Today we began class by talking about the ongoing US mediated peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. We used this article from the front page of The Times of Israel as a jumping off point to talk about some of the main issues that will need to be considered in an agreement: Jerusalem (particularly the Kotel/Temple Mount), refugees and borders (especially in the Jordan Valley). I also showed them a couple of flyers I saw at the bus stop on the way to Tzuba today.
For those of us who aren't quite fluent Hebrew readers, the top one is an announcement about shabbat. It gives parshat hashavua (weekly Torah portion), which is Trumah, and tells what time shabbat "comes in" and "goes out". I've always loved the language with which we describe shabbat in Hebrew. It really gives a sense of the special atmosphere that comes with shabbat, especially in Israel. The second announcement is claiming that Starkist tuna puts dolphin and other sea creatures in their cans of tuna (I have no idea if this is true or not). This is not necessarily different from something you might expect to see in the US. In the US however, I imagine the person posting the announcement would appeal to the viewer's moral outrage over the idea of eating dolphins. Here, the announcement points out that dolphin is not kosher. While the goal may be the same (ie don't eat Starkist tuna), the reason is quite different. For me these sorts of every day things are what I think about when we talk about Am Yisrael and what it means to live in a Jewish state.
We then picked up where we left off in the ancient middle east. After considering the authorship of the Tanakh yesterday, today we accepted the Tanakh as an established fact and tried to understand the milieu in which it was written/revealed. One of the easiest ways to start to understand where civilizations developed in the middle east is to look at a satellite image of the region. You can see clearly the huge swath of green that is the Nile Delta and the slightly less obvious green between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is today Iraq, but historically is known as Mesopotamia. I explained, based on Jared Diamond's book "Guns, Germs and Steel", that while the geographic conditions are necessary, they're not sufficient; you also need some good luck. The middle east, as opposed to America, for example, has many crops (wheat, chick peas) and animals (sheep, goats) that can be domesticated and can be used to create more calories per person (ever wonder why no one herds deer, which has perfectly good meat?). The creation of more calories allows for population growth and for some people to do something other than create food, which is the beginning of what we commonly call "civilization" (also a somewhat nebulous concept).
In communities based on river agriculture (such as the ones in Mesopotamia and Egypt), one of the most important and earliest public works is the irrigation system. These systems need constant care, and this leads to the development of some sort of government and/or hierarchy, which is made possible by the increased agricultural production. You can easily imagine how an irrigation system leads to increased production and population growth, which leads to a larger administrative system, which improves or enlarges the irrigation system, which leads to increased production, etc. As more and more people are living in close proximity to each other a social order begins to develop (if you're interested in the development of social order I highly recommend Dr. Yuval Harari's book), which, in ancient times, was likely mostly based on their polytheistic religion.
Having learned a little bit about ancient middle eastern culture, the students were then able to start to look at it in comparison to our own Jewish culture. To do this, they read Enuma Elish, the Mesopotamian creation story and compared it with our own creation story in Breisheet (Genesis). A really fascinating discussion ensued, but rather than share it here, I'll leave it to the students. What did you find interesting about the two stories? Are they similar? Different? How do the gods/God behave? Do you think the stories reflect the societies that believed/wrote them? If so, what do you think it says about those societies?
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| Announcement about Shabbat |
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| Warning about non-kosher tuna |
We then picked up where we left off in the ancient middle east. After considering the authorship of the Tanakh yesterday, today we accepted the Tanakh as an established fact and tried to understand the milieu in which it was written/revealed. One of the easiest ways to start to understand where civilizations developed in the middle east is to look at a satellite image of the region. You can see clearly the huge swath of green that is the Nile Delta and the slightly less obvious green between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is today Iraq, but historically is known as Mesopotamia. I explained, based on Jared Diamond's book "Guns, Germs and Steel", that while the geographic conditions are necessary, they're not sufficient; you also need some good luck. The middle east, as opposed to America, for example, has many crops (wheat, chick peas) and animals (sheep, goats) that can be domesticated and can be used to create more calories per person (ever wonder why no one herds deer, which has perfectly good meat?). The creation of more calories allows for population growth and for some people to do something other than create food, which is the beginning of what we commonly call "civilization" (also a somewhat nebulous concept).
In communities based on river agriculture (such as the ones in Mesopotamia and Egypt), one of the most important and earliest public works is the irrigation system. These systems need constant care, and this leads to the development of some sort of government and/or hierarchy, which is made possible by the increased agricultural production. You can easily imagine how an irrigation system leads to increased production and population growth, which leads to a larger administrative system, which improves or enlarges the irrigation system, which leads to increased production, etc. As more and more people are living in close proximity to each other a social order begins to develop (if you're interested in the development of social order I highly recommend Dr. Yuval Harari's book), which, in ancient times, was likely mostly based on their polytheistic religion.
Having learned a little bit about ancient middle eastern culture, the students were then able to start to look at it in comparison to our own Jewish culture. To do this, they read Enuma Elish, the Mesopotamian creation story and compared it with our own creation story in Breisheet (Genesis). A really fascinating discussion ensued, but rather than share it here, I'll leave it to the students. What did you find interesting about the two stories? Are they similar? Different? How do the gods/God behave? Do you think the stories reflect the societies that believed/wrote them? If so, what do you think it says about those societies?
I loved seeing this in class today. I come from Atlanta, Georgia, and although we have a large number of Jewish people in our community, there are a large number of denizen who are not tolerant of other religions or cultures. Sometimes, I feel uncomfortable talking about my Judaism around other people. I even get Jew jokes sometimes. Seeing this made me happy that there is a place where expressing your Judaism is normal and in fact encouraged. I am very excited to be here for the next couple of months.
ReplyDelete-Jamie Lief
Living in Israel is definitely different from living in any other Jewish community, since it's the only place where the Jewish culture is the dominant culture, not the minority. Glad to hear that it's been such a positive experience for you!
DeleteI thought the two stories were very different. The Mesopotamian story had multiple gods, battling each other for power and control over the rest of the world, and the lesser human being servants. In contrast, Breisheet portrayed a single God, respectful of his creations, especially the humans as he gives them rule over the other beasts.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with Ben when he says the stories are not similar. While Genesis makes the humans seem to be the servants of God who go out and do his holy work, the gods in Enuma Elish treat the people like slaves. Also, the gods in Enuma Elish are very violent and can also be seen as a representation of how people were portrayed as violent and power hungry. I really liked the discussion in class and am looking forward to what we will be reading!
ReplyDeleteThe differences between the story in Breisheet and Enuma Elish were really interesting to read about and talk about in class. Man was created for a certain purpose in both, but in Breisheet, man was created to be God's helper. This gives man a higher status in the world because God chose them to do the holy work that God set out to do.
ReplyDeleteGreat points Ben, Aaron and Amit. Do you think these differences say something about the respective societies? Do you think one story or the other better reflects the reality of the time and place in which they were written?
ReplyDeleteNot to cut in, but I beleive this very loudly speaks for the two societies. It is quite prevalent that the society in Enuma Elish is based upon a restrictive society that, as we said in class, was meant to be influenced by this. I do not know how to speak in respects to the community in Breisheet, but it seems as though Elish's shows the more likely idea for its time, that people lived in a heirarical environment in which the king was to reflect the position of the gods.
DeleteI absolutely love these pictures. Coming from an area where the majority of people aren't Jewish, to seeing this at a bus stop makes me feel so connected. At home, I never felt like I could share my Jewish experiences with my friends, but here it's such a normal thing to talk about. I feel like I've finally found the atmosphere I've been looking for, and the exact people I want to share it with.
ReplyDeleteI also found it interesting how the two stories reflected their originating societies - the Enuma Elish reflects the sentiments held by leaders of a civilization based on irrigation agriculture and economy, and Genesis reflects those of people who believed they worked alongside God in his work. The fact that the gods of Enuma Elish fight as humans in the hierarchical society did supports this as well.
ReplyDelete