c. 1312 BCE
the Exodus from Egypt (Moses)
c. 1150 BCE–c. 1025 BCE
Biblical Judges lead the people
c. 1025 BCE–c. 1007 BCE
King Saul
c. 1010 BCE–c. 970 BCE
King David
c. 1001 BCE–c. 931 BCE
King Solomon
c. 1000 BCE–c. 900 BCE
Khirbet Qeiyafa inscription
c. 960 BCE
Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem completed
c. 931 BCE
Split between Kingdom of
Israel (Samaria) and Kingdom of Judah
c. 931 BCE–c. 913 BCE
King Rehoboam of Judah
c. 931 BCE–c. 910 BCE
King Jeroboam of Israel
c. 900 BCE
According to the documentary hypothesis, J Source of the Torah is written [1]
840 BCE
Mesha
inscription describes Moabite victory over a son of King Omri of
Israel.
c. 800 BCE
According to the documentary hypothesis, E Source of the Torah is written [1]
c. 740 BCE–c. 700 BCE
prophesy of Isaiah
c. 740 BCE–c. 722 BCE
Kingdom of Israel falls to Neo-Assyrian Empire
c. 725 BCE–c. 650 BCE
Ketef
Hinnom scrolls containing the text of the Priestly blessing[2]
c. 715 BCE–c. 687 BCE
King Hezekiah of Judah
c. 690 BCE
According to the documentary hypothesis, P Source of the Torah is written [1]
c. 649 BCE–c. 609 BCE
King
Josiah of Judah institutes major reforms.
c. 626 BCЕ – c. 587 BCE
prohecy of Jeremiah
c. 620 BCE
According to the documentary hypothesis, D
Source of the Torah is written.
Joshua, Judges, Samuel I and II, Kings I and II are also written, presumably by
the same authors.
597 BCE
first deportation to Babylon
586 BCE
Jerusalem falls to Nebuchadnezzar and Solomon's Temple destroyed
539 BCE
Jews allowed to return to Jerusalem, by permission of Cyrus
Model of the Second Temple of Jerusalem
520 BCE
Prophecy of Zechariah
516 BCE
Second Temple of Jerusalem consecrated
c. 475 BCE
Often associated with Xerxes I of Persia, Queen Esther revealed her identity to the king
and began to plead for her people, pointing to Haman as the evil schemer
plotting to destroy them.
c. 460 BCE
Seeing anarchy breaking out in Judea, Xerxes' successor Persian King
Artaxerxes sent Ezra to restore order.
c. 450 BCE
Documentary hypothesis suggests that the five
books were created by combining the four originally independent sources[3]
* Date unknown: Traditionally, slavery in Egypt is
given as Jewish years 2332 to 2448 ; This
date would compute to 1428 BCE to 1312 BCE. 1 Kings 6:1 states that the Exodus
occurred 480 years before the construction of Solomon's Temple; i.e., if using
dates found in Wikipedia: 1312 BCE (832 BCE - 480
years); see articles 'The Exodus' and 'Moses'.
332 BCE
Alexander the Great conquers Phoenicia and Gaza,
probably passing by Judea without entering the Jewish dominated hill country on
his way into Egypt.
200 BCE–100 CE
At some point during this era the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) is canonized. Jewish religious works that were
written after the time of Ezra were not canonized, although many became
popular among many groups of Jews. Those works that made it into the Greek
translation of the Bible (the Septuagint) became known as the deuterocanonical
books.
167–161 BCE
The Maccabees (Hasmoneans) revolt against the Hellenistic Empire
of Seleucids, led by Judah Maccabee, resulting in victory and
installation of the Hanukkah holiday.
157–129 BCE
Hasmonean dynasty establishes its royal dominance in Judea during renewed
war with Seleucid Empire.
63 BCE
Pompey the Great lay siege to and entered the
Temple, Judea became a client kingdom of Rome.
40 BCE–4 BCE
Herod the Great, appointed King of the Jews by the Roman
Senate.
1st century CE[edit]
6 CE
Province of Roman Judaea created by merging Judea proper, Samaria and Idumea.
10 CE
Hillel the Elder, considered the greatest Torah
sage, dies, leading to the dominance of Shammai till 30, see also Hillel and
Shammai.
30 CE
Helena of Adiabene, a vassal Parthian kingdom in
Mesopotamia, converts to Israelite religion.
Significant numbers of Adiabene population follow her, later also providing
limited support for Jews during Jewish-Roman wars. In the following centuries the
community mostly converts to Christianity.
30–70 CE
Schism within Judaism during the Second Temple
era. A sect within Hellenised Jewish society starts Jewish Christianity, see also Rejection of Jesus.
Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans
(1850 painting by David Roberts)
66–70
The Great Jewish Revolt against Roman
occupation ended with destruction of the Second Temple and the fall
of Jerusalem. 1,100,000 people are killed by the Romans during
the siege, and 97,000 captured and enslaved. 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.
70–200
Period of the Tannaim, rabbis who organized and elucidated
the Jewish oral
law. The decisions of the Tannaim are contained in the Mishnah, Beraita, Tosefta, and various Midrash compilations.[5]
73
Final events of the Great Jewish Revolt - the fall of Masada. Christianity starts off as a Jewish sect and then
develops its own texts and ideology and branches off from Judaism to become a distinct religion.
2nd century[edit]
115–117
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 emperor Hadrian, among other provocations, renames Jerusalem
"Aelia Capitolina" and prohibits circumcision. 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.
136
Rabbi Akiva is martyred.
138
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[edit]
200
The Mishnah, the standardization of the Jewish oral
law as it stands today, is redacted by Judah
haNasi in the land of Israel.
220–500
Period of the amoraim, the rabbis of the Talmud.
4th century[edit]
315–337
Roman Emperor Constantine I enacts new restrictive legislature.
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.
351-352
Jewish revolt, directed against Constantius Gallus, is put down.
358
Because of the increasing danger of Roman persecution, Hillel
II creates a mathematical calendar for calculating the Jewish
month. After adopting the calendar, the Sanhedrin in Tiberias is dissolved.
361–363
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.
363
Galilee earthquake of 363
379
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.[6][7]
5th century[edit]
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"!
450
Redaction of Talmud
Yerushalmi (Talmud of Jerusalem)
6th century[edit]
500–523
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 Talmud Bavli (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.
7th century[edit]
610-628
Jews of Galilee led by Benjamin of Tiberias gain autonomy in Jerusalem after revolting against Heraclius as a joint military
campaign with ally Sassanid Empire under Khosrau II and Jewish militias from Persia, but
are subsequently massacred.
7th century
The rise and domination of Islam among largely pagan Arabs in the Arabian peninsula results in the almost complete
removal and conversion of the ancient Jewish communities there, and sack of Levant from the hands of
Byzantines.
8th century[edit]
700–1250
Period of the Gaonim (the Gaonic era). Jews in southern Europe
and Asia Minor lived under the often intolerant rule of Christian Kings and
clerics. Most Jews lived in the Muslim Arab realm (Andalusia, North Africa,
Palestine, Iraq and Yemen). Despite sporadic periods of persecution, Jewish
communal and cultural life flowered in this period. 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.
711
Muslim armies invade and occupy most of Spain (At this time Jews made up about 8% of Spain's population). Under Christian rule, Jews had been subject to frequent
and intense persecution, but this was alleviated under Muslim rule. Some mark
this as the beginning of the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain.
740
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 Russians, and finally conquered by Russian and Byzantian forces
in 1016.
760
The Karaites reject the authority of the oral law,
and split off from rabbinic Judaism.
9th century[edit]
846
In Sura, Iraq, Rav Amram Gaon compiles his siddur (Jewish prayer
book.)
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.
10th century[edit]
900–1090
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
ended with the invasion of Almoravides in 1090.
940
In Iraq,
Saadia Gaon compiles his siddur (Jewish prayer book).
11th century[edit]
1013–1073
Rabbi Yitchaki Alfassi (from Morocco, later Spain) writes the Rif, an
important work of Jewish
law.
1040–1105
Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki (Rashi) writes important commentaries on almost
the entire Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and Talmud.
1066
1066 Granada massacre
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.
1107
Moroccan Almoravid ruler Yoseph Ibn Tashfin expels
Moroccan Jews who do not convert to Islam.
1135–1204
Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, aka Maimonides or the Rambam is the leading rabbi of Sephardic
Jewry. Among his many accomplishments, he writes an influential
code of law (The Mishneh Torah) as well as, in Arabic, the most influential philosophical work
(Guide for the Perplexed) in Jewish
history.
1141
Yehuda Halevi issues a call to the Jews to
emigrate to Palestine and eventually dies in Jerusalem.
1187
Upon the capture of Jerusalem, Saladin summons the Jews and permits them to
resettle in the city.[8] In
particular, the residents of Ashkelon, a large Jewish settlement, respond to his
request.[9]
13th century[edit]
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. This
begins the modern form of 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.
1267
Nahmanides (Ramban) settles in Jerusalem and
builds the Ramban Synagogue.
1270–1343
Rabbi Jacob ben Asher of Spain writes the Arba'ah
Turim (Four Rows of Jewish Law).
1290
Jews are expelled from England by Edward I after the banning of usury in the 1275
Statute of Jewry.
14th century[edit]
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.
1306–1394
Jews are repeatedly expelled from France and readmitted, for a price.
1343
Jews persecuted in Western Europe are invited to Poland by Casimir
the Great.
15th century
1478
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain
institute the Spanish Inquisition.
1486
First Jewish prayer book published in Italy.
1488–1575
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.
16th century[edit]
1501
King Alexander of Poland readmits Jews to Grand
Duchy of Lithuania.
1516
Ghetto
of Venice established, the first Jewish ghetto in Europe. Many others
follow.
1525–1572
Rabbi Moshe Isserles (The Rema) of Kraków writes an extensive gloss to the Shulkhan Arukh called the Mappah,
extending its application to Ashkenazi Jewry.
1534
King Sigismund I of Poland abolishes the law that
required Jews to wear special clothes.
1534
First Yiddish book published, in Poland.
1534–1572
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.
1547
First Hebrew Jewish printing house in Lublin.
1550
Moses ben Jacob Cordovero founds a Kabbalah
academy in Safed.
1567
First Jewish university Jeshiva was founded in Poland.
1577
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[edit]
1621–1630
Shelah HaKadosh writes his most famous work after
emigrating to the Land of Israel.
1623
First time separate (Va'ad) Jewish Sejm for Grand
Duchy of Lithuania.
1626–1676
False Messiah Sabbatai Zevi.
1633
Jews of Poznań granted a privilege of forbidding
Christians to enter into their city.
1648
Jewish population of Poland reached 450,000 (i.e. 4% of the 11000000
population of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is Jewish), Bohemia 40,000 and
Moravia 25,000. Worldwide population of Jewry is estimated at 750,000.
1648–1655
The Ukrainian Cossack Bohdan 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. [12]
1655
Jews readmitted to England by Oliver Cromwell.
1660
1660 destruction of Safed.[10]
18th century[edit]
1700–1760
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 Mitnagdim) 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
1720–1797
Rabbi Elijah of Vilna, the Vilna Gaon.
1729–1786
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.[11]
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.[11]
1747
Rabbi Abraham Gershon of Kitov (d. 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.[12]
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.
1775–1781
American Revolution; guaranteed the freedom of religion.[13][14]
1775
Mob violence against the Jews of Hebron.[15]
1789
The French Revolution. In 1791 France grants full
right to Jews and allows them to become citizens, under certain conditions.[16]
1790
In the USA, 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. So far, their number is limited.
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.[17]
1798
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov travels to
Palestine.
1799
While French troops were in Palestine besieging the city of Acre, Napoleon prepared a Proclamation requesting
Asian and African Jews to help him conquer Jerusalem, but his
unsuccessful attempt to capture Acre prevented it from being issued.
1799
Mob violence on Jews in Safed.[15]
19th century[edit]
Banner from the first issue of the Jidische Folkschtime (Yiddish People's
Voice), published in Stockholm, 12 January 1917.
1800–1900
The Golden Age of Yiddish literature, the revival of Hebrew as a
spoken language, and the revival of Hebrew literature.[18]
1808–1840
Large-scale aliyah in hope of Hastening Redemption in anticipation of the
arrival of the Messiah in 1840.[19]
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.
1830
Greece
grants citizenship to Jews.
1831
Jewish militias take part in the defense of Warsaw against Russians.
1834-1835
Muslims, Druze attack Jews in Safed, Hebron & in Jerusalem.[20][21][22][23][24] (See
related: Safed plunder).
1837
Moses Haim Montefiore is knighted by Queen Victoria
1837
Galilee earthquake of 1837 devastates Jewish
communities of Safed and Tiberias.
1838–1933
Rabbi Yisroel Meir ha-Kohen (Chofetz Chaim) opens an
important yeshiva. He writes an authoritative Halakhic work, Mishnah Berurah.
Mid-19th century
Beginning of the rise of classical Reform Judaism.
Mid-19th century
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.
Mid-19th century
Positive-Historical Judaism, later known as Conservative
Judaism, is developed.
1841
David Levy Yulee of Florida is elected to the United States Senate, becoming the first Jew
elected to Congress.
1851
Norway
allows Jews to enter the country. They are not emancipated until 1891.
1858
Jews emancipated in England.
1860
Alliance Israelite Universelle, an international
Jewish organization is founded in Paris with the goal to protect Jewish rights as
citizens.
1860–1875
Moshe Montefiori builds Jewish neighbourhoods
outside the Old City of Jerusalem starting with Mishkenot
Sha'ananim.
1860–1864
Jews are taking part in Polish national movement, that was followed by January rising.[citation
needed]
1860–1943
Henrietta Szold: educator, author, social worker
and founder of Hadassah.
1861
The Zion Society is formed in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
1862
Jews are given equal rights in Russian-controlled Congress Poland. The privileges of some towns
regarding prohibition of Jewish settlement are revoked.
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.
1870–1890
Russian Zionist group Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) and Bilu (est. 1882) set up a series of Jewish
settlements in the Land of Israel, financially aided by Baron Edmond James de Rothschild. In Rishon LeZion Eliezer ben Yehuda revives Hebrew as spoken modern language.
1870
Jews emancipated in Italy.
1871
Jews emancipated in Germany.
1875
Reform Judaism's Hebrew
Union College is founded in Cincinnati. Its founder was Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, the architect of American Reform Judaism.[25]
1877
New
Hampshire becomes the last state to give Jews equal political
rights.
1878
Petah
Tikva is founded by religious pioneers from Jerusalem, led by Yehoshua Stampfer.
1880
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 Focşani, Romania.
1882–1903
The First Aliyah, a major wave of Jewish immigrants to
build a homeland in Palestine.[26]
1886
Rabbi Sabato Morais and Alexander Kohut begin to champion the Conservative
Jewish reaction to American Reform, and establish The Jewish Theological Seminary of America as a
school of 'enlightened Orthodoxy'.
1890
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.
1895
First published book by Sigmund Freud.
1897
In response to the Dreyfus affair, Theodore Herzl writes Der
Judenstaat (The Jewish State), advocating the creation of a free
and independent Jewish state in Israel.
1897
The Bund (General Jewish Labour Bund) is formed in
Russia.
1897
First Russian Empire Census: 5,200,000 of Jews,
4,900,000 in the Pale. The lands of former Poland
have 1,300,000 Jews or 14% of population.
1897
The First Zionist Congress was held at Basel, which brought the World
Zionist Organization (WZO) into being.
20th century[edit]
1902
Rabbi Dr. Solomon Schechter reorganizes the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and makes
it into the flagship institution of Conservative Judaism.
1903
St. Petersburg's Znamya newspaper publishes a literary hoax The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Kishinev Pogrom caused by accusations that Jews
practice cannibalism.
1905
1905 Russian Revolution accompanied by
pogroms.
1915
Yeshiva College (later University) and its Rabbi
Isaac Elchanan Rabbinical Seminary is established in New York for training in a Modern Orthodox
milieu.
1916
Louis Brandeis, on the first of June, is
confirmed as the United States' first Jewish Supreme Court justice. Brandeis was nominated by
American President Woodrow Wilson.
The Balfour Declaration of 1917 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 1917 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.[27]
1917 February
The Pale of Settlement is abolished, and Jews get equal rights. The Russian civil war leads to over 2000 pogroms with
tens of thousands murdered and hundreds of thousand made homeless.
1918–1939
The period between the two World Wars is often referred to as the "golden
age" of hazzanut (cantors). Some of the great Jewish
cantors of this era include Abraham Davis, Moshe Koussevitzky, Zavel
Kwartin (1874–1953), Jan Peerce, Josef "Yossele" Rosenblatt (1882–1933), Gershon Sirota (1874–1943), and Laibale Waldman.
1919
February 15: Over 1,200 Jews killed in Khmelnitsky
pogrom.
March 25: Around 4,000 Jews killed by Cossack troops in Tetiev.
June 17: 800 Jews decapitated in assembly-line fashion in Dubovo.
1920
At the San Remo conference Britain receives the League of Nations' British Mandate of Palestine.
April 4–7: Five Jews killed and 216 wounded in the Jerusalem
riots
1920s–present
A variety of Jewish authors, including Gertrude Stein, Allen Ginsberg, Saul Bellow, Adrienne Rich and Philip Roth, sometimes drawing on Jewish culture
and history, flourish and become highly influential on the Anglophone
literary scene.
1921
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.
1922
Reform Rabbi Stephen S. Wise established the Jewish
Institute of Religion in New York. (It merged with Hebrew
Union College in 1950.)
1923
Britain gives the Golan Heights to the French
Mandate of Syria. Arab immigration is allowed; Jewish immigration
is not.
1924
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 Radomsker Rebbe, 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.[28]
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 took the form in
the most part of attacks by Arabs on Jews resulting in the 1929
Hebron massacre, the 1929 Safed pogrom 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. [29]
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 1940–1944, 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.
1945–1948
Post-Holocaust refugee crisis. British attempts to detain Jews attempting to
enter Palestine illegally.
1946–1948
The violent struggle for the creation of a Jewish state in the British mandate of Palestine is intensified by
Jewish defense groups: Haganah, Irgun, and Lehi (group).
November 29, 1947
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 UN to accept Israel as a member state. The UN
approves.
May 15, 1948
1948 Arab-Israeli War: Syria, Iraq, Transjordan, Lebanon and Egypt invade Israel hours after its creation. The
attack is repulsed, and Israel conquers more territory. A Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim lands results,
as up to a million Jews flee or are expelled from Arab and Muslim nations. Most
settle in Israel. See also 1949 Armistice Agreements.
1948–1949
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 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.
1964
Jewish-Christian relations are revolutionized by the Roman
Catholic Church's Vatican II.
1966
Shmuel Yosef Agnon (1888–1970) becomes the first
Hebrew writer to win the Nobel Prize in literature.
May 16, 1967
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.
1967 May
Egyptian PresidentGamal Abdel Nasser closes the strategic Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping and states
that Egypt is in a state of war with Israel. Egyptian troops begin massing in
the Sinai.
June 5–10, 1967
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.[30][31]
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).[13], [14]
1972
Sally Priesand became the first female rabbi
ordained in America, and is believed to be only the second woman ever to be
formally ordained in the history of Judaism. [32]
1972
Mark
Spitz sets the record for most gold medals won in a single Olympic Games (seven) in the 1972
Summer Olympics. The Munich massacre occurs when Israeli athletes are
taken hostage by Black September terrorists. The hostages are
killed during a failed rescue attempt.
October 6–24, 1973
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 U.S. trade benefits to the Soviet Union to
freedom of emigration for Jews.
1975
United Nations adopts resolution equating Zionism with racism. Rescinded in
1991.
1976
Israel rescues hostages taken to Entebbe, Uganda.
September 18, 1978
At Camp
David, near Washington D.C., Israel and Egypt sign a
comprehensive peace treaty, The Camp David Accord, which included the withdrawal
of Israel from the Sinai.
1978
Yiddish writer Isaac
Bashevis Singer receives Nobel Prize
1979
Prime Minister Menachem Begin and President Anwar
Sadat are awarded Nobel Peace Prize.
1979–1983
Operation Elijah: Rescue of Ethiopian Jewry.
1982 June–December
The Lebanon War. Israel invades Southern Lebanon to drive out the PLO.
1983
American Reform Jews formally accept patrilineal descent,
creating a new definition of who is a Jew.
1984–1985
Operations Moses, Joshua: Rescue of Ethiopian Jewry by Israel.[33]
1986
Elie
Wiesel wins the Nobel Peace Prize
1986
Nathan Sharansky, Soviet Jewish dissident, is
freed from prison.
1987
Beginning of the First Intifada against Israel.
1989
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.
1991
Operation Solomon: Rescue of the remainder of Ethiopian
Jewry in a twenty four hour airlift.
October 30, 1991
The Madrid Peace Conference opens in Spain, sponsored by the United States and the
Soviet Union.
Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shake hands at the signing of the
Oslo Accords, with Bill Clinton behind them, 1993
September 13, 1993
Israel and PLO sign the Oslo
Accords.
1994
The Lubavitcher (Chabad) Rebbe, Menachem
Mendel Schneerson, dies.
October 26, 1994
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.[34]
November 4, 1995
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated.
1996
Peres loses election to Benyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu (Likud party).
1999
Ehud
Barak elected Prime Minister of Israel.
21st century[edit]
May 24, 2000
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.
2000 July
Camp David Summit.[35]
2000, Summer
Senator Joseph Lieberman becomes the first
Jewish-American to be nominated for a national office (Vice President of the United States) by a major
political party (the Democratic Party).
September 29, 2000
The al-Aqsa Intifada begins.
2001
Election of Ariel Sharon as Israel's Prime
Minister.
2001
Jewish Museum of Turkey is founded by Turkish Jewry
2004
Avram
Hershko and Aaron Ciechanover of the Technion
win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The Jewish
Autonomous Oblast builds its first synagogue, Birobidzhan
Synagogue, in accordance with halakha. [15]. Uriyahu Butler became the first member of
the African Hebrew Israelite community to enlist in the Israel
Defense Forces (IDF)
March 31, 2005
The Government of Israel officially recognizes the Bnei
Menashe people of North-East 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.
2006 July–August
A military conflict in Lebanon and northern Israel
started on July 12, after a Hezbollah cross-border
raid into Israel. The war ended with the passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701
after 34 days of fighting. About 2,000 Lebanese and 159 Israelis were killed,
and civilian infrastructure on both sides heavily damaged.
2008 December
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launches Operation
Cast Lead against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
2009 March
Benjamin Netanyahu becomes Prime
Minister of Israel (also, continues as the Chairman of the Likud Party).
the Exodus from Egypt (Moses)
c. 1150 BCE–c. 1025 BCE
Biblical Judges lead the people
c. 1025 BCE–c. 1007 BCE
King Saul
c. 1010 BCE–c. 970 BCE
King David
c. 1001 BCE–c. 931 BCE
King Solomon
c. 1000 BCE–c. 900 BCE
Khirbet Qeiyafa inscription
c. 960 BCE
Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem completed
c. 931 BCE
Split between Kingdom of
Israel (Samaria) and Kingdom of Judah
c. 931 BCE–c. 913 BCE
King Rehoboam of Judah
c. 931 BCE–c. 910 BCE
King Jeroboam of Israel
c. 900 BCE
According to the documentary hypothesis, J Source of the Torah is written [1]
840 BCE
Mesha
inscription describes Moabite victory over a son of King Omri of
Israel.
c. 800 BCE
According to the documentary hypothesis, E Source of the Torah is written [1]
c. 740 BCE–c. 700 BCE
prophesy of Isaiah
c. 740 BCE–c. 722 BCE
Kingdom of Israel falls to Neo-Assyrian Empire
c. 725 BCE–c. 650 BCE
Ketef
Hinnom scrolls containing the text of the Priestly blessing[2]
c. 715 BCE–c. 687 BCE
King Hezekiah of Judah
c. 690 BCE
According to the documentary hypothesis, P Source of the Torah is written [1]
c. 649 BCE–c. 609 BCE
King
Josiah of Judah institutes major reforms.
c. 626 BCЕ – c. 587 BCE
prohecy of Jeremiah
c. 620 BCE
According to the documentary hypothesis, D
Source of the Torah is written.
Joshua, Judges, Samuel I and II, Kings I and II are also written, presumably by
the same authors.
597 BCE
first deportation to Babylon
586 BCE
Jerusalem falls to Nebuchadnezzar and Solomon's Temple destroyed
539 BCE
Jews allowed to return to Jerusalem, by permission of Cyrus
Model of the Second Temple of Jerusalem
520 BCE
Prophecy of Zechariah
516 BCE
Second Temple of Jerusalem consecrated
c. 475 BCE
Often associated with Xerxes I of Persia, Queen Esther revealed her identity to the king
and began to plead for her people, pointing to Haman as the evil schemer
plotting to destroy them.
c. 460 BCE
Seeing anarchy breaking out in Judea, Xerxes' successor Persian King
Artaxerxes sent Ezra to restore order.
c. 450 BCE
Documentary hypothesis suggests that the five
books were created by combining the four originally independent sources[3]
* Date unknown: Traditionally, slavery in Egypt is
given as Jewish years 2332 to 2448 ; This
date would compute to 1428 BCE to 1312 BCE. 1 Kings 6:1 states that the Exodus
occurred 480 years before the construction of Solomon's Temple; i.e., if using
dates found in Wikipedia: 1312 BCE (832 BCE - 480
years); see articles 'The Exodus' and 'Moses'.
332 BCE
Alexander the Great conquers Phoenicia and Gaza,
probably passing by Judea without entering the Jewish dominated hill country on
his way into Egypt.
200 BCE–100 CE
At some point during this era the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) is canonized. Jewish religious works that were
written after the time of Ezra were not canonized, although many became
popular among many groups of Jews. Those works that made it into the Greek
translation of the Bible (the Septuagint) became known as the deuterocanonical
books.
167–161 BCE
The Maccabees (Hasmoneans) revolt against the Hellenistic Empire
of Seleucids, led by Judah Maccabee, resulting in victory and
installation of the Hanukkah holiday.
157–129 BCE
Hasmonean dynasty establishes its royal dominance in Judea during renewed
war with Seleucid Empire.
63 BCE
Pompey the Great lay siege to and entered the
Temple, Judea became a client kingdom of Rome.
40 BCE–4 BCE
Herod the Great, appointed King of the Jews by the Roman
Senate.
1st century CE[edit]
6 CE
Province of Roman Judaea created by merging Judea proper, Samaria and Idumea.
10 CE
Hillel the Elder, considered the greatest Torah
sage, dies, leading to the dominance of Shammai till 30, see also Hillel and
Shammai.
30 CE
Helena of Adiabene, a vassal Parthian kingdom in
Mesopotamia, converts to Israelite religion.
Significant numbers of Adiabene population follow her, later also providing
limited support for Jews during Jewish-Roman wars. In the following centuries the
community mostly converts to Christianity.
30–70 CE
Schism within Judaism during the Second Temple
era. A sect within Hellenised Jewish society starts Jewish Christianity, see also Rejection of Jesus.
Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans
(1850 painting by David Roberts)
66–70
The Great Jewish Revolt against Roman
occupation ended with destruction of the Second Temple and the fall
of Jerusalem. 1,100,000 people are killed by the Romans during
the siege, and 97,000 captured and enslaved. 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.
70–200
Period of the Tannaim, rabbis who organized and elucidated
the Jewish oral
law. The decisions of the Tannaim are contained in the Mishnah, Beraita, Tosefta, and various Midrash compilations.[5]
73
Final events of the Great Jewish Revolt - the fall of Masada. Christianity starts off as a Jewish sect and then
develops its own texts and ideology and branches off from Judaism to become a distinct religion.
2nd century[edit]
115–117
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 emperor Hadrian, among other provocations, renames Jerusalem
"Aelia Capitolina" and prohibits circumcision. 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.
136
Rabbi Akiva is martyred.
138
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[edit]
200
The Mishnah, the standardization of the Jewish oral
law as it stands today, is redacted by Judah
haNasi in the land of Israel.
220–500
Period of the amoraim, the rabbis of the Talmud.
4th century[edit]
315–337
Roman Emperor Constantine I enacts new restrictive legislature.
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.
351-352
Jewish revolt, directed against Constantius Gallus, is put down.
358
Because of the increasing danger of Roman persecution, Hillel
II creates a mathematical calendar for calculating the Jewish
month. After adopting the calendar, the Sanhedrin in Tiberias is dissolved.
361–363
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.
363
Galilee earthquake of 363
379
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.[6][7]
5th century[edit]
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"!
450
Redaction of Talmud
Yerushalmi (Talmud of Jerusalem)
6th century[edit]
500–523
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 Talmud Bavli (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.
7th century[edit]
610-628
Jews of Galilee led by Benjamin of Tiberias gain autonomy in Jerusalem after revolting against Heraclius as a joint military
campaign with ally Sassanid Empire under Khosrau II and Jewish militias from Persia, but
are subsequently massacred.
7th century
The rise and domination of Islam among largely pagan Arabs in the Arabian peninsula results in the almost complete
removal and conversion of the ancient Jewish communities there, and sack of Levant from the hands of
Byzantines.
8th century[edit]
700–1250
Period of the Gaonim (the Gaonic era). Jews in southern Europe
and Asia Minor lived under the often intolerant rule of Christian Kings and
clerics. Most Jews lived in the Muslim Arab realm (Andalusia, North Africa,
Palestine, Iraq and Yemen). Despite sporadic periods of persecution, Jewish
communal and cultural life flowered in this period. 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.
711
Muslim armies invade and occupy most of Spain (At this time Jews made up about 8% of Spain's population). Under Christian rule, Jews had been subject to frequent
and intense persecution, but this was alleviated under Muslim rule. Some mark
this as the beginning of the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain.
740
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 Russians, and finally conquered by Russian and Byzantian forces
in 1016.
760
The Karaites reject the authority of the oral law,
and split off from rabbinic Judaism.
9th century[edit]
846
In Sura, Iraq, Rav Amram Gaon compiles his siddur (Jewish prayer
book.)
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.
10th century[edit]
900–1090
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
ended with the invasion of Almoravides in 1090.
940
In Iraq,
Saadia Gaon compiles his siddur (Jewish prayer book).
11th century[edit]
1013–1073
Rabbi Yitchaki Alfassi (from Morocco, later Spain) writes the Rif, an
important work of Jewish
law.
1040–1105
Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki (Rashi) writes important commentaries on almost
the entire Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and Talmud.
1066
1066 Granada massacre
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.
1107
Moroccan Almoravid ruler Yoseph Ibn Tashfin expels
Moroccan Jews who do not convert to Islam.
1135–1204
Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, aka Maimonides or the Rambam is the leading rabbi of Sephardic
Jewry. Among his many accomplishments, he writes an influential
code of law (The Mishneh Torah) as well as, in Arabic, the most influential philosophical work
(Guide for the Perplexed) in Jewish
history.
1141
Yehuda Halevi issues a call to the Jews to
emigrate to Palestine and eventually dies in Jerusalem.
1187
Upon the capture of Jerusalem, Saladin summons the Jews and permits them to
resettle in the city.[8] In
particular, the residents of Ashkelon, a large Jewish settlement, respond to his
request.[9]
13th century[edit]
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. This
begins the modern form of 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.
1267
Nahmanides (Ramban) settles in Jerusalem and
builds the Ramban Synagogue.
1270–1343
Rabbi Jacob ben Asher of Spain writes the Arba'ah
Turim (Four Rows of Jewish Law).
1290
Jews are expelled from England by Edward I after the banning of usury in the 1275
Statute of Jewry.
14th century[edit]
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.
1306–1394
Jews are repeatedly expelled from France and readmitted, for a price.
1343
Jews persecuted in Western Europe are invited to Poland by Casimir
the Great.
15th century
1478
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain
institute the Spanish Inquisition.
1486
First Jewish prayer book published in Italy.
1488–1575
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.
16th century[edit]
1501
King Alexander of Poland readmits Jews to Grand
Duchy of Lithuania.
1516
Ghetto
of Venice established, the first Jewish ghetto in Europe. Many others
follow.
1525–1572
Rabbi Moshe Isserles (The Rema) of Kraków writes an extensive gloss to the Shulkhan Arukh called the Mappah,
extending its application to Ashkenazi Jewry.
1534
King Sigismund I of Poland abolishes the law that
required Jews to wear special clothes.
1534
First Yiddish book published, in Poland.
1534–1572
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.
1547
First Hebrew Jewish printing house in Lublin.
1550
Moses ben Jacob Cordovero founds a Kabbalah
academy in Safed.
1567
First Jewish university Jeshiva was founded in Poland.
1577
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[edit]
1621–1630
Shelah HaKadosh writes his most famous work after
emigrating to the Land of Israel.
1623
First time separate (Va'ad) Jewish Sejm for Grand
Duchy of Lithuania.
1626–1676
False Messiah Sabbatai Zevi.
1633
Jews of Poznań granted a privilege of forbidding
Christians to enter into their city.
1648
Jewish population of Poland reached 450,000 (i.e. 4% of the 11000000
population of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is Jewish), Bohemia 40,000 and
Moravia 25,000. Worldwide population of Jewry is estimated at 750,000.
1648–1655
The Ukrainian Cossack Bohdan 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. [12]
1655
Jews readmitted to England by Oliver Cromwell.
1660
1660 destruction of Safed.[10]
18th century[edit]
1700–1760
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 Mitnagdim) 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
1720–1797
Rabbi Elijah of Vilna, the Vilna Gaon.
1729–1786
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.[11]
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.[11]
1747
Rabbi Abraham Gershon of Kitov (d. 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.[12]
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.
1775–1781
American Revolution; guaranteed the freedom of religion.[13][14]
1775
Mob violence against the Jews of Hebron.[15]
1789
The French Revolution. In 1791 France grants full
right to Jews and allows them to become citizens, under certain conditions.[16]
1790
In the USA, 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. So far, their number is limited.
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.[17]
1798
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov travels to
Palestine.
1799
While French troops were in Palestine besieging the city of Acre, Napoleon prepared a Proclamation requesting
Asian and African Jews to help him conquer Jerusalem, but his
unsuccessful attempt to capture Acre prevented it from being issued.
1799
Mob violence on Jews in Safed.[15]
19th century[edit]
Banner from the first issue of the Jidische Folkschtime (Yiddish People's
Voice), published in Stockholm, 12 January 1917.
1800–1900
The Golden Age of Yiddish literature, the revival of Hebrew as a
spoken language, and the revival of Hebrew literature.[18]
1808–1840
Large-scale aliyah in hope of Hastening Redemption in anticipation of the
arrival of the Messiah in 1840.[19]
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.
1830
Greece
grants citizenship to Jews.
1831
Jewish militias take part in the defense of Warsaw against Russians.
1834-1835
Muslims, Druze attack Jews in Safed, Hebron & in Jerusalem.[20][21][22][23][24] (See
related: Safed plunder).
1837
Moses Haim Montefiore is knighted by Queen Victoria
1837
Galilee earthquake of 1837 devastates Jewish
communities of Safed and Tiberias.
1838–1933
Rabbi Yisroel Meir ha-Kohen (Chofetz Chaim) opens an
important yeshiva. He writes an authoritative Halakhic work, Mishnah Berurah.
Mid-19th century
Beginning of the rise of classical Reform Judaism.
Mid-19th century
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.
Mid-19th century
Positive-Historical Judaism, later known as Conservative
Judaism, is developed.
1841
David Levy Yulee of Florida is elected to the United States Senate, becoming the first Jew
elected to Congress.
1851
Norway
allows Jews to enter the country. They are not emancipated until 1891.
1858
Jews emancipated in England.
1860
Alliance Israelite Universelle, an international
Jewish organization is founded in Paris with the goal to protect Jewish rights as
citizens.
1860–1875
Moshe Montefiori builds Jewish neighbourhoods
outside the Old City of Jerusalem starting with Mishkenot
Sha'ananim.
1860–1864
Jews are taking part in Polish national movement, that was followed by January rising.[citation
needed]
1860–1943
Henrietta Szold: educator, author, social worker
and founder of Hadassah.
1861
The Zion Society is formed in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
1862
Jews are given equal rights in Russian-controlled Congress Poland. The privileges of some towns
regarding prohibition of Jewish settlement are revoked.
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.
1870–1890
Russian Zionist group Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) and Bilu (est. 1882) set up a series of Jewish
settlements in the Land of Israel, financially aided by Baron Edmond James de Rothschild. In Rishon LeZion Eliezer ben Yehuda revives Hebrew as spoken modern language.
1870
Jews emancipated in Italy.
1871
Jews emancipated in Germany.
1875
Reform Judaism's Hebrew
Union College is founded in Cincinnati. Its founder was Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, the architect of American Reform Judaism.[25]
1877
New
Hampshire becomes the last state to give Jews equal political
rights.
1878
Petah
Tikva is founded by religious pioneers from Jerusalem, led by Yehoshua Stampfer.
1880
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 Focşani, Romania.
1882–1903
The First Aliyah, a major wave of Jewish immigrants to
build a homeland in Palestine.[26]
1886
Rabbi Sabato Morais and Alexander Kohut begin to champion the Conservative
Jewish reaction to American Reform, and establish The Jewish Theological Seminary of America as a
school of 'enlightened Orthodoxy'.
1890
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.
1895
First published book by Sigmund Freud.
1897
In response to the Dreyfus affair, Theodore Herzl writes Der
Judenstaat (The Jewish State), advocating the creation of a free
and independent Jewish state in Israel.
1897
The Bund (General Jewish Labour Bund) is formed in
Russia.
1897
First Russian Empire Census: 5,200,000 of Jews,
4,900,000 in the Pale. The lands of former Poland
have 1,300,000 Jews or 14% of population.
1897
The First Zionist Congress was held at Basel, which brought the World
Zionist Organization (WZO) into being.
20th century[edit]
1902
Rabbi Dr. Solomon Schechter reorganizes the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and makes
it into the flagship institution of Conservative Judaism.
1903
St. Petersburg's Znamya newspaper publishes a literary hoax The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Kishinev Pogrom caused by accusations that Jews
practice cannibalism.
1905
1905 Russian Revolution accompanied by
pogroms.
1915
Yeshiva College (later University) and its Rabbi
Isaac Elchanan Rabbinical Seminary is established in New York for training in a Modern Orthodox
milieu.
1916
Louis Brandeis, on the first of June, is
confirmed as the United States' first Jewish Supreme Court justice. Brandeis was nominated by
American President Woodrow Wilson.
The Balfour Declaration of 1917 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 1917 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.[27]
1917 February
The Pale of Settlement is abolished, and Jews get equal rights. The Russian civil war leads to over 2000 pogroms with
tens of thousands murdered and hundreds of thousand made homeless.
1918–1939
The period between the two World Wars is often referred to as the "golden
age" of hazzanut (cantors). Some of the great Jewish
cantors of this era include Abraham Davis, Moshe Koussevitzky, Zavel
Kwartin (1874–1953), Jan Peerce, Josef "Yossele" Rosenblatt (1882–1933), Gershon Sirota (1874–1943), and Laibale Waldman.
1919
February 15: Over 1,200 Jews killed in Khmelnitsky
pogrom.
March 25: Around 4,000 Jews killed by Cossack troops in Tetiev.
June 17: 800 Jews decapitated in assembly-line fashion in Dubovo.
1920
At the San Remo conference Britain receives the League of Nations' British Mandate of Palestine.
April 4–7: Five Jews killed and 216 wounded in the Jerusalem
riots
1920s–present
A variety of Jewish authors, including Gertrude Stein, Allen Ginsberg, Saul Bellow, Adrienne Rich and Philip Roth, sometimes drawing on Jewish culture
and history, flourish and become highly influential on the Anglophone
literary scene.
1921
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.
1922
Reform Rabbi Stephen S. Wise established the Jewish
Institute of Religion in New York. (It merged with Hebrew
Union College in 1950.)
1923
Britain gives the Golan Heights to the French
Mandate of Syria. Arab immigration is allowed; Jewish immigration
is not.
1924
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 Radomsker Rebbe, 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.[28]
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 took the form in
the most part of attacks by Arabs on Jews resulting in the 1929
Hebron massacre, the 1929 Safed pogrom 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. [29]
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 1940–1944, 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.
1945–1948
Post-Holocaust refugee crisis. British attempts to detain Jews attempting to
enter Palestine illegally.
1946–1948
The violent struggle for the creation of a Jewish state in the British mandate of Palestine is intensified by
Jewish defense groups: Haganah, Irgun, and Lehi (group).
November 29, 1947
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 UN to accept Israel as a member state. The UN
approves.
May 15, 1948
1948 Arab-Israeli War: Syria, Iraq, Transjordan, Lebanon and Egypt invade Israel hours after its creation. The
attack is repulsed, and Israel conquers more territory. A Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim lands results,
as up to a million Jews flee or are expelled from Arab and Muslim nations. Most
settle in Israel. See also 1949 Armistice Agreements.
1948–1949
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 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.
1964
Jewish-Christian relations are revolutionized by the Roman
Catholic Church's Vatican II.
1966
Shmuel Yosef Agnon (1888–1970) becomes the first
Hebrew writer to win the Nobel Prize in literature.
May 16, 1967
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.
1967 May
Egyptian PresidentGamal Abdel Nasser closes the strategic Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping and states
that Egypt is in a state of war with Israel. Egyptian troops begin massing in
the Sinai.
June 5–10, 1967
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.[30][31]
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).[13], [14]
1972
Sally Priesand became the first female rabbi
ordained in America, and is believed to be only the second woman ever to be
formally ordained in the history of Judaism. [32]
1972
Mark
Spitz sets the record for most gold medals won in a single Olympic Games (seven) in the 1972
Summer Olympics. The Munich massacre occurs when Israeli athletes are
taken hostage by Black September terrorists. The hostages are
killed during a failed rescue attempt.
October 6–24, 1973
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 U.S. trade benefits to the Soviet Union to
freedom of emigration for Jews.
1975
United Nations adopts resolution equating Zionism with racism. Rescinded in
1991.
1976
Israel rescues hostages taken to Entebbe, Uganda.
September 18, 1978
At Camp
David, near Washington D.C., Israel and Egypt sign a
comprehensive peace treaty, The Camp David Accord, which included the withdrawal
of Israel from the Sinai.
1978
Yiddish writer Isaac
Bashevis Singer receives Nobel Prize
1979
Prime Minister Menachem Begin and President Anwar
Sadat are awarded Nobel Peace Prize.
1979–1983
Operation Elijah: Rescue of Ethiopian Jewry.
1982 June–December
The Lebanon War. Israel invades Southern Lebanon to drive out the PLO.
1983
American Reform Jews formally accept patrilineal descent,
creating a new definition of who is a Jew.
1984–1985
Operations Moses, Joshua: Rescue of Ethiopian Jewry by Israel.[33]
1986
Elie
Wiesel wins the Nobel Peace Prize
1986
Nathan Sharansky, Soviet Jewish dissident, is
freed from prison.
1987
Beginning of the First Intifada against Israel.
1989
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.
1991
Operation Solomon: Rescue of the remainder of Ethiopian
Jewry in a twenty four hour airlift.
October 30, 1991
The Madrid Peace Conference opens in Spain, sponsored by the United States and the
Soviet Union.
Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shake hands at the signing of the
Oslo Accords, with Bill Clinton behind them, 1993
September 13, 1993
Israel and PLO sign the Oslo
Accords.
1994
The Lubavitcher (Chabad) Rebbe, Menachem
Mendel Schneerson, dies.
October 26, 1994
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.[34]
November 4, 1995
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated.
1996
Peres loses election to Benyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu (Likud party).
1999
Ehud
Barak elected Prime Minister of Israel.
21st century[edit]
May 24, 2000
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.
2000 July
Camp David Summit.[35]
2000, Summer
Senator Joseph Lieberman becomes the first
Jewish-American to be nominated for a national office (Vice President of the United States) by a major
political party (the Democratic Party).
September 29, 2000
The al-Aqsa Intifada begins.
2001
Election of Ariel Sharon as Israel's Prime
Minister.
2001
Jewish Museum of Turkey is founded by Turkish Jewry
2004
Avram
Hershko and Aaron Ciechanover of the Technion
win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The Jewish
Autonomous Oblast builds its first synagogue, Birobidzhan
Synagogue, in accordance with halakha. [15]. Uriyahu Butler became the first member of
the African Hebrew Israelite community to enlist in the Israel
Defense Forces (IDF)
March 31, 2005
The Government of Israel officially recognizes the Bnei
Menashe people of North-East 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.
2006 July–August
A military conflict in Lebanon and northern Israel
started on July 12, after a Hezbollah cross-border
raid into Israel. The war ended with the passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701
after 34 days of fighting. About 2,000 Lebanese and 159 Israelis were killed,
and civilian infrastructure on both sides heavily damaged.
2008 December
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launches Operation
Cast Lead against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
2009 March
Benjamin Netanyahu becomes Prime
Minister of Israel (also, continues as the Chairman of the Likud Party).