I knew most of this, but the part that jumps out at me is the troubles we brought and still bring upon ourselves by dissension within Jewry. It was ever thus.
This is great! Thank you. I recently gave a presentation to peers in the CCRC where I live about Hanukkah, and began not quite as "in the beginning" as you did with patriarchs etc., but more as tribes who coalesce and became a kingdom and went to the destruction of 70CE and the Romans renaming Judea. People were so appreciative; Jewish history is long and complex! Now I have the second half available to me from your writing! I also began with 4 points that any discussion of Jews should keep in mind: Judaism is a religion, Jews is a peoplehood; History-Jews live their history--historical events remembered and incorporated into who we are; Diversity--we have small numbers but much diversity in all arenas of our existence;-- so that all answers to questions begin with "it's complicated" or "it depends." I agree with you--knowing our history IS an existential issue for us in our time.
Hi! Thank you for such a comprehensive detailed history of our history. I am a Bukhran Jew. My Momo (mother) came to the U.S. in Jan 1979. She was 18. She escaped with my bibi and bobo (grandmother and grandfather). 2 aunts, 3 uncles and 2 cousins
I plan to write about our history. I have a great aunt and 2 great uncles and cousins that stayed in Iran and are still there today.
It hurts my soul when people assume we all came here through Europe. We're not all of the gefilte fish variety... we all don't have Yiddish heritage. Bubbe's or zayde's..
Yehudim (Jews) been thrown out of nearly every country at one point or another.. my family is Persian. Persian yehudim. Not Arabic. My bobo really gets upset with the reductive usage of Arab for the entire area. Being Persian - from Iran. Assumed Arabic and Muslim 😔
As a writer ( albeit unpaid ) you inspire me to write a column where I interview yehudim from various backgrounds . To inform, educate, & to give people a chance to tell their story
Being of the "gefilte fish variety" I actually started investigating Bukharan, Yemeni, N. African Jews as a teen years and years ago. In Jerusalem I ate Kubbeh from the Kurdish Jewish cuisine. I'm very aware of the variety of Jewish experiences and very proud of my grandparents and ancestors in the Russian Empire pale of settlement and how they lived and survived
I also wanted to mention how much I love gefilte fish! A few years ago, at the local Chabad, I went there for seder and I was surprised how sweet it was. It was really good, and I eat it now during Passover, and it's definitely not an insult when I say that. My husband is of that variety, so we just joke. I'm a comedy writer. I'm trying to be. I'm thinking about writing like a National Lampoon's digital style comedy, and I'll be posting in my Substack here. That's why I joined this, just to get my writing out in practice. Certainly not an insult at all. Gefilte fish is not gross. It really isn't. And surprisingly so because it certainly doesn't look appetizing.
We get the one that's frozen not in a jar, and that's the secret I found out and it's really good. We live in Southwest Florida now, so Publix has it. I love horseradish. I like it with the red beets, the white one is too strong for me, but it's perfect for the morer on the Seder plate.
Okay, I enjoyed your responses.....good luck with the comedy writing.....gefilte fish is the most maligned of foods....Ashkenazi Jews supposedly eating such dull and tasteless, dry food. My mom when she had the strength would make gefilte fish and chopped liver from scratch. So I have very happy food memories....and the Jewish delis and appetizer stores that were once everywhere in NYC and are now like museums there are so few of them. I would say how lucky am I to be a Jew! with all this great food. Then I'd hear Jewish comics make self deprecating jokes which I hated. I would often have non Jewish friends over for Pesach....the jarred variety....and my version of my mom's potato kugel....they loved everything.....I like the non sweet gefilte fish with strong white horse radish.....I would enjoy a Bukharan or Yemini Pesach too, I'm sure.
Absolutely my husband's mother is from Lithuania and she has family that were in the pale of settlement ... which is I understand it's modern day Lithuania I don't believe it was Lithuania at the time but you know I better look at the map or ask her about that. And it was a very large settlement I was reading about it the history is just unbelievable. I was reading about the rebbe as well because I really love Chabad
Our Chabad right down the street from where I live is lovely Very welcoming to everyone Jewish non-Jewish - love for people and community. I've been taking classes about the Tanya written by the Bal Shem Tov
oh I'm learning so much on how to live with joy and love for God in all things and acts of loving kindness -
It's really quite remarkable isn't it? To learn all about the different histories and different oppressions that we had to face in all the different areas
where we were all facing the same things of course in my opinion I don't think there's anything worse than the holocaust. At least in modern times.
The resilience is just incredible and I've read quite a few stories of survivors one of my most recent was the happiest man on earth by Eddie Jaku. What a wonderful book I highly recommend for everybody to read it brought me tears of heart wrenching and joy at the same time
Our resilience in our determination and love for one another all across the globe. Who all stood at Sinai together
Overall a solid and basic history. A couple mistakes though. First, its not really correct to refer to Abraham as the first Jew. As you note, the term Jew did not emerge until the Persian period. He wasnt even the first Israelite. Both those terms are anachronistic. Abraham was the patriarchy, the man who entered the Covenant with God and the first Monothiest (at least according to the book of Genesis).
The second mistake is more serious. You stated that after the 67-70 revolt, the Romans expelled then Jews from Judea and renamed it Syria-Palestinia. This did not happen in 70 CE. It happened in 136 CE after the crushing of the Bar Kochba revolt which you failed to mention.
Otherwise I agree with you and so few diaspora Jews know any of this which is very alarming.
And yet, the title to this essay is absolutely and positively wrong. It should be “A brief history of the JEWISH PEOPLE”. The term ‘Judaism’ was coined 150 years ago. We are not a bunch of “Judaism practitioners”. We’re the Jewish People. Am Yisrael.
Actually the Greeks coined the term Judaism in Greek. But we are talking semantics here. You missed the larger point of the essay by a long shot. What a shame.
You should add that a group of Jews in or around the Year 30CE decided that a Jew from the Galilee was the Jewish messiah and founded a new religion based upon his teachings. The new (Jewish) religion spread among the Jewish diaspora in the empire, becoming universalized to include non-Jews, ultimately becoming the state religion of the empire three hundred years later. That Christianity was founded by Jews upon the teachings of an Orthodox Jew is not a small fact in the history of Judaism. A major part of the tragedy of Jewish history is that this religion ultimately became hostile to Jews and persecuted them for two millennia.
‘State-sponsored AntiSemitism.’ Today? Yes Indeed. Mediaeval but still true to this day. I can quote from our monitoring of a very high-ranking security officer in the Services, here in London: ‘The Security Services are what we have instead of Concentration Camps.’ Pretty incredible but there we are…. And they have admitted attacking continuously all through early childhood years too. So yes, we now know.
Not bad for an intro, I've seen so much online claims to "teach" Jewish history that I kinda expected this to suck, but this paragraph turned me around:
"Jacob is the crucial figure. He married both Leah and Rachel, and through them became the father of 12 sons."
I prefer to assume the best of people so it's possible that this was just a silly flub (if it wa please tell me so I can calibrate my "kaf zechut" meter) but it seemed to me to be careful phraseology which impress me.
Thanks for the "Cliff" notes review of Jewish history. Very important. The only issue I would point out is your comment that the term "Palestine" was first introduced in 1898. It was much earlier. And it is a question I love to ask when discussing this topic with Jews and non-Jews: What is the origin of the word 'Palestine'? Because the origin and appropriation of the word ‘Palestine’ may surprise you. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/398384
I am not a biblical or historical scholar but it bothers me when people telling the history and origin of the Jewish people in the Judaean hills start at Abraham as though Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were historical people. From my non-scholar perspective King Solomon and King David were real historical people but Abraham, et al are mythology. The history of the Jewish people began as a distinct group of Canaanites after the Bronze Age collapse who began to coalesce as a people in the Judaean hills and slowly over a couple hundred years grew into a great nation. I personally feel that acknowledging actual historical development helps locate ancient Israel in line with archaeology and modern genetics that are unequivocal proof of Jewish indigeneity in the land of Israel.
The torah describes the spiritual structure of reality, a deeper level of understanding than any human can describe. Human "archeological findings" are often subject to change and new facts. The torah is Emet and immutable truth. Although the Torah is more than a history book, the Torah function on multiple levels and as such is the most accurate historical document there is.
One who studies Torah with proper teachers and proper intention is able to see that it contains divine wisdom, and a history so precise that no human could ever describe history so thoroughly. At the giving of the Torah, G-d revealed himself for the first time in a mass revelation, with striking clarity: through study of Torah made himself knowable to us.
Modern morals are constantly changing because they are subject to the limited knowledge of man. As man's Creator, G-d's perspective is infinitely greater and provides the truth. Sadly, modern society privileges the universities above this knowledge. To understand the value of knowledge, one needs to understand the price one is willing to pay to preserve knowledge. Our ancestors risked their lives to preserve Torah knowledge and give us the privilege of learning it today.
The Greeks, unlike many adversaries of the Jewish people said we could remain alive, but we had to study Torah only as an academic subject, devoid of G-d. Of course, that is impossible as the Torah is divine wisdom and akin to G-d himself.
The Greeks, were unwilling to allow that there could be anything their human knowledge could not grasp. Of course, G-d is above human wisdom. The modern world tries to wipe out knowledge of truth for a variety of selfish reasons. This kind of study is a lifetime of work and often involves being willing to look outside of the modern narrative we are fed. Only one truth has lasted for all time and that is the truth of G-d.
Great article. This type of historical context is much needed. I am adding the context below to illustrate the deeper essence of the historical narrative of Creation, namely to show that the entire unfolding of events is part of G-d's plan, including the special role of the Jewish people, who were chosen to make this world into a home for G-d.
The suffering the Jews endured was decreed by G-d during the Covenant of the Parts: “And He said to Abram: Know for certain that your seed will be a sojourner in a land that is not theirs, and they will enslave them and afflict them for four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge, and afterward they will go out with great wealth” (Genesis 15:13; Tauber).
In His compassion, G-d minimized the suffering of the Jewish people as follows: 190 of those years consisted of the wandering of Isaac and Jacob. The enslavement in Egypt, specifically, lasted only 210 years. Because of the suffering of Jacob and the brothers, the harshest conditions lasted only 86 years. As explained in Seder Olam: “The children of Israel were actually in Egypt for 210 years. The 400-year period refers to the time that ‘your seed will be a sojourner in a land that is not theirs,’ which is counted from the birth of Isaac. Specifically, there are three phases in this 400-year exile: 1) the time that Abraham’s descendants lived as sojourners in a land that is not theirs, beginning with the birth of Isaac 400 years before the Exodus; 2) their enslavement by the Egyptians, which began after the death of Joseph and his brothers, 116 years before the Exodus; 3) the harsh afflictions that began at the time of Miriam’s birth, 86 years before the Exodus” (Tauber, 153).
Our sages teach us that the Jews were redeemed on account of three things they did while in Egypt. Even amid their suffering, the Jews kept their names, language, and dress, preserving themselves as distinct from the Egyptians. Their language was Hebrew, Lashon HaKodesh (the Holy Tongue), which is the only language that can contain and transmit the fullness of God, and it preserved their understanding of God. Names suggest the essence of a thing, and thus the Jews remained essentially Jewish. By keeping separate clothing, the Jews were noticeably different, which also kept them from fully assimilating.
It was the pain of the exile in Egypt that refined the Jewish people, in the same way that a grape is pressed to make wine. As descendants of Jacob, they knew about their holy ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. During their time in Egypt, many maintained their belief in G-d, and after witnessing the miracles of the Exodus, they were ready to accept the yoke of the Torah and mitzvot.
Sadly, four out of five of the Jews in Egypt perished during the plague of darkness. They did not want to leave Egypt. The passage reads, “Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel, but they did not hearken to Moses because of [their] shortness of breath and because of [their] hard labor” (Exodus 6:9, Kehot Chumash). They despaired completely of ever being redeemed and were overwhelmed by their nonstop labor. Sound familiar?
Among the deeper lessons that the exile in Egypt teaches is that the powers in the world, Pharaoh, Egypt, and its people, are merely actors on a grand stage, used by G-d to bring His grand plan to fruition, making the Jewish people His nation and His emissaries in this world.
Of course, the Egyptians were still punished, because all humans have free choice. I am adding the below to provide the deeper context to make manifest the concept of Divine Providence, and to bring clarity to the point that the entire history of Creation and the Jewish people is part of G-ds plan to make this world into a home for Himself, and the unique role that the Jewish people play in bringing about this plan
An important detail in reward and punishment is that G-d uses only bad people to carry out evil, and good people are messengers for good.
Importantly, the root word of Mitzrayim (מִצְרַיִם, mitz-ra-yim), the biblical name for Egypt, is meitzar (מֵצַר, mé-tzar), meaning constriction or narrowness. Egypt was a large land, but one defined by a narrow consciousness and a limited understanding of truth. In contrast, Yisrael (יִשְׂרָאֵל, Yis-ra-Él) represents openness and alignment with God, often understood as yashar-El, “straight to God.”
The Egyptians believed in the power of nature and false deities. The plagues and miracles of the Exodus revealed that the Creator of nature stands above nature. By following the Torah and mitzvot, which connect a person to God, the Jewish people could rise above limitation and live with a broader awareness of truth. This was made visible when a small nation was brought forth from the most powerful empire on earth against all odds, just as the Maccabees would later overcome the Greeks, David overcame Goliath, and the Jews were saved from the hands of Haman, etc.
Today we also see G-d’s divine assistance as the tiny nation of Israel confronts and emerges victorious in multiple well-funded wars simultaneously: Gaza, against Hamas and allied militants; Lebanon, against Hezbollah; Yemen, against the Houthis; Syria, against Iran-linked militias; Iraq, against Iran-aligned militias; unrest in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria); and Iran itself, the organizing force and strategic backer behind these other fronts.
When I was younger people would ask < What are you?...I'm Jewish........"no, but what are you?
"I'm Jewish." And so on....no, that's your religion...what are you? So this is America.....I'm supposed to be something other than what I am.
Jews who will study Tibetan and become monks will complain how a rabbi 's response to a question turned them entirely off. The person can't study the history in English, or learn Hebrew, but will learn to read and write Tibetan. This from an actual anecdote I read years ago.
Jews in Hollywood who were burned out of Pacific Palisades identity with the poor Gazans who were bombed out of their homes by the IDF. Not hamas, the IDF. Jews who know little to nothing of what you write, are certain that Israel is a "settler colonial" white supremacist apartheid state....and are deeply ashamed. I 've seen this my entire life from the Jews. In addition to the arabized Jews, Samaratins and Christians the Muslim Arab invasion appropriated and distributed land to Arab tribes people. "Palestinians" are settler colonials." They can start by getting off the Temple Mount. If they need "al Aqsa" let them build it in Iraq.
I knew most of this, but the part that jumps out at me is the troubles we brought and still bring upon ourselves by dissension within Jewry. It was ever thus.
This is great! Thank you. I recently gave a presentation to peers in the CCRC where I live about Hanukkah, and began not quite as "in the beginning" as you did with patriarchs etc., but more as tribes who coalesce and became a kingdom and went to the destruction of 70CE and the Romans renaming Judea. People were so appreciative; Jewish history is long and complex! Now I have the second half available to me from your writing! I also began with 4 points that any discussion of Jews should keep in mind: Judaism is a religion, Jews is a peoplehood; History-Jews live their history--historical events remembered and incorporated into who we are; Diversity--we have small numbers but much diversity in all arenas of our existence;-- so that all answers to questions begin with "it's complicated" or "it depends." I agree with you--knowing our history IS an existential issue for us in our time.
Hi! Thank you for such a comprehensive detailed history of our history. I am a Bukhran Jew. My Momo (mother) came to the U.S. in Jan 1979. She was 18. She escaped with my bibi and bobo (grandmother and grandfather). 2 aunts, 3 uncles and 2 cousins
I plan to write about our history. I have a great aunt and 2 great uncles and cousins that stayed in Iran and are still there today.
It hurts my soul when people assume we all came here through Europe. We're not all of the gefilte fish variety... we all don't have Yiddish heritage. Bubbe's or zayde's..
Yehudim (Jews) been thrown out of nearly every country at one point or another.. my family is Persian. Persian yehudim. Not Arabic. My bobo really gets upset with the reductive usage of Arab for the entire area. Being Persian - from Iran. Assumed Arabic and Muslim 😔
As a writer ( albeit unpaid ) you inspire me to write a column where I interview yehudim from various backgrounds . To inform, educate, & to give people a chance to tell their story
Being of the "gefilte fish variety" I actually started investigating Bukharan, Yemeni, N. African Jews as a teen years and years ago. In Jerusalem I ate Kubbeh from the Kurdish Jewish cuisine. I'm very aware of the variety of Jewish experiences and very proud of my grandparents and ancestors in the Russian Empire pale of settlement and how they lived and survived
I also wanted to mention how much I love gefilte fish! A few years ago, at the local Chabad, I went there for seder and I was surprised how sweet it was. It was really good, and I eat it now during Passover, and it's definitely not an insult when I say that. My husband is of that variety, so we just joke. I'm a comedy writer. I'm trying to be. I'm thinking about writing like a National Lampoon's digital style comedy, and I'll be posting in my Substack here. That's why I joined this, just to get my writing out in practice. Certainly not an insult at all. Gefilte fish is not gross. It really isn't. And surprisingly so because it certainly doesn't look appetizing.
We get the one that's frozen not in a jar, and that's the secret I found out and it's really good. We live in Southwest Florida now, so Publix has it. I love horseradish. I like it with the red beets, the white one is too strong for me, but it's perfect for the morer on the Seder plate.
Okay, I enjoyed your responses.....good luck with the comedy writing.....gefilte fish is the most maligned of foods....Ashkenazi Jews supposedly eating such dull and tasteless, dry food. My mom when she had the strength would make gefilte fish and chopped liver from scratch. So I have very happy food memories....and the Jewish delis and appetizer stores that were once everywhere in NYC and are now like museums there are so few of them. I would say how lucky am I to be a Jew! with all this great food. Then I'd hear Jewish comics make self deprecating jokes which I hated. I would often have non Jewish friends over for Pesach....the jarred variety....and my version of my mom's potato kugel....they loved everything.....I like the non sweet gefilte fish with strong white horse radish.....I would enjoy a Bukharan or Yemini Pesach too, I'm sure.
Absolutely my husband's mother is from Lithuania and she has family that were in the pale of settlement ... which is I understand it's modern day Lithuania I don't believe it was Lithuania at the time but you know I better look at the map or ask her about that. And it was a very large settlement I was reading about it the history is just unbelievable. I was reading about the rebbe as well because I really love Chabad
Our Chabad right down the street from where I live is lovely Very welcoming to everyone Jewish non-Jewish - love for people and community. I've been taking classes about the Tanya written by the Bal Shem Tov
oh I'm learning so much on how to live with joy and love for God in all things and acts of loving kindness -
It's really quite remarkable isn't it? To learn all about the different histories and different oppressions that we had to face in all the different areas
where we were all facing the same things of course in my opinion I don't think there's anything worse than the holocaust. At least in modern times.
The resilience is just incredible and I've read quite a few stories of survivors one of my most recent was the happiest man on earth by Eddie Jaku. What a wonderful book I highly recommend for everybody to read it brought me tears of heart wrenching and joy at the same time
Our resilience in our determination and love for one another all across the globe. Who all stood at Sinai together
🙏
Overall a solid and basic history. A couple mistakes though. First, its not really correct to refer to Abraham as the first Jew. As you note, the term Jew did not emerge until the Persian period. He wasnt even the first Israelite. Both those terms are anachronistic. Abraham was the patriarchy, the man who entered the Covenant with God and the first Monothiest (at least according to the book of Genesis).
The second mistake is more serious. You stated that after the 67-70 revolt, the Romans expelled then Jews from Judea and renamed it Syria-Palestinia. This did not happen in 70 CE. It happened in 136 CE after the crushing of the Bar Kochba revolt which you failed to mention.
Otherwise I agree with you and so few diaspora Jews know any of this which is very alarming.
I agree: Bar Kochba should have been included. That said, this is a great thumbnail sketch of Jewish History.
And yet, the title to this essay is absolutely and positively wrong. It should be “A brief history of the JEWISH PEOPLE”. The term ‘Judaism’ was coined 150 years ago. We are not a bunch of “Judaism practitioners”. We’re the Jewish People. Am Yisrael.
Actually the Greeks coined the term Judaism in Greek. But we are talking semantics here. You missed the larger point of the essay by a long shot. What a shame.
You should add that a group of Jews in or around the Year 30CE decided that a Jew from the Galilee was the Jewish messiah and founded a new religion based upon his teachings. The new (Jewish) religion spread among the Jewish diaspora in the empire, becoming universalized to include non-Jews, ultimately becoming the state religion of the empire three hundred years later. That Christianity was founded by Jews upon the teachings of an Orthodox Jew is not a small fact in the history of Judaism. A major part of the tragedy of Jewish history is that this religion ultimately became hostile to Jews and persecuted them for two millennia.
That has literally nothing to do with the history of the Jews so why he mention it in a short compressed history?
I'd love to see an equally terse piece about the birth of Christianity and Islam from Jewish life. Very important part of the story.
Yes, Abraham founded the whole belief-system.
GOD BLESS ISRAEL AND ITS PEOPLE
‘State-sponsored AntiSemitism.’ Today? Yes Indeed. Mediaeval but still true to this day. I can quote from our monitoring of a very high-ranking security officer in the Services, here in London: ‘The Security Services are what we have instead of Concentration Camps.’ Pretty incredible but there we are…. And they have admitted attacking continuously all through early childhood years too. So yes, we now know.
I am surprised that under such an interesting post here are no comments from "I have read the Talmud" people.
Not bad for an intro, I've seen so much online claims to "teach" Jewish history that I kinda expected this to suck, but this paragraph turned me around:
"Jacob is the crucial figure. He married both Leah and Rachel, and through them became the father of 12 sons."
I prefer to assume the best of people so it's possible that this was just a silly flub (if it wa please tell me so I can calibrate my "kaf zechut" meter) but it seemed to me to be careful phraseology which impress me.
Be well.
Thanks for the "Cliff" notes review of Jewish history. Very important. The only issue I would point out is your comment that the term "Palestine" was first introduced in 1898. It was much earlier. And it is a question I love to ask when discussing this topic with Jews and non-Jews: What is the origin of the word 'Palestine'? Because the origin and appropriation of the word ‘Palestine’ may surprise you. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/398384
Jewish 101. Great syllabus.
I am not a biblical or historical scholar but it bothers me when people telling the history and origin of the Jewish people in the Judaean hills start at Abraham as though Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were historical people. From my non-scholar perspective King Solomon and King David were real historical people but Abraham, et al are mythology. The history of the Jewish people began as a distinct group of Canaanites after the Bronze Age collapse who began to coalesce as a people in the Judaean hills and slowly over a couple hundred years grew into a great nation. I personally feel that acknowledging actual historical development helps locate ancient Israel in line with archaeology and modern genetics that are unequivocal proof of Jewish indigeneity in the land of Israel.
The torah describes the spiritual structure of reality, a deeper level of understanding than any human can describe. Human "archeological findings" are often subject to change and new facts. The torah is Emet and immutable truth. Although the Torah is more than a history book, the Torah function on multiple levels and as such is the most accurate historical document there is.
One who studies Torah with proper teachers and proper intention is able to see that it contains divine wisdom, and a history so precise that no human could ever describe history so thoroughly. At the giving of the Torah, G-d revealed himself for the first time in a mass revelation, with striking clarity: through study of Torah made himself knowable to us.
Modern morals are constantly changing because they are subject to the limited knowledge of man. As man's Creator, G-d's perspective is infinitely greater and provides the truth. Sadly, modern society privileges the universities above this knowledge. To understand the value of knowledge, one needs to understand the price one is willing to pay to preserve knowledge. Our ancestors risked their lives to preserve Torah knowledge and give us the privilege of learning it today.
The Greeks, unlike many adversaries of the Jewish people said we could remain alive, but we had to study Torah only as an academic subject, devoid of G-d. Of course, that is impossible as the Torah is divine wisdom and akin to G-d himself.
The Greeks, were unwilling to allow that there could be anything their human knowledge could not grasp. Of course, G-d is above human wisdom. The modern world tries to wipe out knowledge of truth for a variety of selfish reasons. This kind of study is a lifetime of work and often involves being willing to look outside of the modern narrative we are fed. Only one truth has lasted for all time and that is the truth of G-d.
Happy to explain further.
All the best,
Avraham
Great article. This type of historical context is much needed. I am adding the context below to illustrate the deeper essence of the historical narrative of Creation, namely to show that the entire unfolding of events is part of G-d's plan, including the special role of the Jewish people, who were chosen to make this world into a home for G-d.
The suffering the Jews endured was decreed by G-d during the Covenant of the Parts: “And He said to Abram: Know for certain that your seed will be a sojourner in a land that is not theirs, and they will enslave them and afflict them for four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge, and afterward they will go out with great wealth” (Genesis 15:13; Tauber).
In His compassion, G-d minimized the suffering of the Jewish people as follows: 190 of those years consisted of the wandering of Isaac and Jacob. The enslavement in Egypt, specifically, lasted only 210 years. Because of the suffering of Jacob and the brothers, the harshest conditions lasted only 86 years. As explained in Seder Olam: “The children of Israel were actually in Egypt for 210 years. The 400-year period refers to the time that ‘your seed will be a sojourner in a land that is not theirs,’ which is counted from the birth of Isaac. Specifically, there are three phases in this 400-year exile: 1) the time that Abraham’s descendants lived as sojourners in a land that is not theirs, beginning with the birth of Isaac 400 years before the Exodus; 2) their enslavement by the Egyptians, which began after the death of Joseph and his brothers, 116 years before the Exodus; 3) the harsh afflictions that began at the time of Miriam’s birth, 86 years before the Exodus” (Tauber, 153).
Our sages teach us that the Jews were redeemed on account of three things they did while in Egypt. Even amid their suffering, the Jews kept their names, language, and dress, preserving themselves as distinct from the Egyptians. Their language was Hebrew, Lashon HaKodesh (the Holy Tongue), which is the only language that can contain and transmit the fullness of God, and it preserved their understanding of God. Names suggest the essence of a thing, and thus the Jews remained essentially Jewish. By keeping separate clothing, the Jews were noticeably different, which also kept them from fully assimilating.
It was the pain of the exile in Egypt that refined the Jewish people, in the same way that a grape is pressed to make wine. As descendants of Jacob, they knew about their holy ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. During their time in Egypt, many maintained their belief in G-d, and after witnessing the miracles of the Exodus, they were ready to accept the yoke of the Torah and mitzvot.
Sadly, four out of five of the Jews in Egypt perished during the plague of darkness. They did not want to leave Egypt. The passage reads, “Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel, but they did not hearken to Moses because of [their] shortness of breath and because of [their] hard labor” (Exodus 6:9, Kehot Chumash). They despaired completely of ever being redeemed and were overwhelmed by their nonstop labor. Sound familiar?
Among the deeper lessons that the exile in Egypt teaches is that the powers in the world, Pharaoh, Egypt, and its people, are merely actors on a grand stage, used by G-d to bring His grand plan to fruition, making the Jewish people His nation and His emissaries in this world.
Of course, the Egyptians were still punished, because all humans have free choice. I am adding the below to provide the deeper context to make manifest the concept of Divine Providence, and to bring clarity to the point that the entire history of Creation and the Jewish people is part of G-ds plan to make this world into a home for Himself, and the unique role that the Jewish people play in bringing about this plan
An important detail in reward and punishment is that G-d uses only bad people to carry out evil, and good people are messengers for good.
Importantly, the root word of Mitzrayim (מִצְרַיִם, mitz-ra-yim), the biblical name for Egypt, is meitzar (מֵצַר, mé-tzar), meaning constriction or narrowness. Egypt was a large land, but one defined by a narrow consciousness and a limited understanding of truth. In contrast, Yisrael (יִשְׂרָאֵל, Yis-ra-Él) represents openness and alignment with God, often understood as yashar-El, “straight to God.”
The Egyptians believed in the power of nature and false deities. The plagues and miracles of the Exodus revealed that the Creator of nature stands above nature. By following the Torah and mitzvot, which connect a person to God, the Jewish people could rise above limitation and live with a broader awareness of truth. This was made visible when a small nation was brought forth from the most powerful empire on earth against all odds, just as the Maccabees would later overcome the Greeks, David overcame Goliath, and the Jews were saved from the hands of Haman, etc.
Today we also see G-d’s divine assistance as the tiny nation of Israel confronts and emerges victorious in multiple well-funded wars simultaneously: Gaza, against Hamas and allied militants; Lebanon, against Hezbollah; Yemen, against the Houthis; Syria, against Iran-linked militias; Iraq, against Iran-aligned militias; unrest in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria); and Iran itself, the organizing force and strategic backer behind these other fronts.
When I was younger people would ask < What are you?...I'm Jewish........"no, but what are you?
"I'm Jewish." And so on....no, that's your religion...what are you? So this is America.....I'm supposed to be something other than what I am.
Jews who will study Tibetan and become monks will complain how a rabbi 's response to a question turned them entirely off. The person can't study the history in English, or learn Hebrew, but will learn to read and write Tibetan. This from an actual anecdote I read years ago.
Jews in Hollywood who were burned out of Pacific Palisades identity with the poor Gazans who were bombed out of their homes by the IDF. Not hamas, the IDF. Jews who know little to nothing of what you write, are certain that Israel is a "settler colonial" white supremacist apartheid state....and are deeply ashamed. I 've seen this my entire life from the Jews. In addition to the arabized Jews, Samaratins and Christians the Muslim Arab invasion appropriated and distributed land to Arab tribes people. "Palestinians" are settler colonials." They can start by getting off the Temple Mount. If they need "al Aqsa" let them build it in Iraq.
Great summary of historical events explanation and the term Judaism. Kol hakavod.