The Third Patriarch Jacob, after deceiving his brother Esau for the birthright, fled, married Leah and Rachel, fathered the twelve tribes of Israel, and was renamed Israel by G-d
In the Book of Genesis. Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob, was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, rose to power in Egypt through his wisdom and G-d's favor, and ultimately forgave and saved his family during a severe famine.
Between 15th Century and 13th Century BC
The enslavement of the Jews in Egypt when a new Pharaoh feared their growing population, leading to their oppression and forced labor
1446-1312-1290?
Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, leading them on a journey that followed 40 years of wandering in the desert. they crossed through the Red Sea, Received the Torah, including the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai and ultimately made their way toward the Promised Land during the Exodus.
The Kingdom of Israel falls to the Neo-Assyrian Empire, The fall of Israel resulted in the deportation of many Israelites, often referred to as the "Lost Ten Tribes", This marked the end of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, leaving only the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
King Josiah of Judah instituted major reforms, destroyed pagan altars and shrines, and renewed the covenant between G-d and the people of Judah reinforcing monotheism and the exclusive worship of Yahweh.
As recounted in the Book of Esther. Often associated with Xerxes I of Persia, Queen Esther disclosed her identity to the king and began to advocate for her people, identifying Haman as the conspirator scheming to annihilate them.
460
Ezra's Mission, recounted in the Book of Ezra. With anarchy brewing in Judea, Xerxes' successor Persian King Artaxerxes sent Ezra to restore order.
332
Alexander the Great the King of Macedonia, one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from Macedonia to Egypt and Greece to northwestern India conquers Phoenicia and the Levant
Sculpture of Alexander the Great
332?
Alexander visited Judea to meet High Priest Jaddus, who showed him the prophecy of Alexander's life and conquests from the Book of Daniel. This account is regarded as apocryphal and likely created in the early Hasmonean period[1]
150-100
At some point during this period, the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) was finalized and canonized. Jewish religious texts written after Ezra's time were not included in the canon, though they gained popularity among various Jewish groups. Later works incorporated into the Greek translation of the Bible (the Septuagint) came to be known as the deuterocanonical books.
Set of scrolls comprising the entire Tanakh
140-63
The Hasmonean dynasty rules Judea. The Hasmonean kingdom expands outward to Idumea, Samaria, Perea, Galilee, and Gilead due to weakness and dissolution within the Seleucid Empire.
63
Pompey laid siege to and entered the Temple, and Judea became a client kingdom of the Roman Republic.
Hillel the Elder, considered the greatest Torah sage, dies, leading to the dominance of Shammai till 30 CE, see also Hillel and Shammai.
26-36
Sanhedrin trial of Jesus took place before Pontius Pilate, the Governor of the Roman province of Judaea's Roman trial of Jesus. following this Roman trial, Jesus was crucified, marking a pivotal moment in history. This event laid the foundation for Christianity, as the Apostles began to spread the Gospel message to various communities including the Jewish ones.
Start of the Jewish–Roman wars which resulted in a Roman victory, and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, During the siege, approximately 1,100,000 people were killed, and 97,000 were captured and enslaved.[2] This conflict also contributed to the separation of Christianity from Judaism, following this defeat, Roman Judea remained under Roman control, renamed and merged into the province of Syria Palaestina. The Sanhedrin was relocated to Yavne by Yochanan ben Zakai, see also Council of Jamnia. Fiscus Judaicus levied on all Jews of the Roman Empire whether they aided the revolt or not. (War ended 135 CE)
Kitos War (Revolt against Trajan) – a second Jewish-Roman War initiated in large Jewish communities of Cyprus, Cyrene (modern Libya), Aegipta (modern Egypt) and Mesopotamia (modern Syria and Iraq). It led to mutual killing of hundreds of thousands Jews, Greeks and Romans, ending with a total defeat of Jewish rebels and complete extermination of Jews in Cyprus and Cyrene by the newly installed Emperor Hadrian.
131–136
The Roman emperorHadrian, among other provocations, renames Jerusalem "Aelia Capitolina" and prohibits circumcision. Simon bar Kokhba (Bar Kosiba) leads a large Jewish revolt against Rome in response to Hadrian's actions. In the aftermath, most Jewish population is annihilated (about 580,000 killed) and Hadrian renames the province of Judea to Syria Palaestina, and attempts to root out Judaism.
With Emperor Hadrian's death, the persecution of Jews within the Roman Empire is eased and Jews are allowed to visit Jerusalem on Tisha B'av. In the following centuries the Jewish center moves to Galilee.
3rd century
200
The Mishnah, the standardization of the Jewish oral law as it stands today, is redacted by Judah haNasi in the land of Israel.
259
Nehardea in Babylonia destroyed by the Palmyrenes, which destruction caused the widespread dispersion of Jews in the region.[4]
Roman Emperor Constantine I enacts new restrictive legislation. Conversion of Christians to Judaism is outlawed, congregations for religious services are curtailed, but Jews are also allowed to enter Jerusalem on the anniversary of the Temple's destruction.
The last pagan Roman Emperor, Julian, allows the Jews to return to "holy Jerusalem which you have for many years longed to see rebuilt" and to rebuild the Second Temple. Shortly after, the Emperor is assassinated, and the plan is dissolved.
In India, the Hindu king Sira Primal, also known as Iru Brahman, issued what was engraved on a tablet of brass, his permission to Jews to live freely, build synagogue, own property without conditions attached and as long as the world and moon exist.[5][6]
5th century
438
The Empress Eudocia removes the ban on Jews' praying at the Temple site and the heads of the Community in Galilee issue a call "to the great and mighty people of the Jews": "Know that the end of the exile of our people has come"!
Yosef Dhu Nuwas, King of Himyarite Kingdom (Modern Yemen) converting to Judaism, upgrading existing Yemenese Jewish center. His kingdom falls in a war against Axum and the Christians.
550
The main redaction of Babylonian Talmud is completed under Rabbis Ravina and Ashi. To a lesser degree, the text continues to be modified for the next 200 years.
550–700
Period of the Savoraim, the sages in Persia who put the Talmud in its final form.
555–572
The Fourth Samaritan Revolt against Byzantium results in great reduction of the Samaritan community, their Israelite faith is outlawed. Neighbouring Jews, who mostly reside in Galilee, are also affected by the oppressive rule of the Byzantines.
Period of the Gaonim (the Gaonic era). Most Jews lived in the Muslim Arab realm (Andalusia, North Africa, Palestine, Iraq and Yemen), others living in Christian southern Europe and Asia Minor. Despite general discrimination and sporadic periods of persecution in this period, Jewish communal and cultural life flowered. The universally recognized centers of Jewish life were in Jerusalem and Tiberias (Syria), Sura and Pumbeditha (Iraq). The heads of these law schools were the Gaonim, who were consulted on matters of law by Jews throughout the world. During this time, the Niqqud is invented in Tiberias.
The Khazar (a Turkic semi-nomadic people from Central Asia) King and members of the upper class adopt Judaism. The Khazarate lasts until 10th century, being overrun by the Rus, and finally conquered by Rus and Byzantine forces in 1016.
760
The Karaites reject the authority of the oral law, and split off from rabbinic Judaism.
In Sura, Iraq, Rav Amram Gaon compiles his siddur (Jewish prayer book.)
850
al-Mutawakkil made a decree ordering dhimmi Jews and Christians to wear garments distinguishing them from Muslims,[8] their places of worship to be destroyed, and allowing them little involvement in government or official matters.
871
An incomplete marriage contract dated to October 6 of this year is the earliest dated document found in the papers of the Cairo Geniza.
888
The Aghlabids require dhimmis in the Maghreb and Sicily to wear a patch (ruq'a) of white fabric on the shoulder of their outer garment, with the patch for Jews being in the image of an ape.[8][9]
10th century
912–1013
The Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain. Abd-ar-Rahman III becomes Caliph of Spain in 912, ushering in the height of tolerance. Muslims granted Jews and Christians exemptions from military service, the right to their own courts of law, and a guarantee of safety of their property. Jewish poets, scholars, scientists, statesmen and philosophers flourished in and were an integral part of the extensive Arab civilization. This period ended with the Cordoba massacre in 1013.
CaliphAl-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ("the Mad") issues severe restrictions against Jews in the Fatimid Caliphate. All Jews are forced to wear a heavy wooden "golden calf" around their necks. Christians have to wear a large wooden cross and members of both groups had to wear black hats.[8]
1013
During the fall of the city, Sulayman's troops looted Córdoba and massacred citizens of the city, including many Jews. Prominent Jews in Córdoba, such as Samuel ibn Naghrela were forced to flee to the city in 1013.
1013–1073
Rabbi Yitchaki Alfassi (from Morocco, later Spain) writes the Rif, an important work of Jewish law.
1016
The Jewish community of Kairouan, Tunisia is forced to choose between conversion and expulsion.[10]
1033
Following their conquest of the city from the Maghrawa tribe, the forces of Tamim, chief of the Zenata Berber Banu Ifran tribe, perpetrated a massacre of Jews in Fez.
1040–1105
Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki (Rashi) writes important commentaries on almost the entire Tanakh and Talmud.
1066 December 30
Granada massacre: Muslim mob stormed the royal palace in Granada, crucified Jewish vizierJoseph ibn Naghrela and massacred most of the Jewish population of the city. "More than 1,500 Jewish families, numbering 4,000 persons, fell in one day."[11]
1090
Granada was captured by Yusuf ibn Tashfin, King of the Almoravides. The Jewish community, believed to have sided with the Christians, was destroyed. Many fled, penniless, to Christian Toledo.[12]
1095–1291
Christian Crusades begin, sparking warfare with Islam in Palestine. Crusaders temporarily capture Jerusalem in 1099. Tens of thousands of Jews are killed by European crusaders throughout Europe and in the Middle East.
12th century
1100–1275
Time of the tosafot, Talmudic commentators who carried on Rashi's work. They include some of his descendants.
Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, aka Maimonides or the Rambam is the leading rabbi of Sephardic Jewry. Among his many accomplishments, he writes one of the most influential codes of law (The Mishneh Torah) in Jewish History as well as, in Arabic, many philosophical works including the (Guide for the Perplexed).
1141
Yehuda Halevi issues a call to the Jews to emigrate to Palestine. He is buried in Jerusalem.
1150–1230
The Almohads conquer southern Spain and the Magrheb. As they do not regocnise the typical dhimmi status of Jews and Christians, they often force them to chose between conversion and death. They also reintroduce the shikla and force the converted Jews to also wear differentiating clothing as they do not trust their sincerity. Maimonides leaves Cordoba around 1160.[13][14]
Upon the capture of Jerusalem, Saladin summons the Jews and permits them to resettle in the city.[15] In particular, the residents of Ashkelon, a large Jewish settlement, respond to his request.[16]
1189
Jacob of Orléans slain in antisemitic riots that swept through London during the coronation of King Richard I. The king later punished the perpetrators of the crime.
Jews living in England, under King Henry III, were blamed for counterfeiting the money and when the local citizens began to exact revenge on them, the king expelled his Jewish subjects in order to save them from harm.[17]
1249–1250
The Hafsid caliph in the Magrheb and the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt issue decrees that Jews and Christians to wear a dinstinguishing badge. The so-called shikla continues to be in use for Tunisian Jews into the nineteenth century.[18]
1250–1300
The life of Moses de Leon, of Spain. He publishes to the public the Zohar the 2nd century CE esoteric interpretations of the Torah by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his disciples. Thus begins the evolution of modern Kabbalah (esoteric Jewish mysticism).
1250–1550
Period of the Rishonim, the medieval rabbinic sages. Most Jews at this time lived in lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea or in Western Europe under feudal systems. With the decline of Muslim and Jewish centers of power in Iraq, there was no single place in the world which was a recognized authority for deciding matters of Jewish law and practice. Consequently, the rabbis recognized the need for writing commentaries on the Torah and Talmud and for writing law codes that would allow Jews anywhere in the world to be able to continue living in the Jewish tradition.
Pottery in the museum of the synagogue of Sopron, Hungary, built around 1300.
1300
Rabbi Levi ben Gershom, aka Gersonides. A 14th-century French Jewish philosopher best known for his Sefer Milhamot Adonai ("The Book of the Wars of the Lord") as well as for his philosophical commentaries.
1304–1394
Jews are repeatedly expelled from France and readmitted, for a price.
Pope Clement VI issued two papal bulls in 1348 (6 July and 26 September), the latter named Quamvis Perfidiam, which condemned the violence and said those who blamed the plague on the Jews had been "seduced by that liar, the Devil."[20] He urged clergy to take action to protect Jews as he had done.
1349
Several hundred Jews are publicly burned to death in the Strasbourg massacre.
1350s
Genetic testing conducted on Ashkenazi Jews has pointed to a bottleneck in the 1300s in the Ashkenazi Jewish population where it dwindled down to as few as 250–420 people.[21]
The Marinid sultan confines the Jewish population to the mellah of Fez due to the increasing hostility of the Muslim population. The mellahs of other towns of Morocco, all of which are established later under the Saadians and the Alawids, are founded with the express intent of ostracism and isolating Jews rather than protection.[24][13]
Rabbi Yosef Karo spends 20 years compiling the Beit Yosef, an enormous guide to Jewish law. He then writes a more concise guide, the Shulkhan Arukh, that becomes the standard law guide for the next 400 years. Born in Spain, Yosef Karo lives and dies in Safed.
1488
Obadiah ben Abraham, commentator on the Mishnah, arrives in Jerusalem and marks a new epoch for the Jewish community.
1492
The Alhambra Decree: Approximately 200,000 Jews are expelled from Spain, The expelled Jews relocate to the Netherlands, Turkey, Arab lands, and Judea; some eventually go to South and Central America. However, most emigrate to Poland. In later centuries, more than 50% of Jewish world population lived in Poland. Many Jews remain in Spain after publicly converting to Christianity, becoming Crypto-Jews.
1492
Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire issued a formal invitation to the Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal and sent out ships to safely bring Jews to his empire.
1493
Jews expelled from Sicily. As many as 137,000 exiled.
1496
Jews expelled from Portugal and from many German cities.
Lisbon massacre: Dominican friars promised absolution for sins committed over the previous 100 days to those who killed the Jews of Lisbon, and a crowd of more than 500 people (many of them sailors from the counties of Holland and Zeeland, and the Kingdom of Germany) gathered, persecuted, tortured, killed, and burnt at the stake hundreds of Jews. Women and children were beaten to death. Some Portuguese families saved their jewish neighbors by hiding them.
1511
Printing of Jewish books by mechanical press began by Daniel Bomberg.[27]
1516
Venetian Ghetto established, the first Jewish ghetto in Europe. Many others follow.
Isaac Luria ("the Arizal") teaches Kabbalah in Jerusalem and (mainly) Safed to select disciples. Some of those, such as Ibn Tebul, Israel Sarug and mostly Chaim Vital, put his teachings into writing. While the Sarugian versions are published shortly afterwards in Italy and Holland, the Vitalian texts remain in manuscripti for as long as three centuries.
A Hebrew printing press is established in Safed, the first press in Palestine and the first in Asia.
1580–1764
First session of the Council of Four Lands (Va'ad Arba' Aratzot) in Lublin, Poland. 70 delegates from local Jewish kehillot meet to discuss taxation and other issues important to the Jewish community.
17th century
1621–1630
Shelah HaKadosh writes his most famous work after emigrating to the Land of Israel.
Kingdom of Beta Israel in what is now modern day Ethiopia collapses and loses autonomy.
1633
Jews of Poznań granted a privilege of forbidding Christians to enter into their city.
1648
Jewish population of Poland reached 450,000 (4% of the 11,000,000 population of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth being Jewish), 40,000 in Bohemia, and 25,000 in Moravia. Worldwide population of Jewry is estimated at 750,000.
1648–1655
The UkrainianCossackBohdan Chmielnicki leads a massacre of Polish gentry and Jewry that leaves an estimated 65,000 Jews dead and a similar number of gentry. The total decrease in the number of Jews is estimated at 100,000.[28]
Israel ben Eliezer, known as the Baal Shem Tov, founds Hasidic Judaism, a way to approach God through meditation and fervent joy. He and his disciples attract many followers, and establish numerous Hasidic sects. The European Jewish opponents of Hasidim (known as Misnagdim) argue that one should follow a more scholarly approach to Judaism. Some of the more well-known Hasidic sects today include Bobover, Breslover, Gerer, Lubavitch (Chabad) and Satmar Hasidim.
1700
Rabbi Judah HeHasid makes aliyah to Palestine accompanied by hundreds of his followers. A few days after his arrival, Rabbi Yehuda dies suddenly.
1700
Sir Solomon de Medina is knighted by William III, making him the first Jew in England to receive that honour.
1720
Unpaid Arab creditors burn the synagogue unfinished by immigrants of Rabbi Yehuda and expel all Ashkenazi Jews from Jerusalem. See also Hurva Synagogue
Moses Mendelssohn and the Haskalah (Enlightenment) movement. He strove to bring an end to the isolation of the Jews so that they would be able to embrace the culture of the Western world, and in turn be embraced by gentiles as equals. The Haskalah opened the door for the development of all the modern Jewish denominations and the revival of Hebrew as a spoken language, but it also paved the way for many who, wishing to be fully accepted into Christian society, converted to Christianity or chose to assimilate to emulate it.
1740
Parliament of Great Britain passes a general act permitting Jews to be naturalized in the American colonies. Previously, several colonies had also permitted Jews to be naturalized without taking the standard oath "upon the true faith of a Christian."
1740
Ottoman authorities invite Rabbi Haim Abulafia (1660–1744), renowned Kabbalist and Rabbi of Izmir, to come to the Holy Land. Rabbi Abulafia is to rebuild the city of Tiberias, which has lain desolate for some 70 years. The city's revival is seen by many as a sign of the coming of the Messiah.[30]
1740–1750
Thousands immigrate to Palestine under the influence of Messianic predictions. The large immigration greatly increases the size and strength of the Jewish Settlement in Palestine.[30]
1747
Rabbi Abraham Gershon of Kitov (Kuty) (1701–1761) is the first immigrant of the Hasidic Aliyah. He is a respected Talmudic scholar, mystic, and brother-in-law of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov (founder of the Hasidic movement). Rabbi Abraham first settles in Hebron. Later, he relocates to Jerusalem at the behest of its residents.[31]
1759
Followers of Jacob Frank joined ranks of Polish szlachta (gentry) of Jewish origins.
1772–1795
Partitions of Poland between Russia, Kingdom of Prussia and Austria. Main bulk of World Jewry lives now in those 3 countries. Old privileges of Jewish communities are denounced.
The French Revolution. In 1791 France grants full right to Jews and allows them to become citizens, under certain conditions.[34]
1790
In the US, President George Washington sends a letter to the Jewish community in Rhode Island. He writes that he envisions a country "which gives bigotry no sanction...persecution no assistance". Despite the fact that the US was a predominantly Protestant country, theoretically Jews are given full rights. In addition, the mentality of Jewish immigrants shaped by their role as merchants in Eastern Europe meant they were well-prepared to compete in American society.
1791
Russia creates the Pale of Settlement that includes land acquired from Poland with a huge Jewish population and in the same year Crimea. The Jewish population of the Pale was 750,000. 450,000 Jews lived in the Prussian and Austrian parts of Poland.[35]
Large-scale aliyah in hope of Hastening Redemption in anticipation of the arrival of the Messiah in 1840.[37]
1820–1860
The development of Orthodox Judaism, a set of traditionalist movements that resisted the influences of modernization that arose in response to the European emancipation and Enlightenment movements; characterized by continued strict adherence to Halakha.
Rabbi Israel Salanter develops the Mussar Movement. While teaching that Jewish law is binding, he dismisses current philosophical debate and advocates the ethical teachings as the essence of Judaism.
Jews are given equal rights in Russian-controlled Congress Poland. The privileges of some towns regarding prohibition of Jewish settlement are revoked. In Leipzig, Moses Hess publishes the book Rome and Jerusalem, the first book to call for the establishment of a Jewish socialist commonwealth in Palestine. The book is also notable for giving the impetus for the Labor Zionist movement.
1867
Jews emancipated in Hungary.
1868
Benjamin Disraeli becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Though converted to Christianity as a child, he is the first person of Jewish descent to become a leader of government in Europe.
World Jewish population around 7.7 million, 90% in Europe, mostly Eastern Europe; around 3.5 million in the former Polish provinces.
1881–1884, 1903–1906, 1918–1920
Three major waves of pogroms kill tens of thousands of Jews in Russia and Ukraine. More than two million Russian Jews emigrate in the period 1881–1920.
1881
On December 30–31, the First Congress of all Zionist Unions for the colonization of Palestine was held at Focșani, Romania.
1882–1903
The First Aliyah, a major wave of Jewish immigrants to build a homeland in Palestine.[45]
The term "Zionism" is coined by an Austrian Jewish publicist Nathan Birnbaum in his journal Self Emancipation and was defined as the national movement for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland and the resumption of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel.
In response to the Dreyfus affair, Theodor Herzl writes Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State), advocating the creation of a free and independent Jewish state in Israel.
S. An-sky's Jewish Ethnographic Expedition to the Pale of Settlement visited around 70 shtetls in Volyn, Podolia, and Galicia to collect folklore and artifacts, record music, and take photos of vanishing Ashkenazi culture
1915
Yeshiva College (later University) and its Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Rabbinical Seminary is established in New York City for training in a Modern Orthodox milieu.
The Balfour Declaration which supported the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine and protected the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities.
1917
The British defeat the Turks and gain control of Palestine. The British issue the Balfour Declaration which gives official British support for "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people ... it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine". Many Jews interpret this to mean that all of Palestine was to become a Jewish state.[46]
1917 February
The Pale of Settlement is abolished, and Jews get equal rights. The Russian Civil War leads to over 2,000 pogroms with tens of thousands murdered and hundreds of thousand made homeless.
British military administration of the Mandate is replaced by civilian rule.
1921
Britain proclaims that all of Palestine east of the Jordan River is forever closed to Jewish settlement, but not to Arab settlement.
1921
Polish–Soviet peace treaty in Riga. Citizens of both sides are given rights to choose the country. Hundred thousands of Jews, especially small businesses forbidden in the Soviets, move to Poland.
2,989,000 Jews according to religion poll in Poland (10.5% of total). Jewish youth consisted 23% of students of high schools and 26% of students of universities.
1926
Prior to World War I, there were few Hasidic yeshivas in Europe. On Lag BaOmer 1926, Rabbi Shlomo Chanoch Hacohen Rabinowicz, the fourth RadomskerRebbe, declared, "The time has come to found yeshivas where the younger generation will be able to learn and toil in Torah", leading to the founding of the Keser Torah network of 36 yeshivas in pre-war Poland.[48]
1929
A long-running dispute between Muslims and Jews over access to the Western Wall in Jerusalem escalates into the 1929 Palestine riots. The riots included attacks by Arabs on Jews, resulting in massacres in Hebron and Safed, and violence against Jews in Jerusalem.
1930
World Jewry: 15,000,000. Main countries USA (4,000,000), Poland (3,500,000 11% of total), Soviet Union (2,700,000 2% of total), Romania (1,000,000 6% of total). Palestine 175,000 or 17% of total 1,036,000.
1933
Hitler takes over Germany; his anti-Semitic sentiments are well-known, prompting numerous Jews to emigrate.
1935
Regina Jonas became the first woman to be ordained as a rabbi.[49]
1937
Adin Steinsaltz born, author of the first comprehensive Babylonian Talmud commentary since Rashi in the 11th century.
1939
The British government issues the 'White Paper'. The paper proposed a limit of 10,000 Jewish immigrants for each year between 1940 and 1944, plus 25,000 refugees for any emergency arising during that period.
1938–1945
The Holocaust (Ha Shoah), resulting in the methodical extermination of nearly 6 million Jews across Europe.
1940s–present
Various Jewish filmmakers, including Billy Wilder, Woody Allen, Mel Brooks and the Coen Brothers, frequently draw on Jewish philosophy and humor, and become some of the most artistically and popularly successful in the history of the medium.
1941
The Muslim residents of Baghdad carried out a savage pogrom against their Jewish compatriots. In this pogrom, known by its Arabic name al-Farhud, about 200 Jews were murdered and thousands wounded, on June 1–2. Jewish property was plundered and many homes set ablaze.
1941
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, arrives in New York after escaping Nazi Europe. Along with his father-in-law, the previous Rebbe, he builds one of the largest worldwide movements (Chabad-Lubavitch) aimed at inspiring Jews to return to their heritage and Torah observance.
1945–1948
Post-Holocaust refugee crisis. British attempts to detain Jews attempting to enter Palestine illegally.
The United Nations approves the creation of a Jewish State and an Arab State in the British mandate of Palestine.
David Ben-Gurion proclaiming Israeli independence on May 14, 1948, below a portrait of Theodor Herzl
May 14, 1948
The State of Israel declares itself as an independent Jewish state hours before the British Mandate is due to expire. Within eleven minutes, it is de facto recognized by the United States. Andrei Gromyko, the Soviet Union's UN ambassador, calls for the United Nations to accept Israel as a member state. The UN approves.
Almost 250,000 Holocaust survivors make their way to Israel. "Operation Magic Carpet" brings thousands of Yemenite Jews to Israel.
1956
The 1956 Suez War Egypt blockades the Gulf of Aqaba, and closes the Suez canal to Israeli shipping. Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser calls for the destruction of Israel. Israel, England, and France go to war and force Egypt to end the blockade of Aqaba, and open the canal to all nations.
Egyptian President Nasser demands that the UN dismantle the UN Emergency Force I (UNEF I) between Israel and Egypt. The UN complies and the last UN peacekeeper is out of Sinai and Gaza by May 19.
The Six-Day War. Israel launches a pre-emptive strike against Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. Israeli aircraft destroy the bulk of the Arab air forces on the ground in a surprise attack, followed by Israeli ground offensives which see Israel decisively defeat the Arab forces and capture the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights.
September 1, 1967
The Arab Leaders meet in Khartoum, Sudan. The Three No's of Khartoum: No recognition of Israel. No negotiations with Israel. No peace with Israel.
1968
Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan formally creates a separate Reconstructionist Judaism movement by setting up the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia.[52][53]
1969
First group of African Hebrew Israelites begin to migrate to Israel under the leadership of Ben Ammi Ben Israel.
Mid-1970s to present
Growing revival of Klezmer music (The folk music of European Jews).,[54][1]
1972
Sally Priesand became the first female rabbi ordained in the US, and is believed to be only the second woman ever to be formally ordained in the history of Judaism.[55]
The Yom Kippur War. Egypt and Syria, backed up by expeditionary forces from other Arab nations, launch a surprise attack against Israel on Yom Kippur. After absorbing the initial attacks, Israel recaptures lost ground and then pushes into Egypt and Syria. Subsequently, OPEC reduces oil production, driving up oil prices and triggering a global economic crisis.
1975
President Gerald Ford signs legislation including the Jackson–Vanik amendment, which ties US trade benefits to the Soviet Union to freedom of emigration for Jews.
1975
United Nations adopts resolution equating Zionism with racism. Rescinded in 1991.
Fall of the Berlin Wall between East and West Germany, collapse of the communist East German government, and the beginning of Germany's reunification (which formally began in October 1990).
1990
The Soviet Union opens its borders for the three million Soviet Jews who had been held as virtual prisoners within their own country. Hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews choose to leave the Soviet Union and move to Israel.
1990–1991
Iraq invades Kuwait, triggering a war between Iraq and Allied United Nations forces. Israel is hit by 39 Scud missiles from Iraq.
Israel and Jordan sign an official peace treaty. Israel cedes a small amount of contested land to Jordan, and the countries open official diplomatic relations, with open borders and free trade.
December 10, 1994
Arafat, Rabin and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres share the Nobel Peace Prize.[57]
November 4, 1995
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated.
1996
Peres loses election to Benyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu (Likud party).
Israel unilaterally withdraws its remaining forces from its security zone in southern Lebanon to the international border, fully complying with the UN Security Council Res. 425.
The Government of Israel officially recognizes the Bnei Menashe people of Northeast India as one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, opening the door for thousands of people to immigrate to Israel.
2005 August
The Government of Israel withdraws its military forces and settlers from the Gaza Strip.
2005 December
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon falls into a coma; Deputy Premier Ehud Olmert takes over as Acting Prime Minister
2006 March
Ehud Olmert leads the Kadima party to victory in Israeli elections, becomes Prime Minister of Israel.
Ariel Sharon dies, after undergoing a sudden decline in health, having suffered renal failure and other complications, after spending 8 years in a deep coma due to his January 2006 stroke, on January 11, 2014.
2016 March
The Jewish Agency declares an end to immigration from Yemen, following the successful conclusion of a covert operation that brought 19 people to Israel over several days. The last 50 Yemenite Jews refuse to leave Yemen.
2017 December
The United States extends formal recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
2019 March
The United States became the first country to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan heights territory which it held since 1967.[60]
In the day considered the deadliest for Jews since the Holocaust, as well as deadliest day in Israel's history, 1,390 people are killed in the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.[63]
^Shay Cohen, J. D. (1982). "Alexander the Great and Jaddus the High Priest According to Josephus". AJS Review. 7/8: 41–68. JSTOR1486406. Retrieved October 17, 2021. The historical Alexander did not visit Jerusalem, did not do obeisance to the high priest, and did not sacrifice to the God of Israel. He was too busy conquering the world to bother with an insignificant inland people living around a small temple.
^Gedaliah ibn Jechia the Spaniard, Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah, Jerusalem 1962, p. 140 (in Hebrew), who puts the number of Jewish deaths in this conflict at 28,000.
^Hastening Redemption: Messianism and the Resettlement of the Land of Israel, Arie Morgenstern, Oxford University Press, 2007
^Changes in the Position of the Jewish Communities of Palestine and Syria in the Mid-Nineteenth Century, by Moshe Maoz, Studies on Palestine During the Ottoman Period, Jerusalem, Israel, 1975, pp. 147–148
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