Patriarchs and Matriarchs
The history of the Jewish people begin with the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) and matriarchs (Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah) - specifically Abraham and Sarah. The history of the Jewish people is divided into five different periods: Biblical Period, Second Temple Period, Talmudic Period, Medieval Period, and Modern Period.

Abraham and Sarah
Abraham
Abraham was born under the name Abram in the city of Ur of the Chaldees to Terah, an idol merchant. From his early childhood, he questioned the faith of his father and sought the truth. He came to believe that the entire
universe was the work of a single Creator, and he began to teach this belief to others.

In the morning when he saw the sun rise in the east, he thought, "This is a great power. It must be the king who created me," That whole day he  prayed to the sun. In the evening, upon seeing the sun set and the moon rise, he said, "Surely this one rules even that other power to which I prayed, for it no longer shines." All night he prayed to the moon. In the morning, upon seeing the darkness pass and the east light up, he said "Surely all these have a King and Ruler Who directs them."When G-d saw Abraham's longing for Him, He appeared to Abraham and spoke with him. (Zohar 1:86a)

Abram attempted to convince his father of the folly of idol worship.

Terah manufactured idols. Once he went on a trip and left Abraham to sell them in his place. When someone came to buy, Abraham would ask, "How old are you?" The customer would answer that he was fifty or sixty years old. Woe to this man!" Abraham would say. "He is sixty years old, yet he wants to bow down to a one-day old idol!" The man would go away in shame. A woman came in, carrying a bowl of flour. She said to Abraham, "Take this and offer it before the idols." He took a stick, broke all the idols, and placed the stick in the hand of the biggest one. When his father cam, he asked, "Who did this to them?" "Why should I hide it from you?" replied Abraham. "A woman came in carrying a bowl of flour, and said to me, 'Offer this before the idols.' So I offered it before them. This one said, 'I will eat first!' and that one said, 'I will eat first!' The biggest one took a stick and broke the rest." "Why are you fooling me!" said Terah. "Do idols have understanding?" Abraham replied, "Let your ears hear what your mouth is saying." ... (Bereishis Rabbah 38:8)

Eventually, the one true Creator that Abram had worshipped called to him, and made him an offer: if Abram would leave his home and his family, then G-d would make him a great nation and bless him. Abram accepted this offer, and the b'rit (covenant) between G-d and the Jewish people was established.

Abraham kept every detail of the Torah and taught it to his sons. (Bereishis Rabbah 95:3)

Ten Trials of Abraham

Abraham hid underground for thirteen years from King Nimrod
Nimrod flung Abraham into a burning furnace
Abraham was commanded to leave his family and homeland
Abraham was forced to escape a famine in Canaan
Sarah was kidnapped by Pharaoh's officials
Abraham was forced to go to war to rescue Lot
G-d told Abraham that his offspring would suffer under four monarchies
Abraham was commanded to circumcise his son
Abraham was commanded to drive away Hagar and Ishmael
Abraham was told to bind Isaac on the altar

Sarah
Sarah was also born to idolaters but accepted the yoke of Torah along with her marriage to Abraham. Sarah was a righteous person who is considered one of the seven prophetesses. (Megillah 14a) She is called one of the "women in the tent" (Horios 10b) because she conducted herself with modesty even in the privacy of her tent. The hymn (Proverbs 31) was about the matriarch Sarah (Shocher Tov 112:1)

The Holy One, Blessed is He, spoke to all [other] righteous women through and angel, but to Sarah [He spoke] through Divine communication. (Lekach Tov, Bereishis 23:1)

Isaac and Rebecca
Isaac
Isaac was born circumcised on Passover to Abraham and Sarah. From his early childhood, he was taught Torah by his father Abraham and Uncle Shem.

Where was Isaac? [Abraham] had sent him to Shem to study Torah, for Abraham said, "All that I possess is only because I engaged in Torah and mitzvot. Therefore, I do not want it ever to depart from my seed." (Bereishis Rabbah 56:11)

For Abraham's tenth test of faith, G-d Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering. This test is known in Jewish tradition as the Akeidah (the Binding, a reference to the fact that Isaac was bound on the altar). This test also demonstrated Isaac's own faith for he knew that he was to be sacrificed yet he did not resist his father. At the last moment, G-d sent an angel to stop the sacrifice. This story is used to show that G-d fiercely dislikes human sacrifice and forbids it for all peoples.

After the Patriarch Abraham died, the Holy One, Blessed is He, appeared to Isaac and blessed him. (Bereishis Rabbah 61:6)

Rebecca
She is called one of the "women in the tent" (Horios 10b) because she conducted herself with modesty even in the privacy of her tent. Rebecca was born into a family of idolaters but was in the image of Sarah. (Zohar 1:133a) When Rebecca was fourteen years of age she married Isaac and accepted the yoke of Torah. Rebecca knew that Jacob must be the one to carry forth the teaching of Torah and become the father of the nation of Israel. She therefore instructed Jacob how to trick his father into giving him Esau's blessing and birthright.

Each one agitated to kill the other. When she stood by synagogues and study halls, Jacob would struggle to emerge, and when she passed by temples of idolatry, Esau struggled to emerge. ... (Bereishis Rabbah 63:6)

Jacob (Israel) and Rachel and Leah
Jacob
Jacob was born circumcised to Isaac and Rebecca. From his early childhood, he was taught Torah by his father, his grandfather Abraham, and his uncles Shem and Eber.

No one ever toiled in Torah like the Patriarch Jacob. He would go from Shem's house of study to Eber's, and from Eber's house of study to Abraham's. (Tanchuma, ed. Buber, Vayishlach 9) Isaac taught Jacob Torah and gave him rebuke in his house of study. (Shemos Rabbah 1:1)

Jacob and his brother Esau struggled within Rebecca's womb. Esau had little regard for the spiritual heritage of his forefathers, and sold his birthright  to Jacob for a bowl of stew. After Isaac was tricked by Rebecca into giving Jacob a blessing meant for Esau, Esau became very angry, so Jacob fled to live with his uncle. While living with his uncle, Jacob was deceived into marrying Rachel's older sister, Leah, but later married Rachel and Rachel's and Leah's maidservants, Bilhah and Zilphah. Jacob fathered 12 sons (the twelve tribes of Israel) and one daughter.

After many years living with and working for his uncle/father-in-law, Jacob returned to his homeland and sought reconciliation with his brother Esau. He prayed to G-d and gave his brother gifts. The night before he went to meet his brother he wrestled with a man until the break of day. As the dawn broke, Jacob demanded a blessing from the man, and the man revealed himself to be an angel. He blessed Jacob and gave him the name "Israel" (Yisrael), meaning "the one who wrestled with G-d" or "the Champion of G-d." The Jewish people are generally referred to as the Children of Israel, signifying our descent from Jacob. 

Rachel
She is called one of the "women in the tent" (Horios 10b) because she conducted herself with modesty even in the privacy of her tent. Rachel was a righteous person who is considered one of the seven prophetesses. (Megillah 14a) Rachel wept for the children of Israel of they were sent into exile.

... said [Jacob], "for I buried her [on the road] by Divine command. In the future my children will go into exile. When they pass Rachel's tomb, they will embrace it. She will stand and pray for mercy on their behalf, and the Holy One, Blessed is He, will accept her prayer." (Pesikta Rabbasi 3:69)

Leah
She is called one of the "women in the tent" (Horios 10b) because she conducted herself with modesty even in the privacy of her tent. Leah is the twin sister of Rachel who married Jacob first through trickery. Leah also bore Jacob's first child. Leah saw David and Solomon through Divine Inspiration. (Zohar Chadash, Ruth 82a). Her primary goal was to produce tribal ancestors through Jacob. When she died she earned the right to be buried along side Jacob.

All her life [until her marriage] Leah stood at the crossroads and wept because of Jacob, whom she had heard was righteous, [whereas] Rachel never went out on the road. Therefore Leah merited to be buried with Jacob, while Rachel's tomb stands at the crossroads. (Zohar 1:223a).

Return to Top

Twelve Tribes
(Genesis 28:17-20, 49:1-27, Numbers 2:1-31)

Encampment (Printable Twelve Tribes Encampment )

(Printable Twelve Tribes )

Levite Cities
*Cities of Refuge

Tribe of Reuben - Heshbon, Jahaz, Bezer*
Tribe of Simeon - Ain, Jattir, Eshtemoa
Tribe of Judah - Juttah, Libnah, Hebron*
Tribe of Dan - Beth-shemesh
Tribe of Naphtali - Kedesh*
Tribe of Gad - Ramoth-Gilead*
Tribe of Asher - Jokneam, Helkath, Abdon, Rehob
Tribe of Issachar - Taanach, Dobrath, Hammoth-dor
Tribe of Zebulun - Dimnah, Kishion
Tribe of Ephraim - Gezer, Lower Beth-horon, Upper Beth-horon, Shechem*
Tribe of Manasseh - Ashtaroth, Golan*, Jarmuth, En-gannim, Gath-rimmon
Tribe of Benjamin - Aljalon, Gibeon, Geba, Almon, Anathoth

Return to Top

Jewish History
Biblical Period (Note: These dates are only approximate)
3760 BCE - Adam and Eve created
3630 BCE - Seth born
3525 BCE - Enosh born
3435 BCE - Kenan born
3365 BCE - Mehalalel born
3300 BCE - Yered born
3138 BCE - Enoch born
3074 BCE - Methuselah born
2886 BCE - Lemech born
2831 BCE - Adam died
2704 BCE - Noah born
2203 BCE - Shem born
2102 BCE - The Flood
2102 BCE - Arpachshad born
2067 BCE - Shelach born
2038 BCE - Eber born
2003 BCE - Peleg born
1973 BCE - Reu born
1941 BCE - Serug born
1911 BCE - Nachor born
1882 BCE - Terach born
1813 BCE - Abraham born
1765 BCE - Tower of Babel
1755 BCE - Noah died
1743 BCE - Covenant with Abraham
1738 BCE - Abraham settles in Canaan (Map of Abraham's Journey)
1713 BCE - Isaac was born; Abraham circumcises himself; Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed
1677 BCE - Akedah (binding of Isaac); Sarah died
1653 BCE - Jacob was born
1638 BCE - Abraham died
1590 BCE - Isaac blesses Jacob instead of Esau
1569 BCE - Jacob marries Leah
1565 BCE - Levi born
1562 BCE - Joseph was born
1546 BCE - Joseph sold into slavery
1545 BCE - Kehath born
1533 BCE - Isaac died
1532 BCE - Joseph became Viceroy of Egypt
1523 BCE - Jacob and his family moved to Egypt
1506 BCE - Jacob died
1499 BCE - Amram born
1452 BCE - Joseph died
1429 BCE - Slavery of Hebrews in Egypt
1393 BCE - Moses born
1355 BCE - Joshua born
1314 BCE - Moses sees the burning bush
1313 BCE - Exodus (Map of Twelve Tribes); Sinai Covenant
1312 BCE - Moses brings down the second set of tablets
1272 BCE - Moses died; Joshua leads the Hebrews into the Land of Israel
1244 BCE - Joshua died; Elders lead the nation
1227 BCE - Othniel - first Judge of Israel
1187 BCE - Ehud - second Judge of Israel
1106 BCE - Deborah and Barak judged Israel
1066 BCE - Gideon judged Israel
1026 BCE - Abimelech judged Israel
981 BCE - Jephthah judged Israel
950 BCE - Samson judged Israel
930 BCE - Eli judged Israel
889 BCE - Samuel judged Israel
879 BCE - Saul becomes king
877 BCE - David becomes the second king of Israel
868 BCE - David established rule over Israel
836 BCE - Solomon became the third king of Israel
832 BCE - First Temple construction began
825 BCE - First Temple construction completed
796 BCE - Israel Divided (Map of the Kingdoms)
722 BCE - Northern Kingdom falls-Conquest by Assyrians (Map of the Kingdoms)
715 BCE - Hezekiah leads reform of the Kingdom of Judah
701 BCE - Hezekiah leads unsuccessful revolt against Assyria
620 BCE - During the reign of Josiah, Deuteronomy is found and as a result, reforms are instituted
597 BCE - Governor Gedaliah is murdered
587 BCE - Rebellion put down-First Babylonian Exile
538 BCE - Cyrus the Great and the Decree of the Return for the Jews
492 BCE - First Temple is destroyed - Second Babylonian Exile

Second Temple Period (Note: These dates are only approximate)
520 BCE - Second Temple construction began
515 BCE - Second Temple construction completed
438 BCE - Achashverosh became king of Persia
431 BCE - Esther taken to King Achashverosh of Persia
426 BCE - Haman casts lots; First Decree; Three-day fast declared by Esther; Haman defeated and executed; Second Decree, reversing the first
425 BCE - Haman's ten sons executed; First Purim celebration
424 BCE - Megillah Esther written
333 BCE - Antiochus takes charge over Judea
250 BCE - The Torah is translated into Greek (Septuagint)
166-160 BCE - Judah the Maccabee leads the Maccabean revolt
136 BCE - Miracle of Chanukah
63 BCE - Conquest by Pompey
37 BCE - Herod I becomes king
20 BCE - Herod I rebuilds the Second Temple
66-73 CE - Outbreak of rebellion against Rome
69 CE - Escape of Yochanan ben Zakkai from Jerusalem to Yavneh; Sanhedrin set up in Yavneh
70 CE - Second Temple destroyed by the Romans

Talmudic Period
73 CE - Masada falls
80 CE - Leadership of Rabbi Akiva began
114-117 CE - Diaspora rebellions against Rome
120 CE - Second Jewish Revolt (Bar Kochba revolt)
136 CE - Emperor Hadrian renamed Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina forbidding Jews from entering the city
136 CE - Emperor Hadrian built a pagan temple on the site of the Second Temple
136 CE - Emperor Hadrian renamed Judea Palestinia to mimimize Jewish identification with Israel
136 CE - Beginning of Office of Exilarch in Babylonia
200 CE - Rabbi Judah HaNasi completes editing of the Mishnah
220 CE - Founding of Sura Academy in Babylonia
250 CE - Rise of Pumbeditha Academy
306 CE - Anti-Jewish decisions made by the Church Council of Elvira in Spain
315 CE - Constantine proposes more anti-Jewish legislation
358 CE - Calendar calculated by Hillel II
368 CE - Closing of the Palestinian (Jerusalem) Talmud
425 CE - Cancellation of the position of Nasi (leader) and weakening of the Sanhedrin
500 CE - Babylonian Talmud is completed
511 CE - Mar Zutra led a revolt leading to an independent Jewish state in Babylonia
590 CE - Pope Gregory sets Church policy on the Jews
613 CE - Jews of Spain told to either convert or leave
629 CE - Persians gain temporary control over Palestine - Jews temporarily return to Jerusalem

Medieval Period
638 CE - Muslim conquest of Jerusalem - Jews permitted to return
690 CE - Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock built
712 CE - Muslim Conquest of Spain - many Jews follow
740 CE - Birth of Jewish Khazar Kingdom
770 CE - Anan ben David founded Karaites
840 CE - The Bodo Affair
909-1169 CE - Muslim intolerance forces Jews to convert or leave Egypt
1000 CE - Birth of the Yiddish language
1040 CE - Rashi was born
1066 CE - Norman Conquest of England - Jews come along
1070 CE - Growth of the School of Rashi in Troyes, France
1085 CE - Almoravides invasion of Spain causes Judaism to be outlawed
1095-1099 CE - First Crusade massacre of Jews and Muslims in Jerusalem
1098 CE - The Rise of the Polish community
1105 CE - Rashi dies
1127 CE - Jews found community in Honan Province, China
1131 CE - Rambam was born
1145-1147 CE - Second Crusade
1171 CE - First blood libel accusation
1182 CE - Expulsion of Jews from France
1187 CE - Jerusalem retaken by Muslims under Saladin
1189-1192 CE - Third Crusade
1190 CE - Forced conversion to Islam in Yemen
1201-1204 CE - Fourth Crusade
1210 CE - Aliyah of the Three Hundred Rabbis
1212 CE - Children's Crusade
1215 CE - Fourth Lateran Council - highpoint of anti-Jewish legislation by the Church
1217-1221 CE - Fifth Crusade
1228 CE - First appearance of the "Wandering Jew" story
1228-1229 CE - Sixth Crusade
1232 CE - Maimonides' Guide to the Perplexed banned in France
1238 CE - King James the First of Aragon grants a charter of rights to the Jews
1242 CE - Burning of the Talmud in Paris, France
1243 CE - The Desecration of the Host is used as a new libel
1244 - Tartars capture Jerusalem
1248-1254 CE - Seventh Crusade
1250 CE - First blood libel in Spain
1263 CE - Nachmanides- Pablo Christiani disputation in Barcelona
1267 CE - The Ramban arrives in Israel
1270 CE - Eighth Crusade
1271-1272 CE - Ninth Crusade
1282 CE - Archbishop of Canterbury, John Pectin, ordered all London synagogues closed
1285 CE - Blood libel in Germany leads to the deaths of 248 Jews
1287 CE - Blood libel in Germany leads to the deaths of 40 Jews
1290 CE - Jews expelled from England
1298 CE - Rindfleisch massacres in Germany
1306 CE - Expulsion of Jews from France
1320 CE - Pastoureaux Crusaders swept across Europe killing Jews on their way
1322 CE - Jews expelled from France
1338-1339 CE - Armleder bands massacred Jews across Germany
1348-1349 CE - Black Death and the accusation of the Jews
1349 CE - Expulsion of Jews from Hungary
1386 CE - Expulsion of Jews from Strassbourg, Germany
1391 CE - Jews massacred in Spain - some become Marranos (converts)
1413-1414 CE - Disputation of Tortosa and voluntary conversions of Jews
1420 CE - Expulsion of Jews from Lyons, France
1480 CE - Beginning of the Spanish Inquisition
1492-1493 CE - Expulsion of Jews from Spain and Sicily - some become Marranos(converts)
1495 CE - Expulsion of Jews from Lithuania
1496 CE - Expulsion of Jews from of Portugal
1501 CE - Development of Prague community
1516 CE - Expulsion of Jews from Naples and ghettoized in Venice
1517 CE - Ottoman Turks conquer Eretz Yisrael
1543 CE - Martin Luther attacks the Jews
1555 CE - Pope Paul the Fourth declares need for ghettoization of Jews
1567 CE - Shulchan Aruch published
1580 CE - Council of the Four Lands formed in Poland
1593 CE - Leghorn, Italy becomes important Jewish community
1615 CE - Expulsion of Jews from France
1624 CE - Development of Brazil community
1648 CE - Cossacks led by Bogdan Chimelniecki slaughter Jews in Ukraine
1648 CE - Shabbetai Zvi emerges as a false messiah
1654 CE - Jews settle in New Amsterdam
1655 CE - Rabbi Menashe ben Israel petitions for re-admittance of Jews into England
1656 CE - Cherem (excommunication) of Spinoza by Jewish community
1682 CE - Jews permitted to settle in Denmark
1670 CE - Expulsion of Jews from Vienna

Modern Period
1700 CE - Mass aliyah of Judah Hasid
1791 CE - Jewish community in Bordeaux, France is officially recognized
1730 CE - The first synagogue in North America is established
1740 CE - Baal Shem Tov begins the Chassidim movement
1751 CE - The Eybeschutz-Emden Affair
1760 CE - The Frankist Affair
1764 CE - The abolition of the Council of the Four Lands
1768 CE - Haidamacks massacre thousands of Jews
1777 CE - Vilna Gaon leads excommunication of Chassidim
1778 CE - First modern Jewish school (Jewish Free School) opens in Berlin, Germany
1782 CE - Edict of Toleration passed in Austria
1783 CE - Moses Mendelssohn published his translation of the Torah into German
1791 CE - Russia established Pale of Settlement defining areas in Western Russia where Jews are permitted to live
1794 CE - Berek Joselowicz organizes a Jewish Legion in Poland
1803 CE - Volozhin Yeshiva founded in Lithuania
1807 CE - Napoleon establishes Assembly of Notables in Paris (which met as the Great Sanhedrin two years later)
1819 CE - Anti-Jewish (Hep-Hep) riots throughout Germany and Denmark
1827 CE - Russia began inducting 12 year-old Jewish boys into a child's army (cantonists)
1832 CE - David Sassoon developed a Jewish community in Bombay, India
c.1839 CE - Forced conversion of Jews in Meshed, Persia
1840 CE - Damascus Blood Libel
c.1840 CE - The Musar Movement begins in Lithuania
1844 CE - First Reform Rabbinical meeting in Brunswick, Germany
1854 CE - Zechariah Frankel (European forerunner of Conservative/Masorti Judaism) opened the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau, Germany
1858 CE - Mortara Case
1874 CE - Reform Judaism movement establishes the Union of American Hebrew Congregations
1875 CE - Isaac Mayer Wise founds Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio
1881-1884 CE - Jews leave Russia after wave of Pogroms
1885 CE - First Pittsburgh Platform adopted by the Reform Judaism movement
1886 CE - Many laws passed in Russia that curtailed Jewish residency in villages and Pale of Settlement and quotas on gymnasia and universities
1886 CE - Solomon Schechter founds the Conservative Judaism movement and Jewish Theological Seminary of America
1888 CE - Jewish Publication Society of America founded
1891 CE - Jews expelled from Moscow
1894 CE - Dreyfus Affair
1897 CE - Founding of the Bund
1903 CE - The Kishinev Pogrom
1903 CE - "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" published in Russia
1913 CE - Mendel Beilis blood libel trial
1913 CE - Solomon Schechter founds the United Synagogue of America
1917 CE - Russian Revolution - cancellation of the Pale of Settlement and anti-Jewish laws
1918 CE - First American Jewish Congress held
1920 CE - England receives mandate of Palestine
1922 CE - Mordechai Kaplan founds the Society for the Advancement of Judaism-the basis for the Reconstructionist Judaism movement
1924 CE - Benjamin Frankel founds Hillel Foundation - first Hillel House open at University of Illinois
1927 CE - "The Jazz Singer" is produced
1928 CE - Beginning of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast area in Birobidzhan, USSR
1933 CE - Hitler comes to power in Germany
1933 CE - Cardinal Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII) issued the Hitler Concordat; whereby the Vatican accepted the National Socialism Nuremberg Laws on Reich citizenship enacted
1936-1938 CE - Stalin's purges
1937 CE - The Reform Judaism Movement publishes the Columbus Platform
1938 CE - Kristallnacht
1939 CE - Felix Frankfurter appointed to the United States Supreme Court
1939 CE - S.S. St. Louis carrying Jewish refugees refused docking at Cuba and America
1940 CE - Ghettos established in Poland by the Nazis
1941 CE - Holocaust (Shoah)
Massacre at Babi Yar
1942 CE - Nazis refine the "Final Solution" at Wannsee Conference
1943 CE - Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
1945 CE - Yeshiva College and RIETS become the Yeshiva University
1947 CE - Dead Sea Scrolls dating from 22 BCE founded at Qumran
1948 CE - Brandeis University founded
1952 CE - Reparations agreement with West Germany
1953 CE - In purge known as the Doctors' Plot, Stalin "unmasked" a group of Jewish physicians whom he claimed conspired to assassinate Soviet leaders
1953 CE - Julius and Ethel Rosenberg executed for conspiring to deliver U.S. atomic secrets to the U.S.S.R.
1954 CE - Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum opens
1954 CE - Stern College for Women opens
1968 CE - Reconstructionist Judaism movement founded by Mordechai Kaplan with the opening of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
1961 CE - Adolph Eichmann on trial in Israel
1972 CE - First ordination of a Reform Judaism female rabbi
1973 CE - Arab oil embargo begins
1974 CE - First ordination of a Reconstructionist Judaism female rabbi
1983 CE - Reform Judaism rabbinate declares that a child of a Jewish father is Jewish if the child is so educated
1985 CE - First ordination of a Conservative Judaism female rabbi
1987 CE - Jonathan Pollard is sentenced to life in prison
1991 CE - Riots break out in Crown Heights, New York when a seven-year-old black boy was killed by a car driven by Chassidic Jews
1993 CE - U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum opens
1997 CE - Christopher Meili, a guard for Switzerland's largest bank reveals documents of transactions with Nazis
1999 CE - A gunman goes on a shooting rampage in a Los Angeles Jewish community center injuring five
2000 CE - Deborah Lipstadt is sued by Holocaust denier David Irving in England for libel
2000 CE - Federal judge approves $1.25 billion dollars to settle Holocaust claims against Swiss banks
2004 CE - Knesset approves Gaza Disengagement Plan
2004 CE - Presbyterian Church begin selective divestiture in companies operating in Israel
2005 CE - Disengagement carried out in Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank
2005 CE - Remains of King David's palace possibly found [article]
2006 CE - Ancient Jewish town from the time of King Solomon has been uncovered beneath the Arab village of Kafr  Kana, north of Nazareth, in the Galilee [article]
2006 CE - The Government of France and the National Railroad Association were fined $77,000 for the deportation of George Lipietz during World War II
2006 CE - Excavation of Temple aqueduct and mikveh opposite the Temple Mount [article]
2006 CE - Israeli President Katzav "temporarily" leaves office
2006 CE - Samuel's Tomb and Hebron Jewish cemetary vandalized [article]
2006 CE - Joshua's altar found [article]
2007 CE - Second Temple Jewish town uncovered in Jerusalem [article]
2007 CE - Herod's Grave Uncovered [article]
2007 CE - Shimon Peres becomes President of Israel
2007 CE - Annapolis Conference
2008 CE - Yisrael Beiteinu Party left Israeli government
2008 CE - President George W. Bush visits Israel
2008 CE - Shas Party threatens to leave Israeli government
2008 CE - Winograd Report
2008 CE - Prof. Avraham Trahtman of Bar Ilan University solved famous math problem known as the Road Coloring Conjecture
2008 CE - Massacre at the Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem [article]
2008 CE - First Temple Building Remains found in Jerusalem [article]

Return to Top

Flood Timeline
(According to Rabbi Eliezer)
17 Cheshvan - Rain began
17 Cheshvan-28 Kislev - 40 days of rain
28 Kislev-1 Sivan - 150 days water swelled
1 Sivan - Water started to recede
17 Sivan - Ark rested on Mount Ararat
1 Av - Mountaintops became visible
1 Av-10 Elul - 40 days wait until Noah opened the window
10 Elul - Raven sent
10 Elul-17 Elul - 7 days
17 Elul - Dove sent
17 Elul-24 Elul - 7 days
24 Elul - Dove brought back olive branch
24 Elul-1 Tishrei - 7 days
1 Tishrei - Dove flew away and Noah removed ark's cover
27 Cheshvan - End of flood

Return to Top

Kohen Gadol
Exodus until Babylonian Exile
Aaron - Served during the Exodus
Eleazar - Served during the Exodus
Phinehas - Served during the conquering of Eretz Yisrael
Abishua
Bukki
Uzzi ben Bukki
Eli - Served at Shiloh
Ahitub
Ahijah - Served at Shiloh
Ahimelech - Served at Nob during the reign of King Saul, Assisted David
Abiathar - Served at Nob, Only priest to survive the assassinations by King Saul, Assisted David
Zadok - Served during the reign of King David
Ahimaaz - Served during the reign of King David
Azariah - Served during the reign of King Solomon
Joash
Jehoiarib
Jehoshaphat
Jehoiada - Served during the reign of King Ahaziah
Pedaiah
Zedekiah
Azariah
Jotham
Urijah - Served during the reign of King Ahaz
Azariah
Hoshaiah
Shallum
Hilkiah - Served during the reign of King Josiah
Azariah
Seraiah - Served during the reign of King Zedekiah
Jehozadak

Post-Exile to Herod
Joshua - Served during the reign of Governor Zerubbabel
Joiakim
Eliashib
Joiada - Removed from the Temple by Nehemiah
Johanan
Jaddua
Onias
Simon
Eleazar
Manasseh
Onias
Simon
Onias
Jason
Menelaus
Alcimus
Jonathan Apphus
Simeon Tassi
John Hyrcanus
Aristobulus I
Alexander Jannaeus
John Hyrcanus
Aristobulus II
John Hyrcanus II
Antigonus
Hananeel

Under Herodian and Roman Rule
Hananeel - Served during the reign of King Herod
Aristobulus III - Served during the reign of King Herod
Joshua - Served during the reign of King Herod
Simon - Served during the reign of King Herod
Mattathias - Served during the reign of King Herod
Joazar - Served during the reign of King Herod
Eleazar - Served during the reign of King Archelaus
Joshua - Served during the reign of King Archelaus
Ananus - Served during the reign of King Quirinius
Ishmael - Served during the reign of King Valorius Gratus
Eleazar - Served during the reign of King Valorius Gratus
Simon - Served during the reign of King Valorius Gratus
Joseph (Caiaphas) - Served during the reign of King Valorius Gratus
Jonathan - Served during the reign of King Vitellius
Theophilus - Served during the reign of King Vitellius
Simon Cantatheras - Served during the reign of King Agrippa I
Matthias - Served during the reign of King Agrippa I
Aljoneus - Served during the reign of King Agrippa I
Joseph - Served during the reign of King Herod II
Ananias - Served during the reign of King Herod II
Jonathan - Served during the reign of King Herod II
Ishmael - Served during the reign of King Agrippa II
Joseph Cabi - Served during the reign of King Agrippa II
Ananus - Served during the reign of King Agrippa II
Joshua - Served during the reign of King Agrippa II
Joshua - Served during the reign of King Agrippa II
Mattathias - Served during the reign of King Agrippa II
Phinehas - Served during the reign of King Agrippa II

Return to Top

Jewish Judges
Abdon (Judges 12)
Abimelech (Judges 8-9)
Ammonite Rule (Judges 10-12)
Barak (Judges 4)
Deborah (Judges 4-5)
Ehud (Judges 3)
Eli (I Samuel 1-4,14; I Kings 2)
Elon (Judges 12)
Gideon (Judges 6-8)
Ibzan (Judges 12)
Jair (Judges 10)
Jephthah (Judges 10-12; I Samuel 12)
Joshua (Exodus 14,17,24,32,33; Numbers 13-14,26,27; Deuteronomy 1,3; Book of Joshua):
Othniel (Joshua 15; Judges 1,3)
Samson (Judges 13-16)
Samuel (Books of Samuel)
Shamgar (Judges 3)
Tola (Judges 10)

Return to Top

Jewish Monarchy
Kings of Israel
David ben Jesse (Book of Psalms; Ruth 4; I Samuel 16-30; II Samuel 1-9,11-12,14-16,18-24; I Kings 1-2; I Chronicles 2-3,11,13-23,28-29)
Ish-Bosheth ben Saul (II Samuel 2-4)
Saul ben Kish (I Samuel 9-11,13-16,18-19,20,22,24,26,28,31; II Samuel 1,21; I Chronicles 8-10)
Solomon ben David (Book of Song of Songs; Psalms 72,127; II Samuel 12; I Kings 1-11; II Kings 2; I Chronicles 3,17,23,28-29; II Chronicles 1-3,6-9,22)

Return to Top