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| Room With No Ceiling |
Day: Monday, the 21st of September. יום שני, ח׳ תשרי
Year: 2015 התשע״ו
Base: Kibbutz Tzuba
Code Name: Kids Next Door
Group Leader: Ariella
Mission: Gather intel on how the Romans keep control of Israel. Find out who the leader is. Why he has been chosen. How he rules. Discover what happened to the Jews.
Mission Report: After traveling "long" distances, Kids Next Door reached the Israel Museum. Immediately, Ariella brings us (Kids Next Door) through the treacherous path of the sculpture garden and into a room with no ceiling. Walls of of pure white tilted from the floor of the room at about a 70 degree angle. It felt as if every thing had suddenly became open- including the information needed.
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| בית המקדש |
We sat there in the open room as we listened to our leader speak. Through years of study, She Learned of how the Romans gained control and how they got their footing into the land of ישראל. They placed הורדוס, a half-breed (part Jew, part Roman), as the King of ישראל. For he, and he alone, had the ability to rule over the Romans and the Jews; due to his holding in both cultures. She informed us of the system of "carrot and stick "- the system King הורדוס ruled the Jews by.
The "carrot" of this system is anything good the ruler can give or do for his subjects while the "stick" is what the ruler needed to do to keep his subjects (the Jews) in line. So the בית המקדש obviously being the carrot and Anthony's Fortress ( overlooking the temple) being the stick. This is an example of what kept the people loving King הורדוס and not overstepping their boundaries.
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| צדוקים Zoe of the |
Soon we got word of four Jews who escaped from their time zone to tell us of the unfortunate splitting of the Jews. As fast as we could will ourselves, we rushed through the sculpture garden and to the model of ancient ירושלים where we met four Jews of the Second Temple time period, each from a different sect.
One of the Jews we met told us of her sect, the צדוקים. They were the כהנים; unlike any of the other sects, They were part of the upper class of the society, became Hellenistic, and did not believe in the afterlife.
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| פרושים Rachel of the |
Of the four another was of the פרושים. She told us of her home in the south of ירושלים in the lower class village. A place where people prayed in synagogues Rather than at the בית המקדש. A place filled with non-materialistic people.
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| קנאים Celia of the |
The third sect were the the קנאים. They were a division of the פרושים but; unlike the peaceful פרושים, they were out for blood. They hated Romans and any other kind of Foreigners. (For more intel on the קנאים, see Agent J. Friedman's report).
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| איסיים Lexi of the |
The last sect was the the איסיים. They were Jews who did not believe in any kind of life Influenced by the Romans and therefore lived outside of the ancient city. They were pacifists, celibate, and most of all: a cult.
The Essenes are also thought to have later developed into the Dead Sea Cult (the cult which wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls).
After we spoke with all four Jews, we made our journey back to the entrance and took the perilous task of passing the guards to get to the elongated mechanical transporter so as we may get back to base.
In Need of Objective Clarification: Why did King Herod rule by "carrot and stick"? There were probably better ways of ruling.
Why are the Dead Sea scrolls so important and if they were written by a cult, how can one possibly be sure they are reliable?
Lastly, how can the כהנים lead the Jews in religion when they themselves became Hellenistic?
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| The Guards |
In order for Herod to rule, he felt he needed to use the "carrot and stick" method. Since, There was such a difference in beliefs between the Hellenistic and Jewish culture, that Herod felt he needed to please both religions in order to prevent civil unrest within either culture. He felt that if he could just keep the Jews happy enough that it would prevent a revolt. I believe that for Herod there wasn't a much better way to rule. Of course, there was a revolt in the end, but I don' believe the Jews would have waited even that long under different circumstances.
ReplyDeleteThe Dead Sea Scrolls are so significant because it is the earliest proof of any structured books of Torah. I believe in terms of beliefs, even though it was from a cult-like group, they were similar to the other Jewish groups. They just prayed in a different way than the other groups.
I think that Herod's carrot-and-stick method (CS) of ruling was necessary in a time when Jerusalem was forming opposing Jewish factions. A single, unified body of subservient people is fairly easy to rule through totalitarianism, but with a more dissected body, a kind of reward system is best. CS unifies everyone's desires for one goal, despite their political or religious beliefs. The stick of CS is just a necessary policing force. By creating one thing that everyone wants and works towards, a loose connection forms that leads to stability.
ReplyDeleteFor religious purposes the Dead Sea Scrolls are important for demonstrating that texts have not changed throughout the centuries. Though kosher Torot are meticulously transcribed, written mistakes are inevitable over a thousand-year period. By having two records from different periods, we can better understand and be sure of our own religious beliefs. For historical purposes, any ancient document is important for understanding the society of the time. There is more to interpret in a scroll than just the story told. Handwriting, ink and other signs are important for piecing together how a culture works.
I don't think it's accurate to say that the Sadducees lead the Jews during Herod's rule. Although they were the primary "ambassadors" to the Romans and were the managerial class of the time, I think it can only be said that the Sadducees ruled themselves in terms of religion. They may have officiated at the temple, but their authority was not recognized by the Pharisees, for instance, which was the only group to survive the Great Revolt.
Noah Arnold
Herod's carrot and stick method was used to satisfy both the Romans that controlled him and to please the Jews whom he ruled over. Herod wanted to find a balance between the Hellenistic culture and the Jewish religion to be allowed to stay in power by the Romans but also still favored by the Jews. I believe that this ruling style, while often the cause of controversy between the two cultures, was Herods only option to keep peace, even if only for a while, between the two groups. While the carrots represented the favorable measures Herod took, the stick shows us the necessary restrictions he needed to impose in order to keep order.
ReplyDeleteThe Dead Sea scrolls are the earliest proof we have of the written stories of the Torah. Although the Essenes are a cult like group, they are still guided by Jewish values and morals and lived without Hellenistic influence.
Finally, I don't think it's accurate to say that the Sadducees lead the Jewish people because although they regulated and arguably controlled the Beit Hamikdash, the other sects had other views about how and where it was appropriate to pray and because of those views, it was the Pharisees, not the Sadducees, that survived the falling of the second temple and the revolt against the Romans.
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ReplyDeleteHerod's "carrot and stick" style of ruling was used to appease the two groups Herod walked a fine line between. The "carrot" was the Beit HaMikdash, which Herod had turned into an elaborate center of culture and social interaction. This served to appease the Jews who were divided and at posed the threat of rebellion, thus endangering Herod's fragile ruling position. The Roman Legion served as the "stick", giving the Romans a foothold in their new acquisition and a way to keep an eye on King Herod.
ReplyDeleteThe Dead Sea Scrolls are interesting documents in the sense that they aren't "reliable", at least not in the sense that we look at them for definitive historical information. We use them to compare texts across the ages because what we can do is tell the age of the scrolls, and then identify the parts of our religious texts that are identical or similar.
The Saducees were by no means the sole leaders of the Jewish people at the time. While they did hold positions of power and possessed more wealth than the other sects of Judaism, the divided nature of the Jewish people prevented them from being the primary leaders. Each sect had its own beliefs and practices and thus could not be ruled over by any other sect. They ruled, or rather regulated themselves, within their own sects.
While it is certain that Herod could have ruled by other means, his carrot-and-stick method was nonetheless effective. When considering the fine line between the Roman and Jewish aspects of his leadership position, this method does make sense. Herod had to keep the Jewish people happy, but he also had to show the Romans that he was in complete control.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the Dead Sea Scrolls were written by a cult, many of the scrolls were simply copies of texts used by all sects of Judaism. We have found later copies of the same texts, that were not from the Dead Sea Cult. In addition, reliability is not the first question one asks when examining the scrolls because they were not written for historical documentation. The copies of the books of the Tanakh and liturgical poems have great value in that they show the attitude towards Gd the Jews of the time held.
The kohanim were not the sole Jewish leaders; rather, they were in control of Beit Hamikdash. Judaism at this time was no longer entirely focused on Beit Hamikdash because rabbis and Beit Knessets were becoming more prominent. For this reason, although the kohanim were hellenistic, they were able to fulfill their role. They did not lead the entire Jewish population.
I think that the reason King Herod chose to rule by "carrot and stick" was because he knew that he needed to keep both the Romans and the Jews happy to prevent revolt and unrest from both sides. For example, King Herod used the Beit HaMikdash as a "carrot" to the Jews for a common place to pray and make sacrifices but also had a Roman army overlooking Beit HaMikdash to keep everyone in order.
ReplyDeleteThe Dead Sea Scrolls are important because they are the oldest copies of different stories in the Torah that we have. Even though they were written by a cult-like group, the Essenes just made the scrolls copies of some books in the Torah. The scrolls are historically important because they serve as a comparison of specific stories of the Torah from the time of King Herod to the Torah today.
The Kohanim were leaders in the Beit HaMikdash but in my opinion, the different sects in Judaism prevented the Jews from having one specific leader to the whole population.
Leah, I disagree with your theory of carrot and stick ( is there a better name for this because...). I think he ruled like that to make sure the jews behaved well and didnt try to do anything crazy... like start a revolt (ok give it a few years). King Herod also was very paranoid and having the "stick" could most likely give him protection. I think the Kohanim had more of a chance of pleasing both jews a romans and that was more of a roll for them, even though they werent ever fully in one world.
DeleteThe dead sea scrolls are very interesting, but O don't seem to have a connection to them at all. I think it could be that I am unsure of the legitness of these, and do believe the could have been written by a cult.
I believe the reason for herod ruling by carrot and stick was everything else was done and it never worked. civilizations have ruled with an iron fist, exiled us from our home, tried to assimilate and most of the time we try to revolt and go against the ruler. if the people liked the ruler rather then despised him then the people would be less likely to revolt and even assimilate in rare cases. i don't think it matters that much that it was written by a cult. What matters more is that we now have an older religious text then any before dating back to the time of the Beit HaMikdash. With this new finding we are now able to compare and see how our judaism has changed from so many years ago. It also gives us more evidence of a time period when there was still jews. the kohanim were not the legitimate leaders of all of judaism at the time. At the time there were many sects that believed in different interpretations. For example some sects no longer believed that the Beit HaMikdash was the center of jewish civilization giving more power to the rabbis and less to the kohanim.
ReplyDeleteHerod ruled by carrot and stick was because it was the only thing that would really work for him, also that way he got away with more on each side so he'd "maintain" a higher image of himself on both sides of the spectrum. In doing so, he showed the Romans that he was fit and worthy for his position for he kept things under control while simultaneously doing things for the Jews. The reason the Dead Sea Scrolls were used and considered reliable because most of them were just copies of already written documents. These texts were used by every sect and I don't believe reliability is in question given how these were just copies from the tanaka and liturgy. I don't consider the Cohenim to be the sole leaders of religion however in times way back they were the priests and led the temple in religious affairs but everything for the most part changes with time and at this time we were developing different sects. So in other words different types of the same religion using different principals and some differences in belief.
ReplyDeleteI believe that King Herod ruled using the "carrot and stick" method so that he didn't present himself as all together opposing the Jews. This provided opportunity for the Jews to favor them a little bit. The dead sea scrolls are important because of what is written in them. They contain parts of the Torah and other Jewish teachings. These are part of our history, part of our religion. That is important regardless of who wrote them. Lastly, I don't believe that the cohanim were the leaders of Judaism. I believe that the Rabbi's were the ones who primarily led the Jews religiously, and they did not acknowledge hellenism.
ReplyDeleteKing Herod ruled by carrot because it kept both the Jews and the Romans happy in order to be a successful ruler. As long as Herod kept providing what the Jews wanted, and they knew to obey his rules, things would run more smoothly. The Dead Sea scrolls teach us so much about a part of a history we don’t know much about. The scrolls also have parts of the Tanakh, including the whole book of Isaiah, which just proves to us now who lived in these areas and how they lived Jewishly, and also allows us a look into life in that area. We can know they are reliable because the whole book of Isaiah was found, along with other parts of the Tanakh that we know today, and other archaeological evidence shows us evidence of other morals they may have had at the time. I think that the כהנים were able to lead the Jews in religion because they knew the rituals that happened in the ב’ת המקדש, and their lives centered around it, so they were able to continue those rituals, where other sects of Judaism at the time was more lenient when it came to going to the ב’ת המקדש.
ReplyDelete-Rachael Coleman
What a creative blog post!! And you all have such great insight. Why was it meaningful that the book of Isaiah was the only one to be found in complete form?
ReplyDeleteHerod's use of the "carrot and stick" method helped to get the people and the government satisfied. Although a little unmoral, this strategy of ruling was useful when it came to the Jews and the Romans. We saw that although the Dead Sea Scrolls were written by the Essians, a cult, it was a way to record history and pass on the message of Judaism. The Tanakh is a part of the scrolls, so we can see the evidence of the immense value put on Judaism by the Essians, which is why we can trust it.
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ReplyDeleteHerod was a puppet king, requiring him to give his subjects objects to forget the fact that they were being ruled over. Herod made renovations to the Temple for that reason. The reason that we believe the accuracy of the Dead Sea Scrolls are that even though they are the oldest form of the Tanach we have, the current versions match their versions which gives them credibility. I agree with Noah when he says that the Sadducees aren't necessarily the leaders. While they may have been the leaders at the Temple, we know that there was a split between the types of Judaism practiced at the time.
ReplyDeleteHerod's carrot and stick method may not have been the most practical however he was able to stay in control and get what he needed to across to his people. He was able to satisfy both the Jewish and the Roman people. By supplying the Jewish people with what they wanted, he knew he was going to continuing pleasing them, which meant that he was on their good side. As far as the dead sea scrolls go, they really represent a lot for the Jewish People. They allowed us to understand certain information that we did not always know about. Because the entire book of Isaiah was found in some of these scrolls, we have evidence supporting the belief that these scrolls were ours. As far as the Seduceeds, i do not feel that they were the leading sect of Judaism. They really only had "ruling" over themselves, Therefor they were only incharge of themselves at the time of Herod's ruling.
ReplyDeleteKing Herod ruled by "carrot and stick" because he believed in reward and punishment. The Dead Sea Scrolls were so important to the Jewish people because they are the first ever findings of the torah written down. This is a big deal to the Jewish people because they were reliable, they were written down and therefore must have been true. The Coanim were not necessarily the leaders of the Beit Hamikdash but they were a major part of what the Hellenistic group had to offer.
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