Was Eleazar the Maccabee, Judah's brother, crushed under a war elephant that he killed in the battle against Antiochus' army in Tyre? Or the book Sheshthala an urban legend to the book of Maccabim XNUMX
(*)
This article examines the reliability of the Maccabean story about the heroism of Eleazar, one of the brothers of Judah the Maccabee, in the battle against the army of Antiochus V, when he, Eleazar, drove his javelin/spear into the belly of the royal elephant, resulting in his own fatal fall and crushing, and the victory of Judah the Maccabee in battle.
Who therefore does not know the story of the heroism of Eleazar, one of the sons of Mattathias and a brother of Judah the Maccabee, Jonathan, Yohanan and Simon, as it appears in the Maccabee literature as follows: In 163 BC) when he heard (the victories of Judah the Maccabee, including the breaking into Jerusalem, the liberation of the temple, its purification and the resumption of the sacrificial service) and he gathered all his lovers, the leaders of his army and those on the vehicle (the deadly war chariots) (and in fact the king was Lysias' Marionette, The royal king and the commander of the Hellenistic-Seleucid army) and other kingdoms and the islands of the sea, mercenary armies came to him (which was forbidden according to the surrender contract that the Romans imposed on the Seleucids at the time) (in 162 BC). "
"And the number of his armies was one thousand foot and twenty thousand horsemen and elephants (trained war elephants) thirty-two skilled in war (here too the Seleucids ignored the Roman instruction not to use war elephants any more), and they went through Edom and camped at Beit Tzur (about forty kilometers southwest from Jerusalem) ... and Judah the Maccabee traveled from the citadel and encamped at Beit Zechariah (about ten kilometers north of there), in front of the king's camp (Antiochus V) ... and the armies prepared for war and sounded the trumpets of the elephants showing blood of inab (wine or grape juice) and mulberry (blood-like) to put them to war (and indeed this is how the armies used war elephants in order to arouse them to battle and increase their aggressiveness). And they divided the animals (elephants) into regiments and placed for each elephant a thousand men armored with scales and copper mounts on their heads and five hundred horsemen in a hole were prepared for each animal. These were before in the place where the animal was and wherever it went they went together and did not separate from it. and wooden towers (battle canopies) on them (on the elephants) strong and covered over every animal, girded on them with machines and on each (on each elephant) four fighting men above them and an Indian son to him (since these are Indian war elephants the driver/pilot of the elephant was from India, Today - Mohot) ... and Judah (the Maccabee) and his camp drew near to the battle (straight from Zechariah's house, where he camped), and six hundred men fell from the king's camp. And Eleazar Horan (Judah's younger brother) saw (the) one of the animals armored in the king's armor and it was taller than all the animals and it seemed that the king (Antiochus V) was riding on it. And he gave his soul to save his people and make him a name forever (as implied in Matthew's will). And he ran to him bravely into the battalion and killed on the right and on the left and they separated from him here and there. And he came to the underbelly (belly) of the elephant and stuck it (with a spear or a javelin) and killed him and he fell to the ground on top of him (on Eleazar) and he died there" (46 Maccabees 28:XNUMX-XNUMX).
It should be noted that this event is mentioned by Joseph ben Matthieu in his book The Jewish Antiquities, one that was based on 2 Maccabees only. However, the event is not mentioned in Maccabees 1, although the campaign in question is mentioned there, and even the figures of the Seleucid army were different from those that appeared in Maccabees XNUMX, such as the number of war elephants, as well as foot soldiers, cavalry and scout chariots, and even the commander of the Seleucid army (XNUMX Maccabees XNUMX:XNUMX- XNUMX).
The end of the campaign was predictable. Yehuda the Maccabee assessed the balance of power between the parties and especially in view of the fighting formation of the elephants and decided to retreat to Jerusalem in order to properly prepare for a prolonged siege. This situation raises the hypothesis that it is possible that the story of Lazarus being crushed under the weight of the elephant comes to explain, albeit indirectly, the reason for Judah's withdrawal. Moreover, the story of Eleazar's death in battle may be used as a myth to spread the courage of the Maccabees, whether it was or not.
The history of using war elephants
War elephants were used by the Hellenistic armies since the days of the founder of the Seleucid dynasty, Seleucus Nikator, who made sure to import 500 war elephants from India (302 BC) and already one year later knew how to use them in battles (at the battle of Ipsos). It should be noted that in battles there were generally hundreds of elephants, 400 according to Plutarch's testimony, and in other cases about 75 elephants, when the ratio was usually one elephant for every 160 warriors, and in other cases the ratio was 1:1000.
In the battle canopy on the back of the elephant, between three and four warriors were positioned, equipped with long bayonets, up to 6 m, in order to harm the enemy warriors and reduce the danger of the elephant being harmed by the enemy soldiers. One of the four, or two, were archers. Around each elephant were between 40 and 50 warriors to ensure its protection. Also an armorer dropped in armor vests around his head, chest and legs.
Historians know how to tell about the time and terror that gripped any army, especially one that had never experienced fighting against elephants, and that increased the riots and disintegration of the enemy's army formation, and even that few elephants participated in the battle, about a dozen.
Antiochus III (187-222) brought the array of elephants to an all-time high. These are the Asian elephants known for their size, height, strength and aggressiveness. And these, by the way, are the elephants that the Seleucids used in the contested campaign against Judah the Maccabee. Maybe?
In 202 BC, the Romans in North Africa, on the Zama plain, faced the war elephants of the Carthaginian army, and succeeded after much training in instilling the method of opening the corridors of the Roman centurions. And let's not forget that one should not compare the ability and ranks of the Roman army with the warriors of Judah the Maccabee, as well as between the "combat" physical qualities of the African elephant versus those of the Indian, Asian elephant.
In the famous battle between the Seleucids and the Romans, referring to the Magnesia system in 190 BC, when the power of the elephants actually became a rout and the leverage of the Seleucid defeat, the Romans launched a massive storm of throwing bayonets towards the line of elephants. When one of the elephants was hit in a sensitive and painful place, it began to rampage around it, which caused the other elephants to go into a state of amok and run straight into the Seleucid phalanx array, causing a great commotion there and finally the defeat of the Hellenistic army. As a result, the Seleucids were forced to surrender their elephants to the Romans. And this of course calls into question the very participation of war elephants in the doomed battle between the army of Antiochus V and Judas Maccabeus. But it was known that the heirs of Antiochus III raised their array of war elephants, and while the Romans had difficulty monitoring this issue, the Hellenistic army could make stolen use of those ancient "tanks". It should be noted in this context that Antiochus IV Epiphanes, according to the historian Polybius, led a procession that included 36 properly equipped and armored war elephants.
In 163 BC, on the eve of the doomed battle between Antiochus V and Judas Maccabeus, the Romans sent a delegation to Syria to examine the array of war elephants and Antiochus' battle fleet, which even the Seleucids had to hand over to the Romans at the time. And when the Seleucid trickery was revealed to them, they ordered the destruction of all the war elephants, which caused severe resentment among the Syrian residents who lived near the horrific massacre and one of them murdered the head of the Roman expedition.
It should be noted that the combat training of the elephants required the highest skill and professionalism as well as a long time, which may explain the Seleucids' disappointment with the Roman supervision and its result.
In 130 B.C., during the reign of Yohanan Hyrcanus, Antiochus VII, Sidtes, led a campaign against the Parthian army, with each side having war elephants - the Seleucids had ten elephants and the Parthians twenty. The Parthian victory was overwhelming and not only because of the numerical superiority of the array of elephants, but the Parthians used Asian elephants that were larger and sturdier than the African elephants used by Antiochus. The use of African elephants shows that the Syrians did not import elephants this time from Asia, but from the Ptolemaic Egyptian kingdom.
Armed with these data, let us examine the degree of reliability of the Maccabean source in the context of Eleazar's personal, somewhat brave operation against the Seleucid elephant.
Below are some data that raise doubts about the reliability of the event in question, that is, Eleazar's leadership in battle, in the campaign against the Syrians in 162 BC.
First - the story of Eleazar and the elephant does not appear in XNUMX Maccabees.
Second - the Hellenistic army was prevented from using elephants under the orders of the Romans as well as mercenaries from places that were under the control of Rome. And there is still a difference between the restoration of the array of Asian elephants in the Hellenistic army, and their physical use in battles. And in general, a year before the battle in question, war elephants were no longer found in the possession of the Seleucids.
Third - the chance of the presence of the young heir king on the battlefield and of course his risk, so far from the core of the kingdom was extremely slim.
Fourth - Eleazar's chance of making his way towards the elephant was also extremely slim, and this against the thousands of infantry, the hundreds of horsemen and the battle canopy on the elephant's back. Fifth - we were supposed to be reporting that Yehuda would bring his younger brother to the burial.
Sixth - activating the attack system of the elephants in a non-planar battlefield is devoid of any logic.
Seventh - this is the only time war elephants are mentioned in the confrontation against the Maccabean army.
Eighth - it may be that the story of the battle in Magnesia between the Seleucids and the Romans, when the elephants turned back and scattered in all directions while inflicting heavy losses on the Seleucid army, is common among the surrounding peoples and is the one that created a narrative foundation for the formulation of the legendary, somewhat imaginary story of Eleazar's suicide attack. And if the external writer of XNUMX Maccabees wanted to confirm his testimony, he would have dismissed it as the famous saying, and then he would have dropped his testimony.
Ninth - Why do we not hear about war elephants before and after 162 BC in the confrontation between the Seleucids and the Maccabees/Hasmoneans? Precisely the only case in which Eleazar's act of suicide is mentioned indicates that indeed no war elephants were found in the possession of the Seleucids..
Tenth - the topographic data of the discussed confrontation make it very difficult for war elephants to conduct themselves.
If so, what was said? The best song - Chezabo! And in a cynical ending, he says that perhaps it would be better if the incident in question belonged to the collection of falsehoods of the "Palm" Hanikim's plots, like the one throwing a grenade 50 meters away and encountering an enemy 40 meters away.
(*) For the sake of proper disclosure, I would like to bring to the attention of my readers that the connection between the war elephants and the story about Eleazar was more than hinted to me by my husband and my colleague the historian Roy Shermeister, who even directed me to the appropriate sources, for which I owe him my thanks.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
54 תגובות
In the battles of the elephants, you did not mention the battle of Rafah in 217 BC in which the "Egyptian Greeks" of Ptolemy's house fought the "Syrian Greeks". According to the sources, 103 elephants from the north compared to 73 elephants in the "Egyptian" army. According to the narrator, the African elephants ran away from the Asian elephants, which were bigger than them. Despite this, the Egyptian army defeated the Syrian army in the battle.
The puzzle of the small elephants from Africa has not yet been solved. The proposed solution of a disappearing species of elephants is a flimsy excuse. Africa has savanna elephants and forest elephants. The hypothesis was that the forest elephants brought from Eritrea were used in the southern army in addition to a number of elephants captured from a previous battle. A study of the DNA of the elephants found that there is a genetic connection between the forest elephants and the savannah elephants.
Were there really dwarf elephants in Africa? Maybe!
wonder:
The Asian elephants that the author meant in the article were indeed larger than the African elephants, and this is in contrast to the situation today, since from Hannibal to Ptolemaic Egypt, a subspecies of North African elephant that has since become extinct was used, which was indeed slightly smaller than the Asian elephant.
An African elephant is at least half a ton larger than an Asian elephant.
Raphael
Between us, we know that the reason you don't answer the questions is because it would reveal the fact that I'm right.
But just so you don't cry that I'm cheating or something. so yes. You are indeed not a direct continuation of the historical Jewish people. What you don't understand is not what I'm saying but the reason why what I'm saying is true.
The reason for example that the texts you brought only support my argument, as I said, is that an existing and continuous nation does not need to produce for itself constitutive texts.
There is no way, for example, that the Americans will now issue a statement that talks about their historical connection to the American land and the historical American people and/or add there justifications for their settlement on their land, and/or for their way of life.
Raphael
So you're not going to read the books or answer my questions?
WD
Ah. So now I didn't understand your claim at all. You said that we are not a direct continuation of the historical Jewish people, but you simply meant something completely different. If you think you are now going to pepper me with nonsense to turn your claim into something else - then go your friends. You are just pathetic.
Raphael
I do know the texts. Do you understand that they only support my claim?
Do you know what a people is?
How many nations are there in the State of Israel?
Which nation do you belong to?
It might be easier if you admit that you don't understand my point at all.
And if I have more of an unrelated question, just because I'm curious. Did your parents believe in God?
WD
You are the z and z!!!!!!!
WD
Does the following text sound familiar to you:
The Jewish people arose in the Land of Israel, where their spiritual, religious and political image was shaped, where they lived the life of a state commune, where they created national and all-human cultural assets and bequeathed to the entire world the eternal book of books.
After the people were exiled from their country by force of arms, they kept their loyalty to it in all the lands of their dispersion, and never ceased to despair and hope to return to their country and renew their political freedom within it.
From this historical and traditional connection, the Jews in each generation strived to regain their ancient homeland; And in recent generations, they returned to their land in masses, and pioneers, immigrants and protectors blew souls, lived in their Hebrew language, built villages and towns, and established a growing settlement, the ruler of his economy and culture, peace and protection of himself, bringing the blessing of progress to all the inhabitants of the country and bearing his soul for state independence.
Or maybe it is:
As long inside our hearts
A Jewish soul still yearns
And onward toward the East
Looking towards Zion.
Our hope is not lost yet
The hope is two thousand years old
To be a Hafchi people in our country
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.
Raphael
"I ask you who else claims that we are not part of the historical Jewish people and you send me to read a book that you admit is unrelated to the issue?"
Another reading comprehension failure? I wrote that it is not the most related to the matter, but there is definitely a connection. have a fun read. Hopefully with fewer problems with reading comprehension (it should be easier, he writes more clearly than I do and it has also been edited)
"Are you saying a statement completely disconnected from reality and expecting me to prove you wrong?"
You said that "there is no lack of clear and decisive evidence" so it should be quite easy for you to present it and refute what I said. Why don't you do that? I, on the other hand, have reasoned my claim several times, and I still have not received an answer that damages in any way the validity of these reasons.
"First of all, prove that your statement is based on some qualified research."
Did you understand my point at all? This request of yours indicates that the answer to this question is no.
"Perhaps you also want me to prove that Nissim's car has no self-consciousness?"
I would ask this of you if I thought you knew and understood what the term self-consciousness means. Since you don't know and understand this, it seems completely unnecessary to me.
Raphael
My brain is indeed drilling, but you have nothing to drill. The best thing you can do is vent
WD
I ask you who else claims that we are not part of the historical Jewish people and you send me to read a book that you admit is not related to the matter? 🙂 You are the best!!!
Are you saying a statement completely out of touch with reality and expecting me to prove you wrong?
First of all prove that your statement is based on some qualified research.
Maybe you also want me to prove that Nissim's car has no self-awareness?
Or do the UFOs of life only exist in his fevered mind?
Raphael
On that occasion, I also invite you to open a dictionary with an imaginary value and look in the mirror (I know it's hard to open a book but only one word, not such a big effort)
Raphael
"Our morals are wonderful and our children are sweet and receive a wonderful education."
What do your children know about Gentiles? the same things you say? Failure 1? Yes.
"There are many national religious soldiers as well as ultra-Orthodox religious soldiers. One of them is my son."
You know who says but I have a Jewish friend? The one with him is an unusual thing. Failure 2? Yes.
"Who else claims that we are not a direct continuation of the historical Jewish people except when the number of delusional people you are among them?"
A) I invite you to read two books by one named Yuval Noah Harari, A Brief History of Humanity, The History of Tomorrow (the truth is that it is not the most relevant, but if you read, maybe one day you will be able to understand some of the things I am telling you)
b) A moment ago you had "no shortage of clear and conclusive evidence", where did it go? Oh right they didn't exist. Failure 3? Yes.
WD
Our morals are wonderful and our children are sweet and receive a wonderful education.
There are many national religious soldiers and also ultra-Orthodox religious soldiers. One of them is my son.
Who else claims that we are not a direct continuation of the historical Jewish people except when the delusional number you are among them?
Raphael
Besides, according to your definition, who knows, I might still be a Jew along with another 500 million people or maybe even 1 or 2 or even 7 billion people in the world. Everyone can have a Jewish soul. This is a divine operation in honor of Hanukkah, like Oprah is giving away cars (oh right, you don't know who it is, never mind) Jewish soul for you and for you and for you, Jewish soul for everyone, everyone, everyone, everyone.
Raphael
"The wonderful moral values of Judaism"
There is no such thing
"With the help of our sweet children"
Your kids are really sweet. I really don't understand why you neglect them and educate them in such a sick and horrible way.
"We are not part of the historical Jewish people"
This is an inaccurate quote of your words that constitutes reality. Below is an explanation that even you can understand.
You don't even hold the same values that the Jews who lived 1000 years ago held, so how do you claim this about those who lived 2000 years ago? Here's an example, once you had to fight the Romans, so they did it, today you have to fight the terrorists, so you stay at home and let the Greeks do it. Yes, there is absolutely no doubt that this is about the same "people" (this is sarcasm, I write it down for you explicitly because you are not able to understand without it).
"Since there is no shortage of clear and conclusive evidence that we are a direct continuation of them."
To say we have clear and conclusive evidence is the way of those who do not have clear and conclusive evidence to present their evidence. Those who have such evidence simply present it.
"Eat your heart out."
What is heartless heart?
WD
How I hate to do this to you, but unfortunately you have yet another disappointment because the wonderful moral values of Judaism will indeed become law as soon as with the help of God and the help of our sweet children we will be the majority here, and that will be very soon.
Regarding your repetition over and over again of the childish and stupid lie that we are not part of the historical Jewish people - it is a shame to treat this wish of yours because there is no lack of clear and decisive evidence that we are a direct continuation of them. In short - eat your heart out.
Raphael
I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't care if Judaism is erased, remains or whatever, as long as they don't use its appalling moral values in legislation or attempted legislation in the countries where I live.
I understand that it is very difficult for you to understand, but the fact that you think you are part of some historical Jewish people, is nothing more than your fantasy and that of a group that thinks like you, that has no grip on reality.
I also understand that it's hard for you to understand that according to your definitions, all your rants about deleted moderates constitute a systemic failure in your logic, but that doesn't surprise anyone here anymore.
Which by the way indicates once again that your next claim is wrong.
"You don't have to worry about the numbers because since time immemorial what has determined us Jews is the quality and not the quantity."
In addition to this, the children's industry in the ultra-orthodox sector shows that this claim of yours is also wrong. (I call it an industry because that's how people within this sector look at it, if you want I'll give you a link to a person who proudly talks about how many children are born as if it were about how many units of some product his factory produced and sold this month)
Life
To this day it's like that in my memory, and it's great.
The IDF is an even better example - together religious and secular servants, Jews and non-Jews, boys and girls.
Raphael
Wasn't it said that prophecy was given to fools?
Peace,
In the article it is noted "that the Parthians used Asian elephants that were bigger and stronger than the African elephants that Antiochus used". And it is known that the Asian elephant is smaller and less aggressive than the African one.
Raphael
When you send me to the miracle car, at least she has a listening ear. you don't have They explain and explain to you where your mistakes are and you are stubborn like a donkey and don't want to listen. In a year or two you will be out with the question. Amen yes there will be a will.
Raphael
Thanks to you, a tort tract was written
Life
Go tell Nissim's car about the UFOs you found. I'm sure you'll find a listening ear.
Raphael
And about you the Sages said Istra in Lagina Kish Kish readable
WD
I understand that as a gentile you have a wish for Judaism to be wiped out, but I'm sorry to disappoint you, it didn't happen and it won't happen. And you don't have to worry about the numbers either, since since time immemorial what has determined us Jews is the quality and not the quantity.
Raphael
After during the occupation of the Greeks the number of Jews in Israel and in the world doubled and constituted approximately 0.4% of the world's population, today the Jews constitute approximately 0.2% of the world's population. So your erasure argument doesn't really work in your favor because after peak points of about 3%, about 5%, about 2% and even from 0.46% (after a drop from 0.76% before the Holocaust), Judaism is slowly being "erased" to 0.2% of today.
Miracles
The problem is elsewhere. As I once told you, faith is a necessity. The whole thing is that people like Raphael or the madmen of Beit Shemesh are breaking two rules in Judaism. The first rule is "Love your neighbor as yourself" and the second rule is Rabbi Hillel's "What is hateful to you, do not do to your friend". This is basically a liberal approach of live and let live. I will give you an example that I remember from my childhood. The Great Synagogue in Allenby Tel Aviv. On Saturdays for 4 or 5 hours, the section of Allenby road that was near the synagogue was blocked by the police and the drivers bypassed a paved section by entering Yavne Street, driving I think 100 meters and going back to Allenby. Everyone respected each other.
As someone who understands astronomy, do you know where there are black holes in Israel? The answer is in Bnei Brak, Beit Shemesh and Mea Shearim.
Raphael
"The evil that wanted to harm the Jews has been erased and is gone. The Greeks who cooperated with them - were erased and are no longer part of the people of Israel."
I don't quite understand your logic. After all, according to your definition of a Jew (everyone whose mother is Jewish) is not even erased, they continue to be Jews who do not know they are Jews and live as whatever (whether members of another religion or no religion).
When you say deleted do you mean they died? Because it is true for everyone who lived then. including the Jews (who are related to you about the same way Catholic Italians are related to the Romans who worshiped Jupiter)
that the government they lived under no longer exists? How is this different from the situation of your dear Judaism?
You mean their culture doesn't exist? Is it like it's a bad thing to replace a culture with a better culture? (By the way, this is even true about your culture, which you think for some reason is the same as that of the Hasmoneans. It's not) What's more, the remnants and influence of Greek culture in the world put Judaism in such a small pocket that it's funny that someone can say the nonsense you say here.
That the lists of Judaism do not know how to find them? So what, the day will come when the Messiah will have a DNA test that will tell him who is Jewish and who is not.
Or that they had no offspring? This is really ridiculous.
Life
exactly like that! As soon as you allow yourself to believe without evidence - and even in the face of contradictory evidence - everything is allowed.
Miracles
The real god could for example be Archie Banker, Dr. Moshe Kroy, Kozak, Mr. Spock, Alice in Wonderland and much more.
Miracles
Now I'm inventing a saying "Tell me who your God is and I'll tell you who you are"
miracles and life,
You contact me one more time - and I will immediately tell you to Kindergarten K. Then I am not responsible for what she will do to you 🙂
Instead, I suggest that you continue to talk among yourselves and feed each other with your nonsense and vanity.
one
"When you and your people are in power, what will you do to people like me? the truth, give a clear answer without evasion."
Me and my people? 🙂 It's a bit funny…
Do not worry. In Judaism, execution is not so easy. A Sanhedrin (court) that executed once every seventy years was called a fatal court.
We are waiting for the Messiah son of David who will be a very good king and bring the people of Israel back to repentance and the whole world will recognize his greatness and his kingdom and submit to him.
Life
I agree with what you write. I am interested in how a person who begins to believe in God, chooses the particular God to believe in. How do you know which book is right? The Torah, the Koran, the New Testament, the Mahabharata, the Book of Mormon or the writings of Ron L. Hubbard?
Imagine me choosing the wrong god and just pissing off the real god (Homer Simspoon)?
Miracles
1. The world of yeshiva is a world of sects and members of one yeshiva hate members of another yeshiva more than they hate us. The seculars in each yeshiva think that the truth is found in it and only in it.
2. In Babylon there were three magnificent Yeshiva - Sura. Harada and Pompodita. Raphael would not have been admitted to any of them. I wish
We have meetings at their level. My assessment was that they were academic for all intents and purposes.
3. I am the last to disparage Judaism. It has much wisdom and masterpiece literature, but it lacks culture. Where there were great civilizations like Greece, Rome, Egypt, India and China there were sciences such as mathematics, astronomy, there were poets, there were historians, there were philosophers. In Judaism these were not. The Bible as history is extremely limited. The only historian is Flavius. There were indeed a number of historians, but their writings have been lost. Their names are mentioned in the Bible or they were omitted. Torah elders, if I am not mistaken in the second or third century BC, correct me if I am not mistaken, consider whether to include the book of Ezekiel and the Song of Songs in the biblical canon. Around the beginning of the first century BC or a little before that, the external books were written which were not included in the biblical canon and it's a shame.
Raphael
I told you I lost count of UFOs. Each of your linguistic pearls and each of your master sentences is a UFO in itself. Thanks to you we have a fleet of UFOs
Raphael
Are you insulting again? What will? You happen to us wicked, traitors, haters of Israel and anti-Heaven. Thanks to people like us the State of Israel rose, and because of people like you it will fall. You are blind to reality and do not understand that because of the hatred of the religious for the secular, Israel's most important export is brains. You will realize your mistake in the next war.
Raphael,
I insist that God does not exist and I will never repent. When you and your people are in power, what will you do to people like me? The truth, give a clear answer without evasion.
Haim,
I forgot for a moment about stoning... Lately we hear all day long about stabbings and beheadings. The truth is, I don't know which is better, will there even be a choice?
one
New Greeks - anyone who kicks and disrespects the tradition and religion of Israel and behaves and wants to resemble Gentiles.
Their end (if they do not repent) - they are assimilated and erased/separated from the people of Israel.
Life
Go count UFOs
one
Raphael means that we will all die by stoning. A halachic state means the halachic rule of sanity. He is not great in Torah and will never reach the level of Rabbi Hillel and Saadia Gaon. All in all, a cute elm with a black cap and a Taliban beard.
one
Raphael means that we will all die by stoning. A halachic state means the halachic rule of sanity. He is not great in Torah and will never reach the level of Rabbi Hillel and Saadia Gaon. All in all, a cute elm with a black cap and a Taliban beard.
Raphael,
"Fifth - this will also be the end of the new converts unless they repent"
Can you elaborate on the last sentence? Are atheists like me who say out loud that God does not exist and will never repent are the same "new moderates" as you define them? When you say "this will be the end of them" what exactly do you mean? Is it by force of the sword and coercion? or another way? When a Halacha state is established here (and I'm guessing that's your dream) what do you think should be done with infidels like me? I would appreciate it if you could elaborate.
Speaking of African elephants, well deserved
Remember that these are African forest elephants that weigh approx
Half the weight of the more familiar African savannah elephants
which is very difficult (to the point of impossible) to kill them.
1) You have already been preceded on this subject, besides there is another and much less heroic version (and of course more reasonable) about the death of Eleazar and its connection to the elephants...
Get:
https://faculty.biu.ac.il/~barilm/elaz.html
"The Parthians used Asian elephants which were bigger and stronger than the African elephants used by Antiochus": some order in the matter of elephants:
1. The African elephant is larger than the Asian elephant, and is considered more wild. The Asian elephant is smaller and more "gentle".
2. African elephants cannot be tamed. All elephants trained for human work, including war elephants, are Asian elephants.
Raphael
The Greeks founded the modern world. It is said that all modern philosophy is footnotes to Plato's writings.
The Greeks founded not only Western philosophy, they also founded science - and most importantly - democracy.
The Greek people, the pagans, contributed curiosity to the world. Suddenly, it is allowed to ask "why".
I admit that I sin here - there are other cultures that have contributed to the world - the Chinese, the Indians, the Arabs, and also the Jews.
It's a shame that your faith is consumed by hatred, arrogance, lies and stupidity. This is probably the problem with any religious belief, so don't take it personally. This is especially serious for converts, and not only in Judaism.
Merry Christmas
anonymous
It's really accurate. The iperia that wanted to harm the Jews was erased and is gone. The Greeks who cooperated with them - were erased and are no longer part of the people of Israel. The wisdom of Aristotle and Pythagoras remained and we have no problem with that, on the contrary.
walking dead
In the beginning Amnon Yitzchak created Raphael and Raphael cannot be expelled from the Garden of Eden because he did not taste the fruit of the tree of knowledge. And the snake was unemployed and out of work.
Raphael,
"Deleted and are not" is not really accurate.
The sons and daughters of the Greeks, the Greeks, the Jews and the whole world still memorize Pythagoras, Aristotle and Homer.
Raphael
What is the name of the king or high priest in the country you live in today?
This is the real story:
First - a handful of Jews surprised the army of the Greek Empire and expelled it from the Land of Israel.
Second - the Greek Empire was erased and no longer exists.
Thirdly - this is what will also happen to all the Gentiles who want to harm the people of Israel today.
Fourth - all the Greeks who supported the Greek Gentiles - were erased and are gone.
Fifth - this will also be the end of the new converts unless they repent.
Sixth - the nation of Israel is alive and well.
Seventh - today we light the first candle of Hanukkah in memory of the victory in those days at this time.
Eighth - Happy Hanukkah to all the sweet and beloved Jews.
And again I repeat the mantra that Judaism is all lies, and of all the peoples we are the least worthy of the state, and we are the most reckoned with: the Swedish Foreign Minister is bothered that we defend ourselves against the stabbings. In World War II 180-500 Swedish SS soldiers. She also believes that we are responsible for ISIS. The Secretary of State of the USA, who has long been out of the MAZ regarding Egypt, Jordan, Israel and protects countries that support Daesh, such as Qatar (remember the cliff? Kerry's proposal to partner with Qatar) and Turkey, which will export 14 million Muslims to Europe - is terribly disturbing What is happening in Israel. And with the Jews we will continue to be careful with probabilistic calculations much more strict than with all the others. As for Turkish, European, Christian history - all facts.
The argument here is probabilistic. In World War 2, and in the Jewish War of Liberation in 1948, tanks were stopped by individual soldiers with Molotov cocktails. According to the article, this is clearly not probable.