2008

Four thousand years of Jewish history at a glance.

Plus a bibliography of the course.

by Rabbi Ken Spiro

Jewish History Timeline

HEBREW
YEAR
Day 6
930
1056
1656
1948
1996
2018
2048
2108
2216

BEFORE
COMMON
ERA (BCE)
3761
2830
2704
2104
1812
1764
1742
1712
1652
1544

Creation of Adam
Death of Adam
Birth of Noah
The Flood
Birth of Abraham
Tower of Babel; dispersion of mankind
Covenant between God and Abraham
Birth of Isaac
Birth of Esau and Jacob
Joseph sold into slavery by his brothers

2238
2332
2368
2448

1522
1428
1392
1312

2488
2488
2636
2813
2881
2883

1272
1272
1124
947
879
877

2924
2928
2935
2964
3143
3205
3213
3298
3338
3390

836
832
825
796
617
555
547
462
422
370

3405
3408
3413

355
352
347

3429
3448

331
312

3500
3515
3622
3625

260
245
138
135

3697
3728
3742

63
32
18

Jacob and his family move to Egypt

Beginning of Egyptian slavery
Birth of Moses
Exodus from Egypt;
Jews receive the Torah at Mount Sinai
Joshua leads Jews into the Promised Land
Time of Shoftim (Judges) begins
Deborah judges Israel
Samson judges Israel
Prophet Samuel anoints Saul as king of Israel
Prophet Samuel anoints David as king of
Israel
King Solomon begins his rule
Construction of First Temple begins
First Temple inaugurated by King Solomon
The Kingdom of Israel splits
Time of Prophet Isaiah begins
Exile of the Ten Tribes by the Assyrian Empire
Sennacharib at gates of Jerusalem
Time of Prophet Jeremiah begins
First Temple destroyed by the Babylonians
Persian ruler Cyrus permits the return of Jews to
Israel
Purim victory
Construction of Second Temple
Time of the Men of the Great Assembly (410-312
BCE)
Alexander the Great reaches Jerusalem
Era of prophets ends with death of Simon
HaTzaddik
Period of Zugot (Pairs) begins
Torah (Seputagint) translated into Greek
Maccabee Revolt begins
Miracle of Chanukah
Hasmonean rule begins
Roman general Pompeii enters Jerusalem
Time of Hillel and Shammai
Herod the Great renovates the Second Temple

COMMON
ERA (CE)
3790

30

Death of Jesus
Beginnings of Christianity

3826

66

Great Revolt of the Jews begins

3830

70

Second Temple destroyed by the Romans

3833

73

Fall of Masada

3892

132

Bar Kochba revolt begins

3895

135

Romans crush last Jewish revolt

3896

136

Rabbi Akiva martyred

3950

190

Rabbi Judah HaNasi records the

Tradition; time of Tanaim (Teachers)

4066

306

Roman Emperor Constantine converts to

Christianity

4128

368

Jerusalem Talmud compiled

4236

476

Fall of Rome and beginning of Byzantine rule

of Israel

4260

500

Babylonian Talmud compiled

Time of Amoraim (Explainers)

4382

622

Beginnings of Islam

4398

638

Islamic conquest of Jerusalem

4500

740

Time of Khazar Conversion

4527

767

Karaite sect founded

4687

927

Time of Saadia Gaon

Time of Gaonim (Geniuses)

4800

1040

Birth of Rashi
Time of Rishonim (First Ones)

4856

1096

First Crusade

4891

1131

Birth of Maimonides

4900

1140

Judah HaLevi writes The Kuzari

4904

1144

First Blood Libel against Jews in England

5002

1242

Burning of Talmud in Paris

5027

1267

Nachmanides arrives in Israel

5050

1290

Expulsion of Jews from England

5108

1348

The Black Plague

5155

1394

Expulsion of Jews from France

5200

1440

Time of Achronim (Last Ones)

Oral

5240

1480

The Inquisition begins in Spain

5252

1492

Expulsion of Jews from Spain

Columbus discovers America

5276

1516

Ottoman Turks conquer the Land of Israel

5277

1517

Protestant Reformation; time of Martin Luther

5324

1564

Shulchan Aruch
Joseph Karo

5408

1648

Chmielnicki Pogroms in Eastern Europe

5414

1654

First Jewish settlement in New Amsterdam

published

by

Rabbi

(New York)
5436

1676

Death of Shabbatai Tzvi, false messiah

5460

1700

Birth of Baal Shem Tov, founder of

Chassidism

5532

1772

Time of Mitnagdim and Vilna Gaon

5536

1776

American Revolution

5549

1789

French Revolution

5551

1791

Time of the Enlightenment

France gives civil rights to Jews
Russia confines Jews to the Pale of
Settlement

5563

1803

Yeshiva of Volozhin established

5570

1810

Reform Movement founded in Germany

5621

1861

American Civil War

5641

1881

Russian Czar Alexander II assassinated;

Pogroms against Jews

5642

1882

Mass immigration
America

5647

1887

Conservative Movement Founded in America

5654

1894

Dreyfus trial in France

5657

1897

First Zionist Congress in Basle, Switzerland

5674

1914

World War I begins

5677

1917

Balfour Declaration

5678

1918

End of World War I, Ottoman Empire

dissembled; British conquer Jerusalem

5680

1920

British Mandate for Palestine begins

5682

1922

Country of Jordan created by the British

5693

1933

Hitler comes to power

5693

1938

Kristallnacht riots against Jews in Germany

of

Russian

Jews

to

5698

1939

World War II and Holocaust begins

5708

1948

State of Israel declared and War of

Independence

5717

1956

Suez Campaign

5727

1967

Six Day War

Jerusalem

5734

1973

Yom Kippur War

5739

1979

Israel-Egypt peace treaty

5742

1982

Lebanon War

5750

1990

Mass Russian immigration to Israel begins

5751

1991

Persian Gulf War

5753

1993

Oslo Accords

5766

2006

Second Lebanon War

5768

2008

Israel celebrates 60th Birthday

and

Reunification

of

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