also include both Judaism's written law and oral law, encompassing the entire spectrum of authoritative Jewish religious teachings throughout history, including the Mishnah, the Talmud, the Midrash, and more.
The Torah is the first five books of the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible, and of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The five books, their names and pronunciations in the original Hebrew, are as follows:
- Genesis (בראשית, Bereshit: "In the beginning...")
- Exodus (שמות, Shemot: "Names")
- Leviticus (ויקרא, Vayyiqra: "And he called...")
- Numbers (במדבר, Bammidbar: "In the desert...")
- Deuteronomy (דברים, Devarim: "Words", or "Discourses")
(The Hebrew names are taken from initial words within the first verse of each book. See, for example, Genesis 1:1.)
Written in Hebrew, the oldest Jewish language, the Torah is the central and most important document of Judaism revered by Jews through the ages, and very important to Christians. It is traditionally accepted as the literal word of God as told to Moses. For many, it is neither exactly history, nor theology, nor legal and ritual guide, but something beyond all three. It is the primary guide to the relationship between God and man, and the whole meaning and purpose of that relationship, a living document that unfolds over generations and millennia.
April, 2007
It is known as a Korban in Hebrew because its Hebrew root K [a] R [o] V (קרב) means to "[come] Close (or Draw Near) [to God]", which the English words "sacrifice" or "offering" do not fully convey. There were many different types of korbanot. Once performed as part of the religious ritual in the Temple in Jerusalem in Ancient Israel, the practice was stopped in 70 CE, after the destruction of the Second Temple.
A Korban was usually an animal sacrifice, such as a sheep or a bull that was ritually slaughtered, and (usually) cooked and eaten by the offerer, with parts given to the Kohanim (priests) and parts burned on an altar. Korbanot could also consist of turtle-doves or pigeons, grain, incense, fruit, and a variety of other offerings.
The Hebrew Bible narrates that the God of Israel commanded the Children of Israel to offer korbanot up on various altars, and describes the ritual's practice in the ancient Tabernacle, on high places, and in the Temple in Jerusalem during the history of ancient Israel and Judah until the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE. Korbanot and the nature of their practice continue to have relevance to Jewish theology, ritual, and law, particularly in Orthodox Judaism...
May, 2007
Genesis is the first book of the Torah, the Tanakh, and the Old Testament. As Jewish tradition considers it to have been written by Moses, it is also called The First Book of Moses. In Hebrew, it is called בראשית (B'reshit or Bərêšîth), after the first word of the text in Hebrew (meaning "in the beginning").
Genesis begins with an account of God's creation of the world, Adam, Eve, and creatures. It describes their banishment from the Garden of Eden, followed by an account of two brothers, Cain and Abel. The text goes on to relate events surrounding the account of Noah and the great flood, and building of the Tower of Babel. Later, it records Abraham's acceptance by God, and of God's promise to him that through his seed all people on earth would be blessed (22:3). The book records the doings of his son Isaac, grandsons, Esau and Jacob (known as Israel), and great grandson Joseph, as well as their families. It ends with Jacob's descendants, the Israelites, in Egypt, in favour with the Pharaoh.
Genesis contains the historical presupposition and basis of the national religious ideas and institutions of Israel, and serves as an introduction to its history, laws, and customs. It is the composition of a writer (or set of writers, see documentary hypothesis), who has recounted the traditions of the Israelites, combining them into a uniform work, while preserving the textual and formal peculiarities incident to their difference in origin and mode of transmission.
June, 2007
Jerusalem is Israel's capital, seat of government, and largest city in both population and area, with 732,100 residents in an area of 126 square kilometers (49 sq mi). Located in the Judean Mountains, between the Mediterranean Sea and the northern tip of the Dead Sea, the city has a history that goes back as far as the 4th millennium BC. Jerusalem has been the holiest city in Judaism and the spiritual center of the Jewish people since the 10th century BC. The city contains a number of significant ancient Christian sites and is considered the third-holiest city in Islam.
The walled area of Jerusalem, which constituted the entire city until the 1860s, is now called the Old City, and was added to the List of World Heritage Sites in danger in 1982. The Old City has been traditionally divided into four quarters, although the names used today—the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters—were only introduced in the early 19th century. Despite having an area of only 0.9 square kilometer (0.35 square mile), the Old City is home to several sites of key religious importance: the Temple Mount and its Western Wall for Jews, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians, and the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque for Muslims.
Modern Jerusalem has grown up around the Old City, with its civic and cultural hub extending westward toward the country's urban center in Gush Dan. The Arab population is clustered in the north, east and south. Today, Jerusalem remains a bone of contention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem (captured in the 1967 Six-Day War) has been particularly controversial, as Palestinians view this part of the city as the capital of a future Palestinian state. The status of a "united Jerusalem" as Israel's "eternal capital" has not been officially recognized by most of the international community, and nearly all countries maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv.
July, 2007
Elijah was a prophet in Israel in the 9th century BC. He appears in the Hebrew Bible, Talmud, Mishnah, Christian Bible, and the Qur'an. According to the Books of Kings, Elijah raised the dead, brought fire down from the sky, and ascended into heaven on a whirlwind. In many parts of the New Testament, both Jesus and John the Baptist are frequently thought to be Elijah. Based on a prophecy in Malachi, many Jews still await his return as precursor to the coming of the Messiah.
Elijah's legacy continues on in many traditions and beliefs. He is a major part of the Jewish brit milah and Passover seder ceremonies, as well as traditions involving Lillith and the angel Sandalphon. In Christianity, he is expected to arrive either before the Second Coming of Jesus, or thought to have already arrived at the Mount of Transfiguration before the Crucifixion. In Eastern Europe, he is known as "Elijah the Thunderer" and is blamed in folklore for poor weather.
In the New Testament, both John the Baptist and Jesus excited interest as to whether they were Elijah, come before the "great and terrible day" as predicted by Malachi.
| “ | Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse. | ” |
- — Malachi 4:5-6
August, 2007
The Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, are a list of religious and moral imperatives which, according to Biblical tradition, were written by God and given to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of two stone tablets. They feature prominently in Judaism and Christianity. The phrase "Ten Commandments" generally refers to the very similar passages in Exodus 20:2–17 and Deuteronomy 5:6–21. Some distinguish between this "Ethical Decalogue" and a series of ten commandments in Exodus 34 that are labelled the "Ritual Decalogue".
The commandments passage in Exodus contains more than ten imperative statements, totalling 14 or 15 in all. However, the Bible itself assigns the count of "10", using the Hebrew phrase ʻaseret had'varim—translated as the 10 words, statements or things. Various religions divide the commandments differently.
In Biblical Hebrew language, the commandments are termed עשרת הדברים (translit. Aseret ha-Dvarîm) and in Rabbinical Hebrew עשרת הדברות (translit. Aseret ha-Dibrot), both translatable as "the ten statements." The name "Decalogue" is derived from the Greek name δεκάλογος or "dekalogos" ("ten statements") found in the Septuagint (Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 10:4), which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew name.
According to Biblical text, the commandments represent the utterances of God on Mount Sinai. There are biblical passages that also refer to ten commandments being written by God on stone, which he gave to Moses. Moses then gave them to the people of Israel in the third month after their Exodus from Egypt. After receiving the commandments and returning to Mount Sinai, Moses saw that the Israelites had "defiled themselves", and that his brother, Aaron, had made a Golden Calf and an altar in front of it. Moses, in terrible anger, broke the tablets. God later had Moses carve two other tablets, to replace the ones he smashed. God himself appears as the writer. This second set, brought down from Mount Sinai by Moses, was placed in the Ark of the Covenant, hence designated as the "Ark of the Testimony." (Read full article...)September, 2007
Jeremiah (Hebrew:יִרְמְיָהוּ "the Lord will raise") was one of the 'greater prophets' of the Old Testament. He was the son of Hilkiah, a priest of Anathoth. His writings are collected in the Book of Jeremiah and, according to tradition, the Book of Lamentations. Jeremiah is also famous as "the broken-hearted prophet" (who wrote a "broken book", which has been difficult to put into chronological order), whose heart-rending life, and true prophecies of dire warning went largely unheeded by the people of Judah. In his various exhortations, Jeremiah made extensive use of props to illustrate points and engage the public. He walked around wearing a wooden yoke about his neck. He served wine to a family with a vow of temperance.
Jeremiah was called to the prophetical office when still young; in the thirteenth year of Josiah. He left Anathoth, and went to reside in Jerusalem, assisting Josiah in his furious assault upon idolatry. In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the enmity of the people against the prophet was expressed with persecution; and Jeremiah was apparently imprisoned. Jeremiah warned the king that "God would roll him up into a little ball, and would throw him out of Judah". He was still in confinement when the city was taken. The Babylonians released him, and showed him great kindness, allowing Jeremiah to choose the place of his residence. Jeremiah went to Mizpah in Benjamin with Gedaliah, who had been made governor of Judea. Johanan succeeded Gedaliah, who had been assassinated by an Israelite prince in the pay of Ammon "for working with the Babylonians". Refusing to listen to Jeremiah's counsels, Johanan fled to Egypt, taking Jeremiah with him. There, the prophet probably spent the remainder of his life, still seeking in vain to turn the people to the Lord, from whom they had so long revolted. Some believe he was murdered in Egypt by those angered by his prophecies. It is known that he lived into the reign of Evil-merodach, son of Nebuchadnezzar, and may have been about ninety years of age at his death. We have no authentic record of his death. He may have died at Tahpanes, or, according to a tradition, may have gone to Babylon with the army of Nebuchadnezzar.
October, 2007
The Biblical Mount Sinai is an ambiguously located mountain at which the Old Testament states that the Torah were given to Moses by God. In certain biblical passages these events are described as having transpired at Mount Horeb, but though there is a small body of opinion that Sinai and Horeb were different locations, they are generally considered to have been different names for the same place.
According to the Biblical account of the law-giving, Sinai was enveloped in a cloud, it quaked and was filled with smoke, while lightning-flashes shot forth, and the roar of thunder mingled with the blasts of a trumpet; the account later adds that fire was seen burning at the summit of the mountain. Several scholars have indicated that it seems to suggest that Sinai was a volcano, although there is no mention of ash; other scholars have suggested that the description fits a storm, especially as the Song of Deborah seems to allude to rain having occurred at the time, with the fire possibly being some natural plasma effect.
In the Biblical account, the fire and clouds are a direct consequence of the arrival of God upon the mountain. In a midrash it is argued that God was accompanied by 22000 archangels, and 22000 divine chariots, and in order for all these to fit these onto the mountain, God made the mountain expand from its earlier size. The biblical description of God's descent superficially seems to be in conflict with the statement shortly after that God spoke to the Israelites from heaven; while textual scholars argue that these passages simply have come from different sources, the Mekhilta argues that God had lowered the heavens and spread them over Sinai, and the Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer argues that a hole was torn in the heavens, and Sinai was torn away from the earth and the summit pushed through the hole...
November, 2007
In the Ancient Israel, First Fruits were tithed as Heave Offerings; the tithe was allocated throughout the year, but for accounting purposes traditionally began each year at Tu Bishvat, which was thus the occasion of a festival. In later times this tithe was limited to the traditional seven agricultural products (Wheat, Barley, Grapes in the form of Wine, Figs, Pomegranates, Olives in the form of Oil, and Dates) grown in Palestine, but eventually onions, cucumbers, melons, a traditional cheese (known as tiltan), the herb fenugreek, and certain other vegetables were permitted as well. This tithe, and the associated harvest festival, is legislated by the Torah (Exodus 23:16, 19; Leviticus 23:9; Deuteronomy 26:2).
In the Canonical Gospels, the concept of the harvest of First Fruits is used metaphorically and allegorically. In the Gospel of Matthew (13:30), Jesus is described as stating, that “in the time of harvest“ he would instruct the harvesters to gather the “tares“, bind them into bundles, and burn them, but to “gather the wheat into [his] barn.“ In the Gospel of John (4:36), Jesus is described as stating, “...he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.“
December, 2007
In Christian tradition the Magi, also known as the Three Wise Men, The Three Kings, or Kings from the east, are sometimes considered to be Median, perhaps Zoroastrian priests, who were also proficient in astrology from Ancient Persia. The Gospel of Matthew states that they came "from the east to Jerusalem" to worship the Christ, "born King of the Jews". According to Matthew, they navigated by following a star which came to be known as the Star of Bethlehem. As they approached Jerusalem, Herod tried to trick them into revealing where Jesus was, so that he might be put to death. Upon finding Jesus, the Magi gave him an unspecified number of gifts, amongst which were three highly symbolic ones: gold, frankincense and myrrh. Because these three gifts were recorded, it is traditionally said to have been three givers; however, Matthew does not specify how many wise men came from the east. The Magi were then warned in dreams that revealed Herod's deadly intentions for the child and decided to return home by a different route, in order to thwart them. This prompted Herod to resort to killing all the young children in Bethlehem, an act called the Massacre of the Innocents, in an attempt to eliminate a rival heir to his throne. Jesus and his family had, however, escaped to Egypt beforehand. After these events, the magi return home and passed into obscurity.