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The Hebrews are peoples descended from Abraham. The origin of the word Hebrew is thought to come from the proper name “Eber,” listed in Genesis 10:24 as the great-grandson of Shem and an ancestor of Abraham.
- Beginnings
- The Torah as History?
- Patriarchs in Space, Not in Time
The beginnings of ancient nations are always shrouded in mist. The social structures which gradually evolve into a “nation” do so in a slow, lengthy, and mainly unconscious process. The agonizing question “How did we become a nation?” usually finds its initial answer within the realm of myth; and it is the historian who needs to grapple with the di...
As long as the Torah Pronunced: TORE-uh, Origin: Hebrew, the Five Books of Moses. was believed to be the living word of God, queries of this kind were unthinkable; once it began to be regarded as a human document and scrutinized with modern exegetical tools, scholars needed to seek scientific corroboration. Yet even the least historically authentic...
In the Bible, the patriarchs are located in space but not in time. The background seems to be the first half of the second millennium B.C.E. Mesopotamian sources support this assumption as they establish the existence of cultural links between Ur and Haran at the time. Both towns worshipped the same deity–the moon god, Sin. These sources also refer...
Nov 18, 2008 · When did Judaism as we know it today—devoted to one God and the teachings of the Torah—really take root? How did the religious practices of the earliest Israelites differ from monotheistic...
- Tzvi Freeman
- The Hasidic Movement Is About Love, Joy and Humility. Hasidim belong to a movement that was founded by Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, who taught love, joy and humility—both in our service of G‑d and in our treatment of fellow human beings.
- Hasidic Jews Are Mystics. The teachings of Hasidism are an extension of the Kabbalistic writings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, Rabbi Isaac Luria and others.
- Not All Hasidim Are the Same. Every Hasidic group has its own unique flavor and focus. For example, the Hasidic groups influenced by the masters of Pshischa (notably Gur Hasidim today) value simplicity, austerity and a devotion to the stark, unvarnished truth.
- Hasidic Jews Use Technology. Hasidim use mobile phones, drive cars and use other forms of technology. Why not? After all, the sages taught that “All that G‑d created in His world, He only created for His honor.”
According to the Jewish Encyclopedia the terms Hebrews and Israelites usually describe the same people, stating that they were called Hebrews before the conquest of the Land of Canaan and Israelites afterwards.
Nov 30, 2022 · The studies also confirm other evidence that today’s Ashkenazi Jewish population, which numbers more than 10 million people spread around the world, has roots in a band of no more than a few hundred who survived a population bottleneck in Europe more than 1000 years ago.
Some Israelites migrated to the southern kingdom of Judah, while those Israelites that remained in Samaria, concentrated mainly around Mount Gerizim, came to be known as Samaritans. Foreign groups were also settled by the Assyrians in the territories of the conquered kingdom.
