Jerusalem was under siege in 701 BCE by the Assyrians, yet they suddenly turned back. Why?
Yes, a plague likely struck the Assyrian army during the siege of Jerusalem in 701 BCE:In the Bible, the angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in the night, forcing Sennacherib to break camp. The Babylonian historian Berossus wrote that a plague devastated the Assyrian army.
Sennacherib, until 689 BCE, was busy fighting with Elam and Babylon. The kings of Phoenecia and Israel, led by Hezekiah (720-692 BCE) , rose in revolt, Sennacherib, the Assyrian, invaded Judah in 701 BCE. he captured 46 cities but not Jerusalem. He took many prisoners. A plague broke out in his camp, causing him to retreat.
In 720 BC, the Assyrian army captured Samaria, the capital of the northern Kingdom of Israel, and carried away many Israelites into captivity. The virtual destruction of Israel left the southern kingdom, Judah, to fend for itself among warring Near-Eastern kingdoms. After the fall of the northern kingdom, the kings of Judah tried to extend their influence and protection to those inhabitants who had not been exiled. As they were about to lose a battle with Sennacherib, the Assyrians were hit with a terrible plague that ended their war.
Although Judah was a vassal of Assyria during this time and paid an annual tribute to the powerful empire, it was the most important state between Assyria and Egypt. Hezekiah didn't pay during the plague, though.
It is more difficult to know the role of disease in biblical times. One area where it may have had an impact is the Assyrian war led by Sennacharib against ancient Judah in 701 B.C.E. Though the Assyrian armies were mighty, and conquered most of the kingdom, they departed after a siege of Jerusalem, without invading and destroying the city. In the biblical account (2 Kings 18), an angel killed many of the soldiers, and so they departed.
Could it have been some form of flu-virus, like COVID? It's mutating now, and people are still catching it. Being angels were thought to be the cause, that means they had no way of seeing the cause, I would think. Suddenly soldiers were getting ill and dying. It sounds like WWI's plague.
The 1918 influenza pandemic, also known as the Spanish flu, was a plague that affected the U.S. Army and other armies during World War I:The virus originated in Kansas and was likely carried to Camp Funston by young men leaving the area for military service.The virus spread through the Western Front in France, Germany, Austria, and the Slavic nations. Soldiers constantly moved between camps across the country, which helped the virus spread.The pandemic killed an estimated 50,000 U.S. soldiers, and may have killed up to 100,000 soldiers overall. It also rendered millions of soldiers ineffective. The pandemic shortened World War I, and it's unclear if it had an impact on the course of the war. However, the cessation of fighting in the fall of 1918 may have prevented battle casualties from exceeding the deaths from influenza.The pandemic also had a significant impact on the U.S. population, infecting over a quarter of the population and killing about 675,000 people.
Herodotus wrote the army was overrun by mice, a possible reference to mouse-borne diseases. Some Biblical scholars take this to an allusion that the Assyrian army suffered the effects of a mouse- or rat-borne disease such as bubonic plague. More recently, historian William H. McNeill speculated that cholera, due to lack of access to fresh water, weakened the soldiers. He felt this may have saved Judaism from annihilation, and thus also saved the still-fledgling concept of monotheism.
The Antonine Plague, also known as the Plague of Galen, was a severe epidemic that struck the Roman Empire between 165 and 189 CE.It's believed that soldiers returning from fighting in the Near East brought the disease to Rome. The plague is thought to have been smallpox, based on the skin eruptions that appeared on the body.
The Antonine Plague had a devastating impact on the Roman Empire, affecting the economy, military, and population. It's estimated that the plague killed between 5 and 10 million people, which was about 10% of the empire's population. The plague is thought to have contributed to the decline of the Roman Empire, and some historians believe it may have even hastened the empire's collapse.
A contemporary illustration showing the expulsion of the Jews. Image shows the white double tabula that Jews in England were mandated to wear by law.
The Edict of Expulsion was a royal decree expelling all Jews from the Kingdom of England that was issued byEdward I on 18 July 1290; it was the first time a European state is known to have permanently banned their presence. Jews were banned from England for 365 years!
Gathering of a Jewish family on a Friday night (Shabbat) before a pogrom commences.
Pogrom in Russian means "DESTRUCTION." It's an organized massacre for the annihilation of any body or class, especially with governmental collusion; more specially one directed against Jews.
The term, Pogrom, was first used in English at the time of the anti-Jewish outbreaks organized by the BLACK HUNDREDS IN RUSSIA IN 1905, but is often applied to earlier Russian outbreaks from 1881 onward.
My paternal grandmother, my Bubbie, Zlata Jermulowske, born in 1880s, had been in a pogrom in Lazdijai, Lithuania and in Poland where both her legs were broken. She lived with bowed legs thereafter, and went from about 4'9" to 4'6" tall; very very short. She arrived in Idaho before 1900. Bubbie was kept from any education in Russia/Poland, so was illiterate. She produced 2 grandchildren with PhDs, and many other grandchildren who were teachers. One male was in charge of his whole state's hospital finances by keeping them in the black. One worked for the VA in finances.
In the nineteenth century, much of the region was under Russian control. Antisemitism and official anti-Jewish policies often interrupted the growth of the Jewish community. Tensions escalated when the Russian government blamed the Jews for the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881. As a result, three years of anti-Jewish riots—known as pogroms—ensued. These and other antisemitic outbursts in the Russian Empire dealt a massive blow to Jewish communities in the region. Many Jews were killed and their homes were plundered; in response, thousands of Jews looked to leave Lithuania, with many emigrating to South Africa and the United States. Their goal was freedom and economic security.More ideologically driven younger Jews emigrated to Palestine, spurred by the dream of establishing a Jewish state in their ancestral homeland.
The pogrom in Fiddler on the Roof is based on the real-life Kishinev pogrom that took place in 1903. The pogrom was a violent attack on Jewish people in Kishinev, a city in imperial Russia, that resulted in the deaths of 49 Jews, the rape of many Jewish women, and damage to 1,500 Jewish homes. The pogrom was prompted by rumors of Jewish ritual murder, and if they knew anything about Jews, Jews do not eat blood or use blood in any way, so these rumors are based on absolutely false lies so far from truth that it makes me shudder!
In the musical, Tevye, the dairyman, receives news of pogroms and expulsions from a bookseller while delivering milk. The news is delivered as Tevye asks God, "Whom would it hurt 'If I Were a Rich Man'?".
The author, Sholem Aleichem, and Leo Tolstoy, author of War and Peace, worked together to raise funds for the victims of the pogrom. Aleichem also drew on his experiences for Tevye and His Daughters.
Samuel Joel "Zero" Mostel (February 28, 1915 – September 8, 1977) was an American actor, comedian, and singer. He is best known for his portrayal of comic characters including Tevye on stage in Fiddler on the Roof.
During rehearsals, one of the stars, Jewish actor Zero Mostel, feuded with Robbins, whom he held in contempt because Robbins had cooperated with the House Un-American Activities Committee and hid his Jewish heritage from the public. (Mostel, conversely, was admired for his confrontational testimony before the committee that led to his blacklisting in the 1950s.
The most significant pogrom which occurred in Nazi Germany was the 1938 Kristallnacht. At least 91 Jews were killed, a further thirty thousand arrested and subsequently incarcerated in concentration camps, a thousand synagogues burned, and over seven thousand Jewish businesses destroyed or damaged.
On July 1, 1946, a nine-year-old non-Jewish boy, Henryk Blaszczyk, left his home in Kielce, without informing his parents. When he returned on July 3, the boy told his parents and the police, in an effort to avoid punishment for wandering off, that he had been kidnapped and hidden in the basement of the local Jewish Committee building on 7 Planty Street. The Committee building sheltered up to 180 Jews, and housed various Jewish institutions operating in Kielce at the time. The local police went to investigate the alleged crime in the building, and even though Henryk's story began to unravel (the building, for example, had no basement), a large crowd of angry Poles, including one thousand workers from the Ludwikow steel mill, gathered outside the building.
Polish soldiers and policemen entered the building and called upon the Jewish residents to surrender any weapons. After an unidentified individual fired a shot, officials and civilians fired upon the Jews inside the building, killing some of them. Outside, the angry crowd viciously beat Jews fleeing the shooting, or driven onto the street by the attackers, killing some of them. By day's end, civilians, soldiers and police had killed 42 Jews and injured 40 others. Two non-Jewish Poles died as well, killed either by Jewish residents inside the building or by fellow non-Jewish Poles for offering aid to the Jewish victims.
The term Kielce pogrom refers to a violent massacre of Jews in the southeastern Polish town of Kielce on July 4, 1946.
A pogrom took place in Kielce, Poland, in July 1946. Forty-two Jews were massacred and about 50 more were wounded. The event touched off a mass migration of hundreds of thousands of Jews from Poland and other countries of eastern and central Europe. A clip shows Jewish refugees, survivors of the pogrom, waiting to leave Poland and crossing into Czechoslovakia.
Credits:
National Center for Jewish Film
Heresay, lies about Jews, caused violent mobs to attack the Jews in their area. In other words, gossip. The Jews have been accused of all kinds of bad things ever since a country's religion, both Christianity and Islam, has given the green light to hate and accuse Jews . As evidence, emperors and kings have thrown Jews out of their countries after inviting them in and getting the results they wanted from them. Spanish Inquisition is a good example in 1492. Pope Alexander VI did not expel Jews from Spain in 1492, but rather, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella did: But it was the Pope's edict that caused the royals to kick Jews out.
Explanation: In 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella expelled Jews from Spain. Most of the expelled Jews fled to Portugal, where they were able to avoid persecution for a few years. Then the same thing happened to Jews there.
Arch of Titus in Rome: a way of bragging how the Roman Army looted the Temple, forcing the Jews, now slaves, to carry the precious articles from the Temple
The Roman emperor during the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE was Titus, who ruled from 79–81 AD: He was the son of Vespasian. Titus took over command of the Roman army in Judea from his father in 70, when he destroyed Jerusalem after a 5 month siege that included starving the occupants. According to Josephus, Titus endeavored-although unsuccessfully-- to preserve the Temple, but other sources relate that the destruction was deliberate with the object of eliminating the national religious center of the Jews. Jewish tradition gave him the name, "Titus the Wicked."
Despite the bitter battle in Judea, he did not interfere with Jewish rights elsewhere and refused to accede to the demand of the people of Antioch to abolish Jewish privileges there. Antioch was a wealthy and thriving Jewish community in one of the largest cities of the first-century Roman world. The city's population was made up of Syrians, Greeks, Jews, and Romans.The Jewish community in Antioch were granted citizenship rights equal to those of the Greeks by Seleucus Nicator, the founder-king of Antioch.The Jews in Antioch were guaranteed the right to practice their religion and customs from the second century BC.The Jewish privileges were inscribed on brass tablets and carefully guarded. In 71 AD, when the citizens of Antioch requested that the Jews be expelled, Titus instead displayed a copy of the Jewish privileges in Alexandria in public.After Antiochus IV Epiphanes plundered the Temple in Jerusalem, his successors restored brass votive offerings to the Jews to keep in their synagogue.
"Juive de Tanger" by Charles Landelle, Musée des beaux-arts de Reims
This may have been due to the influence of his mistress, Berenice, a Judean princess, daughter of Herod's sister, Salome. In the year, 60, she rejoined Agrippa, supporting his efforts to prevent the outbreak of the great Revolt in 66, and later fled with him to the Romans. That's when she became Titus's mistress. Then she was forced by Roman popular opinion to leave him. When Vespusian died, she tried to reconcile with Titus, but failed. Berenice was a member of the Herodian Dynasty that ruled the Roman province of Judaea between 39 BC and 92 AD. She was the daughter of King Herod Agrippa I and Cypros and a sister of King Herod Agrippa II.
Trajan was the Roman emperor who reigned from the year 98 to 117 CE/AD. His oriental policy led to a major clash with the Jews of Judaea. In 105/6 he annexed the Nabatean kingdom including the Negev and Transjordan. In 115-117, while he was involved in his Parthian war, Jewish risings were happening in Cyrenaica, Egypt and Cyprus, and in Alexandria the Greeks attacked the Jewish population. As a result, in 116;; he ordered a preventive massacre of the Jews in Mesopotamia. Judea itself was kept under firm control by his general, Lucius Quietus. The suppression of the many risings ended the prosperity of the Jewish settlements in Egypt, Cyrenaica, and Cyprus.
Hadrian; Aaelius Hadrianus, was a Roman emperor from 117 to 138 CE/AD. Hadrian assumed control over the vast Roman Empire in AD 117 following the death of his adoptive father, Trajan. As emperor, he broke with the expansionist policies of his predecessors to focus on securing the Roman Empire within its existing borders.
His most impressive statement of this policy was Hadrian’s Wall – a monument that still influences the landscape of northern England today, some 1,900 years after it was built.
He removed and executed the savage governor of Judea, who was Lucius Quietus.
Lucius Quietus was a RomanBerbergeneral and 11th legate of Judaea from 117. He was the principal commander against the Jewish rebellion known as the Kitos War(Kitos is a later corruption of Quietus). As both a general and a highly acclaimed commander, he was notably one of the most accomplished Berber statesmen in ancient Roman history.After the death of the emperor Trajan, Quietus was murdered or executed, possibly on the orders of Trajan's successor Hadrian. What most of people ignore is the fact that behind the Greatness of Emperor Trajan lays the African Berber, Lucius Quietus, who was Trajan’s military Deputy and Chief of staff of his armies… Many history manuals will not tell you who was really Lucius Quietus, how he became the Deputy of the Greatest Roman Emperor of all time and why many people really know nothing about him…
The Diaspora Revolt/or Jewish rebellion, a series of major uprisings by diasporic Jews, occurred in 115–117 in Cyrene (Cyrenaica), Cyprus, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. These uprisings involved the ransacking of towns and the slaughter of Roman citizens and others. When the inhabitants of Babylonia revolted, they were suppressed by Quietus, who was rewarded by being appointed governor of Judaea. There, he faced a period of unrest later known in rabbinic sources as the Kitos War, a name derived from Quietus. Quietus took the city of Lydda and methodically set about defeating the rebellions.
At first the Jews may have thought well of Hadrian because he supported the Egyptian Jewry in disputes with the Greeks and this created a favorable impression on the Jews.
Then He came along with a prohibition against sexual mutilation which extended to circumcision. This was an attack on a fundamental rite of Judaism, and they changed their minds.
As a result of his visit to Palestine in 130 and the implacable attitude of the Jews with whom he negotiated, he decided to commence the hellenization of the country by converting Jerusalem into a Roman colony and named it after himself, Aelia Capitolina.
The Jews rebelled under Bar Kokhba and the ensuing war from 132 to 135 ended with Bar Kokhba's death. It was the most difficult time of Hadrian's reign. Bar Kokhba held Jerusalem for 3 years with his army of young men, an impossible feat in those days to dare to take on the Roman army.
After Hadrians's victory, he received the title of Imperator. Judea became a consular province called Syria-Palaestina. The ruins of Jerusalem were reconstructed as a pagan city and an equestrian statue of Hadrian was erected on the site of the Holy of Holies.
During the siege of Jerusalem during the Roman War, the Temple had served as a center of military activity, and was destroyed by the conquering Romans in 70 CE. A Roman temple was later built on the site, and since the Moslem Period, a mosque has stood there called the Mosque of Omar. The area around the western and southern walls of the (Herodian) Temple compound was extensively excavated in 1968.
Mother in Sderot running to bomb shelter with small son
Hamas Terrorists' Missile and Rockets from Gaza
A shoulder-launched surface to air missile was fired at an IDF helicopter over Gaza today, missing it. Also today, Two rockets were launched at Sderot. One of them exploded near Kibbutz Nir Am and the other fell in an open area. Sderot residents reported shrapnel on a local streets, but no damage or injuries. Over the past day, the air force struck 40 Hamas gathering points and command centers throughout Gaza, preventing terrorists from launching attacks against soldiers and civilians. Meanwhile, Israel is sending a delegation to Doha, Qatar today to continue negotiations on a hostage deal with Hamas.
Hezbollah Terrorists' Rocket Launchers in Lebanon
Nabatieh rocket launchers destroyed in this area in Lebanon
Israeli Air Force fighter jets destroyed Hezbollah medium-range rocket launchers in Lebanese territory last night. An IDF spokesman said in a statement: "The Israeli Air Force, with the direction of the Intelligence Directorate, struck Hezbollah medium-range rocket launchers at a military site belonging to the terrorist organization. Hezbollah rocket launchers adjacent to an additional military site in the area of Nabatieh were also struck. As part of the enforcement of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon, prior to the strike a request was sent to the Lebanese Armed Forces to neutralize the launchers that posed a threat to Israeli civilians and IDF troops. The launchers were struck only after the request was not addressed by the Lebanese Armed Forces. The IDF continues to act to remove any threat to the State of Israel in accordance with the ceasefire understandings."
Houthi Terrorists' ballistic missile and drone
Modiin, Israel, home of Hasmoneans and where Mattathias rebelled against Antiochus Epiphanes. A burning torch is now carried to Jerusalem from Modiin each Hanukkah by relay runners.
Last night, the IDF intercepted a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis at central Israel and shot down a Houthi attack drone. Shrapnel was reported in the Modiin area.
Elon Reeve Musk (born June 28, 1971) in Pretoria, South Africa, and emigrated to Canada at age 18. He is a businessman known for his key roles in the space company SpaceX and the automotive company Tesla, Inc.He's 53 years old. Oh yes, he is now the owner of the old Twitter, called X....now.
Accusations of antisemitism against Elon Musk.
First, Elon Musk has got a thing against ADL (Anti-Defamation League).
Jonathan Greenblatt (born November 21, 1970) is an Jewish American entrepreneur, corporate executive, and the sixth national director and CEO of the ..
About 40 students at Washburn University stage a protest expressing support for Palestinians in Gaza and calling for a cease-fire in the war there on May 3, 2024, in Topeka, Kansas. | John Hanna/AP
President Joe Biden has been dogged for months by pro-Palestinian protesters calling him “Genocide Joe” — but some of the groups behind the demonstrations receive financial backing from philanthropists pushing hard for his reelection. The donors include some of the biggest names in Democratic circles: Soros, Rockefeller and Pritzker, according to a POLITICO analysis. By Shia Kapos
Updated:
"The Israeli government and several media outlets have accused Elon Musk of sowing antisemitism due to his promotion of George Soros conspiracy theories, although some Israeli officials defended Musk and denied that his criticism of Soros constituted antisemitism." Many Jews in the USA also have criticized Soros for his anti-Jewish/anti-Israel demonstrations of lack of backing with his money. He is so antagonistic that he backs Israel's enemies.
Born in Budapest to a non-observant Jewish family, Soros survived the Nazi occupation of Hungary and moved to the United Kingdom in 1947.George Soros (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist.As of October 2023, he had a net worth of US$6.7 billion, having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundations, of which $15 billion has already been distributed, representing 64% of his original fortune.
Soros is a Jewish holocaust survivor who is extremely wealthy, possibly the most wealthy before Musk came along. Soros, like Bernie Sanders, seems to be fighting their Jewish history, being deniers in their own minds. They do not seem to ever stand for Israel.
"On November 15, 2023, Twitter user Charles Weber, who identifies as a Jewish conservative, posted a video from StopJewishHate.org condemning the phrase "Hitler was right"; Weber captioned the video: "To the cowards hiding behind the anonymity of the internet and posting 'Hitler was right': You got something you want to say? Why don't you say it to our faces."
In response, a second user posted "Okay. Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them. I'm deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest shit now about western Jewish populations coming to the disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities that support flooding their country don't exactly like them too much. You want truth said to your face, there it is."
To the latter user, Musk replied, "You have said the actual truth." Musk further clarified that he doesn't believe that "all Jewish communities" hate white people, but specifically took aim at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). He added, "You [sic] right that this does not extend to all Jewish communities, but it is also not just limited to ADL."
The first tweet was widely regarded as echoing white nationalist sentiments and affirmed another antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jews push "hatred against Whites". The following day, Musk made a tweet which critics regarded as supporting white pride. Advertisers distanced themselves from his tweets.
At the DealBook Summit on November 29, 2023, after comments from Disney CEO Bob Iger explaining his decision to stop advertising on X after Musk's recent post,
journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin questioned Musk about the withdrawal of advertisers.
Musk responded, "I hope they stop. Don't advertise" and "If somebody is going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go fuck yourself. Go fuck yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is"; Musk singled out Iger, saying, "Hey Bob, if you're in the audience." Musk acknowledged to Sorkin that one of his tweets—the one affirming an antisemitic conspiracy theory—was a mistake, saying, "I handed a loaded gun to those who hate me and to those who are antisemitic and for that I am quite sorry." Musk described his tweet as "one of the most foolish, if not the most foolish, thing I've done".
In January 2024, Musk visited the Auschwitz concentration camp with European Jewish Association Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin, conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro and Holocaust survivor Gidon Lev. He also spoke on a conference about rising antisemitism. The New York Timesdescribed the trip as a part of an image "rehabilitation tour".
Yet, what does he have against ADL ? Founded in 1913, its timeless mission is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.” Today, ADL continues to fight all forms of antisemitism and bias, using innovation and partnerships to drive impact.
The ADL is described as a pro-Israel group. The Middle East historian Asaf Romirowsky described the organization as "left of center" politically.
The ADL tracked rapid growth in hate speech and harassment on Twitter after Elon Musk bought the social network in 2022. In early September 2023, Musk liked and replied to a tweet by the Irish white nationalist Keith Woods that called for banning the ADL from X, which was Twitter's new name under Musk.
Musk also accused the ADL of defamation and threatened to sue it, writing that advertising revenue was "still down 60%, primarily due to pressure on advertisers by @ADL (that's what advertisers tell us), so they almost succeeded in killing X/Twitter!"
The ADL said as matter of policy it did not comment on legal threats, but that it had recently met with X leadership including CEO Linda Yaccarino, who had thanked the ADL's CEO on the platform.
Greenblatt later praised Musk after he announced policy banning phrases such as "decolonization" and "from the river to the sea" on Twitter.[ The head of the ADL's Center for Technology and Society (CTS), Yael Eisenstat, reportedly quit in protest of the praise of Musk.
ADL has advanced the concept of new antisemitism, including a definition that says anti-Zionism and some criticisms of Israel are antisemitic. It has received criticism, including from members of its staff, that such advocacy has diverted ADL from its historical fight against antisemitism.
What is Zionism other than a movement to secure the Jewish return to
the Land of Israel. It is the Jews who need and want to return. Isn't
someone who is anti-Zionistic against the Jews having the right to
return? That's where Judaism started, with its history with Moses and
the Exodus. Zionism started a little before WWI ended. HERZL initiated
the First Zionist Congress in 1897. Here, I believe ADL was RIGHT!!!!
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