The Creation of Jewish Identity
From the Biblical Era to the Second Temple Period
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Narrated by:
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S D Cousins
About this listen
A great many Jewish holidays and practices, in their earliest understanding, reflect the great innovation of Biblical religion. The Bible emphasized historical events in contrast to nature. Other ancient Near Eastern religions stressed the latter. As Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel noted, in the Jewish tradition, faith is memory. The observances of Jewish holidays and various Jewish practices articulate theological ideas reflective of collective Jewish memory.
For example, Jews celebrate Passover because they remember that God brought them out of Egypt. Jews observe the commandment of circumcision because they recall that their forefather Abraham was commanded to do so. They commemorate the holiday of Sukkot because they evoke the journey of their ancestors in the wilderness. These are just a few examples.
One might assume that Jews and Judaism naturally emphasize the history of the Jewish people. Until the modern era, this was surprisingly not the case. In his work Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory, the historian Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi argues that what has been understood as history in Jewish circles from the Biblical era until reasonably recent times is considerably different than what the modern reader might expect in light of Jewish emphasis placed on memory.
Until the modern era, a general lack of interest in historical events detached from the Jewish community's theological concerns was typical. As the medieval Jewish historian Solomon Ibn Verga noted, an interest in history was seen as a Christian custom. Verga was the author of Shevet Yehuda, the first prominent Jewish historiography work in the modern period.
According to Yerushalmi, the seeming disconnect between memory, history, and historiography, i.e., the writing of history, is astonishing. Surprisingly, beginning with the Hebrew Bible, an emphasis, or better said, a command to remember is given. But what Jews remembered or chose to remember is critical. The actual recording of historical events was anything but the primary vehicle through which the Jewish people preserved their collective memory and identity. Yerushalmi highlights the distinction between Jewish memory and Jewish historiography.
He points to various Biblical texts, e.g., Deuteronomy 25:5-9; Deuteronomy 6:10-12; Joshua 4:6-7, etc., to note that while the Bible is focused on remembering the historical acts of God’s providence on behalf of Israel, they are nevertheless often connected to the lives of specific individuals in all of their detail.
Yerushalmi asserts that Jewish memory is selective. Some kings and significant events do not necessarily merit attention, while others do. This stands in contrast with so much of the Biblical text that focuses on none other than major incidents and great individuals presented in historical narratives.
To understand the reason for the disconnect between history and memory, Yerushalmi contends that part of this may lie in our understanding of history as drawn from the Greeks. The Greeks themselves appear to have failed to achieve a sense of the meaning of history as a whole. Herein lays the significant contribution of Jews to historiography.
All this was stated simply to highlight one important issue. Jewish identity is intrinsically based on the memory of events. However, the events' historical nature as we think of them may or may not coincide in the modern era. Still, the memory of the past is intrinsic to what Jewishness is and how it is perceived. Therefore, Jews from Morocco can connect with Ethiopian Jews or with Russian Jews, etc. Because whatever ethnic, social, and even racial differences exist, there is a shared memory of the past. Those who join the Jewish people as converts adopt the memory of the family they have joined.
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- Length: 14 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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This audiobook explores the biblical conception of mystery as an initial, partially hidden revelation that is subsequently more fully revealed, shedding light not only on the richness of the concept itself, but also on the broader relationship between the Old and New Testaments. Exploring all the occurrences of the term mystery in the New Testament and the topics found in conjunction with them, this work unpacks how the New Testament writers understood the issue of continuity and discontinuity.
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Disappointing!
- By Paul F. Evans on 11-14-15
By: G. K. Beale, and others
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Reading the Bible Again for the First Time
- Taking the Bible Seriously but Not Literally
- By: Marcus J. Borg
- Narrated by: Maurice England
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Many Christians mistakenly believe that their only choice is either to reconcile themselves to a fundamentalist reading of scripture (a "literal-factual" approach) or to simply reject the Bible as something that could bring meaning and value into their lives. In Reading the Bible Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg shows how instead we can freshly appreciate all the essential elements of the Old and New Testaments - from Genesis to Revelation - in a way that can open up a new world of intelligent faith.
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Marcus Borg's level of scholarship
- By Diana Johnson on 11-08-24
By: Marcus J. Borg
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Wrestling the Angel
- The Foundations of Mormon Thought: Cosmos, God, Humanity
- By: Terryl L. Givens
- Narrated by: B.J. Harrison
- Length: 17 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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In this first volume of his magisterial study of the foundations of Mormon thought and practice, Terryl L. Givens offers a sweeping account of Mormon belief from its founding to the present day. Situating the relatively new movement in the context of the Christian tradition, he reveals that Mormonism continues to change and grow.
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A comprehensive review of Mormon theology
- By Ken . on 02-15-15
By: Terryl L. Givens
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A.D. 381
- Heretics, Pagans, and the Dawn of the Monotheistic State
- By: Charles Freeman
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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In A.D. 381, Theodosius, emperor of the eastern Roman empire, issued a decree in which all his subjects were required to subscribe to a belief in the Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This edict defined Christian orthodoxy and brought to an end a lively and wide-ranging debate about the nature of God; all other interpretations were now declared heretical.
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Dont pass it up
- By brett on 01-21-11
By: Charles Freeman
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Forbidden Faith
- The Secret History of Gnosticism
- By: Richard Smoley
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The success of books such as Elaine Pagels's Gnostic Gospels and Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code proves beyond a doubt that there is a tremendous thirst today for finding the hidden truths of Christianity - truths that may have been lost or buried by institutional religion over the last two millennia. In Forbidden Faith, Richard Smoley narrates a popular history of one such truth, the ancient esoteric religion of gnosticism, which flourished between the first and fourth centuries AD, but whose legacy remains even today, having survived secretly throughout the ages.
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An absolute must for understanding Gnosticism.
- By Patriot RN - Doc on 05-12-21
By: Richard Smoley
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Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory (The Samuel and Althea Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies)
- By: Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi
- Narrated by: Aze Fellner
- Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Winner of the National Jewish Book Award for History. This book discusses the troubling and possibly irreconcilable split between Jewish memory and Jewish historiography.
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Best book of history of Judaism written in centuries
- By Bicigodo on 07-19-15
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Worshipping the State
- How Liberalism Became Our State Religion
- By: Benjamin Wiker PhD
- Narrated by: Ken Maxon
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Many Christians feel that they are being opposed at every turn by what seems to be a well-orchestrated political and cultural campaign to de-Christianize every aspect of Western culture. They are right, and it goes even further back than the Obama Administration. In Worshipping the State: How Liberalism Became Our State Religion, Benjamin Wiker argues that it is liberals who seek to establish an official state religion: one of unbelief.
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An Excellent Excellent book
- By Rara Sh on 01-22-24
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Creating Christ
- How Roman Emperors Invented Christianity
- By: James S. Valliant, C. W. Fahy
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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This explosive work of history unearths clues that finally demonstrate the truth about one of the world's great religions: that it was born out of the conflict between the Romans and messianic Jews who fought a bitter war with each other during the first century. The Romans employed a tactic they routinely used to conquer and absorb other nations: they grafted their imperial rule onto the religion of the conquered.
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life is one big lie
- By Anonymous User on 12-25-19
By: James S. Valliant, and others
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The Story of Christianity
- A History of 2000 Years of the Christian Faith
- By: David Bentley Hart
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Story of Christianity, the distinguished theologian David Bentley Hart provides a broad picture of Christian history. Presented in 50 short chapters - each focusing on a critical facet of Christian history or theology, and each amplified by timelines, and quotations - his magisterial account does full justice to the range of Christian tradition, belief and practice - Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, Evangelical, Coptic, Chaldean, Ethiopian Orthodox, and more....
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Great Brief Overview of Christianity
- By James Mikkelson on 01-26-22
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The Mission of God
- Unlocking the Bible's Grand Narrative
- By: Christopher J. H. Wright
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 24 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Most Christians would agree that the Bible provides a basis for mission. But Christopher Wright boldly maintains that mission is bigger than that - there is in fact a missional basis for the Bible. The entire Bible is generated by and is all about God's mission. In order to understand the Bible, we need a missional hermeneutic of the Bible, an interpretive perspective that is in tune with this great missional theme. We need to see the "big picture" of God's mission and how the familiar bits and pieces fit into the grand narrative of Scripture.
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Best evangelical mission book
- By dustin ballay on 07-15-23
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Church History in Plain Language, Fifth Edition
- By: Bruce Shelley, Marshall Shelley
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 23 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Bruce Shelley's classic history of the church brings the story of global Christianity into the 21st century. Like a skilled screenwriter, Shelley begins each chapter with three elements: characters, setting, plot. Taking you from the early centuries of the church up through the modern era he tells a story of actual people, in a particular situation, taking action or being acted upon, provides a window into the circumstances and historical context, and from there develops the story of a major period or theme of Christian history.
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Exceptionally clear, exceptionally helpful.
- By Daw on 10-04-22
By: Bruce Shelley, and others
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The Catholic Church [Modern Library Chronicles]
- By: Hans Kung
- Narrated by: Robert O'Keefe
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1979 the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith withdrew Hans Kung's missio canonica. Pope Paul VI approved the censure saying, "We are obligated to declare that in his writings he fell short of integrity and the truth of the Catholic faith." Through a 1980 agreement with the Vatican, Kung is now permitted to teach, but only under secular auspices. In this acclaimed Modern Library Chronicle, Kung examines the Catholic Church through its many reformations, focusing on the people and events...
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Theologian's Accurate View of Church Development
- By Jack on 01-12-06
By: Hans Kung
What listeners say about The Creation of Jewish Identity
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Ricardo Rivera
- 12-22-23
Thorough, but approachable for non-experts
Using surviving source material and relevant scholarship, the author puts together an excellent overview of the various, and often conflicting, means of establishing Jewish identity.
His neutral stance on people's methodologies was refreshing. He is equally understanding and critical of each sect's foundations and logical fallacies.
As a Christian with some Jewish heritage,I found this quite useful for further study.
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