How the Jewish presence in the Land of Israel has shaped the Jewish experience

JEWISH MOMENTS IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL

How the continuous Jewish presence in the Land of Israel has shaped the Jewish experience worldwide to this day

Jews today are often challenged on the historical connection of the Jewish People with the Land of Israel. There are those who, out of ignorance or malice, ignore the continued and constantly renewed Jewish presence in the Land of Israel. There is, however, a deeper and even less understood aspect of this connection: how much such continued Jewish presence has shaped Judaism as we experience it today.

Naturally, Judaism is experienced in many different ways, from the most traditionalist to the most secular. Yet, all of them stem from a common historical and cultural heritage, which is either embraced, adapted, taken into a different direction, or just simply set aside. And, this common heritage, at its core, bears testimony to the contributions made possible by the continued Jewish presence in the Land of Israel.

What follows is a brief list of such contributions.

• The translation of the Torah into Aramaic, the Targum Onkelos, was completed c. 110 in the Land of Israel. It is included in almost every printed version of the Torah. It is regarded so highly that the Talmud urges us to review the Aramaic translation of Torah portion of the week together with the Hebrew original. Its importance is largely due to the fact that, as with any translation, it represents an interpretation, in this case, the traditional interpretation of the early stages of Israel.

• The translation of the Books of the Prophets into Aramaic, the Targum Yonatan, was completed in the Land of Israel before c.80 CE. R. Yonatan ben Uziel is considered as the greatest of the many students of the great sage Hillel, the Elder [d.10CE]. According to the Talmud, R. Yonatan intended to translate in its entirety the third part of the Hebrew Bible, the Ketuvim, the Holy Writings, but that the time was not right and, as such several books were purposely not translated.

• The compilation of the Mishnah, the first comprehensive and public written rendition of Jewish Law, was completed, c. 200, by the sages in Galilee under the leadership of R. Yehudah HaNasi [135-217]. The Mishnah is a set of 63 tractates, organized in six parts called Orders. It contains 525 chapters and 4,224 entries, recording civil, criminal, and religious rulings over the previous five centuries.

• The completion of the Mishnah left out a large body of works kindred to the Mishnah referred to as Baraita [Outside Teaching]. Some are found dispersed in the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds, others in dedicated collections, such as the Tosefta [Supplement], and yet others in legal Torah commentaries, including Mechilta,[Measure] on Exodus, Sifra D’Bei Rav [Book of the School of Rav] on Leviticus, and, Sifrei D’Bei Rav [Books of the School of Rav] on Numbers and Deuteronomy

• Midrash, as a literary genre and a method of biblical interpretation, flourished during the first two centuries of the common era. The most important are ‘Otiot d’Rabi Akiva’ on the names of the Hebrew letters and ‘Midrash d’Rabi Akiva al ha-Taggin ve-Tziyunim’, on their ornamentations. Other works include ‘Mechilta d’Rabi Ishmael’ and ‘Mechilta d’Rabi Shimon bar Yochai’ on Exodus and from the schools of R. Akiva and R. Ishmael on Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

• The core of the Haggadah shel Pesach was compiled during the second and third centuries of the common era. In some opinions, the core of the Haggadah was compiled in the second century, as the Mishnah includes large sections of its text. Regardless, the Haggadah is already referred to in a Talmudic passage dated to the first half of the 300s as a self contained book of which people had individual copies.

• A mathematically-based Hebrew Calendar was adopted by the Sanhedrin in 359. Until then, the calendar was declared monthly, based on eyewitness reports of the new moon, a practice no longer viable under the hostile environment at the time. The new calendar was developed by Hillel II, the Head of the Sanhedrin and its adoption marks the last decision of the Sanhedrin to be universally accepted in the Jewish world. It is the Hebrew Calendar as we know it today.

• The compilation of the Talmud of the Land of Israel was completed c. 400. The Talmud is a written record of the discussions on the Mishnah that took place over the previous two centuries in the academies of Israel, mostly in the Galilee. Large parts of the text were lost and other parts only exist in fragmentary form. What has reached us covers totally or partially 38 of the 63 volumes, in four of the six Orders of the Mishnah.

• R. Eleazar HaKalir [c.570–c.640] composed, c. 600, hundreds of liturgical poems, for Shabbat, festivals, special Sabbaths, weekdays of festive character, and fast days. Many are included in the Ashkenazic liturgical rite, including Kinnot for Tisha B’Av, Selichot for the days before the High Holidays, several pieces of the Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur services, special prayers for rain in the fall on Shemini Atzeret and for dew on Passover.

• Between the late 500s and late 900s, in Jerusalem and in the Galilee, most notably in Tiberias, generations of scribes, known as the bearers of the ‘mesorah’ [Tradition], developed the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible, which features the most authoritative readings of the text and its standardized division into verses and paragraphs. This is the Hebrew Bible as we know it.

• The sages of Tiberias, together with the Masoretic text the Hebrew Bible, developed a complete system of vowels, punctuation, and cantillation marks, the so-called Tiberian system of Hebrew punctuation. This is the system of Biblical Hebrew as we know it today.

• During the 1500s, the mystics living in Safed, including R. Moshe Cordovero [1522-1570], R. Yitzchak Luria [1534-1572], and R. Chaim Vital [1542-1620], revived the study of Jewish mysticism. Their contributions, led to an outburst in Kabbalistic teachings, which had a widespread and long-lasting impact.

• The Kabbalah Shabbat service, a collection of songs and psalms, recited on Friday night before the evening service, originated in the 1500s among the mystics in Safed. Its most emblematic hymn is ‘Lecha Dodi’ [Come My Beloved], inspired by the Talmud, which refers to rabbis going out to the fields to greet Shabbat. To this day, it is customary in many synagogues to turn east, usually the back of the sanctuary, for the last stanza in order to symbolically welcome Shabbat.

• R. Yosef Karo [1488-1575], a prolific author, is best known for his systematization of Jewish Law. In 1555, he completed in Safed the Shulchan Aruch [Prepared Table], which was first printed in Venice in 1565. It remains to this day the most authoritative Code of Jewish Law.

• R. Israel Najara of Gaza [c.1550-c.1625], is known for his hundreds of liturgical poems. Among his best known poems are ‘Yah Ribon Olam’ [Lord of the World], a Shabbat song in Aramaic, and his ‘Ketubbah le-Chag HaShavuot’ [Marriage Contract for Shavuot], read in many Sephardic communities on Shavuot.

To be noted, this is not intended, either in its content or its time frame, as a comprehensive list. It is enough, however, to establish in a conclusive manner that the continued Jewish presence in the Land of Israel throughout the centuries has bequeathed the rest of the Jewish world a wide array of foundational contributions that shape the Jewish experience today. Indeed, paraphrasing Isaiah 2.3, Jewish tradition never ceased ‘coming out of Zion.’