We learn Jewish historynot only to avoid themistakes of the past, but tounderstand where ourdestiny is taking us.
This series is designed as a basic overview of all the Jewish history -- all 4,000 years of it.Usually when one mentions the word "history" most people break out in a cold sweat. They remember backto high school and they associate history with the memorization of names, dates, places and eventsnecessary only for exams and then promptly forgotten afterwards. This is probably why Mark Twain said, "Inever let my schooling interfere with my education."So before we actually begin talking about Jewish history, let's talk a little bit about why we need to learnhistory in the first place. What is history? What benefit does learning history serve?History is, first of all, the testing ground of ideas. We can talk in theory about ideas, but the passage of timeclearly shows us which ideas are right or wrong --what works and what doesn't. So, for instance, a hundredyears ago a Communist and a Capitalist could debate which system would dominate the world, but recenthistory has shown us that Communism has failed and Capitalism is sailing along.There's a tremendous amount of lessons that can be learned from history. As the Spanish-Americanphilosopher, George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are destined to repeat it."So the basic reason to learn history, in general, is that people, more or less, are the same. Technologymight change, the geopolitical realities of the world might change, but people tend to do the same stupidthings over and over again. And unless we learn from the past and remember it, and apply those lessons forthe future, we're destined to get stuck in the same rut and repeat the same mistakes over and over.
SPECIAL THEME
This theme applies to Jewish history as well. The Torah teaches:
Remember the days of old; understand the years of generation after generation. Ask your father and he will relate to you, your elders and they will tell you
(Deut. 32:7).But Judaism also introduced a concept into human history that is revolutionary in all aspects, particularly inthe aspect of morality and the notion of history in general -- the idea of an infinite God who acts in history.The Jewish conception of God is that of Creator, Sustainer and Supervisor, which means not a God whocreated the world and then went on vacation to Miami, but an infinite Being who is actively involved increation. To put it more philosophically: The entire physical world is a creation of God's consciousness. Theuniverse has no independent existence outside of God "willing " it to exist.
Everything in the universe is under God's control -- from the quantum to the cosmic. This has monumentalimplications for the events that take place on the tiny speck in the universe that we call Earth. If God knowsand controls everything, then history is a controlled process leading to a destination.Since God is the cosmic scriptwriter, director and producer, the events of human history are not random.This is a story with a plot -- a goal. This means we're headed for a specific destination; there is a finish line.This is another reason not to repeat the same mistakes -- we want to get to that destination as quickly andas painlessly as possible. History is the map to get us there. Therefore the theme of this Jewish historyseries is Jewish destiny -- our past is our future.God continually puts the Jewish people and all humanity through similar challenges over and over again.Only when we get it right do we move forward. Within the study of history lies the key to breaking out of thiscycle, moving forward towards our ultimate destinationTherefore in this series, we are not going to focus so much on the names, dates, places -- although it's veryimportant to know those details -- but on the patterns of human history and the lessons that we all need tolearn from the past.The history we have learned in school is the history of power -- the big battles, the big empires. The bottomline is that the people who make the noise get the attention. But Jewish history doesn't focus on power orempires. It is a history of something far more profound yet much more subtle; embedded behind events isan unfolding drama of a destiny being fulfilled. This is the real drama of human destiny.When we look at the history through the lens of Judaism, we see things in a totally different way. It doesn'tchange the events; it only changes how we understand the events. It's important to keep in mind throughoutthis series that what we're talking about is the ultimate cause and effect scenario that is directing history
JEWISH TIME
Jewish time begins with the creation of Adam who is seen as the physical and spiritual pinnacle in terms ofthe creation of the world.As the Book of Genesis relates it, Adam was created on the sixth day in the process of creation, more than5760 years ago. (The year 2000 in the Gregorian calendar, which begins count from the time of Jesus, is5760 in the Hebrew calendar, which begins counting from the time of Adam)Adam is unique among the other creatures, inhabiting the earth not just because he gives rise to such anamazingly innovative group of descendants, but because Adam is created
b'tzelem Elohim,
"in the image ofGod." This means he has a soul -- a
neshama
-- a higher, spiritual, intellectual essence. This Divine spark isthe Godlike essence we human beings all have.Once Adam is completed, God then, so to speak, takes off his cosmic watch, hands it to Adam and says,"Now we switch to earth time." A day becomes a revolution of the earth on its axis, a year is the earth goinground thesun once, etc. According to Jewish chronology, God took off his watch more than 5760 years ago.There is a profound lesson rooted in the idea of starting the Jewish calendar from the completion of Adam.Just as the movie director starts the cameras rolling when the big actors show up on the set (even though
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