Reading Reaction to Chapters (5-7)

I was fascinated by how the Jews who decided to stay in the city and not go to Babylon were cast out of the Jerusalem by those individuals who were exiled and returned. The irony in that situation that those who were "native" to the country and the religion are not "holy" enough for the returning Jews and the separation within the religion begins to form. This is something that is a constant theme in the history of the city a claim of the land by those who are not considered "native" to the land. Another interesting theme was the influence that other outside cultures had on Judaism, that every conquer in some way left an imprint (not always) physical in the area. For example the Greeks and the Hellenism gave rise to altered practices and ultimately division amongst those who practiced the Jewish faith. There is also the Babylonians whose conquest gave rise to the idea that a person does not need to be at a sacred site to worship and be with God, this progressing from those exiled in the city of Babylonia. In chapter six something that was kind of disturbing was the idea that an individual could essentially buy priesthood and how that correlated with conquest and power within the city. This gave rise to the shift of concern for the poor to the materialism and wealth that was promoted through the Hellenism and reverberated through the area interjecting itself into the religious aspects. Through reading this series I have also come to realize that the conquest of Jerusalem was mostly not religiously driven and was more or less about the acquisition of land rather than a sacred area. Most conquering nations left the area to its own devices taking no particular interest to religious or holy aspect of the city or area. I think Israeli, Palestinian and US faculty involved in the Jerusalem Project agree that this is an important and well-balanced account of the different religious traditions that have “shaped and scarred the city for thousands of years" because of the comprehensive viewpoint that she takes. That she examines all aspects of the history and does not centrally focus on one contributing party and is not focused on the claim of the land but has a purpose of uncovering the embattled history and foreign influence of the area.