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Israelite

Israelite

:Twelve Tribes redirects here. For the modern day messianic religious community, see The Twelve Tribes An Israelite is a member of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, descended from the twelve sons of the Biblical patriarch Jacob who was renamed Israel by God in the book of Genesis, 32:28. The Israelites were a group of Hebrews, as described in the Hebrew Bible. There are modern historical debates about the origins of the Hebrews/Israelites. The English word Israelite derives from ישראל ("Struggled with God", Standard Hebrew Yisraʾel, Tiberian Hebrew Yiśrāʾēl). Please read this entry in conjunction with the entries on:
- History of ancient Israel and Judah
- Children of Israel
- Lost Ten Tribes
- Bnai Israel

Israelites in Biblical times

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Israelites were the descendants of the children of Jacob, later known as Israel. His twelve male children were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Gad, Naphtali, Asher, Joseph, and Benjamin. Twelve tribes of Israel are listed in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible, Old Testament). Old Testament
- Tribe of Reuben
  - ראובן, Standard Rəʾuven, Tiberian Rəʾûḇēn
  - ראובני, Standard Ruʾuveni, Tiberian Ruʾûḇēnî
- Tribe of Simeon
  - שמעון, Standard Šimʿon, Tiberian Šimʿôn
  - שמעני, Standard Šimʿoni, Tiberian Šimʿônî
- Tribe of Levi (This is a special case; see further below)
  - לוי, Standard Levi, Tiberian Lēwî
- Tribe of Judah
  - יהודה, Standard Yəhuda, Tiberian Yəhûḏāh
  - יהודי, Standard Yəhudi, Tiberian Yəhûḏî
- Tribe of Dan
  - דן, Standard Dan, Tiberian Dān
  - דני, Standard Dani, Tiberian Dānî
- Tribe of Naphtali
  - נפתלי, Standard Naftali, Tiberian Nap̄tālî
- Tribe of Gad
  - גד, Standard Gad, Tiberian Gāḏ
  - גדי, Tiberian Standard Gadi, Gāḏî
- Tribe of Asher
  - אשר, Standard Ašer, Tiberian ʾĀšēr
  - אשרי, Standard Ašeri, Tiberian ʾĀšērî
- Tribe of Issachar
  - יששכר, Standard Yissaḫar, Tiberian Yiśśâḵār
  - יששכרי, Standard Yissaḫari, Tiberian Yiśśâḵārî
- Tribe of Zebulun
  - זבולן, Standard Zəvúlun, Tiberian Zəḇûlun
  - זבולני, Standard Zəvuloni, Tiberian Zəḇûlōnî
- House of Joseph
  - יוסף, Standard Yosef, Tiberian Yôsēp̄
  - יוספי, Standard Yosefi, Tiberian Yôsēp̄î
  - containing the tribes of his sons:
    - Tribe of Manasseh
      - מנשה, Samaritan Manatch, Standard Mənašše, Tiberian Mənaššeh
      - מנשי, Standard Mənašši, Tiberian Mənaššî
    - Tribe of Ephraim
      - אפרים, Samaritan Afrime, Standard Efráyim, Tiberian ʾEp̄ráyim / ʾEp̄rāyim
      - אפרתי, Standard Efrati, Tiberian ʾEp̄rāṯî
- Tribe of Benjamin
  - בנימין, Standard Binyamin, Tiberian Binyāmîn
  - בן־הימיני Standard Ben haYmini, Tiberian Ben-haYmînî In Biblical Israel, the tribes were collectively Hebrews and organized into a northern and a southern kingdom. In 722 BC the Assyrians conquered the northern Kingdom of Israel and sent it into exile. Many Israelites from the northern Kingdom of Israel fled to the southern Kingdom of Judah, and likewise portions of Judah went with Israel. In 586 BC the nation of Judah was conquered by Babylon. About 50 years later, in 539 BC, the Persians (who had recently conquered Babylon) allowed Jews to move back to Jerusalem. By the end of this era, members of the tribes seem to have abandoned their individual identities. Today's Jews are mostly descended from the Hebrews of the Kingdom of Judah. Note that over time people joined the Jews via conversion, and married with the descendants of the Judaic Hebrews. The number of converts is unknown, but not so large as to swamp out the original Jewish people. It is thus fair to say that Jews today are descendants of those Hebrews who lived in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, along with some converts who joined Judaism. One should take note of the historical debate over the accuracy of the Bible's account of the origin of the Hebrews, discussed more fully in the entry on the History of ancient Israel and Judah. Secular Biblical theories are very controversial.

The Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Ten Lost Tribes

The Ten Lost Tribes are those from the northern Kingdom of Israel who were deported by the Assyrians in the 8th century BC to Khorason. In Jewish popular culture, the ten tribes disappeared from history, leaving only the tribes of Benjamin and Judah and the Levi who evolved into the modern day Jews. (See Bnai Israel) According to the Hebrew Bible, after the civil war in the time of Solomon's son Rehoboam, ten tribes split off to create the northern kingdom of Israel. These were the nine landed tribes Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, Dan, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben and Gad, and some of Levi which had no land allocation. The Bible makes no reference at this point to the tribe of Simeon, and we might conjecture the author had in mind that that tribe had already disappeared due to the curse of Jacob. Judah, the southern kingdom, had Jerusalem as its capital and was led by King Rehoboam. It was populated by the tribes of Judah and Benjamin (and also some of Levi). In 722 BC, the Assyrians (under Shalmaneser and then under Sargon II) conquered Israel (the northern kingdom), destroyed its capital Samaria and sent the Israelites into exile and captivity in Khorason, now part of eastern Iran and western Afghanistan.

Jews as Israelites

Whatever the historical origin of the Israelite tribes, each tribe had a distinct identity inherited from one's father as recently as 722 BC, when the Assyrians conquered the northern Kingdom of Israel and sent its populace into exile. Individual tribes intermarried extensively throughout history. Many Israelites from the northern kingdom fled to the Southern Kingdom of Judah. At this point in time the tribes living in the Kingdom of Judah melded into a single people from all the Israelite tribes. In 586 BC the nation of Judah was conquered by Babylon. About 50 years later, in 539 BC the Persians (who conquered Babylon) allowed Jews to move back to Jerusalem. By the end of this era, members of the tribes seem to have abandoned their individual identities. Today's Jews are mostly descended from the Israelites of Judah, and thus are often identified as Israelites. Note that over time many people married with the descendants of the Israelites. The number of converts is not trivial, but not so large as to swamp out the origin. It is thus fair to say that Jews today are descendants of those Israelites who lived in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, along with many converts who joined them. One should take note of the historical debate over the accuracy of the Bible's account of the origin of the Israelites, discussed more fully in the entry on the History of ancient Israel and Judah. Writing of Hungary in the 1920s and 1930s, Stephen Roth writes, "The word 'Israelite' denoted only religious affiliation and was free from the ethnic or national conotation attached to the word 'Jew', which [Jews in Hungary] therefore regarded almost as a derogatory term." [Roth, 1992, 132]

"Israelite" traditions outside mainstream Judaism

Some modern religions maintain that its followers are "Israelites" or "Jews" although the meaning of these claims differs widely. Some outside traditional practice of the Law of Moses and with no proven historical connection to the Israelites believe themselves to be the modern descendants and inheritors of the Israelites. Such groups include the Latter-day Saints, adherents of British Israelism and even some anti-semitic groups.

Samaritans

Samaritans are a very small ethnic group (not more than about 700 persons) and religious sect living in the State of Israel and the West Bank with many beliefs in common with Judaism. They accept the canonization of the five books of the Torah and the Book of Joshua (but no other books), and that the only prophet is Moses. They also preserve their own unique form of Hebrew, and regard themselves as the descendants of Aphrime (Ephraim) and Manatch (Manasseh). Many regard them as a sect of Judaism, but they regard themselves as distinct from Jews, and do not refer to themselves as Jews.

Messianic Judaism

Messianic Judaism is a sect which accepts the core doctrines of Christianity, and stresses adherence to some precepts of the Torah, a feature of Judaism. It is comprised of mostly gentile adherents, although some ethnic Jews have joined the movement. Many of its non-Jewish converts believe they have been "grafted in" to the tribes of Israel, thus, that they are "Jewish".

Karaite Judaism

Karaite Judaism, relies on the Tanakh as the sole scripture and rejects the Oral Law (the Mishnah and the Talmuds). It does not require its adherents to wear Tefillin in any form, wear Tzitzit, etc. There are approximately 50,000 adherents of Karaite Judaism, most of whom reside in Israel. However, exact numbers are not known, as most Karaites have not participated in any religious censuses. Like the Samaritans, the division goes back many hundreds of years.

Latter-day Saints

The Latter Day Saint movement (Mormons) consists of a group of religious denominations derived from that started by Joseph Smith, Jr., of which the largest by far is the LDS Church of nearly 12 million members. Almost half of all Latter-day Saints — those in the LDS Church — live in the United States, and the rest are scattered in countries on every continent all over the world. They believe that through baptism and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, they become "regathered" Israelites, either as recovered from the scattered seed of Israel, or as Gentiles adopted and grafted into Israel, and thus becoming part of the chosen people of God. LDS Israelite belief is not strictly ethnic, and as such, Latter-day Saints do not consider themselves to be Jews, but rather as "Israelites" of many different cultures occasionally including Jews. (For more details, see Latter-day Saint theology and Judaism and this [http://scriptures.lds.org/gsi/israel guide to LDS scriptural references on Israel].) "Gentile" is sometimes used informally by Mormons to refer to non-Mormons. As Isaac Asimov, himself a Jew, wrote in his book Laughing Space: :Janet [Asimov's wife] and I have a special interest in stories about Mormons. In Janet's case there's a loose genealogical connection. In my case, there's an interest in any group that considers me a Gentile.

Rastafarians

Rastafarians believe that the black races are the true Children of Israel, or Israelites, as they like to call themselves. Using the Bible they also conclude that Haile Selassie of Ethiopia is the returned messiah who will lead the world's peoples of African descent into a promised land of full emancipation and divine justice. One Rasta sect, called the Twelve Tribes of Israel, imposes an astrological system whereby Aries is Reuben, Aquarius is Joseph, etc. With his famous early reggae song The Israelites Desmond Dekker immortalised the Rastafarian concept themselves as the Children of Israel.

Anti-Semitic Groups

There are a number of many anti-semitic groups which claim to be the only "true Israelites", a claim that Jews regard as ironic since these groups are openly hostile to Judaism. Such anti-Semitic groups generally do not recognize the validity of Jews or any other group that claims Israelite descent. See British-Israel-World Federation. See also: History of ancient Israel and Judah, Bible and The Bible and history.

See also


- Shavei Israel
- Kingdom of Israel
- Kingdom of Judah
- History of ancient Israel and Judah
- Gentile

External links


- The Israelite census, of the book of numbers, in isolation, at wikisource
- [http://www.orange-street-church.org/text/british-israel%20fact%20or%20fiction.htm Alan Campbell promotes British Israelism]
- [http://www.hebroots.org/hebrootsarchive/0208/0208h.html The Return of the Lost Tribes: What Does the Bible Say? By Nachmanides (Moshe ben Nachman. 1194-1270)]
- [http://www.wzo.org.il/en/resources/view.asp?id=174 The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel: Looking for The Remnants]
- [http://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/329/Q1/ Afghanistan: Home to Lost Tribes of Israel?]
- [http://www.aish.com/literacy/jewishhistory/Video_The_10_Lost_Tribes.asp What happened to the 10 lost tribes? Find out in this video feature direct from Jerusalem]
- [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/israel/losttribes.html Covering Several Claims of Lost Tribes of Israel]
- [http://www.preparing.org/resources/doctrine/legacy/overview.htm The Hidden Legacy: The True Identity and Destiny of Messianic Hebrew Israelites]. An article claiming that the African Americans are the true Israelites.

References


- Roth, Stephen, "Memories of Hungary", in Riff, Michael, The Face of Survival: Jewish Life in Eastern Europe Past and Present. Valentine Mithcell, London, 1992, 125-141, ISBN 0853032203.
- Category:Ancient peoples Category:Jewish history ja:イスラエルの失われた10部族

The Twelve Tribes

:The Twelve Tribes redirects here. For the biblical Twelve Tribes of Israel, see Israelite The Twelve Tribes is the name of a federation of self-governing religious communities founded by Elbert Eugene Spriggs (now known as Yoneq) that sprung out of the Jesus Movement in the early 1970s in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The group has also gone by the names The Church in Island Pond and The Commonwealth of Israel.

Origins

The origins of the Twelve Tribes movement can be traced to small meetings held in the home of Elbert Eugene Spriggs and his wife Marsha in the early in the early 1970s in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 1972, the Spriggs began a ministry for teenagers called the "Light Brigade." Around this time, members of the "Light Brigade" began to live communally and supported their lifestyle by operating a coffeeshop. Until this time, Spriggs' group had not been a separate denomination, instead affiliating itself with several different local churches and denominations. However, this changed after Spriggs allegedly went to church one Sunday only to find the service delayed due to the Super Bowl. Spriggs then formed his own church, called the "Vine Community Church", and started a chain of restaurant around the Southern United States called "Yellow Deli," designed to create revenue for the group and for evangelist purposes. During this period, the church came under attack by mainstream Christian groups and anti-cult groups. Around the time the climate turned negative in the South, Spriggs was invited to be pastor to a group of disaffected Christians in Vermont.[http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/tribes.html#11] Spriggs and his followers therefore moved their base of operations to Island Pond, Vermont in 1977, where they continued to be criticized for some of their beliefs and practices. However, the group continued to grow during the 1980s and 1990s, opening branches in several different countries, including France, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentina, and the United Kingdom. (See [http://www.twelvetribes.com/whereweare/globallist.html] for an address list of Twelve Tribes' communities.)

Beliefs and practices

According to a statement from their website, the group seeks to live according to the primitive pattern of the early church described in Acts 2:38-42 and Acts 4:32-37. Claiming to follow the teachings of Jesus (whom they call by his Hebrew name Yahshua), they believe that all disciples must renounce all possessions and independent lives in order to truly call him their Master and Lord. They aspire, "to live moral lives in the midst of a very immoral society." According to a 1998 article by the religious scholar Dr. Susan J. Palmer, who stayed in the community, members give themselves Hebrew names and their beliefs are closely related to christian fundamentalism. Group members live communally, sharing all assets and income in common. The group believes that humans are living in the end times, and that a faithful and pure church must restored before Christ returns. They claim their main tenets to be forgiveness, love, purity, and obedience to the Christ's teachings. Members have run a variety of restaurants and restaurant-related businesses. The group estimates its current membership to be around 2500.

Controversies

The group garnered controversies in the 1980s. The anti-cult movement and ex-Twelves Tribes members are some of the most vocal critics of the group's practices. Bob Pardon, a anti-cult advisor, warns that the "Messianic Communities, under the leadership of Spriggs, has tended towards an extreme authoritarianism." The group responds that they are a "simple people who live on Main Street USA" and that "all members can leave at any time, but choose to remain daily." The group first aroused controversy because of their alleged child abuse (including corporal punishment, and the use of child labor in their cottage industries). The most notable event was the 1984 Island Pond Raid. In 1984, Vermont State authorities executed a full-scale pre-dawn raid of the 13 Twelve Tribes houses in Island Pond, Vermont for alleged child abuse. The case was eventually dismissed. Frank Mahady, the presiding Judge, declared the State of Vermont's "authorization to seize 'any and all children under the age of 18 years old' was broader in scope (though admittedly less Draconian in purpose) than that of Herod the Great.". The Twelves Tribes and others believe the allegations against the group in 1984 to be exaggerated. At a 2001 press conference in response to charges of child labor, they claimed that the charges of child labor are "false, unfounded, and slanderous." However, the group does admit that it uses corporal punishment, spanking children with a "small reed-like rod" and that the "children help their parents" in their cottage industries. On October 18, 2004, seven fathers from the community in Klosterzimmern, in the municipality Deiningen, Bavaria were arrested because they homeschooled their children, instead of sending them to regular school. A report from the Guardian, reprinted at Rick Ross's [http://www.rickross.com/reference/tribes/tribes14.html] site accuses the Twelve Tribes of being racist and anti-semitic. Specifically, the article states that the group believes that "murder is the very crime which the Jews are still cursed for" and that "multiculturalism increases murder, crime and prejudice". The Twelve Tribes deny charges of racism or Anti-Semitism, stating that they "look back to the Semitic roots of our faith with gratitude". They have members of many races in cultures in their community. Similar, if less noteworthy, controversies have continued around this group.

Sources

# # # Palmer, Susan J. Apostates and Their Role in the Construction of Grievance Claims Against the Northeast Kingdom/Messianic Communities article in the book The Politics of Religious Apostasy: The Role of Apostates in the Transformation of Religious Movements edited by David G. Bromley Westport, CT, Praeger Publishers, (1998). ISBN 0-275-95508-7 [http://www.twelvetribes.com/controversies/apostatesandtheirrole.html also available online] # # # # # # #

External links

Twelve Tribes Sites
- [http://www.twelvetribes.com/ Twelve Tribes official website]
- [http://www.islandpondraid.org/ Twelve Tribes site about the Island Pond Raid] Non-Twelve Tribes Sites
- [http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/tribes.html Religious movements Profile]
- [http://directory.ic.org/records/?action=view&page=view&record_id=5932 Intentional Communities Directory] Anti-Cult Sites
- [http://www.rickross.com/groups/tribes.html Twelve Tribes info on Rick Ross' website]
- [http://www.factnet.org/discus/messages/3/781.html The Twelve Tribes forum] on Factnet.org
- [http://http://www.neirr.org/mcconclu.html Bob Pardon's New England Institute of Religious Research website]
- [http://www.goodmanson.com/2005-11/02/is-the-twelve-tribes-a-cult/ Is the Twelve Tribes a Cult? - A Reporter's Response to a Visit] Articles about Twelve Tribes' business practices
- [http://mediastudy.com/articles/av10-20-05.html The Food Co-op and the Hate Group] by Michael I. Niman, ArtVoice 10/20/05
  - [http://www.livejournal.com/users/teratologist/82794.html Mirror of Niman's article] Category: New religious movements

Jacob

:This is an article about the bibilical patriarch Jacob. For other uses of the name, see Jacob (disambiguation). Jacob (disambiguation), 1855]] Jacob or Ya'akov, (יַעֲקֹב "Holder of the heel", Standard Hebrew Yaʿaqov, Tiberian Hebrew Yaʿăqōḇ; Arabic يعقوب Yaʿqūb), later known as Israel (יִשְׂרָאֵל "Prince of God", Standard Hebrew Yisraʾel, Tiberian Hebrew Yiśrāʾēl; Arabic اسرائيل Isrāʾīl) is the third Biblical patriarch. His father was Isaac and his grandfather was Abraham. His story is told in the Book of Genesis. According to the classic Jewish texts, Jacob, as the third and last patriarch, lived a life that paralleled the descent of his offspring, the Jewish people, into the darkness of exile. In contrast to Abraham—who illuminated the world with knowledge of God and earned the respect of the inhabitants of the land of Canaan—and Isaac—who continued his father's teachings and also lived in relative harmony with his neighbors—Jacob experienced many personal struggles both in the land and out of it (including the hatred of his brother Esau, the death of his favorite wife Rachel, the sale of his son Joseph, the rape of his daughter Dinah, and the deception of his father-in-law Laban). For this reason, the Jewish commentators interpret many elements of his story as being symbolic of the future difficulties and struggles the Jewish people would undergo during their long exile, which continues to the present day. The following discussion points out a few of these symbolic undertones in the biblical story.

Biography

Jacob was born 20 years after Isaac and Rebekah were married, at which time his father was 60 (Gen. 25:26), and Abraham, 160 years old. He and his twin brother, Esau, were markedly different in appearance and behavior. Esau was a ruddy hunter, while Jacob was a gentle man who "dwelled in tents," interpreted by most biblical scholars as a mark of his studiousness in the "tents" of Torah. During Rebekah's pregnancy, "the children struggled together within her" (Genesis 25:22). According to Rashi, whenever Rebekah passed a house of learning, Jacob would struggle to get out; whenever she passed a house of idolatry, Esau would struggle to get out. Fearing that she was carrying one rather schizophrenic child, Rebekah questioned God about the tumult and learned that two children were in her womb, who would become two very different nations. They would always be in competition, and eventually, the elder would serve the younger. She did not tell her husband Isaac about this prophecy, but remembered it later when she told Jacob to go to his father in place of Esau to receive the paternal blessing. Esau was born first. Right behind was his brother Jacob, who was grasping onto Esau's heel. Thus he was named Yaakov - יעקב, from the Hebrew root עקב, "heel." The commentators explain that Jacob was trying to hold Esau back from being the firstborn and claiming the Abrahamic legacy for himself. According to the text, Jacob was favored by his mother, while Esau was favored by his father.

Buying the birthright

Until the age of 15, the twins were raised in the same environment and exposed to the same teachings of their father Isaac and grandfather Abraham. On the day Abraham died, however, Esau went out to the field (according to Rashi, he abandoned the Torah path that day and committed the three cardinal sins—murder, idol worship, and adultery), and returned famished. He saw Jacob preparing a pot of lentils (the traditional dish prepared for a mourner—in this case, Isaac, who was mourning the death of his father) and asked Jacob for some of that "red, red stuff." For this reason, Esau was also called Edom - אדום - "red." Jacob demanded that Esau sell him his birthright in exchange. Noting that the birthright was useless to him if he died, Esau agreed, and the exchange was made. In the words of the Bible, Esau "despised" his birthright. This birthright included not only the traditional Biblical birthright, which granted superior rank in the family (Gen. 49:3), a double portion of the paternal inheritance (Deut. 21:17), and the priestly office in the family (Num. 8:17–19), but the Abrahamic blessing as well, which promised the seed in which all the nations of the earth were to be blessed. However, Esau well knew the prophecy which Abraham had received from God (Genesis 15:13-14) that his seed would first be enslaved for 400 years before returning to their own land. This prophecy referred to the enslavement of the Jewish people in Egypt. Esau wanted none of that, so he agreed to forfeit the right to be God's chosen people.

The paternal blessing

When Isaac grew old and was blind, he decided to bless his eldest son before he died. He sent Esau out in the fields to hunt down some meat and prepare him a meal, after which he would receive his blessing. (According to the Jewish commentators, since the blessing would be prophetic, and prophecy only rests on one who is in a joyful state of mind, Isaac desired to first eat meat and drink wine to arouse himself to happiness.) Rebekah overheard this exchange. As Esau went out to the hunt, she instructed Jacob to fetch her two goats so that she could prepare a tasty meal for his father, and commanded him to bring the meal to Isaac to receive the blessing in his brother's stead. Jacob protested that his father might notice the substitution through touch, since Esau was hairy and he was smooth. Rebekah told him not to worry, and placed hairy goatskins over his neck and arms. Thus disguised, Jacob went into his father's tent. Isaac was surprised that he had returned so soon from the "hunt." "Who are you, my son?" Isaac asked suspiciously. "I am Esau your firstborn," Jacob replied (the Hebrew words, however, can be divided into two statements: "I" and "Esau is your firstborn"). Isaac was still suspicious and asked to feel him, since Esau was hairy. The goatskins seemed to fool him, though he maintained, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau." Nevertheless, Isaac blessed him. As soon as Jacob left the tent, Esau arrived and exposed the deception. Isaac was shaken, but affirmed that Jacob would indeed be blessed. To Esau's pathetic entreaties, he agreed to give Esau a lesser blessing. Esau exclaimed, "Is that why he is called Jacob (יעקב), because he has deceived me (ויעקבני) these two times?" (Genesis 27:35), another play on Jacob's name. Then Esau swore to himself that he would kill Jacob in revenge as soon as his father was dead.

In the house of Laban

Rebekah prophetically intuited Esau's murderous intentions, and commanded Jacob to flee to the house of her brother, Laban, until Esau's rage subsided. His trip would serve the double purpose of finding a wife, as Laban had two daughters, Leah and Rachel. En route to Haran, Jacob experienced a vision in which he beheld a ladder reaching into heaven with angels going up and down it, a vision that is commonly referred to as Jacob's Ladder. From the top of the ladder he heard the voice of God, who repeated many of the blessings upon him. According to Rashi, this ladder signified the exiles which the Jewish people would suffer before the coming of the Messiah. The angels that represented the exiles of Babylonia, Persia, and Greece climbed "up" very high before falling "down," but the last exile, that of Rome/Edom (whose guardian angel was Esau himself) kept climbing higher and higher into the clouds. Jacob feared that his children would never be free of Esau's domination, but God assured him that at the End of Days, Edom too would come falling down. Jacob awoke in the morning and continued on his way to Haran. He stopped by the well where the shepherds were gathering their flocks to water them and met Laban's younger daughter, his cousin Rachel. He loved her immediately, and after spending a month with his relatives, asked for her hand in marriage in return for working seven years for Laban. These seven years seemed to Jacob "but a few days, for the love he had for her," but when they were complete, Laban deceived Jacob by switching his older daughter, Leah, as the veiled bride. Both Jacob and Rachel suspected that Laban would pull such a trick, for he was known as the "Aramean" (deceiver), and changed Jacob's wages hundreds of times during his employ. The couple devised a series of signs by which Jacob could identify the veiled bride, but when Rachel saw her sister being taken out to the wedding canopy, her heart went out to her and the public shame she would suffer if she was exposed. Therefore she gave Leah the signs so that Jacob would not realize the switch. In the morning, when the truth became known, Laban justified himself, saying that in their country it was unheard of to give the younger daughter before the older. However, he agreed to give Rachel in marriage as well if Jacob worked another seven years for him. After the week of wedding celebrations with Leah, Jacob married Rachel, and continued to work for Laban another seven years. The Bible states that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, and Leah felt hated. God opened Leah's womb and she gave birth to four sons in succession: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. Rachel, however, was barren, and gave Jacob her handmaid Bilhah in marriage so she could raise children through her. Bilhah gave birth to Dan and Naphtali. Seeing that she had left off childbearing temporarily, Leah then gave her handmaid Zilpah to Jacob in marriage so she could raise more children through her. Zilpah gave birth to Gad and Asher. (According to some opinions, Bilhah and Zilpah were younger daughters of Laban). Afterwards, Leah became fertile again and gave birth to Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah. At this point, God remembered Rachel, who gave birth to Joseph. Around the time that Joseph was born, Jacob desired to return home to his parents, but Laban was reluctant to release him. God had blessed his flock on account of Jacob. Now Laban offered to pay Jacob, and Jacob proposed an unusual deal. He suggested that Laban remove all the spotted, speckled and brown goats and sheep from the flock; whichever ones would be born after that would be Jacob's wages. Left alone, Jacob planted rods of poplar, hazel, and chestnut in front of the flocks' watering holes, and when the animals saw them, they gave birth to spotted, speckled and brown foals. Thus Jacob became quite wealthy. As time passed, Laban's sons noticed that Jacob was taking the better part of their flocks, and Laban's friendly attitude towards Jacob began to change. God told Jacob he should now leave, and he and his wives and children did so without informing Laban. Before they left, Rachel stole all the religious icons from Laban's house. Laban, in a rage, pursued Jacob for seven days. The night before he caught up to him, God spoke to him in a dream and warned him not to say anything good or bad to Jacob. When the two met, Labad played the part of the injured father-in-law and also demanded his religious icons back. Knowing nothing about Rachel's theft of the icons, Jacob told Laban that whoever stole them should die, and offered to let him search. When Laban reached Rachel's tent, she hid the icons by sitting on them. Jacob and Laban parted from each other in peace, Laban returning home and Jacob continuing on his way.

Return to Canaan

As Jacob neared the land of Canaan, he sent messengers ahead to his brother Esau. They returned with the news that Esau was coming to meet Jacob with an army of 400 men. In great apprehension, Jacob prepared for the worst. He felt that he must now depend only on God, and he betook himself to Him in earnest prayer, then sent on before him a munificent present to Esau, "a present to my lord Esau from thy servant Jacob." Jacob then transported his family and flocks back across the ford Jabbok, then crossed over towards the direction from which Esau would come, spending the night alone, in communion with God. There, a mysterious being ("a man", according to Genesis 32:24, or "the angel", according to Hosea 12:4) appeared and wrestled with Jacob until daybreak. When he saw he could not defeat Jacob, he touched him on the sinew of his thigh (the gid haneshe - גיד הנשה), after which God prohibits the consumption of that part of an animal's thigh in the laws of kashruth which devolved on Jacob's offspring (Genesis 32:33). Then Jacob demanded a blessing, and the mysterious being said that from now on, Jacob would be called Israel (Hebrew ישׂראל Yisra'el or Yiśrā’ēl, meaning "one who has struggled with God"). Jacob then asked the being's name, but the being refused to answer. Afterwords Jacob named the place Pnei-el (Penuel, meaning "face of God"), saying "I have seen [either 'a god' or 'God'] face to face and lived." Because of the ambiguous and varying terminology, and because the being refused to reveal its name, there are varying views as to whether this mysterious being was a man or an angel. According to Rashi, he was the guardian angel of Esau himself, sent to destroy Jacob before he could return to the land of Canaan. Trachtenberg theorizes that the being refused to identify itself for fear that if its secret name was known, it would have been conjurable by incantations (Trachtenberg 1939, p. 80). In the morning Jacob assembled his wives and 11 sons and greeted Esau, whose spirit of revenge had been appeased by Jacob's bounteous gift of camels, goats and flocks. Their reunion was an emotional one, and Esau offered to accompany them on their way back to Israel. But Jacob protested that his children were still young and tender; they would eventually catch up with Esau at Mount Seir. According to the Sages, this was a prophetic reference to the End of Days, when Jacob's descendants would come to Mount Seir, the home of Edom, to deliver judgment against Esau's descendants for persecuting them throughout the millenia (Obadiah 1:21). Jacob arrived in Shechem, where he bought a parcel of land that would eventually house Joseph's Tomb. In Shechem his daughter, Dinah, was raped by the prince's son, who desired to marry the girl. Dinah's brothers, Simeon and Levi, offered to go ahead with the match as long as all the men of Shechem first performed the mitzvah of circumcision upon themselves, ostensibly to unite the children of Jacob in familial harmony. On the third day after the circumcision, when all the men of Shechem were most weak, Simeon and Levi put all the residents to death by the sword and escaped with their sister, Dinah. Jacob remained silent about the episode, but later rebuked his two sons for their anger in his deathbed blessing (Genesis 49:5-7). As Jacob and his entourage neared the border of Canaan, Rachel went into labor and died as she gave birth to her second—and Jacob's twelfth—son, Benjamin. Jacob buried her and erected a monument over her grave, which is located just outside Bethlehem. Rachel's Tomb remains a popular site for pilgrimages and prayers to this day. Jacob was finally reunited with his father Isaac in Mamre (outside Hebron). When Isaac passed away at the age of 180, Jacob and Esau buried him together in the Cave of Machpelah which Abraham had purchased as a family burial plot.

Jacob and Joseph

The Bible next relates the story of Joseph, who was separated from his father Jacob at the age of 17 and sent down to Egypt as a slave by his brothers, who were jealous of his dreams of kingship over them. Jacob was deeply grieved by the loss of his favorite son, and refused to be comforted. Thirteen years after the sale of Joseph, Pharoah had two troubling dreams which could not be interpreted to his satisfaction. Joseph, who was in the king's prison, was recommended to Pharoah as an interpreter of dreams, and he explained the dreams as relating to seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Pharoah was so impressed that he made Joseph viceroy over Egypt and the manager of Egypt's grain stores. Joseph artfully managed first the storage and then the distribution of Egypt's grain, making Pharoah quite wealthy. When the famine struck, the sons of Jacob went down to Egypt to procure grain for their starving families in Canaan. Joseph recognized them, and demanded to see the twelfth brother of whom they spoke, his own full-brother, Benjamin. He took Simeon as a hostage until they returned with Benjamin. Jacob was distraught when he heard this news, for Benjamin was all that was left to him of his beloved wife Rachel's children, and he refused to release him lest something happen to Benjamin, too. But when their food stores ran out and the famine worsened, Jacob agreed to Judah's promise to protect Benjamin from harm. The brothers returned to Joseph, and when Joseph saw Benjamin he was overcome with emotion, and revealed himself to his brothers. He invited them to bring their families and their father, Jacob, down to Egypt to live near him, and gave them a place to live in the Egyptian province of Goshen. Jacob's last seventeen years were spent in tranquility in Egypt, knowing that all his 12 sons were righteous people, and he passed away at the age of 147. Before he died, he made Joseph promise that Joseph would bury him in the Cave of Machpelah, even though Jacob had buried Joseph's mother, Rachel, by the side of the road and not in the Cave (Leah was buried there, instead). With Pharoah's permission, Joseph led a huge state funeral back to the land of Canaan, with the 12 sons carrying their father's coffin and many Egyptian officials accompanying them. Before he died, Jacob also elevated Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, to the status of full tribes. He also blessed each of his sons. According to the Midrash, he desired to tell them the exact date when the Messiah would arrive, but the prophecy failed him. He feared lest one of his sons was not righteous, but they responded, "Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad" - "Hear O Israel [Israel being another name of Jacob], the Lord Our God, the Lord is One!" Satisfied that his sons were united in the service of God, Jacob proclaimed, "Baruch Shem Kavod Malchuso Le'Olam Va'Ed" - "Blessed is the Name of His glorious Kingdom for ever and ever". Today these two verses are said together, the first one aloud and the second one quietly, in the morning and evening Jewish prayer services.

Other references to Jacob

Jacob is the only person in Scripture whom God said He "loved". (Malachi 1:2–3, "...I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau...").

Jacob's sons

Jacob had twelve sons by his four wives, as follows:
- By Leah: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun.
- By Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali.
- By Zilpah: Gad and Asher.
- By Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. These 12 sons comprise the twelve Tribes of Israel. These tribes were recorded on the vestments of the Kohen Gadol (high priest). However, when the land of Israel was apportioned among the tribes in the days of Joshua, the Tribe of Levi, being priests, did not receive land. Therefore, when the tribes are listed in reference to their receipt of land, as well as to their encampments during the 40 years of wandering in the desert, the Tribe of Joseph is replaced by the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (the two sons of Joseph by his Egyptian wife Asenath, whom Jacob elevated to the status of full tribes). Thus, the two divisions of the tribes are: Traditional division: #Reuben #Simeon #Levi #Judah #Issachar #Zebulun #Dan #Naphtali #Gad #Asher #Joseph #Benjamin Division according to apportionment of land in Israel: #Reuben #Simeon #Judah #Issachar #Zebulun #Dan #Naphtali #Gad #Asher #Benjamin #Ephraim #Manasseh

Jacob in Islam

In Arabic Jacob is known as Yaqub. He is regarded as a prophet in Islam, but as a villain by the Nation of Islam. See also: History of ancient Israel and Judah

Reference


- Category:Torah people Category:Fraternal twins ja:ヤコブ (イスラエル)

Israel

The State of Israel (Hebrew: , transliteration: Medinat Yisra'el; Arabic: دَوْلَةْ إِسْرَائِيل, transliteration: Dawlat Isrā'īl) is a country in the Middle East on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a parliamentary democracy and the world's only Jewish state. The name "Israel" means "One Who Struggles with God," and is rooted in the Biblical passage Genesis 32:28 wherein Jacob is renamed Israel after struggling with an unnamed assailant. Israel is bordered by Lebanon and Syria in the north, Jordan and the West Bank in the east, and Egypt and the Gaza Strip in the south-west, and has coastlines on the Mediterranean in the west and the Gulf of Eilat (also known as the Gulf of Aqaba) in the south. Israel captured the West Bank and the Golan Heights during the Six-Day War of 1967. It withdrew all troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip on September 12 2005. The future status of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights remains to be determined.

History

Historical roots

Most believe that the land on which the State of Israel now exists was the birthplace of Judaism in the 10th century BCE or earlier, although some scholars dispute this. The earliest mention of the name 'Israel' is in Ancient Egyptian accounts of conquered lands in Asia minor, dating back to about 1500 BCE. For over 3,000 years, Jews have held the Land of Israel to be their homeland, both as a Holy Land and as a Promised Land, while non-Jews have also later maintained similar claims. The Land of Israel holds a special place in Jewish religious obligations, encompassing Judaism's most important sites including the remains of the First and Second Temple. Starting around 1200 BCE, a series of Jewish kingdoms and states existed intermittently in the region for over a millennium until the failure of the Great Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire resulted in widescale expulsion of Jews (see Destruction of Jerusalem). Under Roman, Byzantine, and (briefly) Persian rule, Jewish presence in the province dwindled, but the Mishnah and Jerusalem Talmud, two of Judaism's most important religious texts, were composed in Palestine during this period. The Arabs conquered the land from the Eastern Roman Empire in 638 CE and the area was ruled by various Arab states before becoming part of the Ottoman Empire in 1517. Throughout the centuries, the size of the Jewish population in the land fluctuated widely, with the population in the region of present day Israel numbering approximately 20-25,000 in 1881 of a total population of 470,000.

Zionism and Aliyah

Ottoman Empire on May 14 1948 in Tel Aviv.]] The first wave of Jewish emigration to Israel, or Aliyah (עלייה) started in the late 1800s as Jews fled persecution. The end of the 19th century saw the founding of Zionism, the national movement to create a Jewish political entity in Palestine, leading to the Second Aliyah during the first two decades of the 20th century with the influx of around 40,000 Jews. In 1917 the British Foreign Secretary Arthur J. Balfour issued the historic Balfour Declaration that "view[ed] with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people". In 1920 Palestine became a League of Nations mandate administered by Britain (see British Mandate of Palestine). Jewish immigration resumed in third and fourth waves after World War I. Later, the rise of Nazism in 1933 led to a fifth wave of Aliyah, and the Jews in the region increased from 11% of the population in 1922 to 30% by 1940. The subsequent Holocaust in Europe led to additional immigration from other parts of Europe. By the end of World War II, the number of Jews in Palestine was approximately 600,000. In 1939 the British abandoned the idea of a Jewish national home, and abandoned partition and negotiations in favour of the unilaterally-imposed White Paper of 1939, which capped Jewish immigration. Its other stated policy was to establish a system under which both Jews and Arabs were to share one government. As a result of impending world war, the plan was never fully implemented, but the White Paper policy was implemented well into the end of WWII, and enforced even when refugees who survived the Holocaust were fleeing from Nazi persecution. (See Struma article.)

Establishment of the State and the War of Independence

In 1947, following increasing levels of violence by militant groups, alongside unsuccessful efforts to reconcile the Jewish and Arab populations, the British government decided to withdraw from the Palestine Mandate. Fulfillment of the 1947 UN Partition Plan would have divided the mandated territory into two states, Jewish and Arab, giving about half the land area to each state. Under this plan, Jerusalem was intended to be an international region under UN administration to avoid conflict over its status. Immediately following the adoption of the Partition Plan by the United Nations General Assembly, the Palestinian Arab leadership rejected the plan to create the as-yet-unnamed Jewish state and launched a guerilla war. On May 14 1948, before the expiring of the British Mandate of Palestine on midnight of the May 15 1948, the State of Israel was proclaimed. The surrounding Arab states supported the Palestinian Arabs in rejecting both the Partition Plan and the establishment of Israel, and the armies of six Arab nations attacked the State of Israel. Over the next 15 months Israel captured an additional 26% of the Mandate territory west of the Jordan river and annexed it to the new state. Most of the Arab population fled or were expelled during the war. The continuing conflict between Israel and the Arab world resulted in a lasting displacement that persists to this day. 1948 edition of Yishuv newspaper The Palestine Post, soon renamed into The Jerusalem Post. In the news: Egyptian Air Force bombs Tel-Aviv, Transjordan shells Jerusalem. 15 May was Shabbat.]] Immigration of Holocaust survivors and Jews from Arab lands doubled Israel's population within a year of independence. Over the following decade approximately 600,000 Mizrahi Jews, who fled or were expelled from surrounding Arab countries, migrated to Israel (with another 300,000 or so settling in France and North America, leaving only a tiny remnant, mostly in Morocco and Tunisia). Israel's Jewish population continued to grow at a very high rate for some years, and was fed by further waves of Jewish immigration following the collapse of the USSR.

Wars

The refusal of Arab countries to recognize the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 has been a source of repeated wars and other conflicts with Arab nations such as Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The state of war between Egypt and Israel ended with the signing of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty on March 26, 1979. The state of war with Jordan officially ended with the signing of the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace on October 26 1994. Sporadic negotiations with Lebanon and Syria have not as yet resulted in peace treaties. Israel is currently also embroiled in an ongoing conflict with Palestinians in the territories controlled since the Six Day War in 1967, despite the signing of the Oslo Accords on September 13 1993, and the ongoing efforts of Israeli, Palestinian and global peacemakers. Palestinians want Gaza and the West Bank to become part of a (preferably contiguous) future state. Israel currently plans on expanding existing large West Bank settlement blocs, and maintains the current impasse in the peace process —negotiations toward a permanent peace treaty featuring a two-state solution— cannot be restarted until the Palestinian government dismantles terrorist groups.

Articles related to the wars


- 1948 Arab-Israeli War "The Independence War" (see also: 1949 Armistice Agreements). Also called "War of Liberation" מלחמת העצמאות או מלחמת השחרור
- 1956 Suez War "Operation Kadesh" מבצע קדש או מלחמת סיני
- 1967 Six Day War מלחמת ששת הימים
- 1970 War of Attrition מלחמת ההתשה
- 1973 Yom Kippur War מלחמת יום כיפור
- 1982 Lebanon War "Operation Peace For Galilee" מבצע שלום הגליל
- First Intifada אינתיפדה
- 1990/1 Gulf War מלחמת המפרץ
- al-Aqsa Intifada אינתיפדת אל-אקצא The Israeli Defense Forces codenamed it "אירועי גיאות ושפל" ("Ebb and Tide events") but it is unofficially referred to as the Oslo War in some Israeli circles.

Politics and law

Israel is a parliamentary democracy based on universal suffrage and proportional representation. Israel's legislative branch is a 120-member parliament known as the Knesset. Membership in the Knesset is allocated to parties based on their proportion of the vote. Elections to the Knesset are normally held every four years, but the Knesset can decide to dissolve itself ahead of time by a simple majority, known as a vote of no-confidence. The President of Israel is head of state, serving as a largely ceremonial figurehead. The President selects the leader of the majority party or ruling coalition in the Knesset as the Prime Minister, who serves as head of government.2

Constitution

Israel has not completed a written constitution. Its government is based on the laws of the Knesset, especially by "Basic Laws of Israel", which are special laws (currently there are 15 of them), by the Knesset legislature which will become the future official constitution. In mid-2003, the Knesset's Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee began [http://www.cfisrael.org drafting a full written Constitution to be proposed to the Knesset floor.] This effort is still underway as of late 2005. The declaration of the State of Israel has a significance in this matter as well. Israel's legal system is a western legal system best classified as "mixed": it has a strong Anglo-American influence, but in some parts has borrowed heavily from civil law tradition. Despite the Anglo-American influence, the jury system was not adopted in Israel, and court cases are decided by professional judges.

Judiciary and Legal System

The Judiciary branch of Israel is made of a three-tier system of courts: at the lowest level are the Magistrate Courts, situated in most cities. Above them, serving both as an appellate court and as a court of first instance are the District Courts (six of them, situated in the six judicial districts of Jerusalem, South, Tel Aviv, Centre, Haifa and Nazareth). At the top of the judicial pyramid is the Supreme Court seated in Jerusalem. The current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is Aharon Barak. Religious tribunals (Jewish, Sharia'a, Druze and Christian) have exclusive jurisdiction on annulment of marriages. The Israeli Supreme Court serves a dual role as the highest court of appeals and as the body for a separate institution known as the High Court of Justice. The HCOJ has the unique responsibility of addressing petitions presented to the Court by individual citizens. The respondents to these petitions are usually Governmental agencies (including the Israel Defense Forces). The result of such petitions, which are decided by the HCOJ, may be an instruction by the HCOJ to the relevant Governmental agency to act in a manner prescribed by the HCOJ. Judges are elected by a committee made of Members of the Knesset (Parliament), Supreme Courts Judges and Members of the Israeli Bar. According to the Courts Law, judges retire at the age of 70. Registrars to all courts are appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, with the approval of the Minister of Justice. Israel's legal system is part of the Western legal systems. It is a mixed system, influenced by Anglo-American, Continental and Jewish law principles. As for the Anglo-American influence, the Israeli legal system is based on the principle of stare-decisis (precedent). It is an adversarial system, not an inquisitorial one, in the sense that the parties (e.g. plaintiff and defendant) are the ones that bring the evidence before the court. The court does not conduct any independent investigation on the case. There is no jury in Israeli courts, and cases are decided upon by professional judges. As for Civil Law influences, several major Israeli statutes (such as the Contract Law) are based on Civil Law principles. Israeli statute body is not comprised of Codes, but rather of individual statutes. However, a Civil Code draft has been completed recently, and is planned to become a bill.

Military

Israel's military consists of a unified Israel Defense Forces (IDF), known in Hebrew by the acronym Tzahal (צה"ל). Historically, there have been no separate Israeli military services. The Navy and Air Force are subordinate to the Army. There are other paramilitary government agencies which deal with different aspects of Israel's security (such as MAGAV and the Shin Bet). See further discussion: Israel Security Forces. The IDF is considered one of the strongest military forces in the Middle East and ranks among the most battle-trained armed forces in the world, having had to defend the country in five major wars. The IDF's main resource is the training quality of its soldiers, but it also relies heavily on high-tech weapons systems (both developed and manufactured in Israel for its specific needs, and also largely imported from the United States), and expert manpower, rather than possession of overwhelming manpower. Most Israelis, males and females, are drafted into the military at the age of 18. Exceptions are Israeli Arabs, confirmed pacifists, those who cannot serve due to injury or disability, and women who declare themselves religiously observant. Compulsory service is three years for men, and 20 months for women. Circassians and Bedouin actively enlist in the IDF. Since 1956, Druze men have been conscripted in the same way as Jewish men, at the request of the Druze community. Men studying full-time in religious institutions can get a deferment from conscription; most Haredi Jews extend these deferments until they are too old to be conscripted, a practice that has fueled much controversy in Israel. Following compulsory service, Israeli men become part of the IDF reserve forces, and are usually required to serve several weeks every year as reservists, until their 40's.

Geography

Haredi Jews The total area of the sovereign territory of Israel —excluding all territories captured by Israel in 1967 — is 20,770 (20,330 land) square km; the total area under Israeli law —including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights — is 22,145 (21,671 land) square km; the total area under Israeli control — including the military-controlled and Palestinian-governed territory of the West Bank — is 28,023 (27,549 land) square km.

Metropolitan areas

As of 2004, The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics defines three metropolitan areas: Tel Aviv (population 2,933,300), Haifa (population 980,600) and Be'er Sheva (population 511,700) [http://www1.cbs.gov.il/shnaton55/st02_15.pdf]. Jerusalem may also be considered a metropolitan area, though its limits are hard to define since it spans communities in Israel proper and the West Bank, both Israeli and Palestinian, and even the boundaries of Jerusalem city itself are disputed. As of 2005, the official population of Jerusalem city is 706,368.

Economy

Israel has a technologically advanced market economy with substantial government participation. It depends on imports of fossil fuels (crude oil, natural gas, and coal), grains, beef, raw materials, and military equipment. Despite limited natural resources, Israel has intensively developed its agricultural and industrial sectors over the past 20 years. Israel is largely self-sufficient in food production except for grains and beef. Diamonds, high-technology, military equipment, software, pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, and agricultural products (fruits, vegetables, and flowers) are leading exports. Israel usually posts sizable current account deficits, which are covered by large transfer payments from abroad and by foreign loans. Israel possesses extensive facilities for oil refining, diamond polishing, and semiconductor fabrication. Roughly half of the government's external debt is owed to the U.S., which is its major source of economic and military aid. A relatively large fraction of Israel's external debt is held by individual investors, via the Israel Bonds program. The combination of American loan guarantees and direct sales to individual investors, allow the state to borrow at competitive and sometimes below-market rates. The influx of Jewish immigrants from the former USSR topped 750,000 during the period 1989-1999, bringing the population of Israel from the former Soviet Union to 1 million, one-sixth of the total population, and adding scientific and professional expertise of substantial value for the economy's future. The influx, coupled with the opening of new markets at the end of the Cold War, energized Israel's economy, which grew rapidly in the early 1990s. But growth began slowing in 1996 when the government imposed tighter fiscal and monetary policies and the immigration bonus petered out. Those policies brought inflation down to record low levels in 1999.

Demographics

1999 According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2004, of Israel's 6.9 million people, 76.2% were Jews, 19.5% Arabs, and 4.3% "others".[http://www1.cbs.gov.il/shnaton56/st02_01.pdf] Among Jews, 68% were Sabras (Israeli-born), mostly second or third generation Israelis, and the rest are olim — 22% from Europe and the Americas, and 10% from Asia and Africa, including the Arab countries.[http://www1.cbs.gov.il/shnaton56/st02_24.pdf] Israel has two official languages; Hebrew and Arabic (See also: Languages of Israel). Hebrew is the major and primary language of the state and is spoken by the majority of the population. Arabic is spoken by the large Arab minority and by some members of the Mizrahi and Teimani Jewish communities. English is studied in school and is widely understood. Other languages spoken in Israel include Russian, Yiddish, Ladino, Romanian and French. American and European popular television shows are commonly presented. Newspapers can be found in all languages listed above as well as others, such as Farsi. As of 2004, 224,200 Israeli citizens lived in the West Bank in numerous settlements, (including towns such as Ma'ale Adummim and Ariel, and a handful of communities that were present long before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and were re-established after the Six-Day War such as Hebron and Gush Etzion). Around 180,000 Israelis lived in East Jerusalem [http://fmep.org/settlement_info/stats_data/jerusalem/east_jerusalem_population_area_2000-2002.html], which came under Israeli law following its capture from Jordan during the Six-Day War. About 8,500 Israelis lived in settlements built in the Gaza Strip, prior to their evacuation by the government in the summer of 2005 as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan.

Religion in Israel

According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2004, 76.2% of Israelis were Jews by religion. Muslims made up 16.1% of Israelis, 2.1% were Christian, 1.6% were Druze and the remaining 3.9% (including Russian immigrants and some Jews) were not classified by religion.[http://www1.cbs.gov.il/shnaton56/st02_01.pdf] Israel, however, is not a theocracy and religions other than Judaism are supported. Roughly 6% of Israeli Jews define themselves as haredim (ultra-orthodox religious); an additional 9% are "religious" ; 34% consider themselves "traditionalists" (not strictly adhering to Jewish halacha); and 51% are "secular" (termed "hiloni"). Among the seculars, 53% believe in God.[http://www.geocities.com/demokratya/dat/shavit.htm] Israelis tend not to align themselves with a movement of Judaism (such as Reform Judaism or Conservative Judaism) but instead tend to define their religious affiliation by degree of their religious practice. Of the Arab Israelis 82.6% were Muslim, 8.8% were Christian and 8.4% were Druze.[http://www1.cbs.gov.il/shnaton56/st02_01.pdf]

Culture and religion

Footnotes

1 Jerusalem is Israel's officially designated capital, and the location of its presidential residence, government offices and the Knesset, Israel's Parliament. In 1980, the Israeli Knesset confirmed Jerusalem's status as the nation's "eternal and indivisible capital", by passing the Basic Law: Jerusalem — Capital of Israel. However, many countries dissent from this designation, and consider the status of Jerusalem as an unresolved issue, due to Israel's capture of the eastern half of Jerusalem (and subsequent reunification) from Jordan during the Six Day War. They believe that the final issue of the status of Jerusalem will be determined in future Israeli-Palestinian negotiations; Therefore, those countries locate their embassies in other major cities like Tel-Aviv, Ramat-Gan, Herzliya, etc., instead, to avoid political sensitivities. Moreover, some of the dissenting countries do not recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, due to what they perceive as illegal Israeli action in designating the city to be its capital in the first place (1950), as well as Israel's capture of the eastern half from Jordan, in 1967. These states instead recognize Tel-Aviv, the temporary capital for a time in 1948, when Jerusalem was under Arab control, as the continuous legitimate capital, and as a result keep their embassies there. Other entities maintain that Jerusalem must be internationalized as originally envisioned by the United Nations General Assembly. See the article on Jerusalem for more. 2 For a short period in the 1990s the prime minister was directly elected by the electorate. This change was not viewed a success and was abandoned.

See also


- List of Israelis
- Cities in Israel
- Communications in Israel
- Transportation in Israel
- Military of Israel
- Foreign relations of Israel
- Israeli-occupied territories
- Israel and the United Nations
- Ha-Mossad le-Modiin ule-Tafkidim Meyuhadim (aka Mossad)
- Violence against Israelis
- List of universities in Israel
- Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange

Annotated List of Israeli Media Sources

General references to the Israeli media:
- [http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/facts%20about%20israel/culture/the%20printed%20media-%20israel-s%20newspapers The Printed Media: Israel's Newspapers] Summary from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- List of Israeli newspapers English-language periodicals:
- Globes [http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/nodeView.asp?fid=942] English-language website of Israel's business and technology daily
- Ha'Aretz [http://www.haaretz.com/] Online English edition of the relatively highbrow Hebrew-language newspaper, Haaretz has a liberal editorial stance similar to that of The Guardian.
- IsraelInsider [http://www.israelinsider.com] - Independent, right wing outlet. Target audience is American Jewry.
- Jerusalem Newswire [http://www.jnewswire.com/ ] Independent, right-wing Christian-run news outlet
- The Jerusalem Post [http://www.jpost.com/] Israel's oldest English-language newspaper, considered to have a right-of-center editorial slant
- Jerusalem Report [http://www.jrep.com/] Left-of-center English weekly newspaper
- Maariv [http://www.maarivintl.com/] English edition of the centrist second largest Hebrew-language newspaper
- YNetNews [http://www.ynetnews.com/] English-language website of Israel's largest newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth Hebrew-language periodicals:
- Globes [http://www.globes.co.il/ ] business and technology daily
- Ha'Aretz [http://www.haaretz.co.il/] Relatively highbrow Israeli newspaper with a liberal editorial stance similar to that of The Guardian
- Hamodia Daily newspaper serving Israel's Haredi community. English editions are also published in the U.S. and the U.K. and serve local Jewish Orthodox communities in those countries. Hamodia is not available online.
- Hazofe [http://www.hazofe.co.il] daily newspaper with a religious Zionist point of view Hebrew-language periodicals (continued):
- Maariv [http://www.maariv.co.il/] Second largest Israeli newspaper, centrist.
- Makor Rishon [http://www.makorrishon.net] Conservative weekly newspaper
- Yated Ne'eman Daily newspaper serving the Haredi community
- Yedioth Ahronoth [http://www.ynet.co.il/], Israel's largest newspaper, centrist Arabic-language periodicals:
- Al-Ittihad Arabic-language daily newspaper Israeli broadcast media:
- [http://www.iba.org.il/ Israel Broadcasting Authority], TV News in Hebrew, some English.
- [http://www.radioisrael.com Radio Israel]
- [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/ Arutz Sheva] news site representing the settler community, right-wing religious (English)
- [http://www.israelradio.org/ Kol Israel - Voice of Israel] Also produced by the IBA. In Hebrew, French, English, Spanish, Ladino, Russian, Persian, Yiddish, etc.
- [http://www.isracast.com IsraCast] - Independent, multimedia broadcast and distribution network that focuses on Israeli foreign affairs and defense issues (English) Important Internet sources:
- Indymedia Israel [http://israel.indymedia.org/], primarily left-wing and anti-zionist, mostly in Hebrew Relevant non-Israeli media:
- Electronic Intifada [http://electronicintifada.net], Independent website covering Palestinian affairs and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
-
- Jewish Telegraphic Agency [http://www.jta.org/], New York-based news agency covering worldwide Jewish news, centrist (English)
- Yahoo News [http://news.yahoo.com/fc/world/israel] news headline links

External links


-
- [http://www.telavivguide.net Tel Aviv travel guide with information about sightseeing and activities in and around Tel Aviv]

General information


- [http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761575008/Israel_(country).html#s1 Encarta Encyclopedia entry on Israel]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/803257.stm BBC News Country Profile - Israel and Palestinian Territories]
- [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/israel.html Jewish Virtual Library Israel articles], including information on history, economics, and military issues. From the American-Israel Cooperative Enterprise, an Israel-advocacy group.
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/is.html CIA World Factbook - Israel]
- [http://www.state.gov/p/nea/ci/israel/ US State Department - Israel] includes Background Notes, Country Study and major reports
- [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/mideast/cuvlm/Israel.html Columbia University Libraries - Israel] directory category of the WWW-VL
- [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Middle_East/Israel/ Open Directory Project - Israel] directory category
- [http://www.sabranet.com SABRAnet - Where Israel comes alive on the Internet]
- [http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/Israel/ Yahoo! - Israel] directory category

Government


- [http://www.gov.il/FirstGov/english Government Portal of Israel]
- [http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel]
- [http://www.president.gov.il/defaults/default_en.asp The President of the state of Israel]
- [http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng Prime Minister's Office]
- [http://www.cbs.gov.il/engindex.htm Bureau of Statistics]
- [http://www.idf.il/ Israel Defence Force site]
- [http://www.seamzone.mod.gov.il/pages/eng/purpose.htm Israel Security Fence Project]

The Knesset (Parliament)


- [http://www.knesset.gov.il/ The Knesset (Parliament)]

Legislation and the Legal System


- [http://62.90.71.124/eng/home/index.html The Courts]
- [http://www.knesset.gov.il/description/eng/eng_mimshal_yesod1.htm Basic Laws], legal code of Israel
- [http://www.israelinsurancelaw.com/ Israeli Commercial, Banking, Tort and Insurance Laws - in English]

History

Please see main article History of Israel
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/78601.stm The birth of Israel] from the BBC
- [http://www.imj.org.il/ Israel Museum, Jerusalem]
- [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2002/7/Israel-s%20Foreign%20Relations-%20Selected%20Documents Historical documents] from the Israeli Ministry of Public Affairs
- [http://www.isracast.com/territories.asp Authentic historical Recordings] - UN Partition Vote of 1947, Arab Rejection, "First" Hatikva, David Ben-Gurion - On Independence, Arab Countdown to Six Day War, Moshe Dayan - Six Day War, Gen. Ariel Sharon - "Move forward!", Nasser's Infamous Phonecall, Gen. Yitzhak Rabin - Six Day War, Abba Eban's "Stalingrad" Speech

Economy, science, and technology


- [http://www.standardpoor.co.il/index.html Standard and Poor's Israel Economic Information]
- [http://duns100.dundb.co.il/ DUNS 100], the hundred largest companies in Israel
- [http://www.science.co.il/ Israel Science and Technology Homepage]
- [http://www.israelinsurancelaw.com/ Translation of Israeli Laws to English]
- [http://www.isracast.com/tech.asp IsraCast: Science and Technology News From Israel] - Updated Weekly (English)
- [http://www.worldwide-tax.com/israel/indexisrael.asp Israel economy and business parameters] Israel key Data on Israeli Taxes, Income Tax, Tax Rates in Israel.

Foreign relations and the current conflicts

For links on the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, see Arab-Israeli Conflict: External Links
- [http://www.mfa.gov.il Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
- [http://www.israel21c.com Israel21c: A focus beyond the conflict]
- [http://www.saag.org/papers2/paper131.html India-Israeli Relations: The Imperatives for Enhanced Strategic Cooperation]
- [http://mondediplo.com/focus/mideast/r1276 Le Monde diplomatique report on EU-Israeli relations]
- [http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/israel/intro/ European Union's relations with Israel]
- [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/ustoc.html US-Israeli Relations] from the Jewish Virtual Library.
- [http://www.cactus48.com/truth.html Jews for Justice in the Middle East] Publication detailing Arab-Israli conflict

Society


- [http://www.iwn.org.il/iwn.asp Israel Women's Network]
- [http://www.gaymiddleeast.com/country/israel Gay Middle East - Israel section]
- [http://www.fmep.org/analysis/ori_nir_israels_arab_minority.html Israeli Arabs and Israeli Society], discussion with Ori Nir, correspondent for Haaretz and the Forward.
- [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/freedom.html Freedom of Religion in Israeli Society and Politics] by Prof. Shimon Shetreet, former minister of Religious Affairs.
- [http://www.nswas.org/ Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam] the Oasis of Peace, an experimental Arab-Jewish cooperative village.
- [http://www.reform.org.il/ Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism], Reform Judaism in Israel

Photos


- [http://www.trekker.co.il/english/israel-tour.htm Pictures of various holy sites and tourist destinations].
- Israel capital - [http://www.jerusalemshots.com/en Jerusalem]. Portal of Jerusalem Photos

Historical Recordings


- [http://www.isracast.com/territories.asp Authentic historical Recordings] - UN Partition Vote of 1947, Arab Rejection, "First" Hatikva, Ben-Gurion - On Independence, Arab Countdown to Six Day War, Moshe Dayan - Six Day War, Gen. Ariel Sharon - "Move forward!", Nasser's Infamous Phonecall, Gen. Yitzhak Rabin - Six Day War, Abba Eban's "Stalingrad" Speech
- [http://www.isracast.com/yk/stage.swf A cry from the bunkers] - Dramatic and authentic recordings by IDF soldier Avi Yaffe from inside the IDF position, under attack at the outbreak of the Yom Kippur war. Category:Hebrew words Category:Levant Category:Near Eastern countries Category:Middle Eastern countries Category:Southwest Asian countries zh-min-nan:Í-sek-lia̍t-kok ko:이스라엘 ms:Israel ja:イスラエル simple:Israel

Hebrews

:This article is about the Hebrew people. For the book of the Bible, see Epistle to the Hebrews. Hebrews (syns. Heberites, Eberites, Hebreians, descendants of biblical Patriarch Eber; עברים, Standard Hebrew ʿIvrim, Tiberian Hebrew ʿIḇrîm; also עבריים Standard Hebrew ʿIvriyyim, Tiberian Hebrew ʿIḇriyyîm) were people who lived in the Levant (the area now forms the geographical region of Palestine, Sinai, and the coastal portions of Syria), which was politically Canaan when they first arrived in the area. The Hebrews lived within this region in the 2nd millennium BCE and spoke a Canaanite dialect (see Hebrew languages), although their culture was distinct from the local Canaanite culture. The extent of the distinction between the culture of the Canaanites and the Hebrews is a matter of great debate, touching as it does on strong religious sensibilities.

Origin

When the Tell el-Amarna archives were initially translated, some scholars eagerly equated the Habiru, described within the text, with the Hebrews, in particular because they were said to be nomads, raiders, and outlaws, fitting well with the biblical description of the Hebrews under Joshua conquering canaan. Such religiously motivated conclusions proved to be hasty, and later study, taking into account linguistic research, and other ancient mentions of the Habiru, it is now considered that the term Habiru described a group of stateless foreigners who had banded together, and formed a counter culture rather than an invading force. Indeed, should the Habiru be proven to be the same as the Hebrews, biblical events preceding biblical conquest of Canaan by Joshua are probably not true, since the majority of the Habiru were Hurrian, and thus not having flowed from Egypt. Other controversial theories hold that the Hebrews were the mysterious Hyksos, a semitic people, who gradually migrated into Egypt, eventually taking power from the extremely weak Pharaoh by force, and subsequently were expelled after many years, which matches up well with the biblical description of the Hebrews in Egypt. Indeed, it was Ahmose (in Hebrew A-moses), who was from Thebes, down the river from the seat of power – Memphis, who caused the Hyksos to leave, although in contrast to the Bible, Ahmose was the enemy of the Hyksos and expelled them by force. A curious feature of the hyksos rulers over Egypt is that the third ruler (of six) is named Yaqob-her which is cognate with Jacob, the name of the biblical forefather of this period, although the name may just be a common one, and this would still be contrary to the Bible, as it would denote Jacob as a ruler of Egypt as well as over the Hebrews. There are many Canaanite and Mesopotamian (via Amorite mythology) themes preserved in Hebrew culture, like the Hurrian specific biblical version of the story of Noah which is similar to the Sumerian story of Ziusudra/Utnapishtim, the ark, and the deluge unleashed by the angry, jealous god Enlil (Babylonian Ellil, Canaanite El), who was thwarted by the wise god Enki (Babylonian Ea). Also, textual sources appear to indicate that Hebrews lived in villages and raised livestock, seasonally grazing them in drier areas which didn't farm well, a form of subsistence known as transhumance. Consequently many have drawn the conclusion that the Hebrews were merely Canaanites who lived in the more difficult mountanous areas of Canaan, over time becoming separated from other Canaanites, and thus taking separate paths, including favouring El over Hadad. It is possible for all three of these potentials to be partially true – had a group of Canaanites separated and tried to live in the hills, which were mainly to the eastern side of Canaan, they could have absorbed other migrating groups, such as the Habiru who brought with them Hurrian stories and cultural practices, gaining a differing identity in consequence of the merging of cultures. Subsequently, the combined group, now distinct from the Canaanites who remained, could have migrated to Egypt, becoming the Hyksos, and upon their return no longer viewing the Canaanites as related, as they no longer resembled themselves. Thus although each theory has its supporters and detractors, the groups are by no means mutually exclusive.

Tribes

This term refers to all the Children of Eber and in particular the descendants that the Bible alleges were had by a Patriarch Jacob (later renamed Israel, although the documentary hypothesis states that this renaming is an attempt by a redactor). Hebrews are also referred to as the Children of Israel for this reason. According to the bible, Jacob partitioned the land between ten of his 12 sons and two of his grandsons (the two sons of Joseph, Jacob's favorite son), and thus, biblically, the Hebrews constitute Twelve Tribes. (The twelfth son, Levi, was not apportioned land. Rather, the descendents of Levi were entitled to receive a tax from the twelve tribes.) Today, modern-day Jews are descended from only a few of these Tribes. The Tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and parts of Levi (the priestly tribe – who in the period of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel had no land, unlike the other 11 tribes) are seen by Jewish people, and many Christians, as the ancestors of modern-day Jewish people. Some would say the Tribe of Simeon is included in this list, due to the view held by some that the Tribe of Simeon was absorbed into the Tribe of Judah. The remainder of the Twelve Tribes are said to have been exiled by the Assyrian Empire, and have become known to the Western world as the Lost Tribes of Israel. Certain Christian groups sometimes use the term Hebrews to distinguish the Jews in ancient times that lived before the birth of Jesus from Jews that lived afterward. This distincion is part of the Christian doctrine that the favor bestowed upon the ancient Jews, as God's chosen people, was removed upon their rejection of Jesus as the messiah, and transferred to Christians. The distinction is (naturally) not recognized by Jews.

See also


- Documentary hypothesis
- Israelite
- Samuel
- Pashtuns

External links


- http://www.ancient-hebrew.org
- http://www.world-destiny.org/a35ibr.htm Category:Torah people Category:Jewish history ko:히브리 민족 ja:ヘブライ人

Hebrew Bible

] :This article discusses usage of the term "Hebrew Bible". For the article on the Hebrew Bible itself, see Tanakh. Hebrew Bible refers to the common portions of the Jewish and Christian canons. Its use is favored by most academic Biblical scholars as a neutral term that is preferred to both Tanakh (the term used by Judaism) and Old Testament (the term historically used by Christianity) when discussing the text in academic writing. (For instance, see section 4.3 of The SBL Handbook of Style from the Society of Biblical Literature.) Hebrew here may refer to either the Hebrew language or to the Jews (the Hebrew people)—who historically used the Hebrew language as a spoken language, and have continuously used the language in prayer and study—or both. Because it refers to the common portions of the Jewish and Christian biblical canons, it does not encompass the deuterocanonical books, largely from the Koine Greek Septuagint translation, included in the Old Testament by the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches; thus it can be argued that the term Hebrew Bible only corresponds fully to the Old Testament in use by the Protestant denominations that follow Jerome's Veritas Hebraica doctrine.

Further reading


- Anderson, Bernhard. Understanding the Old Testament. (ISBN 0139483993)

See also


- Books of the Bible for the differences between these two versions of the text, or the much more detailed Biblical canon.
- Greek Scriptures
- Masoretic Text
- Old Testament for the history of the Hebrew Bible and its interpretation within the Christian tradition.
- Tanakh for the history of the Hebrew Bible and its interpretation within the Jewish tradition.
- Category:Bible