The Jews: A People's History
This five-part documentary explores 4,000 years of Jewish history, starting with the origins of the Jewish people in the Middle East right through to present day Judaism.
The series researches the roots of the Jewish people, seeking clues about Judaism at the archaeological excavation sites, the centers of culture and in the written evidence of the Jewish Diaspora.
The purpose of the documentary is to give the public deeper insight, beyond the Holocaust and Israeli politics, into the Jewish people, Nina Koshofer, director of the documentary, said. We wanted to enlighten people on the historical development of Jews and their faith. We chose people with whom the public could identify.
Koshofer has focused most of her attention on known personalities. We also want to show the diversity of the Jewish people the rich and the poor, the famous and unknowns... We also wanted to try and answer the question that perhaps never really can be answered who is Jewish and what is Jewish... Koshofer added.
Koshofer is aiming to show that the answers to many questions are as varied as the number of Jews who live in the world today. One cannot portray Jews as one idea or ideal. Episodes included: Exodus, Diaspora, Stigma, The Star of David, Zion.
Anyone in search of the origins of many centuries-old conspiracy theories surrounding the Jewish people is well advised to read chapter 5 of Barbara W. Tuchman's extraordinary book "A Distant Mirror", which addresses the holocaust of public executions, lynchings, burnings and property thefts brought down on entire Jewish communities across Europe as scapegoats for The Great Plague.
The chapter also describes the exceptionally harsh proscriptions under which their presence was tolerated, how, through exorbitant levels of taxation, the rulers of the time quietly enriched themselves at their expense (the origins of a reputation for lending rapaciousness), and how volatile popular movements founded in deep ignorance and superstition (for example, the flagellants) left European Jews in fear for their lives at almost every turn.
What emerges is a picture of a people hounded by malicious stereotyping, subject to humiliating dress codes, and who could -at more or less a moment's notice- find themselves in the hands of a raging and bloodthirsty mob.
Mysticism and a secret codex are fine for those who are in on it. Why won't Jews just admit a couple of facts to prevent antisemitism of religious nature from the two religions who you seemingly allow to add on stories to your books of Moses.
1. 5 Books of Moses are fictional stories.
2. The God of Abraham was a jealous God like its people. Jews wanted one God to call their own and all discussions, rituals, laws were designed for making a religion into a race and that Abraham's God was never meant to be considered the one and only creator of Universe and all mankind. He was created my man to be the one and only creator of the Jews. Which is why thou shall not Kill is specific to Jew on Jew and why a few pages later tells his people to go into the Land of Canaan and kill all except those willing to serve as slaves. Unless this is understood correctly, others will assume that Jews don't consider Non Jews as having value but merely a flock to be sheared, eaten and used as Burnt offerings.
3. If there were a person from the line of David who could perform miracles of those attributed to "JESUS the CHRIST" and followed by 12 other Jews so devoted to truth and enlightenment that the story or narrative would be proudly acknowledged and recorded as they occurred by the Jews themselves in Aramaic and the oldest richest Christian Church would be where his people lived. 3 And not in the land of the enemy who tried to erase the Jews and their written history from existence, instead you allow a lie of biblical proportions to be written, sold and so much worse about the SUN and the 12 astrological constellations tuned into the Son of Abraham's GOD who came to earth to rape a virgin so he could be born, so he could die, so he could be born again and sit next to himself in Heaven.
By letting this insane story not be refuted at every opportunity it leads to Jews by race don't have value as Jew's of Religion do and non Jews drop in value even more. And the fact that Jesus was a pacifist, when Rome found one thing about you they admired and surprised by was your ability to fight a much larger force and inflict so much damage because of fanatical mono theism and sense of community . Why don't the Jews explain that collaborator Josephus and house Flavian and a few others in Greece and Egypt upon thinking they had erased Jews and their written history completely and with no shame attempted the long con of those that fabricated Abraham and Moses and GOD's WORD.
The Story where the Jews are responsible for planning GOD's execution. And deny his "rightful" claim of a God made flesh and living and dyeing and living again. Do you see that might create a little antisemitism before meeting a Jew of flesh for themselves. The Christians who value love and forgiveness as taught by JESUS and then proceeded torture and murder anyone who didn't convert and these are the peaceful offspring of the Old Testament. I don't have much knowledge of the Torah but now in the USA it is presented as Christians of the dark ages longing for the days of old when men were respected and obeyed without question.
The very fact that you don't out a large portion of humans as Pagan Sun Worshipers by telling the truth breeds distrust from the non Jewish secular community. Does your long con require their long con to exist. Educate truthfully or stop being and/or playing the victims for profit and power. I am even willing to pretend God created man but only to the extant that man created Religion not from any word of God is a planned perversion to attempt control and manipulation of fellow men and must be eliminated for the one true race. The Human Race
Jews: A People's History: 1. Thrown out of every country they have inhabited 2. Continue to manipulate the gentiles into giving up their freedoms. 3. Actively seek to undermine Christian values by projecting violence, sex, and drug abuse as fashionable activities. 4. Control the most powerful organized crime families in Israel and the United States 5. Run the sex slave trade that is bringing in countless Eastern European women 6. Promote massive immigration into Christian nations from incompatible countries. 7. Engage in genocide on innocent Palestinian men, woman, and children. There's more, but it's up to you to find out.
The holocaust is THE biggest hoax on mankind to ever exist. Read Victor Thorn's book - "The Holohoax" then tell me what you think of the Jewish people. Let us not even mention Israel who oppresses the Palestinians worse than they SAY they were oppressed. The Jews have been thrown out of at least 70 countries in recorded history. You do the research - There is not excuse for getting a one sided story such as this.
You say clearly, and I don't disagree with your point, but there are many that take the Bible as being historical fact. For example Judaean history is pretty much Bible studies. There are many people that believe that David's Judaean "empire" was an empire, whereas it was no more than an extremely small village, some would even call it a hamlet. The term empire is merely self aggrandisement, but many people take it to be fact. This is not to say that only the Judaeans are guilty of this, its a common recurrence in ancient sources. (Getting the absolute truth out of Cassius Dio, Suetonius or Livy is equally akin to kicking water uphill). There are many more historical inaccuracies within the Bible which can only really lead to its rejection as a reliable historical source. As far as the mystical point of the thing, the Old Testament contains so many abhorrent notions, truly appalling treatments of humanity and a complete lack of interest equality (the Old Testament says slavery is cool, ownership of females is the norm and the original ideas on slaying the infidel). So although it may be of its time I'd rather people took their moral guidance nowadays from more honourable stories like "Little Red Riding Hood" or "The Three Little Pigs", there is little argument with them and there is a much less scope for the terrible **** that some people call interpretation. Which simply means they can do what they want and then orchestrate some kind of support from religious texts.
Interesting fact, there is absolutely no evidence for the exodus of the Jews other than the Bible. As far as Egyptian records show, and they were pretty good at keeping records, it didn't happen and you'd think it would be pretty big news there supposedly having been Egyptian Royalty washed away in some paddling accident. There is not even anything to say that there were large numbers of Jewish slaves in Egypt, so there's a fairly good chance it didn't happen at all and is just a story. Obviously we can't say that for definite, it happened a long time ago and it would be a lie for anyone to say anything about that period with certainty, but it's a distinct possibility. As for the Bible being the oldest written record on the planet it's far from it, the Akkadians, Sumerians, Hittites and the civilisation centred around Ugarit (modern Lattakia in Syria) precede it by a fairly long way and we have surviving documents from them all. Read the Babylonian "Epic of Gilgamesh" and you'll find that the story of Moses and the Ark is a straight rip, you'll also find that Cain and Able is a Mesopotamian story too, along with pretty much the entirety of the Old Testament. Its such a shame that God in his infinite wisdom has to trot out the same tales over and over again, gets kind of boring. The only difference between the old myths and the Old Testament is that the "Good Book" has a great deal more smiting, fiery deaths and good old divine petulance in it.
Oh and as for the guy that said "If you're not Jewish then shut the hell up" you sir clearly have no respect for the notion of jovial discourse and are clearly, and I mean this as no reference to your heritage or religion, a cunt. I'm half Polish and know pretty much nothing about Polish history so to claim that all Jews know more about Jewish history than any gentile is facile and lends more to the people arguing against you than with you.
"New rule: Not Jewish? Then you're not allowed to comment."
Who made you boss?
Anyways, most people give a subjective perspective. I'd much rather read about how detailed or HISTORICALLY accurate the Documentary really is. I mean, Docs are meant for educational purposes; you know for those of us who like to read books but out of laziness or boredom would rather watch it than read it. So it would be great practice to give an OBJECTIVE perspective FIRST and then your opinion. That way no one gets upset.
Jesus, every time something related to Jews comes along all the crazy pseudo-intellectuals come out of their roach holes. From now on, only Jews are allowed to comment on Jewish-related material. If you're not Jewish then shut the hell up. What ever you have to say, you know less about it than a Jewish person does. Sound unfair? Like it discriminates against non-Jews who have an opinion? Then you know what it's probably like to be Jewish except they have been discriminated against for almost 2,000 years and no one has put a bullet into the back of your family's head, either. New rule: Not Jewish? Then you're not allowed to comment.
Nothing is as funny as someone quoting the bible or torah or koran or some other scraps of paper as if it came from someplace other than the mind of another human being . Ok believe what you will but don't hurt anyone .
Winston Smith: I am agnostic first of all. Second I have read read book in accordance with the major religions of the world. I am a historian my degree title and I have read the books from a historical point of view. I am agnostic because I understand the attitudes of the dueteronmic editors, the bias of the scribes (elite and educated at the time), I am aware of the transferring of scrolls and decoding into Amermaic and Greek from Hebrew, and the time period and the events during this time. That does not change my arguement, the Bible is a primary source. It lets those who read it for historical knowledge understand what the people of the world back in ancient times were during and thinking. It is one of the earliest forms of writing we have that was not destroyed by those who concoquered and destroyed early forms of writing based on the fact that the writings did not fit their personal beliefs.
JEW is a religion in POSTMODERN ERA, Western Civilization. In the post modern era you can convert to judaism. But in the times of Alexander the Great, the beliefs and "Jew-ness" of those people originating in Judea are what seperated Jews from the Greeks. It does have something to do with their religion, but more so the fact that they were from JUDEA and found it necessary to hold close to their homeland.
Colin Smeja- Read the first testament (Torah) JEW is a RACE!!!!!!! Uggghhhh ignorance makes me angry!!!! Read Nehemiah, that alone will tell you being Jewish is more than believing in YHWEH alone, but being from STRONG SOLID blood lines, that is why he hated Samaritans so much!!!!!!
That's a poor retort. If you know history that is against what I have said I am all ears, or eyes, but otherwise thanks for the useless post. And in those historical votes note the vote concept and the actual numbers there. Not all members of congress agree remember. Hence my true statements. History isn't written by just one person.
First off. Being a Jew is not a race. Religious faith does not determine race.
Secondly, to state that the US Congress hates Palestinians is false. Because if a decision is made by a large group from large backgrounds over a large continent from a large diversity of cultures leads to any decision, they tend to be non-bias. This is coming from a poor white American who gets no benefits as (and I know it sounds bad, but there are no white scholarships) a black man, an indian, a gay man, a female, etc. (should I have said African American? Native American? Homosexual? All this PC **** is starting to kill the whole concept of the few freedoms we actually had.) The whole idea of our country is great, the few failures, just as all culture have, do not supercede the idea that is in motion and has worked and continues to work. Mass decision is the only way to a true decision.
Thirdly, to the ***** to say that they have descended from a political movement. That is just bull****. The Arab/Muslim world (which are not one in the same which any 2 mins on any website, book, talk, lecture, etc will show) Extremist are the people you are attempting an failing at referring to. Take some time to educate yourself on the people that surround you and the religions you speak against and for. It's not as if by any chance Christians ever attempted to convert Muslims. Oh wait, what happened in the Crusades? **** my bad for bringing that up.
I know Jews, Muslims, Christians, Atheists, non-secular's, and a **** ton of other people from a ton of backgrounds. The problem is everyone is trying to "god" damn hard to push their beliefs on others. If everyone would just STFU in the world and listen to each other we would go decades if not centuries farther as a world today than we are now. Plagues have spread because of religion (and I don't mean religion is a plague for without any religion there would be no origin of society). However I do mean that because of religion there are wars, famine, std's and more that continue to harm this world and it's populace.
If you guys would just read the damn Bible, read ALL of the different accounts of your savior and not just what is given to you. Read the Koran, read the Torah, read all of the books or at least give an effort to understand each other you would realize you all want the same, think the same, have the same saviors, etc. 90% of all religions have the same damn stories and beliefs. But because one guy came from one side of the track and someone on the other (IRA anyone?) you feel it is needed to bash the other. Grow the **** up.
Hey, teacher! Leave those Jews alone......
link is broken..no video...no jews today
Judaism is a religion not a race.... modern Jews are converts...
The real "Jews of the bible" mostly converted to Islam and are the modern day Arabs!
Israeli apartheid
Interesting that the root of antisemitism can be found in the catholic church who began demonizing Jews almost 2,000 years ago in order to legitimize their new religion. From this widespread injustice, the effects of which are still seen today, people believe they hate Jews for all kinds of different reasons but are unaware they have been manipulated by a faith which claims to have the love of G-d, worships a Jew as their savior yet hates the people from which he came.
The dot to...
Queen of SHEBA:
Who in the world at any time in the documentary the editor forgot to mention the Exodus of the Arc of Covent from Jerusalem to Ethiopia?
Addis Abeba, Ethiopia
To Arnold!!!!!! I don't believe what I have just read,you sir re a TRUE CHRISTIAN in the very best meaning of that word. You are what are religions are supposed to be about!! I feel so priveleged to have read your words.I was born Jewish and am an American living in Israel these past 17 years,so I think I must tell you ,this is nearly a secular country ,only a tiny proportion are religious and smaller still are the number who dress in that odd but fascinating style of Eastern European antiquity.Many many blessings to you sir.
This was a very interesting program on Jewish history and their tenacity to survive despite being welcomed one minute and then despised the next.
Raised as Anglican Methodist I had a very unusual experience as a teenager when I ran into some Jewish people and thought very negatively of them. There was absolutely no basis for this feeling as they were the first Jewish people I had ever met. I should have felt nothing or indifferent.
I realized immediately that either my Christian upbringing, the news or both had planted in my conscious some unfounded bigotry towards a people I knew nothing about.
I then decided to learn more about these people and their religion so that I could be better informed as to where my negative feelings came from. Surprisingly my negative feelings primarily came from World War II events.
Some how after watching hours of World War II footage and the expulsion of the Jews from every segment of society in Europe and Russian had planted the unfounded idea that these were unworthy people.
Now I simply think of Jewish people as another religious denomination with an extreme resilience to having negative things happen to them. I mean how can you not watch this series and come away with a profound respect for the Jewish people to persevere and prosper when it seems that everyone is against them.
That said the Jewish people seem to invite at times by the unique way they dress and act. It is natural for human beings to fear what they do not understand and fear what is different. Because Jewish excel both at being a little over the top religiously, do not conform in dress codes in their host countries, and have so many traditional rules that they must follow, they are an easy target when human populations get stressed.
What was missing throughout this serious was a correlation to climate and the effect it might have had on their good times and bad times.
for instance in 1200AD there was a dramatically cooler northern climate that may have started in 1100AD and lasted as long as two years. By 1200AD the Mayan civilization in Central America was destroyed by drought.
Droughts in Central America are caused by abnormally cold northern climates. So what stresses were the European populations under between 1100AD and 1300AD that would have created stresses for the Jewish people.
The black Plague of 1349AD is now attributed to this dramatic drop in temperature that had stressed the human population with lack of food due to failing crops causing hunger and malnutrition.
This series just pulls facts out of the air with regards to the Jewish people without any relevance to other climatic events that may have been going on.
My suggestion to make this series more relevant and useful with regards to historical information is include climate information and other societal information that may be needed to explain the ups and downs of the Jewish people throughout history.
One aspect of this show that I liked is the duel calender dating method.
I would really like to see the abolition of the current year system we are using for one that goes much father back in time.
I do not like having a year based on the death of the individual called Jesus. This date is only relevant to Christians (of which I am one) and I would prefer a year based on the beginning of the Egyptian civilization or the first civilization founded by man.
In this way all calender dates are more relevant.
Back to the Jewish people though.
A good program explaining more about them and their unique way of life. A resilient people worthy of everyone's respect.
An interesting local at people, their religious beliefs, and how easily people will place each other into groups and then use this grouping against them for no other reason that they can. Humans really come across as a very emotional and immature species.
For instance if there are white people and black people, prejudice is against the black people.
If it is just white people then it is their religion divides them.
And if it is all white people, with the same religion then it is language that divides them.
And if it is all white people, with the same religion, and the same language, then it comes down to where you live.
And if it is all white people, with the same religion, the same language, and the same living location, now it comes down to what you are wearing and what you do.
Humans are never happy even when they have homogenous group with like characteristics.
They will subdivide themselves into groups until there is just one person left.
With regards to the Israeli people and the Palestinian people and their ongoing conflict, the universe has one simple rule in play that both the Israeli people and the Palestinian people should know about.
If you are an Israeli when you die you become a Palestinian. When a Palestinian dies they become an Israeli. In this way the universe maintains a perfect balance of spirits getting exposure to both sides of the argument. So the the Israeli people and the Palestinian people are in fact only fighting their own ancestors who have now been raised on the other side.
So it is beneficial to both the Israeli people and the Palestinian people to simply become friends and realize that they are one and the same people.
In all honesty the universe could care less if you are Christian, Jewish, Hindu or what ever. The universe only cares about general spiritual learning. So in order to accomplish this balanced learning a spirit will always be born in the group it was once hostile against. In this way the spirit gets to see the other side of the argument in its development to adult hood.
Just another way to look at life.
Arnold Vinette
Ottawa, Canada
The media is full of dirty tricks, Anti-semitism in its true current form comes from Eastern Europe where rich magnets or landlords forced peasants to pay high taxes, unfortunately for the jews they where the ones forced to collect the taxes upon threat of death..the peasants hated the messenger, and thus the pogroms of old times. The holocaust was one big pogrom. Its human nature to hate what is different.
Every culture has something good to offer, the jews are not better or worse than any other just equal.
If the palestinians where given Israel tommorow anti-semitism would be exactly the same.
The European Isrealite movement back to Isreal was out of having no where else to go and having to go home after nearly being wiped off the face of the earth. The few that survived they had no choice, no where else to go.
some of them walked bare foot and died on the way. There has been no higher birth rate than that first arrival of european jews back to Isreal.
Though very much alike christians and muslims, jews generally dont seek converts, we are very few in numbers, Though there are many Muslims and much Muslim lands, there is only one tiny jewish state, tiny. Its no big "land Grab"
It is a ridiculous game Palestinians should not be crowded into these small areas, why doesnt isael buy some Land off a neighbouring country and give them the option of having there own country. We go on and on and act surprised when violence happens, its too crowded, give the palestinians there own state, there wont be a chaNCE OF PEACE TILL IT happens. The land of Isreal has been occupied by many regimes, cultures, and peoples throughout history. There was always a substantial jewish population though even when european jews arrived.
SEE THE GREEDY LAND-GRAB IN "OCCUPIED" land the building of homes jews plan to never leave. the last white land theft, just like Austrailia, and THE AMERICAS. WE WONDER WHY THEY ARE HATED?
My last comment was edited out ,maybe this will be too. It is filthy comments like this and people who write them that keep zionism alive in our justly paranoid brains. All of you people go and pick on someone your own size!!!I have read this section since the beginning and I am a member of the only jiont Arab-Kewish party here but these comments have really brought home to me ,our fight is just beginning and we can never trust our security to anyone. Thank you for opening my eyes. You all serve the "Zionist Cause" very very well.
The best thing that ever happened to advance the Zionist Jews was Hitler. It is not Jews that need to be feared. It is Zionist Jews that are scary.