Against a Submissive Attitude in Torah Learning

Since a post at Cross-Currents, extolling the idea that the rishonim were on a higher plane than we are, spiritually and scholastically, and that anyone who does not submit to them, but dares to imply that we have the capacity to decide between them or judge their opinions, is no longer engaged in תלמוד תורה. This precipitated a heated debate, mostly moderated. Ultimately, a misreading, by the editor, of the original points of the author led me to realize that perhaps the editor realizes the fact that we may and should disagree when necessary with rishonim and acharonim, and that although the original poster held one idea, the moderating editor held one much more inline with the sources, and simply wanted to clarify that disagreement should be done with respec?t (something I believe most ideas are entitled to).

However, it is probably useful to have localized some germane quotes for future reference. The following are some quotes by Torah giants indicating that disagreement and even rejection of earlier sources is desirable in Torah discourse.

Rav Kook (Orot Hakodesh pp. 537,547):

“תורת ההתפתחות, ההולכת וכובשת את העולם כעת, היא מתאמת לרזי עולם של הקבלה, יותר מכל התורות הפילוסופיות האחרות…אנו מוצאים בו את העניו האלקי מואר בבהירות מוחלטת…וזאת היא עליתה הכללית, ששום פרט לא ישאר חוצה, שום ניצוץ לא יאבד מהאגודה, הכל מתוקן לסעודה.”

And then, in 2:24 (pg 647): “כל אותן ההרצאות והדרכים המביאים לדרכי מינות הם בעצמם ביסודם מביאים, כשמחפסים את מקורם, לעומק אמונה יותר עליונה, ויותר מאירה ומחיה, מאותה ההבנה הפשוטה שהאירה לפני התגלות הפרץ…ובזה הגודל האלקי מתפאר, וכל המגמות האמוניות מתאשרות ביותר, ומקום האמונה, הבטחון, והעבודה האלקית מתרחב…ויש בשכלולו של האדם ארת עצמו ואת עולמו גם כן כדי להעלות מדרגות, הרי הוא עושה בזה ממש את רצון קונו. והמעלה הרוחנית המתעלה מעל כל מתראה היא ליותר מרכזית ביסוד ההויה…וכל ערכי המוסר מתעלים בעילוי אלקי…”

Rav Kook (Shemona Kevatzim 3:8):

"ועם זה לא נעלמה ממנו גדולתם של הראשונים, ואפיסתנו לעומתם, ואנו אומרים, אם הראשונים כמלאכים אנו כבני אדם. אבל האם על מלאכים עצמם, עם כל הודאתנו בתקפם וחוסן קדושתם, גדלם ואימתם, “וגובה להם ויראה להם”, וכי עליהם עצמם אין אנו באים בכח הסוד, והאגדה בכלל, להתגדר ולומר, שמה שלא יוכלו להגיע אליו עם כל כבודם, אנו מגיעים אליו עם כל שפלותנו? החשבונות שונים הם. יש לנו עילוי של הליכה ושל בחירה, של התקבצות הדרגות השונות בחטיבה אחת, לגבי מעמד של עמידה, של הכרח, של טפוסיות מיוחדה למקצוע אחד, שאנו מרשמים את המלאכים…. כמו כן בחשבונות אחרים לא יעכבונו ראשונים. אם אנו באים למגמה, שמסיבות נמנעה מהם, בין שהיא שכלית בין שהיא מוסרית, אמונית או לאומית, וכבודם וגדלם, ומיעוט ערכנו וקטננו, במקומו מונח, אבל לא נפסוק משום כך מכל שאיפת עליה שרוחנו הומה אליה, ושיד הזמן מורה אותנו שהננו יכולים לתופסה. שם ד’ אנו קוראים בהתגלות החיים והרוח שבכל דור ודור, ופגם הכתוב כבודו של צדיק בקבר מפני כבודו של צדיק חי…"

"אבל על כל פנים החשבון מתמצה, שההשתפלות שלנו לעומתם לא תבטלנו משאיפות רוממות ערך, ודליגה על גביהם, נגד האלילות הרוחנית, שהרבתה לה אלילים מכל דרי מעלה. ואנו הננו עולים בגאותנו ואומרים, מי לי בשמים. רק האמת המולטה, רק הגודל לבדו, רק המקוריות בעצמה, רק עז אלהים, דורשים אנו ונדרוש. כמו כן בחשבונות אחרים לא יעכבונו ראשונים. אם אנו באים למגמה, שמסיבות נמנעה מהם, בין שהיא שכלית בין שהיא מוסרית, אמונית או לאומית, וכבודם וגדלם, ומיעוט ערכנו וקטננו, במקומו מונח, אבל לא נפסוק משום כך מכל שאיפת עליה שרוחנו הומה אליה, ושיד הזמן מורה אותנו שהננו יכולים לתופסה …"

Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (Epistle 34):

"זאת היא תפיסת הגאון החסיד על ספר ליקוטי אמרים ודומיו, אשר מפורש בהם פי’ ממלא כל עלמין ולית אתר פנוי מניה כפשוטו ממש, ובעיני כבודו היא אפיקורסות גמורה לאמר שהוא ית’ נמצא ממש בדברים שפלים ותחתונים ממש
…
הנה עיקר העלאת מ”ן זה של העלאת נצוצין לא נזכר אלא בקבלת האר”י ז”ל בכללה, ולא במקובלים שלפניו וגם לא בזוהר הק’ בפירוש. וידוע לנו בבירור גמור שהגאון החסיד ז”ל, אינו מאמין בקבלת האר”י ז”ל בכללה, ושהיא כולה מפי אליהו ז”ל."

Ramban (Introduction to Rambam's Sefer Hamitzvot):

" לראשונים תלמיד, לקיים דבריהם ולהעמיד, לעשות אותם לצוארי רביד ועל ידי צמיד, לא אהיה להם חמור נושא ספרים תמיד. אבחר דרכם ואדע ערכם. אך באשר לא יכילו רעיוני אדון לפניהם בקרקע אשפוט למראה עיני. ובהלכה ברורה לא אשא פנים בתורה. כי י"י יתן חכמה בכל הזמנים ובכל הימים. לא ימנע טוב להולכים בתמים"

Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits (Towards A Renewed Rabbinic Leadership):

"We may go still further and say that Jewish knowledge can even be deepened today, firstly through our ability to point out previously unseen significance in Jewish conceptions by contrasting them with related ideas in non-Jewish thought; and secondly by applying to the study of the traditional literature of Judaism modern methods of research."

(I add the following in a paranthetical comment, since it is a possible explanation of the Kuzari's words, which he does not make perfectly explicit. In the Kuzari (5:2), Rabbi Yehuda Halevi states:

"לא אנהג על דרך הקראים, אשר עלו אל החכמה האלקית מבלי מדרגה"

I believe his point here is that the Karaites treated the Torah as given once, and completely static, unchanging. They rejected the notion of an oral Law, תורה שבעל פה, repudiating the very concept of a Divine Law that is revealed through the creative power of Rabbinic authority, in evolutionary stages. Rabbinic Judaism holds differently from the Karaites. Rabbi Berkovits makes this point in Not in Heaven (p 139), stating:

"In essence, R Abraham [son of Rambam] was warning against a new form of Karaism, against becoming Karaites of the written-down Oral Torah.")

Rav Soloveitchik (Emergence of Ethical Man, p. 6):

"It is certain that fathers of the Church and also the Jewish medieval scholars believed that the Bible preached this doctrine. medieval and even modern Jewish moralists have almost canonized this viewpoint and attributed to it apodictic validity. Yet the consensus of many, however great and distinguished, does not prove the truth or falseness of a particular belief. I have always felt that due to some erroneous conception, we have actually misunderstood the Judaic anthropology and read into the Biblical texts ideas which stem from an alien source. This feeling becomes more pronounced when we try to read the Bible not as an isolated literary text but as a manifestation of a grand tradition rooted in the very essence of our God-consciousness that transcends the bounds of the standardized and fixed text and fans out into every aspect of our existential experience. The sooner Biblical texts are placed in their proper setting - namely, the Oral tradition with it's almost endless religious awareness - te clearer and more certain I am that Judaism does not accent unreservedly the theory of man's isolationism and separatism within the natural order of things."

ביאור הגר"א לספר משלי ו:ג

אם אין אני לי מי לי...כלומר שאם אין אני אחשוב בשבילי, מי יחשוב בשבילי?

The Gra, as quoted by his student R' Chaim in חוט המשולש, סימן י"א:

שלא לישא פנים בהוראה אף להכרעת רבותינו בעלי השולחן ערוך...בתורה דכתיב בה אמת, בלתי אל האמת עינינו.

Rav Chaim of Volozhin in רוח החיים, א:ד:

הלימוד נקרא מלחמה...ואסור לו לתלמיד לקבל דברי רבו כשיש לו קושיות עליהם, ולפעמים יהיה האמת עם התלמיד...כי מלחמת מצווה היא...ולא לישא פני איש, רק לאהוב את האמת.

Twice Offended and Thereby Praised

Rav Neriyah used to say that we live in a world of b'diavad, a post factum, imperfect, vitiated world where we cannot expect to find ourselves in ideal situations. Usually, this type of thinking is considered a pessimistic world-view. If only we could live in an ideal position, but alas, we wring our hands, we must deal with the unfinished, unpolished realia of practical existence.

A trademark of Rav Kook's thought is that he does not only take stock of reality and fit it into a framework with which we can manage, but that his transformative creativity is able to find the supernal good even in the most base and spiritually desolate aspects of circumstance. This potential is brought to fruit by the beginning of the Hagadah, where the Talmud teaches (Pes. 116a) that in retelling the story of the Exodus, we begin with the shameful and end with the praise. The Talmud points to two ways in which we do so: the first is by telling the story of ארמי אובד אבי, understood by Rashbam as describing Avraham as an Aramean, descendent of idolators¹, who wandered from home at the command of God. The second is the reminder that עבדים היינו לפרעה במצרים, we were slaves, the lowest of the low, at one time.

Now, prima facie, both these stories seem to point to the low beginnings of the Jewish nation. Avraham was the son of idolaters, which, from a moral and religious point of view, is a low place to plant the seeds of the people destined to spread the light of monotheism. By the same token, a free nation, in its own land, would be shamed indeed to recall the disgrace and humiliation of an epoch of servitude to the Egyptian master. On the face of things, these shameful, humble beginnings are overcome by the praise, that in the end, God brought us out of slavery into the fresh air of freedom, and from the mire of paganism to the intellectual clarity of monotheism. These beginnings are something about which we might feel, "Thank God we're over that", something which, were it not for our yearly story-telling, we would be quite happy to forget.

Rav Kook², however, takes slavery not as something to be brushed aside in embarrassment, but a beginning which was critical in its formative powers for the Jewish People. "To be able to submit the independent will and personal tendency in order to accept the yoke of Heaven, at which Israel excels, through which they have and will bring exceedingly great good to themselves and the world, this potential was acquired during the slavery and subservience..." Rav Kook sees our ability to submit to the will of God and faithfully bear his word to the world around us as a talent conditioned in the crucible of the Exile in Egypt. Furthermore, when a person is "so free that he is able to, through his own independent choice, subjugate himself in the appropriate situation...this is true freedom. 'Do not fear, my servant Ya'akov'..." Rabbi Carmy comments on the use of this reference from Tehilim that even though Ya'akov is referred to as a servant, he is described as possessing the attribute belonging only to the most free person, fearlessness.

So, it is precisely the exile in Egypt and Israel's slavery there which prepared it to accept the yoke of Heaven. It is only through this shame or offense of slavery that the praise of Israel, the chosen people of God, is possible.

Rav Kook continues: The lessons of monotheism essentially abstract theology to the extent that it is hard to attach to on an emotional level. Indeed, the further rarefied the philosopher's idea of God was, the less applicable He became to humanity, the less he was part of a vibrant tapestry of human life. The epitome of this is the First Cause conception of God. Even though Judaism certainly contains checks so that monotheism does not dry up into this kind of deism, it is still true that, to paraphrase Rabbi Carmy again, holiness has the potential to stifle the imagination. It is for this reason, Rav Kook says, that the progenitors of Israel began as idolaters. Idolatry, for all its base aspects, lends itself to physical, imaginative and creative talents. This exposure ended up benefiting the nation of Israel, providing the potential capacity to incorporate into the service of the true God the richness of their creative and vivid abilities. The bravery and physical fortitude, the imaginative elements of their personae are all able to shine forth when serving God, in their rightful, prescribed place.

Thus Rav Kook transforms what may seem to be a shy embarrassment regarding low beginnings into important, contributing factors to the essential qualities of Israel. Our very history is an example of מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח, beginning in a shameful way, but through and because of this shame, becoming a nation worthy of praise. May the light of Israel shine, and help the world attain the perfection of messianic times.

--------------------------------------------

¹ In fact, this can help us understand, tangentially, the uplifting, and yet disturbing, story of עקדת יצחק. How can it be that God would even pretend to demand something of Avraham which goes against all that the ethic of the Torah repudiates so strongly? Perhaps the request, from the point of view of Avraham (and his contemporary readers and witnesses), was not so disturbing as our century's tempered, Judeo-Christian minds see it. It was common in those times to sacrifice the first, the best, in pagan rituals, and this undoubtedly extended to children and other humans, such as the cult of Molech. Thus, the initial request in the עקדה was not outside the normal religious experience of the time.

Furthermore, and this gets to the point of Rav Kook, pagan ritual was able to evoke a passion and vividness that is often lacking in monotheistic service. Abstracted, intellectualized spirituality tempers the raw emotions of Man, and can stifle creativity and excitement. Perhaps herein lay the test for Avraham - are you able to maintain the willingness to engage, heart and soul, in My service? Can you match the intense fervor of the idolators around you? And Avraham's הנני, Here I am - his immediate and unquestioning willingness - answers this question in the affirmative. (See also Rabbi Soloveitchik's Kierkgaardian summation in Emergence of Ethical Man (note on pp 156-157), "Abraham was great in his acting in accordance with the logic of the absurd.")

Beyond this, the ultimate lesson in this story regarding child sacrifice is clear - and in this, עקידת יצחק stands as a shining example of the morality God intends the world to learn from the light of the Jews, far above the pervailing morality of the times - "Do not set your hand against the boy, neither shall you do anything to him!" In no uncertain terms, the God of Avraham rejects completely the concept of child, or any human, sacrifice, as an acceptable method of divine service. The story of the עקדה certainly drives this lesson home in stark detail.

Of course, that which was seen as a positive action for the forefather, would be seen as a sin to us presently, and rest assured, God would not demand this of us. However, the story of the binding of Yitzchak becomes one full of moral lessons for the nascent Jewish People, and for the world, of loyalty to God even to the extreme, tender love between family members, passion and feeling in the service of the one true God, and a rejection of pagan practices.

Thanks go to Netanel Livni for a shabbat morning discussion which precipitated this footnote.

² Thanks to Rabbi Carmy whose lecture on this subject pointed me to look at the הגדה של פסח of Rav Kook, עולת ראייה, Introduction to Maggid, which is the source for this essay.

Major Events of Jewish History

In this post, I will list a skeletal timeline of Jewish History, from the exile of the ten tribes through the twentieth century. Please feel free to make use of this admittedly rough timeline, and please mark your corrections or additions in the comments section.

The hand  of God is evident in the pages of Jewish history. As Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits writes (On Jewish Sovereignty, 1973): "It is difficult for a Jew to detect the presence of God in the history of the nations or religions - unless it be in the history of Israel, and, only through that history, in the history of man as well. Eliminate Israel from history and there is no need for any reference to God. Without Israel, everything is explainable and expected. Economics, power, politics and psychology will explain everything. Without Israel, man is self-explanatory. Only the reality of Israel resists explanation on the level of manmade history. Because of Israel, the Jews knows that history is messianism - that God's guidance, however impenetrably wrapped in mystery, is never absent from the life of nations."

719 BCE - Exile of 10 tribes of Israel to Assyria
586 BCE - Destruction of the first Temple & Exile of Judea to Babylon
             - 423 according to Seder Olam
             - Begin Babylonian Exilarch (Jewish leader)
             - from Davidic dynasty (which lasted past 1000 CE)
624-546 BCE - Days of Micha the Prophet
                       - Thales of Miletus
537 BCE - Babylon conquered by Persia
516 BCE - King Cyrus offers Jews return to Judea
                - begin second commonwealth
500 BCE - Cyrus, Ezra, Nechemia
446 BCE - Pythagoras, Heraclitus (dated as per Seder Olam)
400-300 BCE - Xenophanes of Ionia, Yoshiyahu, Yirmiyahu, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
                        - (dated as per Seder Olam)
334 BCE - Persian Judea conquered by Syrian-Greeks
               - Alexander the Great, Hellenization
200 - 150 BCE - Macabees
190 BCE - Book of Ben-Sira (list of heroes, evidence
                - of Neviim as corpus of scripture)
200 - 100 BCE - Dead Sea Scrolls - Evidence of Biblical
                         - Canon and sectarian writings
165 BCE - Hanukah
               - Later Hasmoneans, Hasmonean dynasty
               - Hycran, Queen Salome, Aristobulos
135 BCE - Judeans conquer Edom
                - Political/religious parties of Pharisees, Sadducees
75 BCE - In Parthia (Persian Empire, Babylonia), Hillel leads
67 BCE - Rome annexes Judea, Idumeans (formerly ruled
              - by Judea) become Kings of Israel
40 - 30 BCE - Herod
37 BCE - Rome rules Judea through procurators, eg. Pontius Pilate
100 BCE - 100 CE - Apcocalyptic books - Pseudopygrapha
                               - Philo
                               - John the Baptist
                               - Jesus of Nazareth
70 CE - Destruction of second commonwealth, Temple
           - Massada
           - 1 million Jews in Persia at this time
135 CE - Mishna
             - First citation of Ketuvim, discuss re: Kohelet, Shir Hashirim
             - Canon
132 - 134 CE - Judea: Hadrian reneges on promise to rebuild Temple.
                       - Judea: Rebellion against Rome. Akiva, Bar Kosba
                       - Judea: Betar. Rebellion crushed. Rename J to AC
                       - Judea: Yavneh and Sanhedrin destroyed
135 CE - Judea: Christianity parts ways forever with Judaism. ולמלשינים
150 CE - Judea: Bet Din restarts with Shimon II
100 CE - 300 CE - Jews follow Roman army to future France, Germany
                             - Spain, Portugal inhabited by Jews also
                             - (perhaps from times of King Solomon)
200 CE - Parthia: Rav in Sura, Shmuel in Pumpedita
260 CE - Parthia: Naharda'a destroyed because of Roman-Persian war
300 CE - Constantine turns Rome Christian
325 CE - Council of Nicea Separations between Jews and Christians
429 CE - Judea: Abolition of Patriarch in Judea/Palestine
400 CE - 470 CE - Parthia: R Ashi collates learning: Babylonian Talmud
                             - Parthia: Mazdaism tries force the Jews to immorality
470 CE - 500 CE - Parthia: Mar Zutra, Reish Galuta, rebels, is executed
412 CE - 700 CE - Spain: Jews forced to convert or leave
500 CE - Parthia: Begin Saboraim notes, order, editings to text of Talmud,
             - which they no longer added to
600 CE - Judea: Persians briefly take Palestine, Rome reconquers soon
622 CE - Mohammed, Islam. Destroys Jews of Arabia or exile them
until 450CE - Northern Europe: Jews were farmers
until 650 CE - Become merchants from oppressive
                    - laws in France, Spain, Italy
650 CE - 700 CE - Islam conquers Persia, Palestine, North Africa
711 CE - Mohammedans from North Africa conquer Visigothic Spain
             - Pact of Omar invoked
760 CE - Parthia: Karaism: Anan Ben David and Chanania rebel
             - against Talmud and Geonim.
800 CE - Pact of Omar - Jews allowed to live in Islamic-controlled
             - areas with reduced rights. Yellow patch
850 CE - Central Europe: Rabbeinu Gershom & Takkanot in Mayence
860 CE - Parthia: Geonim
             - Parthia: Siddurim: Rav Amram Gaon's, Rav Saadia Gaon's, Geonic responsa
875 CE - First appearance of Sambatyon & Eldad the Danite story
500 CE - 900 CE - Judea: Cantillation
                            - Judea: Vowel system (Tiberian massorah)
                            - Judea: Midreshei Agada, Piyyutim
500 CE - 1100 CE - Europe: General goodwill between Jew and Christian.
                                  - Laws against Jews but not practically enforced.
                                  - Jews were merchants, government functionaries,
                                  - eg. Charlamagne
750 CE - 1240 CE - Khazars led by Jewish convert king
900 CE - Parthia: Rav Saadia Gaon saves Judaism
             - from disintegration from Karaites, among others.
             - Unifies Jews, becomes Gaon of Sura
970 CE - 1038 CE - Rav Sherira and Rav Hai Gaon
                              - Decline of Babylonian community's leadership role
1000 CE - Our earliest extant Torah Scrolls date from around this time
1040 CE - France: Rashi made knowledge the rule
               - and ignorance the exception for Jews. Emphasis on study
               - Fez: Spanish School of Talmudism
               - Rif. Emphasis on halacha
1096 CE - Central Europe: First Crusade
1144 CE - Central Europe: Second Crusade
1189 CE - Central Europe: Third Crusade
               - York becomes a second Massada
900 CE - 1200 CE - Spain: Golden Age for Jews
1092 CE - Spain: Ibn Eztra, Rabbi Yehuda Halevi, R' Bahya ibn Pekuda
1135 CE - Spain: Rambam comes from North Africa to flee persecution
1200 CE - 1400 CE - Western and Central Europe:
                                 - Slow process of Expulsion of Jews
1144 CE - Norwitch - first blood libel
1200 CE - Rabbi Yehuda Hachasid - Sefer Chasidim
1239 CE - France: Talmud burned publicly by wagonload
1290 CE - Jews expelled from England
1306 CE - Jews expelled from France
1200 CE - 1400 CE - "Silver Age" of Spain
1212 CE - Moors lose Spain to Christian armies
               - Cultural center of Jews moves to Provence
1232 CE - Clash between Philosophers and Traditionalists
                - Appeal to Catholic Church who burned Guide and other texts
                - Rashba - ban under 25 learning Kabala
1250 CE - Spain: Zohar introduced by Moses de Leon
1263 CE - Spain: Disputation between Ramban and Pablo Christiani
1264 CE - Boleslav the Pious
1306 CE - Controversy ends with Jews being expelled from France
1344 CE - Casimir the Great, both create Jewish Charter for Poland
1394 CE - Jews expelled from France for good
               - Germany: Black plague - Jews murdered by thousands
1300-1350 CE - Ralbag book of navigation translated by Pope
1350- 1400 CE - Germany restricts Jews living in towns and length of time they could stay
                         - Jews live in Ghettos
1420 CE - Murder of Jews and Expulsion from Vienna
1411 CE - Riots in Spain lead Jews to convert
1400-1500 CE - Germans followed by Jews migrate East
1453 CE - Turkish J community grows from refugees but not to stature of P
               - Jacob Ibn Chabib
               - Joseph Nasi - plan to settle Tiberias fails
1496 CE - J expelled from Lithuania
1492 CE - Inquisition in Spain, Torquemada against newly converted Christians
               - Abravanel
               - Crew of Columbus made up of Morranos
1497 CE - Inquisition in Portugal
               - Mendes, Nasi family
1500 CE - L & P under one Grand Duke
1500 - 1600 CE - Pilpulism, the kahal, education, intellectualism
                           - J culture of intelligence in Poland rivals Babylonian Amoraim
                           - Tzena Ur'ena in Yiddish published
1480-1520 CE - Renaissance in Western Europe
                         - Rome, Italy, enlightened ideas spread - medicine, science, art
                         - Hebrew studied in Universities
                         - Jews from S and P permitted in R
                         - Reuchlin (against) - Pfefferkorn (for) book burning controversy
                         - liberalism is good for tolerable Jewish life
1520 CE - Martin Luther - Lutheranism - eventual advocate extermination of J
1525 CE - Jewish pseudo-Messiahs - David Reubeni, Solomon Molcho.
               - burned at stake
1530 CE - Renaissance ends with liberal promises not fulfilled
1540 CE - Previously kind Italy expels Jews except from Rome & Ancona
               - Refuge in Turkey - Ottoman Empire
               - Sefad, rebuild semicha quarrel - and failure
1488-1575 CE - Karo - Shulchan Aruch, Spain to Sefad
                         - 1492 and on Spanish Jews turn to Kabala
1530-1572 CE - Rema
1519 CE - Germany expells Jews from some towns
1519-1670 CE - Germany & Italy - Ghetto for Jews
                         - Homes of Catechums for converts
1534-1572 CE - Luria, ARI, saw self as Messiah son of Joseph
                         - He was a German in Sefad
                         - Leader of movement of kabalists and imagination
                         - Transmigtration of souls, Gilgulim
                         - Student was Rabbi Chaim Vital, spread Kabala in Europe
                         - Small population of Palestine subsisted on charity
1558 CE - Holland seeks freedom from Spain
1559 CE - Printing press, Italy center of Jewish press
               - Azariah de Rossi, davidic ancestry - historian - מאור עניים
               - Western European J expelled or Ghettoized
               - despite contributions to very foundations of WE civilization
               - Center of J life shifts from S & G and moves to Poland
1530 CE - Polish Jews organize semi-autonomous self government
1572 CE -Jagello dynasty ends, Poland has monarch only as figurehead
               - Real power in Nobles in their own territory (feudalism)
               - Jews overseers of serfs
1623 CE - Lithuanian J withdraw to own council
               - Polish Jews have Va'ad Arba Aratzot
               - Rabbinic & Political committees exist within it
               - Shtadlan
               - Taxes to Poland collected by Va'ad
1648 CE - Chmelnitzky
1648-1658 - Sabbatai Zevi
1618-1648 CE - 30 Years War -German states and Holy Roman Empire
                         - Jews suffered also
                         - Jews participated as court purveyors
                         - In Prague Samuel Bassevi made a noble for services to state
1612-1616 CE - Frankfurter Purim, Fettmilch
1600 CE - Marranos move from Iberian peninsula to Holland for religious freedom
               - Jews from Germany escape to Holland - 2 J communities
1609 CE - Maharal dies
1640 CE - Uriel de Costa writes against detailism of J, commits suicide
1632-1677 CE- Benedict Spinoza
1650 CE - Menashe ben Israel - claims 10 tribes are NA Indians
1290-1660 CE - No Jews in England. MBI tries to convince Cromwell who balks
                         - Soon Jews come to England and are de facto accepted
1492-1612 CE -Jews in new world - North America, South America
1657 CE - New Amsterdam (later NY)
               - Stuyvesant denied, Dutch Co permitted J full rights in New World
1660 CE - Lithuania interested in reason/learning
               - South Poland interested in mysticism, Ba'alei Shem
1700-1760 CE -Ba'al Shem Tov - Hassidism
                        - Jews take on Polish noble dress - capotte, long beard
1707 CE - Ramchal mistaken as Sabbatean
1720 CE - GRA - no piyutim, pilpul, positive about secular study
1729 CE - Mendelsohnn born
1740 CE - Jacob Frank - all sins must be done for Messiah to come - orgies
1750 CE - Emden/Eibushitz controversy
               - Amulets, Sabbateanism
1753 CE - PM Pelham (England) Jews given full rights, subsequently repealed
1760 CE - Maggid of Mezhrich taught next generation, was more scholarly than Besht
1772 CE - Excommunicated Hassidim (GRA)
1796 CE - Death of GRA
1600-1776 CE - Jews find freedom and equality in USA
                         - George Washington, Hayim Solomon
1789 CE - French Revolution
1800 CE - Poland split between Hassidim and Mitnagdim - difficulties
1791 CE - French Jews full citizenship
1799 CE - Napoleon
               - Sanhedrin (propoganda, get Jews to submit)
               - Infamous decrees - 40 yr moratorium on J debts
               - Jews cannot escape conscription as a Gentile could
1810 CE - German states still oppressive to Jews
               - Vienna conference: after defeat of Napolean retract rights given to J
               - Spurs J to work for equality in German lands
1816 CE - Jacob Herz Baer - first reform Prayer meeting
               - Reform - attempts by Jews to be less "queer"
1827 CE - Russia Czar Nicholas I - pale of settlement
               - Cantons
               - Russia opens J schools with Russian subjects
               - Realizing the real purpose, head of schools, Lilianthal leaves for US
1830 CE - Crimieux J in France forught for rights, member of provisional gov't
1844-1846 CE - Conferences to give Reform a set of dogma, what they believe
1860-1880 CE - Holdheim - J is dead institution - developed by man and must adjust
               - Hirsch - Torah is from God, no changes
               - Geiger - Judaism is living institution sacred, must change ceremonies to express spirit
               - Frankel - Change must occur organically "Historical Judaism"
               - Geiger encapsulated European Reform, Frankel, US Conservative movement
               - Hoffmann, Hildesheimer "Science of Judaism", critical work in Judaism and use modern methods
1848 CE - French Revolution II against king
1850 CE - Nationalism awakens in Europe and Jews are more-so than Gentiles
1855 CE - Russia: Czar Aleksandr II liberal, stops cantons, Jews allowed out of pale
               - Seeming liberalization in Russia
1840 CE - Renewal of hate
               - Damascus Affair, Morau Affair (Italy)
1860 CE - Crimieux - Jewish Universal Alliance to help Jews worldwide
1880 CE - Eastern Eurpoe hostile, Jews need solution
               - Jews more loyal to Germany than Germans
1870 CE - Napolean III overthrown, F true republic
1880 CE - France gives J full rights, Crimieux dies
1880 CE - Germany - Zunz, Graetz, Science of Judaism
               - Western Jews have negative opinion of Eastern European Jews
1750-1880 CE - Eastern Europe Haskala, Hebrew literature
               - As opposed to history, philosophy, theology of Western European Aufklaerung
               - Immanuel Kant, Georg Hegel, Arthur Schopenhauer - German Philosophers
1867 CE - Rappaport (Shir), Krochmal, Shadal, biblical and philosophical studies
               - Viewed Judaism as offering more to secular culture than it took
1870 CE - Russian, German J uncomfortable
               - Haskala did not provide adequate solutions
               - Modernization is tantalizing
1820-1860 CE - US expands, Jews head west
                         - Leeser advocated J unified leadership
                         - Rebecca Gratz - Sunday school system
1820-1892 CE - Belarus - Beis Halevi - RYDS
                          - Son R Chaim Brisker, begins Brisker dynasty
1860 CE- US Civil War - Jews on both sides
1889 CE - Isaac Wise - Pittsburgh Platform went further in Reform than Europeans
               - Hebrew Union College, Union of American Hebrew Congregations
 1894 CE - Antisemitism, scientific Jew hatred
                - France: Dreyfus affair
                - Some are still liberal, but tide turns to hate J
                - Russia still feudal, Jew hatred rampant
1880-1900 CE - Liberalism - revolutions and change sweep Europe
                        - Jews participate but still there is antisemitism
                        - Jews leave Russia in large numbers to US
1818-1883 CE - Russia: Marx, the Bund
1873 CE- Chovevei Zion, Rabbi Kalischer
1860-1904 CE - Herzl, Zionism, Nordeau
1882-1903 CE - First Aliyah
1904-1914 CE - Second Aliyah (largely failure, many left Palestine before WWI)
1878 CE - BILU, Petach Tikva
1902 CE - JTS, Solomon Shechter, US
               - Catholic Israel, Unity, Tradition and Scholarship
1909 CE - Kehilla experiment in US fails
1917 CE - Revolution in Russia, Communism
1914-1918 CE - WWI
1918-1923 CE - Third Aliyah
                         - Tel Aviv, Haifa, renewal of Land - desert blooms
                         - Jewish settlements dot the land, and Israel returns to her land
1924-1928 CE - Fourth Aliyah - urban development of Tel Aviv
1920 CE - Sir Herbert Samuel, British Jewish comissioner to Palestine civil administration
               - Tel Hai, Jews fight back against Arab attacks - Trumpledor "Hagidem"
1929 CE - Hebron riots and other Arab riots against Jews
               - British largely passive unless Jews are attacking
1918 CE - League of Nations, Mandate Commission, Human Rights
1917 CE - Balfour Declaration, British Mandate
               - Bolshevik Revolution in Russia -- USSR
1860-1948 CE - Hebrew revived as spoken language, Ben Yehuda
1901-1906 CE - Jewish Encyclopedia published in US
1915 CE - Revel reorganizes RIETS (1896) into Yeshiva University - New York
               - R Yosef Dov Soloveitchik
1917 CE - JPS translates Hebrew Bible into English in US
1922 CE - Hebrew Theological College - Chicago - R Eliezer Berkovits
                - US Jewry independent of European religious guidance
1920-1930 CE - US rise in anti-semitism, Henry Ford (later admits to being mislead)
                         - Obstacles to Jews in Universities, etc
                         - American Jews donate hugely to Palestinian, European Jews
1922 CE - Congress passes strict anti-immigration laws over veto of President
1921 CE - British White Paper - restricts Balfour promises to "part" of P
1925 CE - Hebrew University opens in Jerusalem, Magnes
               - German refugee professors (eg Scholem) make it intellectual center
1933 CE - Hitler
               - Albert Einstein relocates to US from Germany
               - Fifth Aliyah
1937 CE - Columbus Platform recognizing place for tradition, Jewish homeland
               - Replaces Pittsburgh Platform for Reform
               - Reconstructionist Judaism appears
1883-1946 CE - Rabbi Isaac Breuer - Der Neue Kusari
1937-1943 CE - Universal Jewish Encyclopedia published in US
1938 CE - Kristallnacht
               - Evian conference - world turns back on Jews
               - Some Jews allowed into some countries only with money
               - Germany would not let Jews out with money
               - British continue policy to keep Jews out of Palestine
               - Jewish refugee ships sink, explode, sent back to port of origin
1939 CE - Death of Freud in Germany
1939 CE - In face of Arab riots, British issue second White Paper
               - Declares building of Jewish homeland in P complete
               - Allows small number of Jews in over five years, afterwards, only with Arab consent
1939-1945 CE- WWII
1943 CE - Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
1945 CE -United Nations
               - Post-war pogroms and violence against Jews in Eastern Eruope
               - Prove Jews have no homes left, must emigrate
               - Jews revive Haganah, Etzel, Lechi
1948 CE Israel declares Independence
1956,1967,1973,1976 CE - Israel fights for its life against Arab armies
1948-2000 CE - Operation Magic Carpet (Yemen, Iran), and like operations
                        - Extraction of Jews from lands previously little-known
                        - Refuseniks in USSR, eventual USSR collapse
                        - Development of Israeli military alongside peaceful hopes
                        - Israel blossoms, economic, religious, artistic life flourishes

Knesset Members Eat Their Words

Before the Disengagement from the Gaza Strip, the following MK's mocked the idea that this would lead to rockets on Ashkelon: Meir Sheetreet (Likud --> Kadima), Ran Cohen (Meretz), Orit Noked (Labor), Shaul Mofaz (Likud --> Kadima), Ofir Pines-Paz (Labor).

Aside from this, let us not forget the politicians who supported the disengagement against their better judgement: Slivan Shalom, Limor Livnat, Bibi Netanyahu.

Those of us who saw clearly back then knew then the dangers posed by the disengagement. Now, the whole world can watch these politicians make fools of themselves with the benefit of hindsight and video recording.