Because of the position of the Land of Israel in Judaism, the leaders of the inhabitants of the land had a priority status also over Diaspora Jewry, although there were periods when this status weakened due to the weakening of the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel. For this reason, among others, great efforts were made by Jewish leaders in the Diaspora to immigrate to the Land of Israel throughout the generations.
"The judges" was a period were individuals from different of theTwelve Tribes of Israel, served as leaders in times of crisis, in the period before the monarchy was established in Israel.
TheTel Dan Stele a fragmentarystele containing a Canaanite inscription which dates to the9th century BCE with reference to thehouse of Davidroyal seal found at theOphel excavations in Jerusalem, bears an inscription in ancient Hebrew script that translates as: “Belonging toHezekiah [son of]Ahaz king of Judah.”LMLK seals (with LMLK meaning 'of the king') are ancientHebrewseals stamped on the handles of large storage jars first issued in the reign of KingHezekiah (circa 700 BC)The cuneiform inscription on thisclay tablet highlights the conquest of Jerusalem byNebuchadnezzar II and the surrender ofJehoiakim, king of Judah, in 597 BC. FromBabylon, Iraq.Clay tablet. TheAkkadian cuneiform inscription lists certain rations and mentions the name ofJeconiah (Jehoiachin), King of Judah, and the Babylonian captivity. FromBabylon, Iraq, c. 580 BCE.
After Rehoboam reigned three years (1 Chronicles 11:17),the kingdom was divided in two – the northern kingdom of Israel underJeroboam, with its capital, first in Shechem (Nablus), then Tirzah, and finally Samaria, and ruled by a series of dynasties beginning with Jeroboam; and the southern kingdom of Judah with its capital still at Jerusalem and still ruled by the House of David. The following list contains the kings of Judah with the kings of Israel in the summaries. See also:the dynasties of the northern kingdom of Israel.
KingJehoash (II Kings 11:21) – son of Ahaziah, under whose reign, Jehoahaz and another Jehoash ruled in Israel.
KingAmaziah (II Kings 14:1) – under whose reign, Jeroboam II ruled in Israel.
KingUzziah referred to as Azariah (II Kings 15:1) – under whose reign, the following ruled over Israel: Zachariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, and Pekah.
KingAhaz (II Kings 16:1) – under whose reign,Hoshea ruled as the last king of Israel.
KingHezekiah (II Kings 18:1) – under his reign, the Assyrian Empire conquered and destroyed the northern kingdom 722 BCE leaving only the southern kingdom of Judah.
KingZedekiah (II Kings 24:17) – son of Josiah, last king to rule over, and in, Judah. Overthrown by the Chaldean Empire (which succeeded the Assyrian Empire) and exiled, along with most of the rest of the population, to that kingdom, where his 10 sons were executed in front of him, then he was blinded and imprisoned. [All thought he was released later on along with Jeconiah (who was imprisoned some 14 years before Zedekiah) when Nebuchadnezar died and was succeeded by his son Evil Moredach]
Gedaliah (II Kings 25:22–23) son of Ahikam advisor to King Josiah; he became governor over the remnant of Judah in their homeland and was assassinated the next year [This ended all Jewish settlement in Israel for that period]
Governors of the Persian Province of Judea
Obverse of a Judean silver Yehud coin from theYehud coinage in the Persian era, with falcon or eagle and Aramaic inscriptionYHD (Judea). Denomination is aMa'ah.
Zerubbabel, (House of David), (Ezra 3:8) son of Shealtiel. In the first year of the reign of Cyrus, successor to Darius, the Jews were allowed to return to their homeland. Zerubbabel led the first group of returnees and ruled in Judea for two years. The date is generally thought to have been between 538 and 520 BC.[1] The House of David had survived, but struggled to reclaim its place as the ruling House of Israel.
Nehemiah (Book of Nehemiah) arrived in Jerusalem in 445 as governor of Judah, appointed byArtaxerxes.[2]
Judea, Hasmoneans.John Hyrcanus I (Yehohanan). 135–104 BCE. Æ Prutah. "Yehohanan the High Priest and the Council of the Jews" (in Hebrew).Judea, Hasmoneans. A coin issued byAlexander Jannaeus 103-76 BCE. On one side is the inscription (in Hebrew) "Yonathan the High Priest and the Friend of the Jews".Judea, Hasmoneans. A coin issued byAntigonus II Mattathias. 40-37 BCE.
TheMaccabees founded the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled from 168 BCE – 37 BCE, reasserting the Jewish religion and expanding the boundaries of the Land of Israel by conquest.[3] In the post-Maccabean period the high priest was looked upon as exercising in all things, political, legal, and sacerdotal, the supreme authority.[4]
Hyrcanus II – succeeded his father Alexander as high priest beginning with the rule of Salome. Became king upon the death of Salome.
Aristobulus II – succeeded as high priest and king. During his reign, Judea lost its independence and passed under the rule of Rome (63 BCE) who overthrew him and reinstalled:
After Archelaus and during the intervening period, theSanhedrin, founded byEzra, became the sole rulers of the Jewish people in Judea in conjunction with the High Priest. The heads, or nesiim, of the Sanhedrin beginning in 20 BCE, wereHillel the Elder, his sonShimon, and his sonGamaliel I whose rule extended into the reign of:[6]
KingAgrippa II (53–100). In 66 CE, the great revolt began against Rome, resulting in theZealot Temple Siege and culminating in the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, the abolition of the High Priesthood, and the final defeat at Massada in 73 CE.
The Patriarchate was the governing legalistic body of Judean and Galilean Jewry after the destruction of theSecond Temple until about 429[7] CE. Being a member of the house ofHillel and thus a descendant ofKing David, the Patriarch, known in Hebrew as theNasi (prince), had almost royal authority.[8]
Judah IV (385–400) – in 395, the Roman Empire split into east and west and Palestine passed under the eastern Byzantine Empire.
Gamaliel VI (400–425) – on 17 October 415, an edict issued by the EmperorsHonorius andTheodosius II deposed Gamaliel VI asnasi. Theodosius did not allow the appointment of a successor and in 429 terminated the Jewish patriarchate.[7]
Tomb of RabbiJose the Galilean where Rabbi Eliyahu HaCohen Gaon was later buried next to him onDalton mountain. The ceremony of his burial there, is described in the Avitar scroll.
TheLand of Israel Gaonate (Hebrew: ישיבת ארץ ישראל, romanץized: Yeshivat Eretz Israel) was the chief talmudical academy and central legalistic body of the Jewish community in the land of Israel, until the11th century. It was considered the central leadership authority of the Jews ofPalestine (region), Syria, Lebanon and Egypt during theGeonim period and as the successor of theSanhedrin institution and hence it served as an authority for the Jews of the Diaspora as well.
Pinchas HaCohen, (8th century)
Zemach ben Josiah
Yehoshaphat ben Josiah, (born in the 9th century, a descendant ofAnan ben David)
The rabbis who served as the spiritual leader of the Sephardic community in the Land of Israel from the mid-17th century. The Hebrew title for the position called: "The Rishon LeZion" (literally "First to Zion") and was officially recognized by theOttoman Empire which ruled the region as theHakham Bashi - the Ottoman Turkish name for the Chief Rabbi of the nation's Jewish community.[9]
Nissim Danon (b. Jerusalem), Appointed: 1915–1918. In 1917, Palestine was conquered by the British. Danon was succeeded as chief rabbi after World War I byHaim Moshe Elyashar (b. Jerusalem) who assumed the title of Acting Chief Rabbi 1918–1921. (For a list of Chief Rabbis during the Mandate and afterwards, seeList of chief rabbis of Israel and Mandatory Palestine. They controlled religious affairs while theJewish National Council (Vaad Leumi) controlled civil affairs, as defined by a British Mandatory Ordinance).
Jewish National Council (1917–1948)
Yitzhak Ben Zvi, chairman of the Jewish National Council, 1931–1948
The following list contains the elected chairmen of the Jewish National Council.[10]
Yaacov Thon (b. Ukraine) 1917–1920 – head of a provisional council which preceded the actual formation of the Vaad Leumi in 1920.
Yitzhak Ben Zvi (b. Ukraine) – elected as chairman in the 1931 elections, held the office until independence in 1948. In 1939, Pinhas Rutenberg was, once again, appointed chairman of the Va'ad while Ben Zvi became president. He held that position until his death in 1942. In the 1944 elections, *David Remez (b. Ukraine), was elected as chairman while Ben Zvi continued with the title of president.
State of Israel (1948–present)
David Ben-Gurion the first prime minister ofIsrael 1948.First day of issue - The 1960 series of stamps for joyous occasions, including the ancient kings of Israel Shaul, David and Solomon.First day of issue - The 1961 series of stamps for joyous occasions, including ancient heroes of Israel: Samson, Judas Maccabeus and Bar Kokhba.
^There is a dispute among the scholars regarding the identification of Shimon the Tzadik, some believe that he is Shimon the first, some say that he is Shimon the second, and some say that he is someone else.
^The name of the hometown of the personality is indicated in parentheses and not the name of the country because the names of the countries today are not the same as the names of the countries at that time.
^In parentheses is the year of appointment to the position.
References
^Janet E. Tollington, "Tradition and Innovation in Haggai and Zechariah 1-8" (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993), 132.
^F. Charles Fensham. The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1983. Historical Background chapter. p.7
^The Oxford History Of The Biblical World. Oxford University Press. 2001. Chapter 9
^Hirsch, Emil G. (1901–1906). "High Priest". Jewish Encyclopedia.
^abPharr, Clyde (1952).The Theodosian Code and Novels and the Sirmondian Constitutions. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
^Hart, John Henry Arthur (1911)."Jews" . InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 371–410, see pages 392 to 403.25. Alexander the Great.....43. Judaism in Babylonia.
^Jewish Encyclopedia, "Jews of Jerusalem" "Institutions";Encyclopaedia Judaica – "Israel, State of" – Religious Life and Communities – vol. 9 cols. 889–90
^Encyclopaedia Judaica – "Israel, State of" – Governance – Jewish Communal Organization – The Asefat ha-Nivharim and the Va'ad Le'ummi – vol. 9 cols. 608–9
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