Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Two Updates

A text only post, and about history, afield from fauna and flora, sort of...and grim, so dear readers, a caution to read on...
I'll put the search strings in bold, these are the beginning of a quote; and the link(s),  the ulrs, which are highlighted too, will be the quote's end(s)...

two updates:

In my Call Me Israel post, I went over the various Jewish diasporas, and how Jews ended up everywhere, from Spain to China...Ethiopia to Russia...in the Book of Esther it's mentioned there are Jewish communities in many of the urban centers of the far flung Persian empire...

Jewish communities Esther

According to the Book of Esther, Haman, royal vizier to King Ahasuerus (presumed to be Xerxes I of Persia[3][4][5]), planned to kill all the Jews in the empire, but his plans were foiled by Mordecai and his cousin and adopted daughter Esther, who had risen to become Queen of Persia. The day of deliverance became a day of feasting and rejoicing.


Purim


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
 
dr david neiman esther
 
Dr David Neiman on the historical background of the Jews of Persia, The Book of Esther and life in ancient Persia. People regard the Purim story as a myth or fairytale when it really is a docu-drama. It is the story of a clash of empires that actually occurred and in which the Jews played a pivotal role.

http://www.villageviewpost.com/2010/02/purim-historical-background-of-jews-of.html
 
Neiman's videos can be found on the web...looking about for Esther I happened on them...at about 1:23 minute mark of the clip at that site (the clip can be found on youtube too), Neiman says, specifically, there were 127 Jewish communities scattered through the Persian empire...the clip begins right way with the story of Esther, and it goes on about how the Jews were all over Persia...it was the Persian roads and the right to free travel that gave Jews opportunities to make settlements... 
 
Persian roads travel freedom
 
Mounted couriers could travel 1677 miles (2699 km) in seven days; the journey from Susa to Sardis took ninety days on foot. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote, "There is nothing in the world that travels faster than these Persian couriers." Herodotus's praise for these messengers—"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"— was inscribed on the James Farley Post Office in New York and is sometimes thought of as the United States Postal Service creed.
 

Royal Road


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
 
Neiman explains, and I wish I could find a text site, in his clip, the history books miss-represent the Jewish diaspora after the fall of the First Temple...the impression is that the Jews were all captives, taken to Babylon, and then allowed to return to Jerusalem...in fact, it would seem, those that went back to Jerusalem were sent to re settle and re build the land there...and this was only a few of the Jews...a few were taken to Babylon, and a few returned...but the majority took advantage of the Persian empire's tolerance for different Peoples and their religions...Jews were free to travel on the almost modern road system of the Empire, and they could keep to their own faith and laws...so there was a diaspora, but it was a peaceful one...in contrast maybe to like the Syrian diaspora going on now!...and in another clip in this series, Neiman explains much the same thing happened when the Romans came along, and by the time of Saint Paul, there were Jewish communities in Spain and Colon...another diaspora, but a peaceful one...
 
Persian empire Jewish communities
 
Jews have had a continuous presence in Iran since the time of Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid Empire. Cyrus invaded Babylon and freed the Jews from Babylonian captivity. The history of immigrant Jews in Iran goes back more than 3000 years, during which time they were part of a society which included adherents of many other religions, such as Zoroastrians, Christians, etc.
 

Persian Jews

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
 
Well, good, that wiki page goes about the complexities of Jewish settlements in Persian lands right up to today...
 
Roman empire Jewish communities
 
Until now, we have discussed the evidence in literary sources, classical and rabbinical. However, there is a third category of evidence: 534 brief tomb inscriptions from the Jewish catacombs, the large underground burial places outside Rome.
 
The Jewish diaspora: Rome
 
 
got lost a bit in the catacombs...
 
Neiman explains too that the Romans had a modern road system, and freedom of travel, and this gave the Jews opportunities to settle communities throughout the Roman Empire...
 
It isn't like they had equal status with the Persians or Romans, they were a minority, and lived in that insecure state minorities experience, the Book of Esther being all about such...
 
Purim
 
According to the Book of Esther, Haman, royal vizier to King Ahasuerus (presumed to be Xerxes I of Persia[3][4][5]), planned to kill all the Jews in the empire, but his plans were foiled by Mordecai and his cousin and adopted daughter Esther, who had risen to become Queen of Persia. The day of deliverance became a day of feasting and rejoicing.
 
... ... ...
 
When Haman's name is read out loud during the public chanting of the Megillah in the synagogue, which occurs 54 times, the congregation engages in noise-making to blot out his name. The practice can be traced back to the Tosafists (the leading French and German rabbis of the 13th century). In accordance with a passage in the Midrash, where the verse "Thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek" (Deuteronomy 25:19) is explained to mean "even from wood and stones." A custom developed of writing the name of Haman, the offspring of Amalek, on two smooth stones, and knocking them together until the name was blotted out.
 

Purim

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
 
 
 
 
 
Haman Amalek
 
 The annual Purim festival celebrates this event, and includes the recitation of the biblical instruction to "blot out the remembrance [or name] of Amalek". Scholars - including Ian Lustick, Marc Gopin, and Steven Bayme - state that the violence described in the Book of Esther has inspired and incited violent acts and violent attitudes in the post-biblical era, continuing into modern times, often centered on the festival of Purim.[
 

Judaism and violence

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
 
Purim tomb of the patriarchs assassination
 
On February 25, 1994, xxxxxxxxxx opened fire on a large number of Palestinian Muslims who had gathered to pray inside the Ibrahimi Mosque (also Mosque of Abraham), at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, West Bank. It took place on February 25, 1994, during the overlapping religious holidays of both Jewish Purim and Muslim Ramadan.
 

Cave of the Patriarchs massacre

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
 
amalek
 
The anti-Zionist Haredi rabbi Zalman Teitelbaum denounced the proposed draft of Haredi men by the Israel Defense Forces by saying "the Zionists came from the seed of Amalek. There has never been such a sect that caused so much damage to the Jewish people.
 

Amalek

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
 
Amalek Palestinians
 
Rabbis throughout the ages have allegorized the reference to Amalek to connote any sworn enemy of the Jewish people from Hitler to Barack Obama (yes, prominent American Orthodox Jews wrote such garbage before the last election).  But this is the first time I’ve ever read any Orthodox publication calling for committing genocide against Palestinians.
 
Israel’s Orthodox Rabbis: ‘Palestinians to the Ovens!’
 
 
the tenth legion
 
In Hebron is the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the site a few years back of an assassination of Muslim worshippers, yet another self similar one to jfk, and very much like the Charleston assassination. 
 
 
That last quote is from here, Tree in the Door, my post The Tenth Legion, and all this about Purim and Amalek an unpdate to that post, the second I mentioned, the first being the update to Call Me Israel, which is the first part of this post...
 
Anna Baltzer
 
According to Balzter's own account, when she first went to Israel on a free birthright trip in January 2000, she saw "a beautiful picture of Israel" but nothing of what was happening to Palestinians. "A Jewish student-life coordinator at Hillel, called the SJP event very well organized and well attended. It seemed very non-threatening and very non-violent. (Speaker) Baltzer made an extra special point that just because she was anti-Israeli policy, it doesn’t mean she is anti-Jewish."
 

Anna Baltzer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
 
Baltzer has fashion model good looks, and is articulate, and made a clip, which is here:
 
Life in Occupied PALESTINE by Anna Baltzer  
 
A few years back she was on a lot of shows...don't know what her recent efforts are...on Fox news she appeared being interviewed by Morgan Kelly, who has fashion model good looks too, and they are in a disconcerting back and forth...
 
Anna Baltzer : Israel uses Palestinian Human Shields !  
 
Well, looking about I see she has twitter and facebook, and is current with her efforts...and a curio is that no major newer media shows, interviews and such, are on the web...once, she appeared on John Daily which is here:
 
Anna Baltzer and Mustafa Barghouti advocate a non-violent approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in this complete, unedited interview. (8:27)
 
clip can be found on youtube too...

oh...another 'anna', with fashion model good looks too!...and I don't remember coverage of this on Fox!

Jewish girl exposes Israel, disrupts Netanyahu during congress, and is tackled by AIPAC  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJpBBeTSNxc
 
Book of Esther, Purim, Amalek, diverted the reach for Pericles!...

OH!...a late update...I'll add more about this tomorrowmorrw, so those who have already read through this post might see this...this evening's yahoo news goes on about the archaeological find of the Acra fort in Jersalem, and I tried to find good story, but sites all cluttered with adds and subscription requests, so, I went to youtube, and found clip of i24 newscast for today...it is an excellent telecast...and I came back to google to learn of i24, and the charming newscaster, another Israeli, this time an Arab Israeli, with fashion model looks...

Lucy Aharish

Aharish was born in 1981 in the southern Israeli town of Dimona, to Maaruf and Salwa Aharish, Arab Israeli Muslim parents originally from Nazareth. Growing up, she was the only Arab student at her school. On Purim she dressed up as Queen Esther, and on Israeli Independence Day she wore blue and white.[2] Later, in 2015, Aharish praised her former high school principal Meir Cohen (then a Knesset member for Yesh Atid) for having fostered an uncompromising stance against racism.[3]

Lucy Aharish

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
 
Here's link to the newscast clip:
 
Has the Greek Acra Citadel been found in Jerusalem?
 
It was such a good show, long, without interruption...I don't know how they managed that...like a breath of fresh air!
 
Pericles for tomorrowmorrow...
 
DavidDavid
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 




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