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Internet
Jewish History
Sourcebook

    FAITH: MIDI: Avinu Malkeinu MIDI: Lecha Dod MIDI: Rock of Ages
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This page is a subset of texts derived from the three major online Sourcebooks listed below, along with added texts and web site indicators. For more contextual information, for instance about Western imperialism, the Islamic world, or the history of a given period, check out these web sites.

For help in research, homework, and so forth see

Notes:

 In addition to direct links to documents, links are made to a number of other web resources.
2ND
 Link to a secondary article, review or discussion on a given topic.
MEGA
 Link to one of the megasites which track web resources.
WEB
 Link to a website focused on a specific issue.. These are not links to every site on a given topic, but to sites of serious educational value.

 

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Contents

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 The People of Israel

Pre-Israelite Canaan/Palestine/Syria

The Bible as a Source

Ethnogenesis

Moses and Monotheism

Conquest of the Land (1250-1000 BCE?)

The National Monarchy (c.1020-586 BCE)

 

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 The Emergence of Judaism

General

Jews and Judaism in the Land of Israel


The First Century CE Context

The Qumran Sect

Jews in the Diaspora

Diaspora Religious Developments

The Conflict with Rome

Triumph of Rabbinic Judaism

Modern Perspectives on Ancient Israel

 

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 The Jewish Middle Ages

General


Jewish Communities and Individuals in Islam


Jewish Communities and Individuals in Christendom


Jews and the State in Christendom


Jews and Economic Activity

Three facts predominate when considering the important role of Jews in the Medieval economy. In most places and times, medieval Jews were legally unable to participate in agriculture, the economic activity of the vast majority of both Christian and Muslim populations. There is a lot of evidence that scattered Jewish communities kept in contact with each other. Finally, although credit was essential to economic activity, lending money on interest (usury) was forbidden by Muslim and Christian law [although there were, in practice, many Christian money-lenders]. (Jewish law also forbids usury within the Jewish community, but permits loans to those outside).

The result of these situations was that Jewish economic activity had to focus on professional skills, trading, or credit provision.


Jewish Communities Outside Islam and Christendom


Jewish Cultures


Jewish Intellectual and Religious Life

  • Toledoth Yeshu A Sixth Century Jewish (negative) account of Jesus. [At UPenn]
    See also the Jewish Views of Jesus Homepage for more texts.
  • Sepher Yetzirah [or Sefer Yatzira], translated from the Hebrew by Wm. Wynn Westcott, [At Wolf's Den]
    The Sepher Yetzirah is one of the most famous of the ancient Qabalistic texts. It was first put into writing around 200 C.E. Westcott's Translation was first published in 1887
  • Judah Ha-Levi (ca 1075-1141): The Kuzari, also known as The Book of Argument and Proof in Defense of the Despised Faith (Kitab al Khazari).
    The entire first book of the Kuzari, a philosophical treatise written by the Spanish Jewish philosopher and poet, Judah Ha-Levi. It is written in the form of a dialogue, purportedly between the king of the Khazars and the representatives of various belief systems, culminating with a rabbi.
  • Maimonides: The Thirteen Principles of Judaism  [At this Site]
  • Maimonides: The 613 Mitzvot  [At this Site]
  • Maimonides: The Laws and Basic Principles of the Torah  [At this Site]
  • Maimonides: The Laws Concerning Mashiach [At this Site]
    Chapters 11 & 12 of Hilchos Melachim from the Mishneh Torah of the Rambam
  • Maimonides: Oath of Maimonides and in Spanish [At Internet Archive, from einstein.com.ar]
  • The Hypertext Halacha, [At Project Torah.org]
    A translation of the Shulchan Aruch and Mishna Berurah. An excellent source for the details of Jewish religious law.


    • Christian Anti-Semitism


    Early Modern Jewish Life

     

    		 Jewish Life Since the Enlightenment

    General

    The Enlightenment and the Jews

    The Jewish Enlightenment [The Haskalah]

    Alternate Jewish Reactions to Modernity

    The History of the Ashkenazi in Eastern Europe

    Jewish Life in Western Europe

    The History of the Sephardic Communities

    The New World Diaspora

    Jews and the Political Left

    Modern Jewish Religious Thought 

    The Impact of Secular Jews on Modern Thought 

    Modern Antisemitism