The Continuous History of the Jewish People

Years covered: 389-427 The Jews of Babylon achieve unprecedented acceptance from the Sassanian Empire, just as the Jews of the Roman Empire have their acceptance revoked. Cast of Characters Jews Rav Ashi X Judah IV Gamliel VI X Shushandakt / Shushandakht Huna bar Nathan Amemar Mar Zutra X Persians Bahram IV X Yazdegerd I X Shapur IV X Bahram V Romans Theodosius I X Honorius X Arcadius X Theodosius...

Years covered: 353-388 A plan to rebuild the Temple comes from an unlikley source, just as Judaism becomes more...portable. Cast of Characters Jews Hillel II — X Rav Ashi Rav Kahana III Gamliel V Rabbi Hilkiya Persians Shapur II — X Romans Constantius II — X Constantius Gallus — X Julian — X Alypius of Antioch — X Jovian — X Valentinian I — X Valens — X Theodosius I Ambrose of Milan Jerome of Stri...

Need a 2 week break. Sorry :-( Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Years covered: 314-352 The creation of the portable Jewish calendar ushers in the shift to Babylonia as the centre of the Jewish world. But its a world on the move, as the centre of the Roman world moves out of Italy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Years covered: 280-314 Jews Rava Abaye Rav Huna ✗ Rabbah bar Nahmani ✗ Abaye's foster mother Rav Chisda Rabbi Abbahu Gamliel IV Judah III (?) Persians Bahram II ✗ Kartir Narseh ✗ Hormizd II ✗ Shapur Romans Carus ✗ Carinus ✗ Numerian ✗ Diocletian ✗ Maximian x Galerius ✗ Constantius ✗ Licinius Maximinus Daza ✗ Constantine Maxentius ✗ Greeks Eusebius of Caesarea Other Ifra Hormizd Hosted on Acast. Se...

Years Covered: 236-279 The law of the land is the law. But when two Rabbis disagree, how do you determine the law? Sometimes when two Rabbis disagree, the results can be tragic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Years covered: 202-235 Rabbis who were Doctors, Rabbis who were Astronomers, Rabbis who were Gladiators. Rabbi Judah haNasi leaves the Mishna, but that's not the end of the conversation. Jews Judah haNasi (Yehuda HaNasi) ✗ Rav Shila ✗ Gamliel ben Judah (Gamliel III) ✗ Yohanan bar Nappaha (Rabbi Yohanan) Abba bar Ibo / Abba Arikha / Rav Rabbi Hiyya Ilfa Shimon ben Lakish (Resh Lakish) Yohanan's sis...

Years covered: 161-217 The creation of what would become the Talmud begins, as the remnants of the Jews of Judea attempt to streamline their oral and ritual laws in a written document. And who was the Antoninus of the Talmud? We look at the suspects. Jews Shimon bar Yochai — X Rabban Shimon Ben Gamliel — X Rabbi Meir — X Judah Bar Ilai — X Rabbi Eleazar Ben Shamua — X Rabbi Yose Ben Halafta — X El...

Years covered: 136-161 There is no Temple, the Rabbis are fugitives, circumcision is illegal and the dead bodies of the Jews of Judea haven't even been buried yet. So Jews do what they've always done: start a school, and start again. Jews Judah Hanasi (born during the Bar Kochba revolt) Shimon Ben Gamliel II (Judah's father, the Nasi at Usha) Judah Bar Ilai Rabbi Meir Beruria  Rabbi Shimon Ba...

It's looking like we are back for Season 2 on May 3rd! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy Nicanor's Day! This special episode isn't as narrative, but a collection of interesting things I uncovered in my research that didn't really fit in to the narrative, but I thought were interesting nonetheless. We'll see a straight-branched menorah (made of iron spits), the first blood libel, and tour of Jewish calendar with all the feasts and holidays you've never heard of! Hosted on Acast....

Just a quick message on what to expect in the first half of 2026! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Years Covered: 130-136 We end the season with the hopes of a messiah ending in bloodshed and expulsion. This is the end of Jews in Judea, for a long time. ews Simon bar Kosiba (Bar Kokhba) x Rabbi Akiva x Babatha bat Shimon x Judah (husband of Babatha) x Elazar (High Priest of the revolt) x Shimon ben Gamliel II Rabbi Tarfon x Judah bar Ilai Jose the Galilean Bruriah Rabbi Meir Shimon bar Yochai J...

Years Covered: 100-130 What are the ways of the Jews without a temple? The sages of Yavne will try to answer this question as the Jewish people try to find their place in a Greco-Roman world that's getting rather heavy on the Greco. Cast of Characters: Jews Simon bar Kosiba (Bar Kokhba) Gamliel II x Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah Rabbi Akiva Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah Rabbi Tar...

Years covered: 70-100 What happened to all the people who survived the destruction of the temple? We take a look at their lives. Jews Flavius Josephus Simon bar Giora x John of Gischala Berenice Herod Agrippa II x Tiberius Julius Alexander Julius Antiochus Epiphanes Epiphanes of Commagene Mariamne Demetrius the Alabarch Eleazar ben Yair x Menahem x Judas the Galilean x Shimon ben Gamliel x Yohanan...

Years covered: 67-70 Perhaps the most momentous event in all of Jewish history: the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Vespasian meets Yochanan Ben Zakkai, and spares him, and consequentially, the Pharisees. He then has to take his place in the drama known as 'The year of Four Emperors', leaving Judea to his son Titus. CAST OF CHARACTERS The Jews: Josephus Herod Agrippa II Berenice Shimon ben...

Years covered: 67 The Romans make landfall in the Galilee to restore order. We relive the siege of Jotapata, where Jospehus made his name. CAST OF CHARACTERS JEWS: Herod Agrippa II Berenice Mattathias son of Theophilus x Joshua ben Gamla Eleazar ben Hanania Hanania ben Hanania x Shimon ben Gamliel Yochanan ben Zakkai Menahem ben Judah x Josephus Ben Batiach Joseph ben Gurion Eliezer ben Simon John...

Years Covered: 44-66 AD We chart Jospehus' formative years, which track the steady decline of relations between Rome and Judea, as Rome plunges into debt and civil war, and Judea into anarchy and rule by organized crime. It all culminates in an attack on Masada, and refusal to sacrifice to the health of the Roman Emperor. Cast of Characters Jews Herod Agrippa IIx Herod of Chalcis x Berenice Drusil...

Years Covered: 33-44 We continue to followHerod Agrippa—the politically nimble, debt-ridden, charm-wielding, luck-chasing Jewish prince of the early Roman Empire. A family quarrel propels Agrippa into a world of high-stakes intrigue stretching from Tyre to Alexandria, and from the courts of Roman governors to the inner circle of the Julio-Claudians themselves.  Meanwhile, the messiah claimant...

Years Covered: 1bc - 33 Oscar Wilde once said that 'anyone who never lived beyond their means suffered from a lack of imagination'. Herod Agrippa has imagination in spades. Lucky for him, his grandfather's purges are over, but now his friends in Rome are going to start dying. Back in Judea, it's one messiah claimant after another as Judah the Galilean and Jesus of Nazareth enter, and exit, our sta...

Years Covered: 34bc - 1bc You can't rebuild a temple without breaking a few heads, and in Herod's case, it will be his own family. Our final episode covers Herod the Great's final years. Cast of Characters The Jews: Herod the Great x Miriam (Mariamne I) x Alexandra x Hyrcanus II x Salome Pheroras x Joseph the Treasurer  Sohemus x Costobarus x The Babas Boys x Antipater&nbs...

Years covered: 47-34bc Hyrcanus' rule is now dependent on Rome, but what do you do when the rulers keep changing? Not to mention, Aristobulus' son is still out there, and the Parthians look set for a fight. Times are going to be tough in Judea, so its the perfect time for a scholar to immigrate. Cast of Characters The Jews: Avtalyon Shemaiah (Shmaya) Hillel the Elder Herod the Great Antipater the...

Years covered: 67-47bc As is Hasmonean tradition, brothers will fight over the crown. The Seleucids reach their end, but the Romans, the allies of Judea, appear at the borders. This should go over well. Cast of Characters The Jews: Hyrcanus II Aristobulus II x Antigonus, son of Aristobulus II Alexander, son of Aristobulus II x Antipater the Idumean The son of Shimon Ben Shetach x Herod the Great x...

Years covered: 104 - 67 BC Marrying into the royal family is no prize, when your husband kills his own mother, and jails his siblings. Queen Salome lives in a world of deceit, and has to navigate it, alone. Meanwhile the great Seleucid Empire is in its dying days, with the War of the Antiochi ending with a whole bunch of new claimants. Cast Of Characters The Jews: Queen Salome King Aristobulus x K...

Years covered: 142 BC - 101 BC Freeing a country is one thing...but keeping it is quite another. Simon the Maccabee is now high priest, and with his sons, he's going to have to fight enemies inside and outside his borders. His son John Hyrcanus will expand the borders and expand the people, as Isaac's sons become one family again. Cast of Characters The Jews: Simon Thassi x Judah, son of Simon x M...