History can sometimes be glorified. Certain events or times in history can be framed as magnificent, but on the other hand different times or events can be seen as some of the worst. I do not believe that the history of Jerusalem is excluded from this trend. I think that because of this theme of creation and destruction, Jerusalem and the land of Israel probably have the most dissonant set of events in history. There are times in the history of Jerusalem where Jews had everything. They had a beautiful temple and Jerusalem was the "center" of the world. What is interesting about that is those that recollect the history of Jerusalem "the rabbis would say that whoever had not experienced this festival had never known joy in his life" (137). Statements like this are what I mean when I say that history has a tendency to be glorified.
However, there are times when Jerusalem was not this way. The Jews were exiled. It would be one of the firsts, but unfortunately, definitely not one of the lasts. This constant back and forth, this constant struggle, is what makes Jews so persistent on holding onto this little bit of holy space that we have. The word Israel literally means "to struggle." We have struggled, are struggling, but hopefully the struggle can end soon. Jews have been fighting and defending sacred space for far too long, and it is evident in Armstrong's recollection of the history.
Another thing I noticed in the reading was the intermingling of history. In grade school, we would learn about different events in history in units. This week we're going to learn about the Greeks, and the next week we're going to learn about the American Indians. Like I've discussed in previous posts, the linear view of history is not always the best. While I was reading these chapters, I noticed how much influence the Greeks and Jews actually had on each other. They were separate entities, but there is also much crossover.
Jesus also appears in these chapters. This is sort of how I picture it. Jesus is a Jew. A normal human being. He was given the blame for destroying the temple, therefore sentenced to death by crucifix. He dies quickly, and when he his body isn't there when they go back and look for it, a few select people thought Jesus had risen from dead, therefore becoming a distinct group of Jews, but eventually branch of from Judaism entirely because their viewpoints just stop aligning with the conservative Jewish ways, therefore creating an entirely new religion called Christianity. In my opinion, I don't think Jesus' followers had any clue that what they were doing then would some day control the world (to an extent). I think that this is another place where the idea of history being glorified is viable. As for Jesus being the son of God, that's an entirely different discussion that I'm definitely not going to get into right now.
I also want to draw attention to the mention of Hillel, the scholar mentioned in these chapters. I was very involved in my Jewish life in high school, and since I have been in college I have continued to be involved. One of the Jewish student centers on campus is called Hillel. Hillel is the foundation for Jewish student life and are present on over 500 college campuses. This organization is founded on the basis of what history says about the character of Hillel, who believed that the most important mitzvot of the Torah were charity and loving-kindness. The organization Hillel is based on these principles, and I personally thought it was very interesting and appealed to my taste because of his contrast to the negativity in the chapter about destruction.
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