Hello. One of my students, Loren, is attending a series of classes in Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University. Very often she feels that she is being taught facts that contradict traditional teachings. Here are two examples that she shared with me:
- The back of my Tanakh has a biblical timeline, and on that time line it states that the Beit HaMikdosh HaRishon was destroyed in the year 3338 from creations (423 BCE). However, secular estimates place the destruction of Solomon’s Temple in the year 587/586 BCE. This is a significant difference! The Chabad.org website also has the date 423 BCE as the destruction, whereas I did manage to find on Aish HaTorah’s website the secular dating for the destruction. In any case, how does Judaism reconcile these significant differences?
- Second question is similar in content. I own the Schottenstein Edition interlinear Megillat Ruth, and this past shabbos I was beginning to read through it and the commentary in preparation for Shavuot. On page 2 it states that “According to Seder HaDoros and Tzemach David, the episode happened approximately in the year 2787 (973 BCE)â€. I believe that the “episode†being referenced is the famine in the land during the "judging of the judges" prior to the days of a Jewish king, which caused Elimelech and his family to leave for Moav. In any case, Biblical scholars and archaeologists put David earlier than this time (closer to 1000BCE), with the days of the judges closer to the start of the 11th century. according the the timeline outlined by Seder HaDoros and Tzemach David, David’s reign would surely have to be pushed off until the end of the 10th century, and this seems to leave it pretty impossible for Solomon to be attributed to the 10th century, which is what archaeologists claim.
What books, articles or websites would one recommend for her to study that discuss issues like the ones that she is encountering?
If someone has the ability to directly discuss some of Lauren's questions, please send her a message. Her address is
loren.salkin@gmail.com
Thanks!
Avraham Norin
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/23/2017 07:03AM by mlb.
