HERITAGE: Civilization and the jews - PBS

of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 C.E., synagogues took on new importance
as centers of Jewish prayer, learning, and social activity. The
observance of mizvot (divine commandments), previously the duty
mostly of the priestly caste, was increasingly embraced by ordinary
Jews, thus placing the responsibility for the continuation of Judaism
in the hands of all segments of Jewish society. During the ensuing
centuries, many other changes were incorporated into Jewish liturgy,
custom, and thought. Today, scholars of halakhah (religious law) continue
to interpret and debate, thus ensuring the continuing relevance
of Judaism to a changing world.
Judaism has always been characterized by cultural diversity. As
a result of the wide dispersion of the Jewish people, distinct
branches of Judaism have developed. As Jews settled in almost
every corner of the world, they adopted customs and folkways
that reflected the cultures in which they lived. For instance,
Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews follow different traditions when it
comes to holiday foods, liturgical music, and life-cycle customs.
Controversy over diversity has been a constant in Jewish history.
From the 3rd century, B.C.E. to the 1st century, C.E., Pharisees and
Sadducees held sharply different views of what Judaism should be.
When Hasidism arose in Eastern Europe in the 18th century, it met
with much opposition from the rabbinic establishment. Reform
Judaism, a movement founded in the 19th century, does not enjoy
validity in the eyes of the overwhelming majority of Orthodox Jews.
The answer to the question“Who is a Jew” depends very much
on whom you ask. Today, the term Jewishness encompasses a
wide range of beliefs, traditions, and life-styles—from traditional
Orthodoxy to secular atheism, with much in between.
A PEOPLE IS BORN (3800 – 586 B.C.E.)
VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Introduction • Egypt (Rameses II, Israel “Laid Waste”)
• Israel (Exodus, The Covenant) • Building a Nation (Settlement in
Canaan) • Two Kingdoms (Conquest and Exile) • Babylonian Exile
(Torah, Universal God)
MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Images of the Exodus through the Ages
(Israel, Exodus)
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: The First Passover (Israel, Exodus); The Universal
God (Babylonian Exile, Universal God)
THE POWER OF THE WORD (586 B.C.E. – 72 B.C.E.)
VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Babylon (Psalm 137, Judean Life in Babylon, Judean
Sacred Texts) • Persia (End of Exile, Rebuilding Judah) • The Maccabees
(A New Judean Kingdom, Religion in the Land, Qumran) • Rome (The
Pharisees) • Judean Uprising (Jerusalem in Ruins, The Rabbinic Tradition)
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Dispute Among Priests (Maccabees, Religion in the
Land); Birth of a New Sect; The Essene Sect (The Maccabees,
Qumran); Sadducees and Pharisees (Rome, The Pharisees); A
Rabbinic Account of the Jerusalem Siege (Judean Uprising, The
Rabbinic Tradition)
THE SHAPING OF TRADITIONS (30-732)
VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Roman Empire (Diaspora) • Jewish Sects (Nazarenes,
The Temple Destroyed, Reshaping Judaism, Jews vs. Christians) • Judea
Lost (Mishnah) • Talmud (Babylonian Community, Words of the Rabbis) •
Epilogue (Jewish Continuity)
MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Early Synagogues (Jewish Sects, Reshaping
Judaism); A Page of the Talmud (Talmud, Words of the Rabbis); The
Karaites (Epilogue, Jewish Continuity)
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: A Shavuot Celebration in Jerusalem (Roman
Empire, Diaspora); Debate about Circumcision (Jewish Sects,
Nazarenes); Keeping Christians out of Synagogues (Jewish Sects,
Jews vs. Christians); How the Mishnah Was Compiled (Judea Lost,
Mishnah); When the Shema Should Be Recited; Days of National
Mourning (Epilogue, Jewish Continuity)
THE CRUCIBLE OF EUROPE (732-1492)
VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Islamic Spain (Golden Age, Maimonides) • Northern
Europe (Jewish Life)
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Jewish Scholarship in Cordoba (Islamic Spain,
Jewish Partnership
SEARCH FOR DELIVERANCE (1492-1789)
VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Ottoman Empire (Mysticism in Safed, Isaac Luria) •
Hasidism (Ba’al Shem Tov) • Enlightenment (Early Haskalah)
MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on Jewish mysticism
in Safed/ Music Presentation: Lekha Dodi Hymn (Ottoman Empire,
Mysticism in Safed); Images of the Sephardic Community/ Images of
the Ashkenazic Community (New Worlds, Jewish Amsterdam);
Overview presentation on early Haskalah (Enlightenment, Early
Haskalah)
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: A Ruling about Customs of Worship (Ottoman
Empire, Jewish Communities); A Cloth for the Prepared Table
(Ashkenazim, Polish Jewry); A Defense of Hasidism (Hasidism, The
Ba’al Shem Tov); Prospectus for a Modern Jewish Journal
(Enlightenment, Early Haskalah)
ROADS FROM THE GHETTO (1789-1925)
VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Religious Reform (Innovation in Judaism) • Shaping a
Future (Zionism, The Jewish Labor Bund, Literary Renaissance)
MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Orananienburgerstrasse Synagogue/ Jewish
Choral Music (Religious Reforms, Innovation in Judaism)
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Call for the Modernization of Judaism; A Neo-
Orthodox View of Emancipation (Religious Reforms, Innovation in
Judaism); The Whole Town Was in an Uproar; Israel Salanter Founds
the Musar Movement (Eastern Europe, Education)
THE GOLDEN LAND (AMERICA 1654-1930s)
VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: Building America (Reshaping Judaism)
MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Overview presentation on development of
American Reform Judaism/Picture Gallery: American Judaism, 1860-
1880 A Timeline of American Judaism 1919-1940 (Mass Immigration,
Into the Mainstream)
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: What Do Reform Jews Believe; A Definition of
Conservative Judaism; Call for a New Type of Jewish Education
(Mass Immigration, Into the Mainstream)
OUT OF THE ASHES (1919-1947)
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS: Tradition & Change (Eastern Europe, Poland)
A Woman Defends Traditional Judaism (Eastern Europe, Poland)
INTO THE FUTURE (1880-1990s)
VIDEO SUBCHAPTERS: American Jewry (At Home in America) • 1990s (Jewish
Identity, Israeli Society, Into the Future)
MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS: Meaning of the Past: Four Views (1990s, Into
the Future)
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