Two great spans of time—before and after the destruction of the Second Temple (c. 70 CE)
A. First great span of time—BIBLICAL JUDAISM:
1. A landless people established a homeland in Israel and made Jerusalem the capital of its kingdom.
2. The kingdom of Judah and its First Temple were destroyed by the Babylonians (586 BCE), forcing the Israelite people into exile in Babylonia (Iraq) for nearly 50 years.
3. These events made clear to the exiled people that religious law and history had to be put into written form to guarantee their survival.
B. Second great span of time—RABBINICAL JUDAISM:
1. Comprises the 2,000 years of the development of Judaism in the CE.
2. The evolution of rabbinical Judaism and traditional Jewish life, from about 100 CE to approximately 1800 CE, the beginning of the modern period.
3. About 200 years ago, a movement began in Judaism as a response to (1) the new thinking of the European Enlightenment, (2) the liberal thought of the American and French Revolutions.
4. This Reform movement questioned and modernized traditional Judaism and helped produce the diverse branches within Judaism that exist today.
BIBLICAL JUDAISM:
c. 2100-1400 BCE Patriarchal Age: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph (c. 1800 BCE for Abraham)
c. 1275-1250 Exodus: Moses delivers the Hebrews of from Egyptian bondage and slavery
c. 1250-1210 Sinai and the Wandering in the Wilderness
c. 1210-1020 Era of Judges and Hebrew Conquest of Canaan
c. 1020-1000 Kingship, Monarchy Established: Kingdom of Saul, first King of Israel
c. 1000-960 Kingdom of David: establishment of Jerusalem as the capital of the Israel
c. 960-922 Solomon’s Empire: building of the First Temple (c. 950 BCE)
922-722 Rival Kingdoms: Israel (Northern Kingdom) and Judah (Southern Kingdom) split following the death of Solomon
721 Assyrian Conquest: Israel (Northern Kingdom) destroyed, survivors