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As discussed above, there is no consensus over whether Jesus was a real historical figure. For the sake of answering this question, we will treat the Gospel narratives as being more or less reliable historical accounts, and analyze it in light of contemporary political forces. Rapid Fire Recap: Second Temple Politics The entire region was hotly contested because of its militarily and economically valuable location. The current regime, the Hasmonean Dynasty, came to power after a successful rebellion against the Hellenistic successors of Alexander the Great, and promptly made Judea into a Roman vassal state. Contemporary politics featured three major factions: the Pharisees, who emphasized obedience to the Law and personal responsibility; the Sadducees, who emphasized the Temple cult and engaged in politics to protect the interests of the Hasmonean priesthood; and the Zealots, who were guerilla military bands seeking independence from Rome. ...

Historical Background In Jesus’s day, Judaism was in a time of significant change and upheaval. Second Temple religion and politics were a struggle between three major factions. The Sadducees represented the priestly Temple cult; the Pharisees advocated for a legalistic or scribal cult born in the Babylonian exile; and the Zealots were a military faction intent on Judean independence from Rome. The Maccabees Judea’s location on the Mediterranean coast and between Egypt and Asia Minor make it militarily and economically valuable. Following the death of Alexander the Great, his successors competed for control of the region. The various ruling classes of Judea invariably sided with different Hellenistic factions, seeing political and economic advantages. As a result, Hellenism became increasingly appealing to Judean aristocrats. Greek replaced Hebrew, kosher laws were ignored, a hymnasium was built in which Jews competed in Hellenistic athletic games nude, and circumcisions were either not performed or reversed. ...

Cahill, T. (2010). The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Semi-historical work about the contribution of Jews to Western culture. Donin, H. (2019). To be a Jew: A Guide to Jewish Observance in Contemporary Life Selected and Compiled from the Shulhan Arukh and Responsa Literature and Providing a Rationale for the Laws and the Traditions. Basic Books. Foundational textbook to practical, everyday halacha. Fox, E. (1997). The Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Schocken Books. My favorite Torah translation. Bad English, but very good Hebrew-in-English, preserving many Hebrew puns and poetic forms which other translations tend to lose or interpret away. Gans, C. (2016). A Political Theory for the Jewish People: Three Zionist Narratives. Oxford University Press. Comprehensive review of various strands of Zionist thought and Levantine politics. Green, A. (2012). These Are the Words: A Vocabulary of Jewish Spiritual Life. Jewish Lights Pub. A short dictionary explaining common Jewish words. Hayes, C. E. (2012). Introduction to the Bible. Yale University Press. Excellent, digestible introduction to modern Hebrew Bible scholarship. Heschel, A. J. (1999). God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. A comprehensive philosophy of Judaism as a religion of awe. Heschel, A. J. (2005). The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. A short and beautiful text about the importance and meaning of Shabbat. Hurwitz, S. (2019). Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life in Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There). Spiegel & Grau. A brief exploration of the often-overlooked spiritual aspect of Judaism. Kushner, A. (2015). The Grammar of God: A Journey into the Words and Worlds of the Bible. Spiegel & Grau. A brief exploration of the role of Hebrew grammar in Biblical analysis. Shṭainzalts, ʿAdin. (2002). A Guide to Jewish Prayer. Schocken Books. Foundational textbook to practical Jewish prayer. Revision History 2025-06-28: Original posting.

When I saw the first Sonic movie, it was out of morbid curiosity. Surely there was no way the studio could have salvaged what was sure to be a trainwreck, another cash-grab live action film preying on nostalgia with no meaningful substance to speak of. Boy, was I wrong. The first movie wasn’t perfect. It had a few too many dated jokes and Fortnite dances. It was a little generic. But it wasn’t remotely bad. It was, in fact, a somewhat touching tale about a blue alien finding a family in a faraway land, and learning to stop running (lol) and stand up to protect what was important to him. Classic shonen manga stuff. ...

What Do Jews Think about Jesus? The Historical Jesus A prerequisite question to consider is whether Jesus existed as a legitimate historical figure. Christians answer this question in a variety of ways, with more conservative or fundamentalist sects asserting definitively that, yes, Jesus was a real historical figure, and more liberal sects being more open to the possibility that he may not have been. Modern historical scholarship tends to side with the latter opinion. ...