1.
Old City (Jerusalem)
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The Old City is a 0.9 square kilometers walled area within the modern city of Jerusalem. Until 1860, when the Jewish neighborhood Mishkenot Shaananim was established, traditionally, the Old City has been divided into four uneven quarters, although the current designations were introduced only in the 19th century. Today, the Old City is roughly divided into the Muslim Quarter, Christian Quarter, Armenian Quarter, the Old Citys monumental defensive walls and city gates were built in the years 1535–1542 by the Turkish sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. The current population of the Old City resides mostly in the Muslim and Christian quarters. As of 2007 the total population was 36,965, the breakdown of religious groups in 2006 was 27,500 Muslims,5,681 Christians, not including the 790 Armenians, and 3,089 Jews. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the Old City was captured by Jordan, today, the Israeli government controls the entire area, which it considers part of its national capital. However, the Jerusalem Law of 1980, which effectively annexed East Jerusalem to Israel, was declared null, East Jerusalem is now regarded by the international community as part of occupied Palestinian territory. In 2010, Jerusalems oldest fragment of writing was found outside the Old Citys walls, according to the Bible, before King Davids conquest of Jerusalem in the 11th century BCE the city was home to the Jebusites. The Bible describes the city as heavily fortified with a city wall. The city ruled by King David, known as Ir David, or the City of David, was southeast of the Old City walls, outside the Dung Gate. His son King Solomon extended the city walls and then, in about 440 BCE, during the Persian period, Nehemiah returned from Babylon, in 41–44 CE, Agrippa, king of Judea, built a new city wall known as the Third Wall. Muslims occupied Jerusalem in the 7th Century under the second caliph and he granted its inhabitants an assurance treaty. Sophronius believed that Umar, a warrior who led an austere life, was a fulfillment of this prophecy. In the account by the Patriarch of Alexandria, Eutychius, it is said that Umar paid a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and sat in its courtyard. Eutychius adds that Umar also wrote a decree which he handed to the Patriarch, in which he prohibited Muslims gathering in prayer at the site. In 1099, Jerusalem was captured by the Western Christian army of the First Crusade and it remained in their hands until recaptured by the Arab Muslims, led by Saladin and he summoned the Jews and permitted them to resettle in the city. In 1219, the walls of the city were razed by Muazzim Sultan of Damascus, in 1229, by treaty with Egypt, in 1239 he began to rebuild the walls, but they were demolished again by Daud, the emir of Kerak. In 1243, Jerusalem came again under the control of the Christians, the Kharezmian Tatars took the city in 1244 and Sultan Malik al-Muattam razed the walls, rendering it again defenseless and dealing a heavy blow to the citys status
2.
Israel
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Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. The country contains geographically diverse features within its small area. Israels economy and technology center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, in 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, next year, the Jewish Agency declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied territories including the West Bank, Golan Heights and it extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, but not the West Bank. Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories is the worlds longest military occupation in modern times, efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have not resulted in peace. However, peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have successfully been signed, the population of Israel, as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was estimated in 2017 to be 8,671,100 people. It is the worlds only Jewish-majority state, with 74. 8% being designated as Jewish, the countrys second largest group of citizens are Arabs, at 20. 8%. The great majority of Israeli Arabs are Sunni Muslims, including significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins, other minorities include Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Black Hebrew Israelites, Circassians, Maronites and Samaritans. Israel also hosts a significant population of foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia, including illegal migrants from Sudan, Eritrea. In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish, Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage. The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature, Israel is a developed country and an OECD member, with the 35th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2016. The country benefits from a skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree. The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the third highest in Asia, in the early weeks of independence, the government chose the term Israeli to denote a citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharett. The names Land of Israel and Children of Israel have historically used to refer to the biblical Kingdom of Israel. The name Israel in these phrases refers to the patriarch Jacob who, jacobs twelve sons became the ancestors of the Israelites, also known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel or Children of Israel. The earliest known artifact to mention the word Israel as a collective is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt. The area is known as the Holy Land, being holy for all Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam
3.
Orthodox Judaism
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Orthodox Judaism includes movements such as Modern Orthodox Judaism and Ultra-Orthodox or Haredi Judaism. As of 2001, Orthodox Jews and Jews affiliated with an Orthodox synagogue accounted for approximately 50% of British Jews,26. 5% of Israeli Jews, among those affiliated to a synagogue body, Orthodox Jews represent 70% of British Jewry, and 27% of American Jewry. Orthodoxy is not one single movement or school of thought, there is no single rabbinical body to which all rabbis are expected to belong, or any one organization representing member congregations. In the 20th century, a segment of the Orthodox population disagreed with Modern Orthodoxy, such rabbis viewed innovations and modifications within Jewish law and customs with extreme care and caution. This form of Judaism may be referred to as Haredi Judaism or Ultra-Orthodox Judaism, several local Jewish papers, including New Yorks Jewish Week and Philadelphias Jewish Exponent have also dropped use of the term. According to Rabbi David Bar-Hayim, the term Orthodox Judaism was coined as a response to the rise of Reform Judaism in early 19th century Germany, some researchers attempted to argue that the importance of daily practice and punctilious adherence to Jewish Law relegated theoretical issues to an ancillary status. Others dismissed this view entirely, citing the many debates in ancient rabbinic sources which castigated various heresies without any reference to observance, however, while lacking a uniform doctrine, Orthodox Judaism is basically united in affirming several core beliefs, disavowal of which is considered major blasphemy. As in other aspects, Orthodox positions reflect the mainstream of traditional Rabbinic Judaism through the ages, attempts to codify these were undertaken by several medieval authorities, including Saadia Gaon and Joseph Albo. Yet the 13 Fundamentals expounded by Maimonides in his Commentary on the Mishnah, but in recent centuries the 13 Principles became standard, and are considered binding and cardinal by Orthodox authorities in a virtually universal manner. More specific doctrines refer to the times of Godly salvation and afterlife – in Judaism, Olam haBa and these include belief in divine reward for those who observe the Lords commandments and likewise, punishment meted unto the transgressors. Maimonides reserved one article for this tenet, oft mentioned in sources, stating merely that God rewards. This issue has been subject to debate and interpretation. Nahmanides offered a comprehensive system, with divine remuneration for better or worse both in this world, via natural means, and in a celestial heaven and hell. One of the most important teachings concerning afterlife in Judaism is the Resurrection of the Dead, the Talmud listed deniers of this faith as heretics who shall have no part in the World to Come. Maimoindes specified it apart as a separate article and this particular notion is closely linked with Reward and Punishment. They will live ordinary, corporeal life but will not die, then all mankind shall be resuscitated and be given each his just due. The eternal reward shall be preserved for their soul, as beforehand, preceding the miraculous events linked with afterlife is the Advent of the Messiah, also independently listed among Maimonides Thirteen as a tenet of faith. Orthodox Judaism maintains the historical understanding of Jewish identity, a Jew is someone who was born to a Jewish mother, or who converts to Judaism in accordance with Jewish law and tradition
4.
Rabbi
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In Judaism, a rabbi /ˈræbaɪ/ is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רַבִּי rabi, meaning My Master, the word master רב rav literally means great one. The basic form of the rabbi developed in the Pharisaic and Talmudic era, the first sage for whom the Mishnah uses the title of rabbi was Yohanan ben Zakkai, active in the early to mid first century CE. Within the various Jewish denominations there are different requirements for rabbinic ordination, for example, Orthodox Judaism does not ordain women as rabbis, but other movements have chosen to do so for halakhic reasons as well as ethical reasons. Although the usage rabbim many the majority, the multitude occurs for the assembly of the community in the Dead Sea scrolls there is no evidence to support an association with the later title Rabbi, the root is cognate to Arabic ربّ rabb, meaning lord. As a sign of respect, some great rabbis are simply called The Rav. The titles Rabban and Rabbi are first mentioned in the Mishnah, the term was first used for Rabban Gamaliel the elder, Rabban Simeon his son, and Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai, all of whom were patriarchs or presidents of the Sanhedrin. The title Rabbi occurs in the books of Matthew, Mark, and John in the New Testament, other variants are rəvī and, in Yiddish, rebbə. The word could be compared to the Syriac word ܪܒܝ rabi, in ancient Hebrew, rabbi was a proper term of address while speaking to a superior, in the second person, similar to a vocative case. While speaking about a superior, in the person one could say ha-rav or rabbo. Later, the term evolved into a title for members of the Patriarchate. Thus, the title gained an irregular form, רַבָּנִים rabbanim. Rabbi as a title does not appear in the Hebrew Bible. All of the above personalities would have expected to be steeped in the wisdom of the Torah and the commandments. And honor is due only for Torah, as it is said, The wise shall inherit honor, and only Torah is truly good, as it is said, I have given you a good teaching, do not forsake My Torah. This was eventually encoded and codified within the Mishnah and Talmud and subsequent rabbinical scholarship, the title Rabbi was borne by the sages of ancient Israel, who were ordained by the Sanhedrin in accordance with the custom handed down by the elders. They were titled Ribbi and received authority to judge penal cases, Rab was the title of the Babylonian sages who taught in the Babylonian academies. After the suppression of the Patriarchate and Sanhedrin by Theodosius II in 425, a recognised scholar could be called Rab or Hacham, like the Babylonian sages
5.
Avigdor Nebenzahl
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Rav Nebenzahl is also a former faculty member of Yeshivat Mir, and was Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbachs study partner for over 40 years. Rav Nebenzahl gives a lecture in English to Yeshivat Netiv Aryehs foreign students. Rabbi Nebenzahl also opposes Jewish tour groups to the Temple Mount, one of his students, Rabbi Joel Landau, assisted him in publishing his work. Rabbi Nebenzahls wife, Rebbetzin Shifra Nebenzahl, was a contributor to his work. Click here to download MP3 shiurim by Rabbi Avigdor Neventzal Kotlenu,5, Nissan 5733, בענין בכור בהמה טמאה בחול Yeshivat HaKotel Site Netiv Aryeh Site Obituary, Rebbetzin Shifra Nebenzahl Haaretz Obituary, Plia Albeck
6.
Hebrew language
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Hebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of whom over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, the earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language. Hebrew had ceased to be a spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining since the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Aramaic and to a lesser extent Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among elites and it survived into the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature, intra-Jewish commerce, and poetry. Then, in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, and, according to Ethnologue, had become, as of 1998, the language of 5 million people worldwide. After Israel, the United States has the second largest Hebrew-speaking population, with 220,000 fluent speakers, Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of the State of Israel, while premodern Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world today. Ancient Hebrew is also the tongue of the Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Arabic is their vernacular. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Leshon Hakodesh, the modern word Hebrew is derived from the word Ivri, one of several names for the Israelite people. It is traditionally understood to be a based on the name of Abrahams ancestor, Eber. This name is based upon the root ʕ-b-r meaning to cross over. Interpretations of the term ʕibrim link it to this verb, cross over, in the Bible, the Hebrew language is called Yәhudit because Judah was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation. In Isaiah 19,18 it is called the Language of Canaan, Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. In turn, the Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages, according to Avraham ben-Yosef, Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during about 1200 to 586 BCE. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile. In July 2008 Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa which he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating around 3000 years ago. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew, the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that through the Greeks, the Gezer calendar is written without any vowels, and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places where later Hebrew spelling requires it
7.
Nachmanides
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Rabbi Moses ben Nahman, commonly known as Nachmanides /nækˈmænᵻ. He was raised, studied, and lived for most of his life in Girona and he is also considered to be an important figure in the re-establishment of the Jewish community in Jerusalem following its decimation at the hands of the Crusaders in 1099. Nachmanides is a Greek-influenced formation meaning son of Nahman and he is also commonly known by the Hebrew acronym רמב״ן. His Catalan name was Bonastruc ça Porta, literally Mazel Tov near the Gate, Ramban was born in Girona in 1194, where he grew up and studied, and died in the Land of Israel about 1270. He was a descendant of Isaac ben Reuben of Barcelona and cousin of Jonah Gerondi, according to the responsa of Solomon b. During his teens he began to get a reputation as a learned Jewish scholar, at age 16 he began his writings on Jewish law. In his Milhamot Hashem he defended Alfasis decisions against the criticisms of Zerachiah ha-Levi of Girona and these writings reveal a conservative tendency that distinguished his later works — an unbounded respect for the earlier authorities. In the view of Nachmanides, the wisdom of the rabbis of the Mishnah and Talmud and their words were to be neither doubted nor criticized. We bow, he says, before them, and even when the reason for their words is not quite evident to us, Nachmanides adherence to the words of the earlier authorities may be due to piety, or the influence of the northern French Jewish school of thought. This work gave rise to a tendency to allegorize Biblical narratives, against this tendency Nachmanides strove, and went to the other extreme, not even allowing the utterances of the immediate disciples of the Geonim to be questioned. If, he says, you were of the opinion that it was duty to denounce the Guide as heretical. Is it right in important matters to act capriciously, to applaud the one to-day. This compromise, which might have ended the struggle, was rejected by both parties in spite of Nachmanides authority, Nachmanides allegedly wrote a book on marriage, holiness, and sexual relations for his son as a wedding gift, the Iggeret ha-Kodesh. In it Nachmanides criticizes Maimonides for stigmatizing mans sexual nature as a disgrace to man. In the view of the author, the body with all its functions being the work of God, is holy, in Nachmanidess Torat ha-Adam, which deals with mourning rites, burial customs, etc. Nachmanides sharply criticizes writers who strove to render man indifferent to both pleasure and pain and this, he declares, is against the Law, which commands man to rejoice on the day of joy and weep on the day of mourning. The last chapter, entitled Shaar ha-Gemul, discusses reward and punishment, resurrection and it derides the presumption of the philosophers who pretend to a knowledge of the essence of God and the angels, while even the composition of their own bodies is a mystery to them. For Nachmanides, divine revelation is the best guide in all these questions and he holds that as God is eminently just, there must be reward and punishment
8.
Katamon
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Katamon or Qatamon is a neighbourhood in south-central Jerusalem, Israel. The official Hebrew name, Gonen, is used in municipal publications. Katamon is derived from the Greek kata tōi monastēriōi. e, in 1524, after the Ottoman Turks conquered the region from the Mamluks, it was reported that a church of St Simeon, previously held by the Georgians, was now empty in the wake of Muslim attacks. The Greek Orthodox acquired the site in 1859 and in 1881 they built there a new church and residence for their Patriarch, in 1890 the Greek–Orthodox patriarch Nicodemus I of Jerusalem built his summer house near the monastery. The neighborhood began to develop in the late Ottoman Era, in the early 1900s, according to Israeli geographer Gideon Biger, Katamon was probably planned before World War I. The lands in Katamon, like in Talbiya and Baka, were owned by the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, in the late 19th century the church had a financial crisis which worsened during World War I. The Church sold, shortly before the war, some of its estate outside of the Old City, which were deemed as less holy including Katamon, fresh air and an affordable price. Provided, however, you continue to pay this small amount. If you want to more than one plot, you are allowed to do so. And when the raffle take place, you may win adjacent plots, German aerial photographs taken during the war show building lots demarcated by stones at Katamon in a grid plan way, and a system of dirt roads. Despite the low prices, the neighborhood did not attract Jewish buyers because the area was completely Christian, next to the Greek Colony, German Colony, until the war five houses were built in Katamon. During the 1920s, some 90 new residential plots were planned in Katamon and their construction began shortly after the war, in a short time, some 40 luxurious buildings were built in the neighborhood, by Christian–Arab families. The buildings were built in plan for different blocs and not for the entire neighborhood, about half of Katamons buildings were built between 1927 and 1937, and the rest were built until 1948. Most of Katamons residents were mostly educators, teachers, businessmen, contractors, traders and other professionals from the upper, along with private houses, apartment buildings were built for the purpose of rent. The neighborhood developed into a prosperous, bourgeois neighborhood with a European–Cosmopolitan character whilst retaining the local, oriental culture, most of the builders were Arab–Christians from the Greek–Orthodox community, headed by Issa Michael al-Toubbeh, but among them were some Latin rite Catholics and Armenian Protestants. A phenomenon which contributed to the cosmopolitan character was intermarriage between different Christian communities. The apartments were rented to Arab people and British officials, army officers and their families, most of the children were sent to high quality and expensive schools, usually private ones. The schools teaching languages were usually English, Italian, German or French, the members of the Greek–Orthodox community lived a secular lifestyle, visiting churches only on holidays and family events
9.
Jerusalem
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Jerusalem is a city located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is considered a city in the three major Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, the part of Jerusalem called the City of David was settled in the 4th millennium BCE. In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent, today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage Site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger, Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the Old Citys boundaries. These foundational events, straddling the dawn of the 1st millennium BCE, the sobriquet of holy city was probably attached to Jerusalem in post-exilic times. The holiness of Jerusalem in Christianity, conserved in the Septuagint which Christians adopted as their own authority, was reinforced by the New Testament account of Jesuss crucifixion there, in Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina. As a result, despite having an area of only 0, outside the Old City stands the Garden Tomb. Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, West Jerusalem was among the captured and later annexed by Israel while East Jerusalem, including the Old City, was captured. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently annexed it into Jerusalem, one of Israels Basic Laws, the 1980 Jerusalem Law, refers to Jerusalem as the countrys undivided capital. All branches of the Israeli government are located in Jerusalem, including the Knesset, the residences of the Prime Minister and President, the international community does not recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, and the city hosts no foreign embassies. Jerusalem is also home to some non-governmental Israeli institutions of importance, such as the Hebrew University. In 2011, Jerusalem had a population of 801,000, of which Jews comprised 497,000, Muslims 281,000, a city called Rušalim in the Execration texts of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt is widely, but not universally, identified as Jerusalem. Jerusalem is called Urušalim in the Amarna letters of Abdi-Heba, the name Jerusalem is variously etymologized to mean foundation of the god Shalem, the god Shalem was thus the original tutelary deity of the Bronze Age city. The form Yerushalem or Yerushalayim first appears in the Bible, in the Book of Joshua, according to a Midrash, the name is a combination of Yhwh Yireh and the town Shalem. The earliest extra-biblical Hebrew writing of the word Jerusalem is dated to the sixth or seventh century BCE and was discovered in Khirbet Beit Lei near Beit Guvrin in 1961. The inscription states, I am Yahweh thy God, I will accept the cities of Judah and I will redeem Jerusalem, or as other scholars suggest, the mountains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem
10.
Foundation (engineering)
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A foundation is the element of an architectural structure which connects it to the ground, and transfers loads from the structure to the ground. Foundations are generally considered either shallow or deep, foundation engineering is the application of soil mechanics and rock mechanics in the design of foundation elements of structures. Buildings and structures have a history of being built with wood in contact with the ground. Post in ground construction may technically have no foundation, timber pilings were used on soft or wet ground even below stone or masonry walls. In marine construction and bridge building a crisscross of timbers or steel beams in concrete is called grillage, perhaps the simplest foundation is the padstone, a single stone which both spreads the weight on the ground and raises the timber off the ground. Staddle stones are a type of padstone. Dry stone and stones laid in mortar to build foundations are common in parts of the world. Dry laid stone foundations may have painted with mortar after construction. Sometimes the top, visible course of stone is hewn, quarried stones, besides using mortar, stones can also be put in a gabion. One disadvantage is that if using regular steel rebars, the gabion would last much less long than when using mortar, using weathering steel rebars could reduce this disadvantage somewhat. Rubble trench foundations are a shallow trench filled with rubble or stones and these foundations extend below the frost line and may have a drain pipe which helps groundwater drain away. They are suitable for soils with a capacity of more than 10 tonnes/m², shallow foundations, often called footings, are usually embedded about a metre or so into soil. One common type is the spread footing which consists of strips or pads of concrete which extend below the frost line and transfer the weight from walls and columns to the soil or bedrock. Another common type of foundation is the slab-on-grade foundation where the weight of the building is transferred to the soil through a concrete slab placed at the surface. A deep foundation is used to transfer the load of a structure down through the upper layer of topsoil to the stronger layer of subsoil below. There are different types of deep footings including impact driven piles, drilled shafts, caissons, helical piles, geo-piers, the naming conventions for different types of footings vary between different engineers. Historically, piles were wood, later steel, reinforced concrete, a large number of monopile foundations have been utilized in recent years for economically constructing fixed-bottom offshore wind farms in shallow-water subsea locations. For example, a wind farm off the coast of England went online in 2008 with over 100 turbines
11.
Vault (architecture)
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Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that requires a counter resistance, when vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required. However, when the vault is built above ground, various replacements are employed to supply the needed resistance, an example is the thicker walls used in the case of barrel or continuous vaults. Buttresses are used to supply resistance when intersecting vaults are employed, the simplest kind of vault is the barrel vault, which is generally semicircular in shape. The barrel vault is an arch, the length being greater than its diameter. As in building an arch, a support is needed while rings of voussoirs are constructed. Until the topmost voussoir, the keystone, is positioned, the vault is not self-supporting, with a barrel vault, the centering can then be shifted on to support the next rings. Amongst the earliest known examples of any form of vaulting is to be found in the village of Khirokitia on Cyprus. Dating from ca.6000 BCE, the circular buildings supported beehive shaped corbel domed vaults of unfired mud-bricks, similar Beehive tombs, called tholoi, exist in Crete and Northern Iraq. Their construction differs from that at Khirokitia in that most appear partially buried, the inclusion of domes, however, represents a wider sense of the word vault. The distinction between the two is that a vault is essentially an arch which is extruded into the third dimension, whereas a dome is an arch revolved around its vertical axis. Pitched-brick vaults are named for their construction, the bricks are installed vertically and are leaning at an angle, examples have been found in archaeological excavations in Mesopotamia dating to the 2nd and 3rd millennium BC which were set in gypsum mortar. A barrel vault is the simplest form of a vault and resembles a barrel or tunnel cut lengthwise in half, the effect is that of a structure composed of continuous semicircular or pointed sections. The earliest known examples of barrel vaults were built by the Sumerians, possibly under the ziggurat at Nippur in Babylonia, which was built of fired bricks cemented with clay mortar. The earliest barrel vaults in ancient Egypt are thought to be those in the built by the 19th dynasty Pharaoh Ramesses II. The vault being over 800 feet long,10 feet in span, the enormous Eyvan-e Khosro at Ctesiphon was built over 1,500 years ago during the Persian Sasanian period as a throne room. The arch is about 37 metres high,26 metres across and 50 metres long, built entirely without centering, the rings relieved the centering from the weight imposed, and the two layers of bricks carried the concrete till it had set. As the walls carrying these vaults were built in concrete with occasional bond courses of brick
12.
Romanesque architecture
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Romanesque Architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the late 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style, marked by pointed arches, examples of Romanesque architecture can be found across the continent, making it the first pan-European architectural style since Imperial Roman Architecture. The Romanesque style in England is traditionally referred to as Norman architecture, each building has clearly defined forms, frequently of very regular, symmetrical plan, the overall appearance is one of simplicity when compared with the Gothic buildings that were to follow. The style can be identified right across Europe, despite regional characteristics, Many castles were built during this period, but they are greatly outnumbered by churches. The most significant are the great churches, many of which are still standing, more or less complete. The largest groups of Romanesque survivors are in areas that were less prosperous in subsequent periods, including parts of southern France, northern Spain and rural Italy. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word Romanesque means descended from Roman and was first used in English to designate what are now called Romance languages, Romance language is not degenerated Latin language. Latin language is degenerated Romance language, Romanesque architecture is not debased Roman architecture. Roman architecture is debased Romanesque architecture, the first use in a published work is in William Gunns An Inquiry into the Origin and Influence of Gothic Architecture. The term is now used for the more restricted period from the late 10th to 12th centuries, Many castles exist, the foundations of which date from the Romanesque period. Most have been altered, and many are in ruins. By far the greatest number of surviving Romanesque buildings are churches, the scope of Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture was the first distinctive style to spread across Europe since the Roman Empire. In the more northern countries Roman building styles and techniques had never been adopted except for official buildings, although the round arch continued in use, the engineering skills required to vault large spaces and build large domes were lost. There was a loss of continuity, particularly apparent in the decline of the formal vocabulary of the Classical Orders. In Rome several great Constantinian basilicas continued in use as an inspiration to later builders, the largest building is the church, the plan of which is distinctly Germanic, having an apse at both ends, an arrangement not generally seen elsewhere. Another feature of the church is its regular proportion, the plan of the crossing tower providing a module for the rest of the plan. These features can both be seen at the Proto-Romanesque St. Michaels Church, Hildesheim, 1001–1030, the style, sometimes called First Romanesque or Lombard Romanesque, is characterised by thick walls, lack of sculpture and the presence of rhythmic ornamental arches known as a Lombard band
13.
Byzantine architecture
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Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, also known as the Later Roman or Eastern Roman Empire. Byzantine architecture was influenced by Roman and Greek architecture and later Sassanian. Early Byzantine architecture drew upon earlier elements of Roman architecture, stylistic drift, technological advancement, and political and territorial changes meant that a distinct style gradually resulted in the Greek cross plan in church architecture. Most of the structures are sacred in nature, with secular buildings mostly known only through contemporaneous descriptions. Prime examples of early Byzantine architecture date from Justinian Is reign and survive in Ravenna and Istanbul, secular structures include the ruins of the Great Palace of Constantinople, the innovative walls of Constantinople and Basilica Cistern. A frieze in the Ostrogothic palace in Ravenna depicts an early Byzantine palace, remarkable engineering feats include the 430 m long Sangarius Bridge and the pointed arch of Karamagara Bridge. The period of the Macedonian dynasty, traditionally considered the epitome of Byzantine art, has not left a legacy in architecture. The cross-in-square type also became predominant in the Slavic countries which were Christianized by Salonikas missionaries during the Macedonian period, only national forms of architecture can be found in abundance due to this. Those styles can be found in many Transcaucasian countries, such as Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia and other Slavic lands, the Paleologan period is well represented in a dozen former churches in Istanbul, notably St Saviour at Chora and St Mary Pammakaristos. Unlike their Slavic counterparts, the Paleologan architects never accented the vertical thrust of structures, as a result, there is little grandeur in the late medieval architecture of Byzantium. Other churches from the years predating the fall of Constantinople survive on Mount Athos. Those of the type we must suppose were nearly always vaulted. The most famous church of this type was that of the Holy Apostles, vaults appear to have been early applied to the basilican type of plan, for instance, at Hagia Irene, Constantinople, the long body of the church is covered by two domes. At Saint Sergius, Constantinople, and San Vitale, Ravenna, churches of the central type, finally, at Hagia Sophia a combination was made which is perhaps the most remarkable piece of planning ever contrived. This unbroken area, about 260 ft long, the part of which is over 100 ft wide, is entirely covered by a system of domical surfaces. Above the conchs of the small apses rise the two great semi-domes which cover the hemicycles, and between these bursts out the vast dome over the central square. On the two sides, to the north and south of the dome, it is supported by vaulted aisles in two storeys which bring the form to a general square. At the Holy Apostles five domes were applied to a cruciform plan, after the 6th century there were no churches built which in any way competed in scale with these great works of Justinian, and the plans more or less tended to approximate to one type
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Capital (architecture)
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In architecture the capital or chapiter forms the topmost member of a column. It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the supporting surface. The capital, projecting on each side as it rises to support the abacus, joins the usually square abacus and the usually circular shaft of the column. The capital may be convex, as in the Doric order, concave, as in the bell of the Corinthian order, or scrolling out. These form the three types on which all capitals are based. The Composite order, established in the 16th century on a hint from the Arch of Titus, from the highly visible position it occupies in all colonnaded monumental buildings, the capital is often selected for ornamentation, and is often the clearest indicator of the architectural order. The treatment of its detail may be an indication of the buildings date, the decoration underneath the bracket capital comes from art and designs from the many cultures that the Persian Empire conquered and assimilated including Egypt, Babylon, and Lydia. But of course these decorations below the bracket capital serve no purpose and are simply there for show. The earliest Aegean capital is shown in the frescoes at Knossos in Crete, it was of the convex type. The Doric capital is the simplest of the five Classical orders, it consists of the abacus above an ovolo molding, the sloping side of the echinus becomes flatter in the later examples, and in the Colosseum at Rome forms a quarter round. In the Ionic capital, spirally coiled volutes are inserted between the abacus and the ovolo. In the Ionic capitals of the archaic Temple of Artemis at Ephesus the width of the abacus is twice that of its depth, a century later, in the temple on the Ilissus, the abacus has become square. It has been suggested that the foliage of the Greek Corinthian capital was based on the Acanthus spinosus, not all architectural foliage is as realistic as Isaac Wares however. The leaves are carved in two ranks or bands, like one leafy cup set within another. The various orders are discussed in Vitruvius books iii and iv, Vitruvius describes Roman practice in a practical fashion. He gives some tales about the invention of each of the Orders, the increasing adoption of composite capitals signalled a trend towards freer, more inventive capitals in Late Antiquity. The top of an anta is often decorated, usually with bands of floral motifs. The designs often respond to an order of columns, but usually with a different set of design principles, in order not to protude excessively from the wall surface, these structures tend to have a rather flat surface, forming brick-shaped capitals, called anta capitals
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Gothic architecture
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Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished in Europe during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture and its characteristics include the pointed arch, the ribbed vault and the flying buttress. Gothic architecture is most familiar as the architecture of many of the cathedrals, abbeys. It is also the architecture of many castles, palaces, town halls, guild halls, universities and to a less prominent extent, private dwellings, for this reason a study of Gothic architecture is largely a study of cathedrals and churches. A series of Gothic revivals began in mid-18th-century England, spread through 19th-century Europe and continued, largely for ecclesiastical and university structures, the term Gothic architecture originated as a pejorative description. Hence, François Rabelais, also of the 16th century, imagines an inscription over the door of his utopian Abbey of Thélème, Here enter no hypocrites, slipping in a slighting reference to Gotz and Ostrogotz. Authorities such as Christopher Wren lent their aid in deprecating the old medieval style, the Company disapproved of several of these new manners, which are defective and which belong for the most part to the Gothic. Gothic architecture is the architecture of the medieval period, characterised by use of the pointed arch. As an architectural style, Gothic developed primarily in ecclesiastical architecture, the greatest number of surviving Gothic buildings are churches. The Gothic style is most particularly associated with the cathedrals of Northern France. At the end of the 12th century, Europe was divided into a multitude of city states, norway came under the influence of England, while the other Scandinavian countries and Poland were influenced by trading contacts with the Hanseatic League. Angevin kings brought the Gothic tradition from France to Southern Italy, throughout Europe at this time there was a rapid growth in trade and an associated growth in towns. Germany and the Lowlands had large flourishing towns that grew in comparative peace, in trade and competition with other, or united for mutual weal. Civic building was of importance to these towns as a sign of wealth. England and France remained largely feudal and produced grand domestic architecture for their kings, dukes and bishops, the Catholic Church prevailed across Europe at this time, influencing not only faith but also wealth and power. Bishops were appointed by the lords and they often ruled as virtual princes over large estates. The early Medieval periods had seen a growth in monasticism, with several different orders being prevalent. Foremost were the Benedictines whose great abbey churches vastly outnumbered any others in France, a part of their influence was that towns developed around them and they became centers of culture, learning and commerce
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Islamic architecture
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Islamic architecture encompasses a wide range of both secular and religious styles from the foundation of Islam to the present day. What today is known as Islamic architecture was influenced by Persian, Roman, Byzantine, further east, it was also influenced by Chinese and Indian architecture as Islam spread to Southeast Asia. The principal Islamic architectural types are, the Mosque, the Tomb, the Palace, from these four types, the vocabulary of Islamic architecture is derived and used for other buildings such as public baths, fountains and domestic architecture. Symbolic views of scholars on Islamic architecture have consistently been criticized by historians for lacking historical evidence. The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is one of the most important buildings in all of Islamic architecture and it is patterned after the nearby Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Byzantine Christian artists were employed to create its elaborate mosaics against a golden background. The great epigraphic vine frieze was adapted from the pre-Islamic Syrian style, the Dome of the Rock featured interior vaulted spaces, a circular dome, and the use of stylized repeating decorative arabesque patterns. Desert palaces in Jordan and Syria served the caliphs as living quarters, reception halls, and baths, the horseshoe arch became a popular feature in Islamic structures. After the Moorish invasion of Spain in 711 AD the form was taken by the Umayyads who accentuated the curvature of the horseshoe. The Great Mosque of Damascus, built on the site of the basilica of John the Baptist after the Islamic invasion of Damascus, certain modifications were implemented, including expanding the structure along the transversal axis which better fit with the Islamic style of prayer. The Abbasid dynasty witnessed the movement of the capital from Damascus to Baghdad, the shift to Baghdad influenced politics, culture, and art. The Great Mosque of Samarra, once the largest in the world, was built for the new capital, other major mosques built in the Abbasid Dynasty include the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo, Abu Dalaf in Iraq, the great mosque in Tunis. Abbasid architecture in Iraq as exemplified in the Fortress of Al-Ukhaidir demonstrated the despotic, the Great Mosque of Kairouan is considered the ancestor of all the mosques in the western Islamic world. Its original marble columns and sculptures were of Roman workmanship brought in from Carthage and it is one of the best preserved and most significant examples of early great mosques, founded in 670 AD and dating in its present form largely from the Aghlabid period. The Great Mosque of Kairouan is constituted of a square minaret, a large courtyard surrounded by porticos. The Great Mosque of Samarra in Iraq, completed in 847 AD, the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul also influenced Islamic architecture. When the Ottomans captured the city from the Byzantines, they converted the basilica to a mosque, the Hagia Sophia also served as a model for many Ottoman mosques such as the Shehzade Mosque, the Suleiman Mosque, and the Rüstem Pasha Mosque. Domes are a structural feature of Islamic architecture. Domes remain in use, being a significant feature of many mosques, the distinctive pointed domes of Islamic architecture, also originating with the Byzantines and Persians, have remained a distinguishing feature of mosques into the 21st century
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Architecture
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Architecture is both the process and the product of planning, designing, and constructing buildings and other physical structures. Architectural works, in the form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols. Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements, Architecture can mean, A general term to describe buildings and other physical structures. The art and science of designing buildings and nonbuilding structures, the style of design and method of construction of buildings and other physical structures. A unifying or coherent form or structure Knowledge of art, science, technology, the design activity of the architect, from the macro-level to the micro-level. The practice of the architect, where architecture means offering or rendering services in connection with the design and construction of buildings. The earliest surviving work on the subject of architecture is De architectura. According to Vitruvius, a building should satisfy the three principles of firmitas, utilitas, venustas, commonly known by the original translation – firmness, commodity. An equivalent in modern English would be, Durability – a building should stand up robustly, utility – it should be suitable for the purposes for which it is used. Beauty – it should be aesthetically pleasing, according to Vitruvius, the architect should strive to fulfill each of these three attributes as well as possible. Leon Battista Alberti, who elaborates on the ideas of Vitruvius in his treatise, De Re Aedificatoria, saw beauty primarily as a matter of proportion, for Alberti, the rules of proportion were those that governed the idealised human figure, the Golden mean. The most important aspect of beauty was, therefore, an inherent part of an object, rather than something applied superficially, Gothic architecture, Pugin believed, was the only true Christian form of architecture. The 19th-century English art critic, John Ruskin, in his Seven Lamps of Architecture, Architecture was the art which so disposes and adorns the edifices raised by men. That the sight of them contributes to his health, power. For Ruskin, the aesthetic was of overriding significance and his work goes on to state that a building is not truly a work of architecture unless it is in some way adorned. For Ruskin, a well-constructed, well-proportioned, functional building needed string courses or rustication, but suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good. I am happy and I say, This is beautiful, le Corbusiers contemporary Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. The notable 19th-century architect of skyscrapers, Louis Sullivan, promoted an overriding precept to architectural design, function came to be seen as encompassing all criteria of the use, perception and enjoyment of a building, not only practical but also aesthetic, psychological and cultural
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History of Palestine
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Other terms for the same area include Canaan, Zion, the Land of Israel, Southern Syria, Jund Filastin, Outremer, and the Holy Land. The region was among the earliest in the world to see human habitation, agricultural communities, during Late Bronze Age 1550–1400 BCE, the Canaanite cities became vassals to the Egyptian New Kingdom who held power until the 1178 BCE Battle of Djahy during the wider Bronze Age collapse. The region became part of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from c.740 BCE, in 116 BCE, a Seleucid civil war resulted in the independence of certain regions including the minor Hasmonean principality in the Judean Mountains. From 110 BCE, the Hasmoneans extended their authority over much of the area, the Judean control over the wider region resulted in it also becoming known as Judaea, a term that had previously only referred to the smaller region of the Judean Mountains. During 73–63 BCE, the Roman Republic extended its influence into the region in the Third Mithridatic War, conquering Judea in 63 BCE, in 70 CE, Titus sacked Jerusalem, resulting in the dispersal of the citys Jews and Christians to Yavne and Pella. As a result, many Jewish landowners converted to the Ebionim to maintain their properties, during 259–272, the region fell under the rule of Odaenathus as King of the Palmyrene Empire. Persecution of Ebionites led to their dispersion to Arabia and the Parthian Empire, Palestine became a center of Christianity, attracting numerous monks and religious scholars. Also the Samaritan Revolts during this period caused their near extinction, in 661 CE, with the assassination of Ali, Muawiyah I became the uncontested Caliph of the Islamic World after being crowned in Jerusalem. In 691, the Dome of the Rock became the worlds first great work of Islamic architecture, the Umayyad were replaced by the Abbasids in 750. From 878 Palestine was ruled from Egypt by semi-autonomous rulers for almost a century, beginning with Ahmad ibn Tulun, over these centuries many heretical Christians had converted to Islam. The Fatimids conquered the region in 969, in 1073 Palestine was captured by the Great Seljuq Empire, only to be recaptured by the Fatimids in 1098, who then lost the region to the Crusaders in 1099. Their control of Jerusalem and most of Palestine lasted almost a century until defeat by Saladins forces in 1187, after which most of Palestine was controlled by the Ayyubids. A rump Crusader state in the coastal cities survived for another century, but, despite seven further Crusades. The Mamluk Sultanate was indirectly created in Egypt as a result of the Seventh Crusade, in 1486, hostilities broke out between the Mamluks and the Ottoman Turks and the Ottomans captured Palestine in 1516. In 1832, the region was conquered by Muhammad Alis Egypt, the turbulent period of Egyptian rule experienced two major revolts and a significant demographic change in coastal areas, populated by Egyptian Arab peasants and former soldiers of Ali. The end of the 19th century saw the beginning of Zionist immigration, increasing Jewish immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries added considerably to the Jewish communities in Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberias and Jaffa. During World War I the British government issued the Balfour Declaration of 1917, the British captured Jerusalem a month later. The League of Nations formally awarded Britain a mandate over Palestine in 1922, the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine was a nationalist uprising by Palestinian Arabs against British colonial rule and mass Jewish immigration
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Old Yishuv
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The Old Yishuv were the Jewish communities of the southern Syrian provinces in the Ottoman period, up to the onset of Zionist aliyah and the consolidation of the New Yishuv by the end of World War I. The Old Yishuv developed after a period of decline in Jewish communities of the Southern Levant during the early Middle Ages. The oldest group consisted of the Ladino-speaking Sephardic Jewish communities in Galilee, a second group was composed of Ashkenazi and Hassidic Jews who had emigrated from Europe in the 18th and early 19th centuries. A third wave was constituted by Yishuv members who arrived in the late 19th century. Apart from the Old Yishuv centres in the four cities of Judaism, namely Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias and Safed, smaller communities also existed in Jaffa, Haifa, Pekiin, Acre, Nablus. Petah Tikva, although established in 1878 by the Old Yishuv, rishon LeZion, the first settlement founded by the Hovevei Zion in 1882, could be considered the true beginning of the New Yishuv. Jewish communities of the southern Levant under Byzantine rule fell into a decline in the early 7th century. And with the Jewish revolt against Heraclius and Muslim conquest of Syria, despite temporary revival, the Arab Muslim civil wars of the 8th and 9th centuries drove many non-Muslims out of the country, with no evidence of mass conversions, except for Samaritans. The Crusader period marked the most serious decline, lasting through the 12th century, maimonides traveled from Spain to Morocco and Egypt, and stayed in the Holy Land, probably sometime between 1165 and 1167, before settling in Egypt. He had then become a physician of Saladin, escorting him throughout his war campaigns against the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Small Jewish communities were also existent at the time in Gaza, the vast majority of the settlers were wiped out by the Crusaders, who arrived in 1219, and the few survivors were allowed to live only in Acre. Their descendants blended with the original Jewish residents, called Mustarabim or Maghrebim, the Mamluk period saw an increase in the Jewish population, especially in the Galilee, but the black death epidemics had cut the countrys demographics by at least one-third. In 1260, Rabbi Yechiel of Paris arrived in Eretz Israel, at the part of Mamluk Empire, along with his son. There he established the Talmudic academy Midrash haGadol dParis and he is believed to have died there between 1265 and 1268, and is buried near Haifa, at Mount Carmel. Nahmanides arrived in 1267 and settled in Acre as well, don Joseph Nasi succeeded in resettling Tiberias and Safed in 1561 with Sephardic Jews, many of them former Anusim. By the late 16th century, Safed had become a center of Kabbalah, inhabited by important rabbis, among them were Rabbi Yakov bi Rav, Rabbi Moshe Cordevero, Rabbi Yosef Karo, and Isaac Luria. At this time there was a community in Jerusalem headed by Rabbi Levi ibn Haviv also known as the Mahralbach. Rabbi Yeshaye Horowitz, the Shelah Hakadosh, arrived in 1620, Galilee, becoming the most important Jewish center, however, didnt last
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Jews
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The Jews, also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Israelites, or Hebrews, of the Ancient Near East. Jews originated as a national and religious group in the Middle East during the second millennium BCE, the Merneptah Stele appears to confirm the existence of a people of Israel, associated with the god El, somewhere in Canaan as far back as the 13th century BCE. The Israelites, as an outgrowth of the Canaanite population, consolidated their hold with the emergence of the Kingdom of Israel, some consider that these Canaanite sedentary Israelites melded with incoming nomadic groups known as Hebrews. The worldwide Jewish population reached a peak of 16.7 million prior to World War II, but approximately 6 million Jews were systematically murdered during the Holocaust. Since then the population has risen again, and as of 2015 was estimated at 14.3 million by the Berman Jewish DataBank. According to the report, about 43% of all Jews reside in Israel and these numbers include all those who self-identified as Jews in a socio-demographic study or were identified as such by a respondent in the same household. The exact world Jewish population, however, is difficult to measure, Israel is the only country where Jews form a majority of the population. The modern State of Israel was established as a Jewish state and defines itself as such in its Declaration of Independence and its Law of Return grants the right of citizenship to any Jew who requests it. The English word Jew continues Middle English Gyw, Iewe, according to the Hebrew Bible, the name of both the tribe and kingdom derive from Judah, the fourth son of Jacob. The Hebrew word for Jew, יְהוּדִי ISO 259-3 Yhudi, is pronounced, with the stress on the syllable, in Israeli Hebrew. The Ladino name is ג׳ודיו, Djudio, ג׳ודיוס, Djudios, Yiddish, ייִד Yid, ייִדן, Yidn. The etymological equivalent is in use in languages, e. g. but derivations of the word Hebrew are also in use to describe a Jew, e. g. in Italian. The German word Jude is pronounced, the corresponding adjective jüdisch is the origin of the word Yiddish, in such contexts Jewish is the only acceptable possibility. Some people, however, have become so wary of this construction that they have extended the stigma to any use of Jew as a noun, a factual reconstruction for the origin of the Jews is a difficult and complex endeavor. It requires examining at least 3,000 years of ancient human history using documents in vast quantities, as archaeological discovery relies upon researchers and scholars from diverse disciplines, the goal is to interpret all of the factual data, focusing on the most consistent theory. In this case, it is complicated by long standing politics and religious, Jacob and his family migrated to Ancient Egypt after being invited to live with Jacobs son Joseph by the Pharaoh himself. The patriarchs descendants were later enslaved until the Exodus led by Moses, traditionally dated to the 13th century BCE, Modern archaeology has largely discarded the historicity of the Patriarchs and of the Exodus story, with it being reframed as constituting the Israelites inspiring national myth narrative. The growth of Yahweh-centric belief, along with a number of practices, gradually gave rise to a distinct Israelite ethnic group
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Land of Israel
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The Land of Israel is the traditional Jewish name for an area of indefinite geographical extension in the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definitions of the limits of this territory vary between passages in the Hebrew Bible, with mentions in Genesis 15, Exodus 23, Numbers 34. Nine times elsewhere in the Bible, the land is referred as from Dan to Beersheba. According to the Book of Genesis, the land was first promised by God to the descendants of Abram, abrams name was later changed to Abraham, with the promise refined to pass through his son Isaac and to the Israelites, descendants of Jacob, Abrahams grandson. During the mandatory period the term Eretz Yisrael or the Land of Israel was part of the official Hebrew name of Mandatory Palestine, official Hebrew documents used the Hebrew transliteration of the word “Palestine” פלשתינה followed always by the two initial letters of Eretz Yisrael, א״י Aleph-Yod. The Land of Israel concept has been evoked by the founders of the State of Israel. It often surfaces in political debates on the status of the West Bank, Ezekiel, though generally preferring the phrase soil of Israel, employs eretz israel twice, respectively at Ezekiel 40,2 and Ezekiel 47,18. According to Anita Shapira, the term Eretz Yisrael was a term, vague as far as the exact boundaries of the territories are concerned. The Hebrew Bible provides three specific sets of borders for the Promised Land, each with a different purpose. And to their descendants after them, whilst Numbers 34, 1–15 describes the Land of Canaan which is allocated to nine, the expression Land of Israel is first used in a later book,1 Samuel 13,19. It is defined in detail in the exilic Book of Ezekiel as a land where both the tribes and the strangers in midst, can claim inheritance. The name Israel first appears in the Hebrew Bible as the name given by God to the patriarch Jacob, deriving from the name Israel, other designations that came to be associated with the Jewish people have included the Children of Israel or Israelite. The term Land of Israel occurs in one episode in the New Testament, the section in which it appears was written as a parallel to the earlier Book of Exodus. The passage describes the area as the land of the ten named ancient peoples living there. Genesis gives the border with Egypt as Nahar Mitzrayim – nahar in Hebrew denotes a river, never a wadi. Only the Red Sea and the Euphrates are mentioned to define the southern and eastern borders of the land promised to the Israelites. The Red Sea corresponding to Hebrew Yam Suf was understood in ancient times to be the Erythraean Sea, thus the entire Arabian peninsula lies within the borders described
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Ottoman Empire
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After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
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Alhambra Decree
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The primary purpose was to eliminate their influence on Spains large converso population and ensure they did not revert to Judaism. Over half of Spains Jews had converted as a result of the persecution and pogroms which occurred in 1391. A further number of those chose to avoid expulsion as a result of the edict. In 2014, the government of Spain passed a law allowing dual citizenship to Jewish descendants who apply, beginning in the 8th century, Muslims had conquered and settled most of the Iberian Peninsula. Jews, who had lived in these regions since Roman times, were considered People of the Book and given special status, the tolerance of the Muslim Moorish rulers of al-Andalus attracted Jewish immigration, and Jewish enclaves in Muslim Iberian cities flourished as places of learning and commerce. By the 14th century, most of the Iberian Peninsula had been conquered by the Christian kingdoms of Castile, Aragon, León, Galicia, Navarre, overt hostility against Jews became more pronounced, finding expression in brutal episodes of violence and oppression. Thousands of Jews sought to escape attacks by converting to Christianity, they were commonly called conversos, New Christians. At first these conversions seemed a solution to the cultural conflict. But eventually their success made these new Catholics unpopular with some of the clergy of the Church and these suspicions on the part of Christians were only heightened by the fact that some of the coerced conversions were undoubtedly insincere. These secret practitioners are referred to as crypto-Jews or marranos. The existence of crypto-Jews was a provocation for secular and ecclesiastical leaders who were hostile toward Spains Jewry. The uncertainty over the sincerity of Jewish converts added fuel to the fire of antisemitism in 15th century Spain, from the 13th to the 16th centuries European countries expelled the Jews from their territory on at least 15 occasions. Spain was preceded by England, France and some German states, among many others, in 1478, Ferdinand and Isabella made formal application to Rome for a tribunal of the Inquisition in Castile to investigate these and other suspicions. In 1487, King Ferdinand promoted the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition Tribunals in Castille, in Aragon, the independent Islamic Emirate of Granada had been a tributary state to Castile since 1238. In 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella completed the Catholic Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula from Islamic al-Andalus by victory in the Battle of Granada, the king and queen issued the Alhambra Decree less than three months after the surrender of Granada. This was primarily a decision of Isabella, not her husband Fernando and that her confessor had just changed from the tolerant Hernando de Talavera to the very intolerant Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros suggests that Cisneros may well have had a role in Isabels decision. In it, Jews were accused of trying to subvert their holy Catholic faith and these measures were not new in Europe. Some Jews were only four months and ordered to convert to Christianity or leave the country
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1517 Hebron attacks
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1517 Hebron attacks occurred in the final phases of the 1513-17 Ottoman–Mamluk War, when Turkish Ottomans had ousted the Mamluks and taken Palestine. The massacre targeted the Jewish population of the city and is referred to as a pogrom. An account of the event, recorded by Japheth ben Manasseh in 1518, mentions how the onslaught was initiated by Turkish troops led by Murad Bey, Jews were attacked, beaten and raped, and many were killed as their homes and businesses were looted and pillaged. It has been suggested that the financial position of the Hebronite Jews at the time was what attracted the Turkish soldiers to engage in the mass plunder. Others suggest the pogrom could have in fact taken place in the midst of a localised conflict and those who survived the calamity fled to Beirut and Jews only returned to Hebron 16 years later in 1533. 1834 Hebron massacre List of massacres in Ottoman Syria
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1517 Safed attacks
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The Safed attacks were an incident that took place in Safed soon after the Turkish Ottomans had ousted the Mamluks and taken Levant during the Ottoman–Mamluk War in 1517. At the time the town had roughly 300 Jewish households, the severe blow suffered took place as Mamluks clashed bloodily with the new Ottoman authorities. The view that the impact on the Jews of Safed was severe is contested. Historians link the event to the conflict taking place in the country between the incoming Ottoman regime and its opponents and note that the Jews suffered maltreatment during the war. Accounts of the attack against the Jews in Safed were recorded by historian Rabbi Elijah Capsali of Candia, and Rabbi Joseph Garson, according to these reports, many Jews were killed and left injured. They were compelled to flee the city and their property was plundered, scholars debate whether or not the event led to a decline in the Jewish population of Safed, but all agree that a few years later, Jews had re-established a significant presence in the city. The attack may have been initiated by retreating Mamluk soldiers who accused the Jews of treacherously aiding the Turkish invaders, alternatively, the attack occurred during an attempt by local Mamluk sheikhs to reassert their control after being removed from power by the incoming Turks. Many Jews were reportedly killed while others were wounded or had their property pillaged, according to Garson, the Jews were evicted from their homes, robbed and plundered, and they fled naked to the villages without any provisions. Many subsequently fled the city, but the community was rehabilitated with the financial help of Egyptian Jewry. The many Jews who had fled and sought refuge in neighbouring villages returned, the Ottoman overthrow of the Mamluks brought about important changes. Under the earlier dynasty, Egyptian Jews were guided by their nagid,1517 Hebron attacks 1834 looting of Safed 1838 Druze attack on Safed Ben-Ami, Shlomo, Mishal, Nissim. Demographic Changes in the Safed Jewish Community of the 16th Century, occident and Orient, A Tribute to the Memory of Alexander Scheiber. In Zion and Jerusalem, the itinerary of Rabbi Moses Basola, to Come to the Land, Immigration and Settlement in 16th-Century Eretz-Israel. Physician of the Soul, Healer of the Cosmos, Isaac Luria, eretz Yisrael Under Ottoman Rule, 1517-1917. Tel Aviv, Am Oved and Dvir, Ottoman history and society, Jewish sources. Heavenly Powers, Unraveling the Secret of the Kabbalah, further data on the pogrom of 1517 against the Jews of Safed, Cathedra 8, p. 190-94. On the Jews of Safed in the Days of the Ottoman Conquest, Cathedra 11, p. 181-82
26.
Tiberias
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Tiberias is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Established around 20 CE, it was named in honour of the 2nd Emperor of the Roman Empire Tiberius, in 2015 it had a population of 42,610. In the 2nd–10th centuries, Tiberias was the largest Jewish city in the Galilee and the political and religious hub of the Jews of Israel. Its immediate neighbour to the south, Hammat Tiberias, which is now part of modern Tiberias, has known for its hot springs, believed to cure skin and other ailments. Herod Antipas made it the capital of his realm in the Galilee, the city was built in immediate proximity to a spa which had developed around 17 natural mineral hot springs, Hammat Tiberias. Tiberias was at first a pagan city, but later became populated mainly by Jews, with its growing spiritual. The Jewish oral tradition holds that Tiberias was built on the site of the ancient Israelite village of Rakkath or Rakkat, in Talmudic times, the Jews still referred to it by this name. Conversely, in The Antiquities of the Jews, the Roman-Jewish historian Josephus calls the village with hot springs Emmaus, todays Hammat Tiberias and this name also appears in The Wars of the Jews. Antipas settled many non-Jews there from rural Galilee and other parts of his domains in order to populate his new capital, and built a palace on the acropolis. The prestige of Tiberias was so great that the Sea of Galilee soon came to be named the Sea of Tiberias, however, the Jewish population continued to call it Yam Ha-Kineret, its traditional name. The city was governed by a city council of 600 with a committee of 10 until 44 CE when a Roman procurator was set over the city after the death of Herod Agrippa I. Tiberias is mentioned in John 6,23 as the location from which boats had sailed to the side of the Sea of Galilee. The crowd seeking Jesus after the feeding of the 5000 used these boats to travel back to Capernaum on the north-western part of the sea. Under the Roman Empire, the city was known by its Greek name Τιβεριάς, in 61 CE Herod Agrippa II annexed the city to his kingdom whose capital was Caesarea Philippi. It became a city after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE, with Judea subdued. It was to be its final meeting place before its disbanding in the early Byzantine period, when Johanan bar Nappaha settled in Tiberias, the city became the focus of Jewish religious scholarship in the land. The Jerusalem Talmud would follow being compiled by Rabbi Jochanan between 230–270 CE, Tiberias 13 synagogues served the spiritual needs of a growing Jewish population. In the 6th century Tiberias was still the seat of Jewish religious learning, in 628, the Byzantine army returned to Tiberias upon the surrender of Jewish rebels and the end of the Persian occupation after they were defeated in the battle of Nineveh
27.
1838 Druze attack on Safed
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The 1838 Druze attack on Safed began on July 5,1838, during the Druze revolt against the rule of Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt. Tensions had mounted as the Druze captured an Egyptian garrison outside of Safed, some Jews ended up leaving the town, moving south to Jerusalem and Acre. Among them was Israel Beck, whose printing press had been destroyed a second time by the ruffians, by the 19th-century, the Galilean city of Safed comprised a major Jewish center. It had become a centre during the 16th-century, reaching a size of about 15,000 at its peak. Despite the decline through the 17th and 18th centuries, by the 1830s there were still around 3, 500-4,000 Jews living there, comprising at least half the population. After several months, the Egyptians managed to crush the rebellion and regain control of the county, not long after, Safed was again the scene of devastation when in 1837 a strong earthquake resulted in thousands of deaths and the destruction of many buildings. The northern, Jewish section of the town was almost entirely destroyed, by 1838, the tense relationship between the fellahin and the Egyptian overlords was again mounting and a full-scale Druze revolt erupted in January. In summer of 1838, the Druze captured a heavily outnumbered Egyptian garrison outside Safed, the Jewish population relied on the protection of an Arab governor against the Druze. Dr. Elizer Loewe wrote in his diary, We huddled together in Rebbe Avraham Dovs house, the women were hysterical and the children crying. The Rebbe asked me to write a note in Arabic to the mayor, I did so, but his answer was mere lip service. According to Loewe, the mayor and his militia fled the city, the Druze rebels were joined by Muslim mob and they looted the Jewish quarters, as the Druze rebels thought the Jews possessed hidden treasures and local Muslims encouraged them to attack. The plunder lasted for 3 days, during the course of the attack, some Jews were assisted by friendly Arabs. One Arab by the name of Muhammed Mustafa, had helped them, lending them money and providing them with food. This time, Ibrahim Pashas response was swift, and after a few days things returned to normal. 1660 destruction of Safed 1929 Safed riots
28.
Expansion of Jerusalem in the 19th century
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The Departure from the walls in Jerusalem was the process of building new residences outside of the Old City walls, and shifting the city center to the new neighborhoods. The process started in the century and by the early 20th century had entirely transformed the city. In the mid 19th century, with an area of one square kilometer, the Old City had become overcrowded and unsanitary. In the 1850s, institutions including the Russian Compound, the Bishop Gobat School, and the Schneller Orphanage marked the beginning of permanent settlement outside the Jerusalem Old City walls. In 1855, Johann Ludwig Schneller, a Lutheran missionary who came to Jerusalem at the age of 34 and he built a house there but was forced to move his family back inside the walls after several attacks by marauders. When the Turks erected outposts along Jaffa Road, between Jerusalem and the city of Jaffa, and armed guards on horseback patrolled the road. The public institutions were followed by the development of two philanthropically supported Jewish neighborhoods, Mishkenot Sha’ananim and Mahane Israel, Mishkenot Sha’ananim was the first Jewish neighborhood built outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, on a hill directly across from Mount Zion. It was built by Sir Moses Montefiore in 1860 as an almshouse, paid for by the estate of a wealthy Jew from New Orleans, Judah Touro. As an incentive, people were paid to live there, the name of the neighborhood was taken from the Book of Isaiah 32,18, My people will abide in peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings and in quiet resting places. Mahane Israel, built in 1869, was the second Jewish neighborhood built outside the walls of the Old City, Mahane Israel was a communal neighborhood and was built by and for Maghreb Jews. Nahalat Shiva was the residential neighborhood built outside the city walls. It was founded in 1869 as an effort by seven Jerusalem families who pooled their funds to purchase the land. Lots were cast and Yosef Rivlin won the right to build the first house in the neighborhood, the neighborhoods that make up the Nachlaot district were established outside the walls in the late 1870s. The first was Mishkenot Yisrael, built in 1875, the name comes from a biblical verse, How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob/Thy dwellings, O Israel. Mazkeret Moshe was founded by Sir Moses Montefiore in 1882 as an Ashkenazi neighborhood, ohel Moshe is a Sephardi neighborhood established alongside it. The neighborhood was intended for Hasidic Jews, but due to lack of financing. The remainder of the land was apportioned to several groups, Syrian, Iraqi. In the 1890s another neighborhood, Eshel Avraham, was erected next to Kirya Neemana for Georgian and Caucasian Jews, nahalat Shimon was founded in 1891 by Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jewish Kollels, to house poor Yemenite and Sephardi Jews
29.
Ishtori Haparchi
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Ishtori Haparchi is the pen name of the 14th century Jewish physician, topographer, and traveler, Isaac HaKohen Ben Moses. Ishtori Haparchi was born in France in 1280, HaParhi was descended from a line of sages and rabbis of fame. His Father was Rabbi Moshe HaParhi, a distinguished Talmudical scholar and his grandfather was, Rabbi Nathan of Trinquetaille, author of Shaar HiTefisa His great grandfather was Meir ben Isaac of Carcassonne, author of the Sefer ha-Ezer. His family originally came from Florenzia, Spain, the surname Haparchi means the Florentine in Hebrew. He is commonly known by the title Kaftor Vaferach taken from the name of his work, when the Jews were expelled from France in 1306, he travelled to Spain and Egypt, and then settled in Eretz Yisrael. He worked as a physician in Bet Shean, where he died in 1355, ishtori Haparchi was the author of the first Hebrew book on the geography of Eretz Yisrael Sefer Kaftor Vaferach (Hebrew, ספר כפתור ופרח, written in 1322 and published in Venice in 1549. Kaftor Vaferach is a Hebrew idiom derived from the description of the menorah in the Temple, in the context of the book it refers to the lay of the land. Haparchi lists the names of towns and villages in Eretz Yisrael, modern scholarship has determined that most of the 180 ancient sites he identified were correct, among them Usha, Modiin and Betar
30.
Joseph Saragossi
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Joseph Saragossi, was a Spanish-born rabbi and kabbalist of the 15th and 16th centuries. He is credited with developing Safed into an important Jewish and kabbalistic centre and he was banished with the rest of the Jewish community in 1492 and travelled through Sicily to Beirut and Sidon. He settled in Safed, where he became a rabbi, there were about 300 Jews there who had originally come from the Berbers, Sephardim and Moriscos, but they had no natural leader. Saragossi became a rabbi and a leader of the Jewish people despite his quiet manner and his charismatic personality was used to foster the growth of peace and harmony within the community. He endeavored to show reconciliation and mutual respect towards Safeds Muslim, saragossis influence in Safed has been compared to the Italian Obadyah di Bertinoro who made a similar contribution to the community in Jerusalem. When Saragossi indicated his intention to leave Safed, the people of Safed persuaded him to remain, the respect of the Arab community was demonstrated when their Muslim governor promised to provide 33 of the 50 ducats that was offered to Saragossi as an annual payment. Combining Talmudic with kabbalistic knowledge, Saragossi created a movement interested in Kabbalistic Jewish study in Safed and his kabbalistic teachings attracted the attention of David ibn Abu Zimra. In accordance with his wish, Saragossi was buried adjacent to the tomb of Judah bar Ilai and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Singer, Isidore, et al. eds. article name needed. New York, Funk & Wagnalls Company
31.
Jacob Berab
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Jacob Berab, also spelled Berav or Bei-Rav, was an influential rabbi and talmudist best known for his attempt to reintroduce rabbinic ordination. Berab was born at Moqueda near Toledo, Castilian Spain in 1474 and he later became a pupil of Isaac Aboab. After the expulsion of Jews from Spain, he fled to Fez, there, the Jewish community consisting of 5,000 families, chose him for their rabbi, though he was but a youth of eighteen. Evidence of the great respect there paid him is afforded by the lines of Abraham Gavison. Jacob Berab hath come back—once more among us he sojourneth and it is not known how long Berab remained in Algeria, but before 1522 he was in Jerusalem. There, however, the social and economic conditions were so oppressive that he did not stay long and it was there that Berab conceived the bold idea which made him famous, that of establishing a central spiritual Jewish power. Berab had a plan for the reintroduction of the old Semichah and it likely that his further plans included the reestablishment of Sanhedrin, or Synedrium. Berabs undertaking is considered by some to be a part of a bigger Messianic vision, as Ginzburg writes in his article in the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia. the imaginative and sentimental persons thought that the promised Messianic time was approaching. And calls messianic expectations of the time to be a delusion and he also writes that. the hopes of a Messiah, cherished especially in Palestine, were fundamentally wild and extravagant. According to others, the purpose of Berabs plan was a resolution of certain halachic difficulties, Jacob Berab writes about this problem in his Responsa. Maimonides taught that if the sages in Eretz Israel would agree to one of themselves, they could do so. In 1538 twenty-five rabbis met in assembly at Safed and ordained Berab, giving him the right to any number of others. In a discourse in the synagogue at Safed, Berab defended the legality of his ordination from a Talmudic standpoint, and showed the nature of the rights conferred upon him. On hearing of this event most of the other Jewish scholars expressed their agreement, Berab then ordained a few other rabbis, including the chief Rabbi of Jerusalem ibn Habib, rabbi Joseph Caro, rabbi Moses of Trani, and rabbi Yosef Sagis. Joseph Caro later ordained rabbi Moshe Alshich, and Alshich ordained rabbi Hayim Vital around 1590, to obtain the good-will of the Jews of the Holy City, the first use that Berab made of his new dignity was to ordain the chief rabbi at Jerusalem, Levi ibn Habib. Moreover, the terms in which Berab officially announced Ibn Habibs ordination were kindly ones, Berab, therefore, expected no opposition from that quarter, but he was mistaken. Ibn Habibs personal animus was not appeased, but rather stimulated and he considered it an insult to his dignity and to the dignity of Jerusalem that so important a change should be effected without consultation of the Jerusalem scholars. Although Levi ibn Habibs tone was moderate, every one could read between the lines that he opposed the man Berab as well as his work
32.
Joseph Nasi
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He was a great benefactor of the Jewish people. Nasi also brought war with the Republic of Venice, at the end of which Venice lost the island of Cyprus to the Ottomans. After the death of Selim, he lost influence in the Ottoman Court, joao Micas, Yosef Nasi was born in Portugal as a Marrano, a son of the doctor Agostinho Micas, a well known physician and professor at the University of Lisbon. A friend of Maximilian, nephew of the Habsburg King Charles I of Spain and he studied at the University of Louvain, but had to flee the Inquisition in 1547. He then moved to France and later to Venice, before leaving for the Ottoman realm in 1554, where he married Ana Mendes. Due to his connections in Europe, he was able to exercise great influence on Ottoman foreign policy. Among his achievements were negotiating peace with Poland and influencing the new election of the Polish king. He was awarded the monopoly of the trade with Poland, and of the wine trade with Moldavia. Nasis relative Abraham Benveniste was arrested in 1570, on charges of having set fire to the Venetian Arsenal on Nasis instigation, maintaining contacts with William the Silent, Nasi encouraged the Netherlands to revolt against Spain, a major adversary of the Ottoman Empire. For this and other achievements, he was appointed by Selim to become the Duke of Naxos, Joseph Nasi is best known to history for his attempt to resettle the towns of Tiberias and Safed in 1561. He was the first person to attempt to settle Jews in the cities of what was then Southern Syria by practical means, Nasi secured a grant giving ruling authority from the Sultan, and, with the assistance of Joseph ben Adruth, rebuilt the walls and the town. He also attempted to turn it into a center by planting mulberry trees. Arrangements were made for Jews to move from the Papal States, but, when the Ottomans and the Republic of Venice went to war, Nasi is a character in Altai by Wu Ming. Mehmet Bulut, Ottoman-Dutch Economic Relations in the Early Modern Period 1571-1699, Hilversum, Uitgeverij Verloren,2001 John Freely, The Cyclades, London, I. B
33.
Judah HeHasid (Jerusalem)
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See Judah he-Hasid for other people who used this name. Judah he-Hasid Segal ha-Levi was a Jewish preacher who led the largest organized group of Jewish immigrants to the Land of Israel in the 17th and 18th centuries. Judah traveled from one Jewish community to another throughout Poland, urging repentance, ascetism, physical mortifications, in 1697, he and 31 families of his followers left for Moravia and made a stop at Nikolsburg. Judah spent a year traveling throughout Germany and Moravia gaining followers, many joined the group, influenced by his fervor. By the time the group gathered in Italy, they numbered about 1,500. Almost a third of the pilgrims died of hardships and illnesses during the trip, the group arrived in Jerusalem on October 14,1700. At that time, about 200 Ashkenazi and about 1,000 Sephardi Jews lived in the city, the sudden influx of between 500 and 1,000 Ashkenazim produced a crisis, the local community was unable to help such a large group. In addition, some of the newcomers were suspected to be Sabbateans, the situation grew worse when Judah He-Hasid died within days of his arrival to Jerusalem. He is buried on the Mount of Olives, emissaries were sent to the Council of the Four Lands for aid, but it didnt arrive. The newcomers went deeper into debt to build a small synagogue, in 1720, Arab creditors broke into the synagogue, set it on fire, and took over the area. Some of the Ashkenazi Jews moved to other cities, others started to dress like Sephardi Jews. The synagogue, called Hurvat Yehudah He-Hasid, was rebuilt in 1864 by the Perushim, the building was destroyed by the Arab Legion in 1948. It was then rebuilt and rededicated in 2010, the Land of Promise, The Return to Zion March 27,2003 Pre-Zionism
34.
Hayyim ben Jacob Abulafia
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Hayyim ben Jacob Abulafia was a rabbinical authority. He was the grandfather of Hayyim ben David Abulafia and grandson of Isaac Nissim aben Gamil, Abulafia was a rabbi in Smyrna, where he instituted many wholesome regulations. In his old age he restored the Jewish community in Tiberias and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Kayserling, Meyer. New York, Funk & Wagnalls Company
35.
Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk
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Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, also known as Menachem Mendel of Horodok, was an early leader of Hasidic Judaism. Part of the generation of Hassidic leaders, he was the primary disciple of the Maggid of Mezeritch. From his base in Minsk Menachem Mendel was instrumental in spreading Hasidism throughout Belarus. In the winter of 1772, he - along with Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi - went to the Vilna Gaon with the aim of convincing him to rescind his ban on Hasidism, but the Vilna Gaon would not receive them. After the Maggids death, Rabbi Menachem Mendel, along with fellow disciple Rabbi Abraham Kalisker settled in Horodok, in 1777 the two, along with 300 followers, emigrated to Eretz Israel, settling in Safed, Ottoman Syria. In 1783 they were forced out of Safed, and moved to Tiberias, the synagogue they built there in 1786 still stands among the Ancient synagogues of Tiberias. The Tanya is partially based on the works of Rabbi Menachem Mendel, Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk is the subject of 15 of the stories in Martin Bubers Tales of the Hasidim. Pri HaAretz Pri HaEitz Likkutei Amarim Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, The Pioneering Rebbe by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed KALISKER, ABRAHAM BEN ALEXANDER HA-KOHEN, the Jewish Encyclopedia
36.
Haim Farhi
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Haim Farhi, was an adviser to the governors of the Galilee in the days of the Ottoman Empire. Among the Jews he was known as Hakham Haim, because of his Talmudic learning, Farhi was chief advisor to Ahmad al-Jazzar of Acre, whose whims included blinding Farhi and leaving him physically scarred. Until his assassination in 1820, instigated by Farhis own protege Abdullah Pasha, Farhi was the financial vizier, after the murder, Abdullah Pasha ordered Farhis body cast into the sea and confiscated all his property. Two of Farhi’s brothers, Soliman and Rafael, living in Damascus, after the Ottoman conquest of the Levant from the Mamluks in 1516, Galilee became part of its empire. Vast areas of Turkey, Asia, North Africa and Southeastern Europe were ruled almost autonomously by local governors, the Levant in particular, split into numerous feuding power centers. Rule over the Sanjak of Acre was supposed to derive from the authority of the Damascus governorate, after the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji was signed with Russia on July 21,1774, Sultan Abdul Hamid I sought to reassert Turkish sovereignty by attacking Dhaher and blockading the port of Acre. His troops rose in revolt and murdered their leader, in 1775 a Turkish officer, the Bosnian Mameluk Ahmad al-Jazzar took over, and the Turks regained control over the northern areas of the land. Zahir al-Umar actively encouraged Jewish resettlement and personally invited Hayyim ben Jacob Abulafia of İzmir to settle in the Galilee, the rabbi, born in Hebron, then part of the Jerusalem Mutassariflik, returned in 1740 and was received with full honours by Zahir. He settled in Tiberias, which was restored from its ruinous state, an impressive synagogue was built, roads were constructed, and Jewish agricultural settlements were founded at Pekiin, Shefa-Amr, and Kafr Yasif. These policies continued under Ahmad al-Jazzar, the existence of a strong local authority enforced the law and prevented Bedouin banditry on the roads. Zahir was one of the most tolerant and efficient local leaders and meted out justice equally to Muslim, Christian and Jew. This was the case in the days of Zahir and al-Jazzar who transformed the Galilee into a region that attracted both Arabs from Syria and Lebanon, and Jews from the east and west, Haim Farhi was born to a respected and ancient Jewish family in Damascus. His father Saul had established a business that flourished to the extent that it expanded to control Syrias finances, banking. Together with other members, Farhi worked as a financial agent in the Damascus district. Contemporary sources often mention the family as being the real rulers of Syria and they may also have mediated between the Jewish community and the authorities, trying to alleviate the tax burden placed on the Jews of Safed. Farhi succeeded his father as banker of the ruler of Damascus and he gained extensive influence with the Turkish government and became the adviser to Ahmad al-Jazzar, ruler of Acre. This was probably due to his intrigues that led to the execution of the advisor, Mikhail Sakruj. Al-Jazzar was a violent and cruel ruler, which is evidenced from his title al-Jazzar meaning The Butcher and he would often find pretext to lash out in savage assaults
37.
Jacob Saphir
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Jacob Saphir was a Meshulach and traveler of Romanian Jewish descent, born in Ashmyany, government of Wilna. While still a boy, he went to Ottoman Palestine with his parents, who settled at Safed, in 1848, he was commissioned by the Jewish community of the latter city to travel through the southern countries to collect alms for the poor of Jerusalem. In 1854 he undertook a tour to collect funds for the construction of the Hurva Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter, which led him in 1859 to Yemen, British India, Egypt. Saphir published also Iggeret Teman, a work on the appearance in Yemen of the pseudo-Messiah Judah ben Shalom, Saphir died in Jerusalem in 1886. Sapir also did a lot of research and writings on Yanover, Palestinian, fuenn, Keneset Yisrael, pp. 557–558, idem, in Ha-Karmel, vi, Wilna,1866, Geiger, Abraham, in Jüd. Jewish Encyclopedia article on Jacob Saphir written by Isidore Singer & Schulim Ochser, new York, Funk & Wagnalls Company
38.
Haim Aharon Valero
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Haim Aharon Valero was a banker, entrepreneur and a prominent figure in the Jewish community of 19th century Jerusalem. Under his direction, the Valero Bank, founded in 1848 by his father Jacob, at the start of the 19th century Jerusalem was a small, poverty stricken town on the margins of the Ottoman Empire. It was fought over by the great powers for centuries. Trade was scarce and there was no industry other than small-scale production of soap, olive oil. In the first half of the 19th century all the population lived within the walled city. Poverty was pervasive, housing poor, living conditions hard, the streets narrow, even within the walls, a third of the city was a wasteland, covered in thickets of prickly pear cacti. No one lived beyond the city walls and whole surrounding area was ground for criminal gangs. At sunset the city gates were locked, Haim Aharon’s father, Jacob Valero, was of Spanish-Jewish origins, whose ancestors were forced out of Spain by the Spanish Inquisition in the late 15th century. His family migrated to the Ottoman Empire and Jacob was born in Istanbul and he received a traditional Jewish education and as a young man migrated to Ottoman Syria and settled in Jerusalem. Jacob Valero married Esther Aziza Levi and had three children, initially he worked as a butcher, but after a while switched to money changing, which went from strength to strength. In collaboration with Haim Amzalak, Gavriel Papu and Jacob Pascal, he founded in 1848 the first bank in Palestine, the main branch was located in the Old City close to the Jaffa Gate, in a small two room flat. With the expansion of its operations, a branch was opened in the port of Jaffa, directed by his eldest son Joseph, Haim Aharon was born in Jerusalem in 1845. He benefitted from an education, including five languages, French, Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew. At the age of fifteen he started working as clerk in the run by his father. By this time the bank had no other partners, in 1880, after the death of his older brother Joseph, he became director of the bank. Haim Aharon Valero was married to Simha Papu and had seven children with her, after she died at the age of 38, he married his niece, Miriam Valero, and had two more children. He died in 1923 and was buried at the Mount of Olives cemetery and his activities and wealth soon earned Haim Aharon an important standing in the city, both in the Jewish and the wider community. His education and mastery of different languages were critical to Haim Aharon’s ability to perform his various roles in the social, commercial and political spheres, between 1831 and 1841, after the conquest of Jerusalem by Egypt, he served as member of the district management committee
Israel
