HERITAGE: Civilization and the jews - PBS

Indeed, Jewish history is a repeating pattern of subjugation,
migration, and settlement. The first Jewish Diaspora community
was settled in 586 B.C.E., when the conquest of Judah by
Nebuchadnezzar led to the exile of many Israelites to Babylon. Even
after the exiles were permitted to return to their homeland, a sizable
number continued to live outside the land of Judah. This
Diaspora grew, and by the beginning of the Common Era, there were
Jewish communities in almost every corner of the Hellenistic world.
The Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. spelled the end of
Jewish national autonomy in Israel. Like other defeated peoples, the
Jews were dispersed. But throughout centuries of Diaspora life, both
Judaism and Jewish national identity survived. A collective Jewish
memory of the Land of Israel and the Temple was passed from generation
to generation by being incorporated into Jewish liturgy and
customs. Beginning in the 19th century, longing for the Land of
Israel took modern form in Zionism, a political movement aimed at
restoring Jewish self-rule in Palestine.
By World War II, Jewish nationalism found itself in conflict with
Arab nationalism, which had staked its own claim on Palestine. The
establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 occurred only after a
bloody war between Jews and Arabs, and resulted in thousands of
Palestinian Arabs becoming refugees. The conflict has yet to be
resolved. Nevertheless, by symbolizing the 20th-century emergence
of Jews from powerlessness, Israel continues to play an important
role in shaping the identities of many Jews around the world.
A PEOPLE IS BORN (3800 – 586 B.C.E.)
VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Building a Nation (Settlement in Canaan, King David) •
Two Kingdoms (Conquest and Exile)
MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on destruction of
Jerusalem and beginning of the Babylonian Exile (Two Kingdoms,
Conquest and Exile)
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Abraham Migrates to Canaan (Canaan, Canaanite
Civilization); The Israelite Conquest of Canaan (Building a Nation,
Settlement in Canaan); David Captures Jerusalem (Building a
Nation, King David)
THE POWER OF THE WORD (586 B.C.E. – 72 C.E.)
VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Introduction (Judah Conquered) • Babylon (Psalm 137,
Judean Life in Babylon, Judean Sacred Texts) • Persia (End of Exile,
Rebuilding Judah) • Greece (Judeans in a Greek World) • Judean
Uprising (Jerusalem in Ruins, The Rabbinic Tradition)
MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: The Judean Diaspora in the Greek World
(Greece, Judeans in a Greek World)
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: A Lament for Jerusalem (Babylon, Psalm 137); A
Judean Temple in Egypt (Persia, The End of Exile); A Call to Rebuild
the Temple (Persia, Rebuilding Judah)
THE SHAPING OF TRADITIONS (30-732)
VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Roman Empire (Diaspora, Roman Tolerance) • Jewish
Sects (The Temple Destroyed, Reshaping Judaism) • Judea Lost (Bar
Kokhba Revolt) • Talmud (Babylonian Community) • Rise of Islam (Jews
in Muslim Lands)
MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Jewish Leaders in Babylon (The Rise of Islam,
Jewish Life in Muslim Lands)
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: A Jewish Community in North Africa; A Shavuot
Celebration in Jerusalem (Roman Empire, Diaspora); The Radhanite
Merchants (The Rise of Islam, Jews in Muslim Lands); When the
Shema Should Be Recited; Days of National Mourning (Epilogue,
Jewish Continuity)
THE CRUCIBLE OF EUROPE (732-1492)
VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Islamic Civilization (Golden Age) • Northern Europe
(Feudal Society, Jewish Life) • Europe Awakens (Jewish Prosperity,
Christian Spain) • Social Upheaval (Expulsion of Jews) • Black
Death (Refuge in the East) • Tragedy in Spain (Expulsion)
SEARCH FOR DELIVERANCE (1492-1789)
VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Exiles from Spain (Refugees & Marranos) • Ottoman
Empire (Jewish Communities, Mysticism in Safed) • New Worlds
(European Empires, Jewish Amsterdam) • Ashkenazim (Polish Jewry) •
Messianism (Shabbetai Zevi)
MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on expulsion from
Spain (Exiles from Spain, Refugees & Marranos); Overview presentation
on Jews in the Americas (New Worlds, European Empires)
Overview presentation on Shabbetai Zevi (Messianism, Shabbetai Zevi)
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Don Joseph Rebuilds Tiberias (Ottoman Empire,
Jewish Communities)
ROADS FROM THE GHETTO (1789-1925)
VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Shaping a Future (Zionism) • A New Century
(Balfour Declaration)
MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on diversity within
early Zionist movement (Shaping a Future, Zionism)
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: “Everywhere a Guest, Nowhere at Home” (Eastern
Europe, Assassination); A Call for Jewish Statehood; A Call for
Spiritual Zionism (Shaping a Future, Zionism); The Balfour
Declaration (A New Century, Balfour Declaration)
THE GOLDEN LAND (AMERICA 1654-1930s)
MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on Jewish immigration
from Central Europe (Building America, Pioneers from Europe);
Overview presentation on mass Jewish immigration from Eastern
Europe (Mass Immigration, Coming to America)
OUT OF THE ASHES (1919-1947)
VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Eastern Europe (Poland) • Refugees (Palestine as Haven)
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Survivors Pin Hopes on Palestine (A Ruined
World, Survivors)
INTO THE FUTURE (1880-1990s)
VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Prewar Palestine (Search for Refuge, Jewish Settlement,
British Rule,) • Israel Is Born ( Illegal Immigration, Partition of Palestine,
Independence & War) • The New Nation (Waves of Immigration) •
1990s (Jewish Identity, Arab-Israeli Conflict, Israeli Society, Into the
Future)
MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: The Revival of Hebrew (Prewar Palestine,
Jewish Settlement); Shaping the Future of Israel (Israel Is Born,
Independence & War); Operation Magic Carpet (The New Nation,
Waves of Immigration)
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: On an Illegal Ship En Route to Palestine (Israel Is
Born, Illegal Immigration); The State of Israel Is Born; The War Creates
Arab Refugees (Israel Is Born, Independence & War); The Law of
Return (The New Nation, Waves of Immigration); Israeli Troops Enter
the Old City (The New Nation, Six-Day War); Soviet Jews Welcome
Golda Meir (Soviet Jewry, Hope and Despair)
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