קיצור תולדות העם היהודי | פרק 1 – מראשית האומה עד חורבן ישראל — Transcript

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1. 0:02According to the Bible, the people of Israel originated from one person.
2. 0:08Abraham was born in Ur-Kasdim (Ur of the Chaldees),
3. 0:11and after a divine revelation that he was to father a great nation,
4. 0:16he followed God’s decree, and traveled to the land of Canaan.
5. 0:20The divine promise passed on from Abraham to his son Isaac,
6. 0:24and from Isaac to his son Jacob, who was also called Israel.
7. 0:29Jacob’s twelve sons will go on to father the twelve tribes of Israel.
8. 0:37Due to a severe famine that befell Canaan,
9. 0:40the sons of Jacob went down to fertile Egypt, where they prospered.
10. 0:45But the family became a nation of slaves, enslaved by the Egyptians for centuries.
11. 0:54Until God sent Moses to lead the people and bring them out of bondage to freedom.
12. 1:02The story of the Exodus from Egypt is commemorated on the holiday of Passover.
13. 1:08At Mount Sinai, a covenant was made between God and the people of Israel,
14. 1:13in which they were promised the land of Canaan, and undertook to observe the God’s laws.
15. 1:20This event is the main theme of the holiday of Shavuot (Feast of Weeks).
16. 1:24After the Mount Sinai experience, the journey to the Promised Land lasted another forty years.
17. 1:31The extended wandering in the desert is commemorated on the holiday of Sukkot (Feast of Booths).
18. 1:37On the eve of entering the promised land, Moses died,
19. 1:40and his place as the leader of the nation was inherited by Joshua, his faithful assistant.
20. 1:47The Bible tells of military campaigns led by Joshua to conquer the land from the nations of Canaan,
21. 1:54after which the twelve tribes of Israel settled throughout the land.
22. 2:01After the settlement, the tribes suffered hardships and threats from their neighbors.
23. 2:07Each time, leaders arose for each tribe, who led a struggle for liberation and salvation.
24. 2:15These were the judges, who served as local and temporary leaders.
25. 2:21But the lack of centralized leadership endangered the existence of the tribes,
26. 2:25and they yearend for the appointment of a king who would unite the nation.
27. 2:31As a result, Saul was enthroned, who united all the tribes of Israel.
28. 2:36After his death, around 1000 BCE, David, son of Yishai, ascended to power,
29. 2:43and founded a powerful dynasty that would rule for centuries to come.
30. 2:49King David conquered neighboring kingdoms, brought the United Monarchy of Israel to its peak,
31. 2:55made it a significant regional power, and established its capital in Jerusalem.
32. 3:03After the death of David, his son Solomon came to power.
33. 3:07During Solomon’s rule, the biblical story describes a period of peace,
34. 3:12economic prosperity, vast trade ties, and extensive influence.
35. 3:18In addition, Solomon is credited with building the First Temple -
36. 3:24the center of worship of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem.
37. 3:29In 928 BCE, after the death of Solomon and the rise of his son to power,
38. 3:36the kingdom split into two independent kingdoms:
39. 3:40the kingdom of Judah in the south, and the kingdom of Israel in the north.
40. 3:46The tribes of Judah and Benjamin resided in the territory of the Kingdom of Judah,
41. 3:50and the other ten tribes were in the territory of the Kingdom of Israel.
42. 3:58Thus far the biblical story has been presented.
43. 4:02In contrast, historical and archaeological research paints a different picture:
44. 4:08While the Bible emphasizes the arrival of the people of Israel from abroad into Canaan,
45. 4:13as expressed in Abraham's journey and the Exodus from Egypt,
46. 4:18some scholars believe that the people of Israel originated from within Canaan.
47. 4:25And that in contrast to the narrative of the United Monarchy as the golden era of the nation,
48. 4:32the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah developed separately.
49. 4:39In 1250 BCE, the land of Canaan was inhabited by an array of Canaanite city-states,
50. 4:47subject to the rule of the Egyptian Empire.
51. 4:51But then, in a dramatic process stemming, according to some assessments, from a climate crisis,
52. 4:58a massive cultural collapse began, that shook the entire ancient world, including Canaan.
53. 5:07Thus, until 1100 BCE, Egypt lost its power in the region, and the Canaanite city-states were destroyed.
54. 5:18On top of the ruins of the old world, a new order began to form.
55. 5:25In a long and gradual process, which took place approx. between 950 and 800 BCE,
56. 5:33territorial kingdoms were formed side by side - Aram-Damascus, Ammon, Moab, Edom, Israel and Judah.
57. 5:44The kingdoms formed cultural characteristics and national identities.
58. 5:50The kingdoms of Israel and Judah, shared common characteristics -
59. 5:56chief among them the Hebrew language, and a common god whose name was written YHWH.
60. 6:05But alongside this god, many others were worshiped – a condition known as polytheism.
61. 6:14In the two Hebrew kingdoms there were figures called prophets,
62. 6:19who, according to the Bible, fought idolatry
63. 6:23and drew the hearts of the people towards monotheism - the belief in one god.
64. 6:30In fact, monotheism will only become widespread hundreds of years later.
65. 6:37In Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, the Temple resided.
66. 6:43Priests served in the Temple, performing rituals centered on sacrificial offerings.
67. 6:50However, in Judah and Israel there were other temples and sites of worship.
68. 6:58Israel was the largest and most powerful of the two Hebrew kingdoms.
69. 7:04Judah sheltered in Israel’s shadow, and was possibly even its vassal.
70. 7:10While the Kingdom of Israel was blessed with vast and fertile lands,
71. 7:15the Kingdom of Judah had to make do with limited, mountainous and arid land.
72. 7:21However, while in the northern kingdom, dynasties were repeatedly replaced due to assassinations,
73. 7:31the rule in Judah was characterized by an impressive stability of the House of David.
74. 7:38There were occasional tensions between the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah,
75. 7:43but at times they also collaborated against common enemies in the region,
76. 7:49notably, against the northern kingdom of Aram-Damascus, which was in constant friction with Israel.
77. 8:00While Israel and Aram-Damascus clashed, a new and powerful threat emerged in the East - the Assyrian Empire.
78. 8:12In 745 BCE, Tiglath-Pileser III came to power in Assyria.
79. 8:20He was known for widespread and unbridled conquests, the terrible destruction left behind,
80. 8:26and the massive exiles of populations, designed to dismantle any form of national identity.
81. 8:37Initially, the kingdoms of the region yielded to Assyria and paid it tribute.
82. 8:43However, they later decided to form an alliance and rebel together against the empire.
83. 8:50Only Ahaz, king of Judah, refused to join this alliance, and maintained allegiance to Assyria.
84. 9:01In response, the kingdoms of Israel and Aram-Damascus invaded and besieged Jerusalem,
85. 9:08aiming to overthrow Ahaz and force Judah into the anti-Assyrian alliance.
86. 9:16But this plan was not completed.
87. 9:20In a sudden move, Tiglath-Pileser began to conquer the kingdoms of the region,
88. 9:26and condemned the coalition to defeat.
89. 9:30In 732 BCE he conquered Aram-Damascus, and went on to conquer the Kingdom of Israel.
90. 9:42For ten more years Israel existed as a small mountainous kingdom around its capital, Samaria,
91. 9:52until in 722 BCE, it once again rebelled against Assyria under the leadership of Hoshea.
92. 10:01Two years later, Sargon II, king of Assyria, conquered Samaria and destroyed it.
93. 10:12The Kingdom of Israel, a glorious regional power that had existed for over 200 years,
94. 10:18was wiped off the face of the earth.
95. 10:21Its residents, the ten tribes, were exiled to the depths of the Assyrian Empire,
96. 10:27assimilated into it, and disappeared forever.
97. 10:32Many scholars believe that when Judah remained alone,
98. 10:37the narrative of the United Monarchy of David and Solomon flourished.
99. 10:42The separate histories and national myths of the two Hebrew kingdoms were merged.
100. 10:51Thus, Israel was destroyed, but its heritage was preserved in Judean memory and culture.
101. 11:02In the next chapter, we will continue to follow the kingdom of Judah that is now left alone.
102. 11:09We will review the Judean revolt against Assyria, the rise of Babylonia,
103. 11:13and end with the destruction of Jerusalem.