Israel Museum

Israel Museum 

Yesterday Kitat Maayan visited the Israel Museum. We started off our day by looking at part of Jerusalem's beautiful skyline. We talked about how the city's buildings had to be made out of Jerusalem stone and the ugly skyscraper in the middle of it all. After this we headed to an outdoor room, where we could see directly through a hole in the ceiling. Apparently this is a popular place to stargaze. As we sat in the beautiful stargazing area, we recapped the story of Hanukkah and how the Hasmoneans became Kings and high Priests. We discussed our Jewish state at the time and how even though the Hasmoneans fought for our freedom from the Greeks, they still named their children Greek names. We then discussed how we fell under Roman rule. Alexandria Salome ruled at the time. Alexandria had 2 sons, Hyrcanus 1 and Astrobolus 2. They struggled for power within the dynasty. This caused a civil war. Eventually Hyrcanus went to the Romans, his allies for help. This was a big mistake. Unfortunately, this is how we lost control of our freedom. In 63 BCE Roman presence came about. Hyrcanus ruled as a puppet king or in other words a king who was being controlled by the Romans. Similarly, King Herod הורדוס ruled the same way. King Herod married into the dynasty and was not fully Jewish. He was an extraordinary builder. People were afraid of him. He killed members of his own family to show his power. He also ruled by way of 'carrot and stick'. In theory the carrot was the temple or the reward and the army was the stick or the punishment. We spoke about how different rabbis saw the Roman Empire. Some saw it as a good thing. The Romans were providing for us. Others saw that the Romans were doing all this for themselves. 

(Jerusalem skyline)

Next we stopped at the אהבת exhibit for a quick photo shoot. After getting a few good shots in front of the infamous sign, we visited the model of the old city. I found this to be quite impressive. The model itself made to scale 1-50. It was made in 1960 by a man named by Avi-Yonah. He used 4 main sources to create his model. The most important was archaeological findings of the Old City. The second was the description of temple in the mishnah.  He compared the architecture of the old city to that of the Roman cities. And lastly he used the writings of Yosef Ben Matityahu, a Jew who eventually fought for the Romans and wrote scriptures for them. We discussed the characteristics of the Old City while looking at the model. The city expanded from David outward. Every time the population would grow, the city would have to expand its limits. The poorer people lived in the lower part of the city to the west of David. They lived in small houses and were very crowded. Even further west is the upper city. This was the wealthier sect of the city. Jewish Romans lived there. There was a shuk and possibly a theater (although we aren't quite sure where). King Harod's palace was also located in this part of the city. King Harod built an amazing plaza all around the second temple. All people were allowed here. Next to the plaza and temple was a fortress where soldiers watched over this spot (and King Harod). 

(shows the entire model)

(shows the upper city) 

Next we discussed Sectarian Judaism. These are the different types of Jews that existed at the time. We talked about the differences between the four major sects Judaism and had Nina, Sara, Becca, and Goldie demonstrate for us. The 1st sect is Sadducees צדוקים. These were the richest of Jews, most of them kohanim (priests at the Temple). They were apart of high Roman society. They practiced Judaism regularly (as did most Jews, there was no such thing as orthodox or secular). They took everything in Torah very literally. By this I mean they did not interpret the Torah. They adopted Roman culture but kept their religion. The second sect was Pharisees פרושים. These were poorer Jews in the Jerusalem. They lived in the lower city. They practiced gratitude through prayer. They were rabbis so they felt obligated to the Torah but they still interpreted it.  They lived in simple homes and worked as shoemakers and wood cutters. They did not conform to Hellenistic culture. They adapted to the new Roman culture. The third sect was the Zealots. These were Jewish warriors who fought for independence. They lived in the lower city and rebelled against the Romans. They believed in interpretation of Torah as well. They were against Roman rule. The 4th sect was the Essenes איסיים. These Jews did not live in Jerusalem. They lived in the dead sea area. They rejected Hellenistic culture. They studied, meditated, and copied ancient texts. They were obsessed with ritual bathing or mikveh. They believed messiah was coming soon and avoided the Romans all together. 

(shows the vast lower city in the middle and on the bottom right the city of David)

Some people even believe that the Dead Sea Scrolls could have come from the Essenes.

The scrolls were our next stop. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947 in a cave near the Dead Sea. They date back to around 200 BCE - 70 CE, which is around when the temple was destroyed. The Dead Sea Scrolls were divided into two types. The first type was biblical, where they had nearly every book of the Tanakh. The second type is communal. These talked about the Dead Sea cult, the Yechad, and how everything was owned by the people. We saw the Aleppo Codex from the 14th century which was the oldest Tanakh before the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Then, we saw a nano Tanakh, which I found quite impressive (fun fact! A nano Tanakh was given to President Obama after visiting Israel)! After seeing the smallest Tanakh ever, we walked outside and discussed these monumental art exhibits.

(Represents light and life, a national symbol of Israel) 

(Represents darkness and death) 

My question for you all is do you think King Harod was a good leader? Explain. And if you were to live during the time period of King Herod and the Roman presence, what sect of Judaism would you fall under and why?