The current wave of media interest in the life of Jesus through books and films like 'The Passion for Christ' and 'The DaVinci Code' stands testimony to the growing public desire for historical and spiritual truth. When considered in context of 9/11, terrorism and the latest Israel / Iran conflict, that truth, I maintain, can only be found by following the stories of those that remained committed to the source teachings of Torah around which these fascinating Judeo / Christian / Islamic historical developments are centered.
3278 years ago the people of Israel entered the land of Israel. Moses advised them to paint onto large rocks on Mt. Ebal all the words of the Torah. Torah contains documented boundaries of the land the nation was to occupy. It also instructed them to displace the 7 other nations that were living in the land at the time. That same Torah is in circulation today, carried down from generation to generation in its precise form. Unlike Israel, those 7 nations have no method of identifying who they are or their heritage claims.
2400 years ago (600 BCE) mainstream devotion to G-d was the embodiment of the Jerusalem populous. They were completely and holistically committed to Torah's pure precepts and concepts. Prayer was a frequent and continuous occurrence, not the structured affair that it is today. Each person had a direct and meaningful relationship with G-d and each placed that relationship above all. The soul was sacrosanct, an interface between man and G-d's heavens above.
The Prophets were inspired by the clarity of G-d's Supernal Wisdom a concept described in ancient Kabbalah which is the presence of G-d's Light in the world. Such clarity existed because all of Israel personified the laws and essence of Torah in their thoughts, speech and actions. They lived their lives in a state of conscious holiness in accordance with Torah. Prophecy provided guidance, a window to the state of the nation's holiness. Indications of that state were projected and interpreted to determine their path.
In the times of Daniel (of the lions den) these prophecies were embraced by the Babylonian King who supported Israel's practices, but with the passing of Kings, the prophecies also brought a sense of fear and paranoia that invoked possessive desires resulting in the Babylonian destruction of the first Temple and the 70 year exile of Jews from Jerusalem.
Temple worship in the Holy City operated according to the lunar calendar with annual adjustment to solar. This had been the vital cycle of life for almost 3500 years. Babylonian, Greek and Roman rule over hundreds of successive years progressively eroded Israel's steadfast commitment to their lunar centric practices. Small breakaway Jewish groups who were empowered by foreign rulers and who preferred to embrace foreign cultures began to act against Israel's Torah heritage. This tumultuous period in Israel's history is the time when the oral traditions of Torah were committed to writing and the first translation of this ancient text into Greek took place.
2000 years ago at the beginning of the Common Era prophecies of the future had captured man's shifting consciousness. The Priests, determined to preserve ancient religious practices, exposed the inflection points that motivated invading forces to oppose the Temple and its worshippers. Rome's rulers, imbued with the powers of their divine authority, savaged Jews and the serenity of Jewish life whilst they turned hungry lions onto living victims before the masses as an antidote to a rebellious mainstream. Devoid of a meaningful and intellectually sound spiritual center, Roman culture reigned heavy on Jerusalem and the spiritual holiness of temple culture, even at the level of some Jewish priests. Israel's 'soul' culture was finally relegated by the growing face of the 'material' desire of the nations that occupied her.
Emperors like Augustus and the master politicians of the day engaged in and manipulated Rabbi's, Sages and Priests, injecting politics, to pit one against the other, dividing and conquering, all the time focusing on the desired political prizes; control of temple culture and replacement of the Roman Emperors divine authority with something more appealing to the mainstream. Romes religious confusion is apparent in Nero and other leaders who converted to Judaism at the time. Freedom fighters and religious zealots focused principle issues into public points of cultural conflict until finally the bubble burst and more than a million Jews were butchered and survivors banished from within Jerusalem's walls. Not one Jew was left in Jerusalem!
Sometime after the cessation of Jewish temple worship and the politicization of holiness, Romes floundering religious core consolidated through the teachings of Saul (Paul) who was a student of Yeshua (Jesus). Christianities new face, eventually attributed to Jesus, was born in Rome several hundred years after his death in Jerusalem. Intellectualized, politicized, translated, simplified and streamlined, it remained deeply rooted in the mystical esoteric aspects of its Jewish heritage and although mis-interpreted, began to capture hearts and minds. Mainstream Rome was finally transformed as its divine representative on earth - the glorious emperor, faded against the rising popularity of Romes new divine representation - Yeshua (which in Hebrew means 'salvation'). The crucifix, on which many people died, became Romes symbol of the Jewish massacre and the holy struggle for salvation.
Jerusalem's Jews were scattered to the north where one can visit the graves of many famous Rabbi's like Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Simeon bar Yochai and Rabbi Elezar. Many descendants of the priestly generations that preceded the destruction of the Temple lie in graves scattered on the outskirts of the city. The centralized authority of ancient mysticism through meditation, prayer, ritual and Jewish culture were finally subdued. The Rabbi's could only operate 'underground', they refrained from teaching mystical and esoteric (Kabbalah) knowledge because it was seen as a dangerous motivator behind Rome's desire for control of the Jewish religious ethic.
The Arabs who, for generations, had been uplifted by the promise that Jewish holiness would deliver the Messiah, settled back to an unknown, un-chartered bleak future. The role of the Holy Jewish priests and the Holy nation of Israel had been decimated for all to see and the G-d of Israel had permitted the destruction of the Temple. For the Romans, Christianity emerged from the Temples ashes, but by 400 CE it was increasingly clear to inhabitants of the region that Israel's purpose to bring holiness and blessing, to prepare a home for the Messiah's arrival, had not yet been fulfilled. The region was void of its spiritual core.
In the void of the aftermath, a new religious culture was set to arise, a culture that would draw from the practices and teachings of the Jews and the Christians who by then were returning to a Jerusalem occupied by a mixed multitude. The Quran's references to Jews and Israel
[2] echo thoughts of the authors who were relying on the holiness of the Jewish nation to bring salvation and redemption for them and for the world. In their eyes Israel had failed. That failure led to the destruction of Jewish Temple life, the birth of Christianity and the subsequent birth of Islam. By 800CE, 200 years after his death, the teachings of Prophet Mohammed were flourishing amongst many of the regions Arab tribes establishing the roots of modern Islam.
By now material logic was blossoming and 2 new religious cultures had emerged from the source teachings of the earliest Jewish forefathers and prophets. This 'modern' logic would continue to suppress holiness as people became less desirous of their intangible devotion. Esoteric spiritual thinking in mainstream life were progressively compartmentalized and cocooned so as not to impede the progress of developing societies. Cultural dominance morphed as mass awareness of 'soul essence' gave way to 'material desire', justified by common logic, as people moved toward self discovery where imperialism, art and science were intertwined in the fabric of life. In the minds of the populous G-d was displaced by man's expanding cultural sophistication.
In the absence of a life dominated by the culture of one G-d, sinfulness was counter balanced only by the implementation of common laws, by punishment and control, yet morality in life remained a doctrine of the Bible. The Torah was translated into foreign languages and its study in its original codified Hebrew construct, as passed down from scribe to scribe in previous generations, was lost to all except to those who retained their orthodox Jewish identity.
400 years ago our development ratcheted toward the modern age where execution at the speed of 'thought' became the prevailing societal aspiration and collective desire of our current materialistic era. As societies mature it becomes apparent that the conflict between material and spiritual is one which has been mis-understood and mis-interpreted by many, including Islamic terrorists. The path of our destiny is the one on which we find ourselves, but we must ultimately return to the sensitivity of our higher cause, because that too is our destiny. A purpose revealed through our ability to recognize truth is and will contiue to guide the world toward the global society we aspire.
The history of Judeo / Christian / Islamic development cannot be looked at through rose colored glasses. First we must obtain a true, common understanding of a history that synchronizes all physical and spiritual aspects, only then we can look forward to resolution of our significant differences.
[1] Shaar HaYichud see Ch 8 Footnote 44 Nero conversion to Jew Rabbi Meir [2] http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/koranjews.html
