Apr 25·edited Apr 25Liked by Steve Berman, Chris J. Karr, Jay Berman
Interestingly, one of the likely reasons Jews are historically successful in business/science/etc... is a result of an event that, if we had stayed in Egypt, would not have happened - the destruction of the 2nd Temple.
It's destruction forced a reformation, removing the high priests as the sole authority on the Torah/Judaism itself and requiring that each Jew read the Torah for themselves. This required that each Jewish child be sent to school from the age of 6 or 7 so they could learn to read/write both the local language AND Hebrew. This was very onerous, and many converted out of Judaism to other religions - but those that did follow the edict were well placed to take advantage of opportunities in business when the Abbasid Caliphate arose. This led to Jews setting up new trade routes and populations in distant cities - the very diaspora where our forebears became Ashkenazi or Sephardic Jews.
If the Jews had been left alone, would universal literacy of the populace occurred so long ago - or would Judaism have remained a centralized religion? Would it have survived the Arab colonization of the Middle East and North Africa - and if it had, would it be a minor religious group like say the Zoroastrians?
Interestingly, one of the likely reasons Jews are historically successful in business/science/etc... is a result of an event that, if we had stayed in Egypt, would not have happened - the destruction of the 2nd Temple.
It's destruction forced a reformation, removing the high priests as the sole authority on the Torah/Judaism itself and requiring that each Jew read the Torah for themselves. This required that each Jewish child be sent to school from the age of 6 or 7 so they could learn to read/write both the local language AND Hebrew. This was very onerous, and many converted out of Judaism to other religions - but those that did follow the edict were well placed to take advantage of opportunities in business when the Abbasid Caliphate arose. This led to Jews setting up new trade routes and populations in distant cities - the very diaspora where our forebears became Ashkenazi or Sephardic Jews.
If the Jews had been left alone, would universal literacy of the populace occurred so long ago - or would Judaism have remained a centralized religion? Would it have survived the Arab colonization of the Middle East and North Africa - and if it had, would it be a minor religious group like say the Zoroastrians?
The more knows about George Washington, the more impressive he is.