§ 05 · People and communities
A network, not a line
People, places and events of the detailed chapters, linked by the sources themselves. Hover over or focus a node to see its connections.
personplaceeventsize: number of links
People (396)
Ch. 1 · Ancient Israel and Other Ancestors (21)
- AbrahamBiblical patriarch
- SarahBiblical matriarch
- Jacob (Israel)Biblical patriarch and namesake of Israel
- MosesBiblical prophet and lawgiver
- JoshuaBiblical leader of Canaan's conquest
- SaulFirst king of Israel in the biblical narrativec. 1020 BCE to c. 1000 BCE
- DavidBiblical king of Israel and Judahc. 1000 BCE
- GoliathPhilistine warrior in the biblical narrative
- ElhananBiblical warrior from Bethlehem
- SolomonBiblical king and builder of the First Templec. 970 BCE to c. 930 BCE
- Jeroboam IFirst biblical king of the Northern Kingdomc. 930 BCE
- AhabKing of Israelc. 870 BCE to 853 BCE
- JehuKing of Israelc. 840 BCE
- HezekiahKing of Judahc. 715 BCE to c. 686 BCE
- SennacheribKing of Assyria705–681 BCE
- JeremiahProphet of Judahc. 620 BCE to c. 580 BCE
- Nebuchadnezzar IIKing of Babylon604–562 BCE
- MerneptahPharaoh of Egypt1213–1203 BCE
- AkhenatenPharaoh and promoter of Aten's cultc. 1350 BCE to c. 1334 BCE
- Sargon of AkkadMesopotamian king and empire founder2334–2279 BCE
- Shalmaneser IIIKing of Assyria859–824 BCE
Ch. 2 · Becoming the People of the Book (11)
- JosiahKing of Judahc. 640 BCE to 609 BCE
- Cyrus II, the GreatFounder of the Achaemenid Persian Empirec. 550 BCE to 530 BCE
- Darius IPersian king who consolidated the empire522–486 BCE
- EzraScribe, priest and leader of the Judahite communityc. 450 BCE
- NehemiahCupbearer of the Persian king sent to Yehud
- Hananiah (Elephantine letter)Author of a letter on Passover to the Elephantine community418 BCE
- BagavahyaPersian governor to whom the Elephantine Judahites appealedc. 410 BCE
- HecataeusGreek traveler, contemporary of Alexanderc. 300 BCE
- HammurabiKing of Babylon, issuer of a law codenineteenth or eighteenth century BCE
- Franz RosenzweigGerman-Jewish theologian1886–1929
- Emil FackenheimJewish philosopher, a refugee from the Nazis1916–2003
Ch. 3 · Jews and Greeks (25)
- Alexander the GreatKing of Macedon, conqueror of the Persian Empire356–323 BCE
- Ptolemy IAlexander's general, founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty
- Ptolemy IIPtolemaic king of Egypt283–246 BCE
- Antiochus IIISeleucid king
- Antiochus IV EpiphanesSeleucid king175–164 BCE
- JasonHigh priest
- MenelausHigh priest
- Onias (III or IV)High priest; founder of the temple at Leontopolis
- MattathiasPriest of Modiin, father of the Maccabees
- Judah MaccabeeCommander of the revolt
- JonathanBrother and successor of Judah
- SimonHigh priest and ruler; founder of the Hasmonean dynasty
- John HyrcanusHasmonean ruler134–104 BCE
- Aristobulus IHasmonean ruler
- Alexander JannaeusHasmonean king103–76 BCE
- Salome AlexandraHasmonean queen76–67 BCE
- Teacher of RighteousnessLeader of the scrolls community
- Ezekiel the TragedianGreek-speaking Jewish playwright
- DemetriusJewish historian
- Aristobulus of AlexandriaJewish philosopher
- ArtapanusJewish author
- ManethoHellenized Egyptian priest
- Jesus ben SiraJudean sage
- ZenonPtolemaic official259–258 BCE
- Philo of AlexandriaJewish philosopher of the first century CE
Ch. 4 · Between Caesar and God (27)
- PompeyRoman general63 BCE
- Hyrcanus IIHasmonean, ruler of Judea under Pompey
- Aristobulus IIHasmonean, rival of his brother Hyrcanus II
- Augustus (Octavian)First Roman emperor63 BCE – 14 CE
- Herod the GreatKing of Judea under Rome37–4 BCE
- ArchelausHerod's son, ruler of Judea, Samaria and Idumea4 BCE – 6 CE
- Herod AntipasHerod's son, ruler of Galilee and Perea4 BCE – 39 CE
- Agrippa IHerod's grandson, king of Judea37–44 CE
- Pontius PilateRoman prefect of Judea26–37 CE
- CaligulaRoman emperor37–41 CE
- PetroniusRoman governor
- Flavius JosephusJewish historian, general in the revolt of 66 CE37 CE to c. 100 CE
- Judas the GalileanLeader of an anti-Roman uprising in 6 CE6 CE
- VespasianCommander in Judea, later emperor
- TitusRoman general, son of Vespasian, later emperor
- Eleazar ben YairLeader of the Sicarii at Masada73 CE
- HadrianRoman emperor
- Bar Kochba (Shimon Bar Kosiba)Leader of the revolt of 132 to 135 CE132–135 CE
- Rabbi AkibaSecond-century Tanna
- Yohanan ben ZakkaiFirst-century sage, a founding figure of the rabbinic movement
- Jesus of NazarethItinerant Jewish teacher and wonder-workerbetween 4 BCE and 6 CE to 30 CE
- John the BaptistPopular teacher and prophet
- PaulJesus's earliest interpreter, letter writer50–60 CE
- CaiaphasHigh priest
- BabathaYoung Jewish widow of the second century CE
- James, brother of JesusLeader of the Jerusalem communityc. 1 CE to 62 CE
- Ignatius of AntiochBishop and martyr; anti-Judaizing polemicist
Ch. 5 · From Temple to Talmud (24)
- HillelSecond Temple sage, founder of a schoolfirst century BCE
- ShammaiSecond Temple sage, founder of a schoolfirst century BCE
- Gamliel the ElderPharisaic sage, grandson of Hillel
- Gamliel IISage, successor of Yohanan ben Zakkai
- Eliezer ben HyrcanusTanna, disciple of Yohanan ben Zakkai
- Rabbi IshmaelSecond-century Tannasecond century CE
- Rabbi MeirSecond-century Tanna, disciple of Akiba
- Elisha ben AbuyahSage who became a heretic ('Aher')
- Judah ha-Nasi (Judah the Patriarch)Patriarch, traditionally the compiler of the Mishnah175–220 CE
- Rav (Abba)Amora, founder of the Sura academyc. 219 CE
- Samuel of NehardeaAmora, head of the Nehardea academythird century CE
- Rabbi Yohanan bar NappahaAmora, head of the Tiberias academythird century CE
- Resh LakishPalestinian Amora
- Rav AshiHead of the Sura academyearly fifth century CE
- Sherira GaonGaon of the Pumbedita academy968–998 CE
- Amram GaonNinth-century Gaonninth century CE
- Julian the ApostateRoman emperor361–363 CE
- Constantine the GreatRoman emperor324–337 CE
- Augustine of HippoChristian theologian354–430 CE
- Shapur ISasanian kingc. 240 CE to c. 270 CE
- Gregory the GreatPope590 CE
- Joseph of TiberiasJewish convert; 'count' and Nicene Christian at Scythopolisc. 285 CE
- Theodorus of MagonaLeader of the Jewish community of Magona (Minorca)418 CE
- Epiphanius of SalamisFourth-century heresiologist; witness to Joseph of Tiberias
Ch. 6 · Under the Crescent (42)
- MuhammadProphet of Islamc. 570 CE to 632 CE
- Umar ibn al-KhattabSecond caliph, to whom the Pact of Umar is attributed634–644 CE
- Mu'awiyaFounder of the Umayyad caliphate661 CE
- Abd al-MalikUmayyad caliph, builder of the Dome of the Rock685–705 CE
- Al-MutawakkilAbbasid caliph who prescribed distinctive dress for dhimmis850 CE
- Abd ar-Rahman IUmayyad heir, founder of the princedom in Spain756–788 CE
- Abd ar-Rahman IIIUmayyad caliph of Córdoba912–961 CE
- Saadya GaonGaon of Sura, philosopher and polemicist882 or 892 to 942 CE
- Hai GaonGaon of Pumbedita998–1038
- Meir, Gaon of TiberiasHead of the Palestinian academy of Tiberias921 CE
- Isaac AlfasiRabbinic scholar of North Africa and Spain1013–1103
- Anan ben DavidScholar regarded by the Karaites as the sect's founderc. 754 CE to c. 775 CE
- Aharon ben AsherMasoretic scholar of Tiberiasc. 900 CE
- Daniel ben Moshe al-QumisiKaraite authorninth century
- Al-MaqdisiMuslim geographer
- Hasdai ibn ShaprutJewish physician, courtier and patron at the Córdoba court919–970 CE
- Menahem ben SaruqHasdai's secretary and author of the Mahberetc. 920 CE to c. 970 CE
- Dunash ben LabratHebrew poet and grammarianc. 920 CE to c. 990 CE
- Samuel ha-Nagid (ibn Naghrela)Poet, scholar and vizier of the kingdom of Granadaeleventh century to 1056
- Joseph ibn NaghrelaVizier in Granada, son of Samuel ha-Nagideleventh century to 1066
- Abu Ishaq of ElviraMuslim poet, author of a poem against Granada's Jews1066
- Solomon ibn GabirolPoet and Neoplatonic philosopherc. 1020 to 1057
- Bahya ibn PaqudaPhilosopher and moralist, author of Duties of the Heartlate eleventh century
- Abraham ibn DaudPhilosopher and chronicler of Spain
- Judah ha-LeviPoet and philosopher, author of the Kuzaric. 1075 to 1141
- Moses MaimonidesPhilosopher, jurist, physician and leader of the Egyptian community1135–1204
- Abraham MaimonidesLeader of the Cairo Jewish community, son of Maimonides
- Abraham ibn EzraBiblical commentator, poet, philosopher and scientist1089–1164
- Samuel ibn TibbonTranslator of the Guide to the Perplexed into Hebrew1204
- Joseph ben Judah ibn AkninAuthor of a plan of philosophical studiesc. 1180
- Isaac AlbalagAristotelian philosopher in Christian Europethirteenth century
- Levi ben Gershon (Gersonides)Aristotelian philosopher of Provencefourteenth century
- NahmanidesRabbi from Christian Europe who settled in the Land of Israelthirteenth century to 1270
- Benjamin of TudelaJewish traveler from Spain, author of a travelogue1165–1173
- Serenus (Severus)Messianic leader
- David AlroyMessianic leader from Kurdistantwelfth century
- Ibrahim ibn Ya'qubJewish traveler from Spain in the tenth centurytenth century
- Abraham FirkovitchScholar who took Cairo Genizah documents to Russiamid-nineteenth century
- Solomon SchechterTalmud scholar at Cambridgelate nineteenth century
- Ya'qub Ibn KillisBabylonian Jew converted to Islam, Fatimid chief minister
- Tobias ben MosesKaraite leader and translator
- Paulus AlvarusCórdoba layman; supporter of the Mozarabic martyrsc. 850 CE to c. 860 CE
Ch. 7 · Under the Cross (35)
- Theodosius IRoman emperor388 CE
- Theodosius IIRoman emperor in the East (408 to 450)408–450 CE
- JustinianByzantine emperor (527 to 565)527–565 CE
- HeracliusByzantine emperor (610 to 641)610–641 CE
- Louis the PiousCarolingian emperor
- Agobard of LyonBishop of Lyon833 CE
- Frederick I BarbarossaHoly Roman Emperor1157
- Frederick IIHoly Roman Emperor1234
- Urban IIPope1095
- Count EmichoCrusader leader1096
- Innocent IIIPope1215
- Gregory IXPope1236
- Nicholas DoninJewish convert to Christianity, accuser of the Talmud1236
- Pablo CristianiJewish convert to Christianity, polemicist1263
- James I of AragonKing of Aragon1236
- Alfonso X of CastileKing of Castilethirteenth century
- Edward I of EnglandKing of England who expelled the Jews in 12901290
- Philip IV of FranceKing of France1306
- Peter IV of AragonKing of Aragon1348–1349
- Rashi (Solomon ben Isaac)Commentator on the Bible and the Talmud, of Troyes1040–1105
- Rabbenu GershomAshkenazi sage credited with communal decreesdied 1040
- Asher ben Yehiel (the Rosh)German tosafist settled in Toledo1303
- Jacob ben AsherAuthor of the Arba'ah Turim codedied 1340
- Judah the PiousPrincipal author of the Sefer Hasidimdied 1217
- Eleazar of WormsAshkenazi pietisttwelfth and thirteenth centuries
- Moses ibn EzraPoet and philosopher of al-Andaluslate eleventh century
- Todros ben Judah AbulafiaHebrew poet of Castiledied 1306
- Samuel ha-Levi AbulafiaCourt Jew and treasurer to Pedro I of Castile1357
- Moses de LeónCastilian kabbalist, central figure of the Zoharc. 1290
- Solomon ben AdretSpanish rabbinic scholar1235–1310
- Hasdai CrescasPhilosopher and Jewish leader of Barcelonac. 1340 to c. 1411
- Abraham BenvenisteRab de la Corte of Castile1421–1432
- Moses Arragel of GuadalajaraRabbi, translator and commentator of the Bible in Romance1420s and 1430s
- Julian of ToledoArchbishop of Toledo; son of Jewsc. 642 CE to 690 CE
- Petrus Alfonsi (Moses)Jewish convert; Dialogue author and translator1106 to c. 1140
Ch. 8 · A Jewish Renaissance (28)
- Johannes GutenbergPrinter of Mainz1455
- Daniel BombergChristian printer of Hebrew books1517
- Pablo de Santa MaríaConverso and bishop of Burgos1351–1435
- Tomás de TorquemadaSpanish inquisitor general1492
- Manuel I of PortugalKing of Portugal1497
- John III of PortugalKing of Portugal1536
- Paul IIIPope1536
- Isaac ZarfatiRabbi and migration advocate
- Moses AlmosninoSephardi rabbi and writer of Salonika1560
- Samuel de MedinaResponsa authority of Salonika1505–1589
- Gracia MendesSephardi banker, merchant, and patron1553
- Joseph NasiOttoman diplomat and tax farmer1555
- Joseph KaroJurist and mystic of Safed1488–1575
- Isaac LuriaKabbalist of Safed1534–1572
- Haim VitalDisciple and transmitter of Isaac Luria1543–1620
- Moses CordoveroKabbalist of Safed1522–1570
- Aaron ben BatashJewish vizier in Morocco1465
- Paul IVCounter-Reformation pope1555
- Leone ModenaVenetian rabbi and autobiographer1571–1648
- Sara Coppio SullamVenetian poet and salon host1618
- Mordechai MaiselJewish leader and patron of Prague1590
- Isaac LamprontiRabbi, physician, and encyclopedist1679–1756
- Shlomo ibn VergaSephardi chronicler1520
- Azariah de' RossiJewish Renaissance historianc. 1513 to 1578
- Johannes ReuchlinChristian humanist and Hebraist1455–1522
- Johannes PfefferkornConvert and anti-Jewish polemicist1469–1523
- Martin LutherProtestant reformer1483–1546
- Josel of RosheimRepresentative of German Jewry1543
Ch. 9 · New Worlds, East and West (29)
- Moses IsserlesRabbi and legal codifier1520–1572
- Casimir III the GreatKing of Poland1310–1370
- Jan ZamoyskiPolish magnate and statesman
- Konstanty Wasyl OstrogskiRuthenian magnate
- Nathan Neta HanoverRabbi and chronicler
- Bogdan ChmielnickiCossack leader1595–1657
- Shaul StampferHistorian
- Judah Loew of PragueRabbi and critic of pilpul
- Yom-Tov Lipmann HellerRabbi1579–1654
- Jacob ben Isaac Ashkenazi of YanovYiddish author1550–1625
- Glickl of HamelnMerchant and memoirist1646–1724
- Jacob BasseviHabsburg financier
- Samuel OppenheimerCourt Jew and financier1630–1703
- Simone LuzzattoRabbi and political writer1583–1663
- Isaac Orobio de CastroSephardi physician and polemicist
- Daniel Levi de BarriosPoet and playwright1635–1701
- Uriel da CostaCritic of rabbinic tradition
- Barukh SpinozaPhilosopher1632–1677
- Menasseh ben IsraelRabbi, printer, and diplomat
- Peter StuyvesantColonial governor
- Antonio Teles da SilvaGovernor of Brazil and Holy Office familiar
- Dom Pedro da SilvaBishop of Bahia
- Manuel TemudoVicar and inquisitorial informant
- Shabbatai ZviMessianic claimant1626–1676
- Nathan of GazaMystic and Sabbatian prophet1643–1680
- Gaspar da GamaJewish convert in Cabral's fleet
- Antonio Raposo TavaresBandeirante; according to Novinsky, a converso
- Garcia Rodrigues PaesBuilder of the New Road; son of Fernão Dias
- Teotônio da CostaPiratininga resident burned in Lisbon (1686)
Ch. 10 · The State of the Jews, the Jews and the State (23)
- Ascher LehmannAutobiographer and peddler1769–1848
- Friedrich Wilhelm IKing of Prussia1688–1740
- Rahel Levin VarnhagenIntellectual and salon host1771–1833
- Abraham MendelssohnBanker and family patriarch1776–1835
- Daniel MendozaBritish prizefighter1763–1836
- Mayer Amschel RothschildFrankfurt banker1743–1812
- Johann Wolfgang von GoetheGerman writer1749–1832
- Johann Friedrich BlumenbachAnthropologist and naturalist1752–1840
- John TolandPhilosopher and naturalization advocate1670–1722
- Christian Wilhelm DohmPrussian official and reformer1751–1820
- Johann David MichaelisBiblical scholar and emancipation opponent1717–1791
- Johann Gottlieb FichteGerman nationalist philosopher1762–1814
- Joseph IIHabsburg emperor1741–1790
- Naftali Herz WesselyHaskalah intellectual1725–1805
- Abbé GrégoireFrench cleric and emancipation advocate1750–1831
- Stanislas de Clermont-TonnerreFrench revolutionary deputy1757–1792
- Napoleon BonaparteFrench emperor1769–1821
- Lionel de RothschildBritish banker and parliamentarian1808–1879
- Judah MonisHebrew instructor1683–1764
- George WashingtonPresident of the United States1732–1799
- Catherine IIEmpress of Russia1729–1796
- Nicholas ITsar of Russia1796–1855
- Alexander IIITsar of Russia1845–1894
Ch. 11 · Modern Transformations (25)
- Jacob FrankDissident religious leader1726–1791
- Israel Baal Shem TovMystic, healer, and teacher1700–1760
- Dov Ber de MezritchMaggid and Hasidic leader
- Shneur Zalman de LyadyFounder of Habad1745–1812
- Eliyahu, Gaon de VilnaTalmudist and Mitnaggdic leader1720–1797
- Hayim de VolozhinRabbi and yeshiva founder1749–1821
- Israel SalanterFounder of the Musar movement1810–1883
- Isaac Jacob ReinesRabbi and educator1839–1915
- Moses MendelssohnPhilosopher and Haskalah intellectual1729–1786
- David FriedländerReligious reformer1750–1834
- Yosef PerlEducator and satirist1773–1839
- Nahman KrochmalPhilosopher and historian1785–1840
- Yitzhak Ber LevinzonRussian Haskalah intellectual1788–1860
- Abraham MapuHebrew novelist1808–1867
- Mendele Moykher SforimHebrew and Yiddish writer1836–1917
- Sholem AleichemYiddish writer1859–1916
- Leopold ZunzHistorian and philologist1794–1886
- Isaac Marcus JostHistorian1793–1860
- Heinrich GraetzHistorian1817–1891
- Israel JacobsonReform Judaism pioneer1768–1828
- Abraham GeigerReform rabbi and historian1810–1874
- Samuel HoldheimRadical Reform rabbi1806–1860
- Samson Raphael HirschFounder of Neo-Orthodoxy1808–1888
- Esriel HildesheimerOrthodox rabbi and educator1820–1899
- Zacharias FrankelFounder of Positive-Historical Judaism1801–1875
Ch. 12 · The Politics of Being Jewish (38)
- Bruno BauerTheologian and polemicist1809–1882
- Richard WagnerComposer and antisemitic polemicist1813–1883
- Adolf StöckerPreacher and antisemitic politician1835–1909
- Wilhelm MarrJournalist and racial ideologue1819–1904
- Karl Eugen DuehringRacial philosopher1833–1921
- Houston Stewart ChamberlainRacial writer1855–1927
- Georg von SchönererPan-German politician1842–1921
- Karl LuegerVienna mayor and demagogue1844–1910
- Alfred DreyfusFrench army officer1859–1935
- Émile ZolaWriter and Dreyfus advocate1840–1902
- Adolphe CrémieuxJurist and communal advocate1796–1880
- Moses MontefiorePhilanthropist and communal diplomat1784–1885
- Edgardo MortaraChild removed from his family by papal authority1851–1940
- Pavel KrushevanJournalist and antisemitic agitator1860–1909
- Hayim Nahman BialikHebrew poet1873–1934
- Mendel BeilisDefendant in a ritual murder trial1874–1934
- Aleksandr KremerBund organizer1865–1935
- Vladimir MedemBundist theorist1879–1923
- Chaim ZhitlovskyYiddishist theorist1865–1943
- Shimon DubnovHistorian and autonomist1860–1941
- Moses HessJewish nationalist thinker1812–1875
- Leon PinskerPhysician and nationalist theorist1821–1891
- Theodor HerzlFounder of political Zionism1860–1904
- Chaim WeizmannCultural and political Zionist leader1874–1952
- Ahad Ha-AmCultural Zionist theorist1856–1927
- Israel ZangwillWriter and territorialist1864–1926
- Nahman SyrkinLabor Zionist founder1868–1924
- Ber BorochovMarxist Zionist theorist1881–1917
- David Ben-GurionPioneer and Zionist leader1886–1973
- Aaron David GordonLabor theorist1856–1922
- Shmuel Yosef AgnonHebrew writer1888–1970
- Eliezer ben YehudaLexicographer and Hebrew revivalist1858–1922
- Bertha PappenheimFeminist and social reformer1859–1936
- Isaac Mayer WiseReform rabbi and organizer1819–1900
- Abraham GoldfadenPlaywright and theater entrepreneur1840–1908
- Emma GoldmanAnarchist and reproductive rights activist1869–1940
- Lillian WaldNurse and social reformer1867–1940
- Paul Phillip LevertoffPioneer of Hebrew Christianity; Anglican priestc. 1875 to 1954
Ch. 13 · A World Upended (26)
- Sigmund FreudPsychoanalyst1856–1939
- Franz KafkaWriter1883–1924
- Martin BuberPhilosopher1878–1965
- Gershom ScholemHistorian of mysticism1897–1982
- John MonashAustralian general1865–1931
- Leon TrotskyBolshevik leader1879–1940
- Shlomo MikhoelsActor and director1890–1948
- Józef PiłsudskiMarshal of Poland1867–1935
- Roman DmowskiPolish nationalist1864–1939
- Kurt EisnerSocialist politician1867–1919
- Hugo PreussConstitutional lawyer1860–1925
- Walter RathenauIndustrialist and minister1867–1922
- Béla KunHungarian communist leader1886–1938
- Corneliu Zelea CodreanuIron Guard leader1899–1938
- Ze'ev JabotinskyRevisionist Zionist leader1880–1940
- Yosef TrumpeldorPioneer and fighter1880–1920
- Louis BrandeisJurist and American Zionist leader1856–1931
- Henrietta SzoldHadassah organizer1860–1945
- Avraham Yitzhak KookAshkenazic chief rabbi1865–1935
- Max NordauZionist leader1849–1923
- Arthur James BalfourBritish foreign secretary1848–1930
- Herbert SamuelHigh commissioner for Palestine1870–1963
- Haj Amin al-HusseiniMufti of Jerusalem1897–1974
- Max WeinreichLinguist and YIVO director1893–1969
- Hank GreenbergBaseball player1911–1986
- Esther Azhari MoyalJournalist and feminist1873–1948
Ch. 14 · The Holocaust (20)
- Adolf HitlerNazi chancellor and ideologue1889–1945
- Joseph GoebbelsPropaganda minister1897–1945
- Heinrich HimmlerSS chief1900–1945
- Reinhard HeydrichSecurity service chief1904–1942
- Adolf EichmannDeportation organizer1906–1962
- Hermann GöringNazi economic chief
- Leo BaeckRabbi and communal leader1873–1956
- Victor KlempererPhilologist and diarist
- Emanuel RingelblumGhetto historian1900–1944
- Adam CzerniakowHead of the Warsaw Judenrat1880–1942
- Chaim RumkowskiLeader of the Lodz ghetto1877–1944
- Mordechai AnielewiczCommander of the Warsaw uprising1919–1943
- Abba KovnerVilna poet and fighter1918–1987
- Jacob GensHead of the Vilna Judenrat
- Anne FrankDiarist in hiding1929–1945
- Raoul WallenbergSwedish diplomat in Budapest
- Chiune SugiharaTemporary Japanese consul
- Josef MengeleSS doctor at Auschwitz
- Jan KarskiPolish resistance courier
- Ilya EhrenburgSoviet writer
Ch. 15 · Into the Present (22)
- Menachem BeginIrgun commander and prime minister1913–1992
- Yitzhak ShamirLehi leader and prime minister
- Golda MeirPrime minister of Israel1898–1978
- Moshe DayanGeneral and defense minister1915–1981
- Yitzhak RabinSoldier, prime minister, and Oslo signatory1922–1995
- Ariel SharonGeneral and prime minister
- Anwar SadatPresident of Egypt
- Yasser ArafatLeader of the Palestine Liberation Organization
- Ehud BarakChief of staff and prime minister
- Shimon PeresLabor prime minister
- Gamal Abdel NasserPresident of Egypt
- Amos OzWriter
- Yeshayahu LeibowitzPhilosopher and public intellectual
- Yonatan RatoshPoet and Canaanite leader
- Menachem Mendel SchneersonLubavitcher rebbe1902–1994
- Joel TeitelbaumSatmar rebbe1887–1979
- Meir KahaneFounder of the Jewish Defense League1932–1990
- Moses RosenChief rabbi of Romania
- Helen SuzmanSouth African liberal parliamentarian1917–2009
- Joe SlovoCommunist and African National Congress leader1926–1995
- Abba EbanFormer foreign minister
- Mark KinzerTheologian of contemporary Messianic Judaism1952
Communities (129)
- Canaanite city-statesUrban communities ruled by local elites and subordinated to Egypt during part of the Late Bronze Age.
- Highland villagersSmall farming communities frequently associated with Israel's emergence and showing strong Canaanite continuity.
- Philistine coastal communitiesGroups formed from migrants and local inhabitants, recognized through distinctive material repertoires and customs.
- Royal court at SamariaThe Northern Kingdom's political and aristocratic center, connected with Levantine trade and luxury culture.
- Judahites of JerusalemJudah's capital community, organized around monarchy and Temple and enlarged after the northern kingdom fell.
- People of LachishThe population of a fortified Judahite city subdued, killed or deported during Sennacherib's campaign.
- Judahite exiles in BabyloniaDeportees and descendants who built economic and family lives without abandoning memory, hope and ties to Judah.
- Visitors to Kuntillet AjrudPeople who left inscriptions and drawings at a southern outpost, bearing witness to regional varieties of Yahweh worship.
- The Judahites of ElephantineJudahite soldiers, with their families, in Persian service in Egypt, who had a temple of their own, wrote in Aramaic and left no sign of a Bible. They called themselves 'yehudiyin' and did not treat Jerusalem as the only legitimate place of worship.
- The Judahites of YehudThe community that returned to the land and rebuilt the Temple under Persian rule, without an independent state, and in which, according to many scholars, the Torah came to regulate common life.
- Jews of AlexandriaThe most influential Jewish community outside Judea in the Hellenistic period, with its own quarters, courts and institutions.
- Jerusalem and JudeaA relatively isolated region, with a perhaps Hellenized elite in Jerusalem and a population that was still mostly rural.
- Community of the temple of OniasA community around a Jewish temple in Egypt, active until 74 CE.
- Judahites of ElephantineA community predating the Hellenistic period whose temple was destroyed near the close of the fifth century BCE.
- The scrolls communityA sect that, according to many scholars, lived at Qumran; its identity is debated.
- Jews of BabyloniaAn old community, formed in the wake of the exile.
- SamaritansDescendants of the northern tribes, with worship on Mount Gerizim; the community survives to this day.
- Jews of Alexandria under RomeA community of precarious status, caught up in decades of ethnic violence with Greeks and Egyptians; it was devastated after the Diaspora Revolt and, to all intents and purposes, ceased to exist as Philo's great community.
- The Sicarii of MasadaSome 960 rebels, with their families, who held out against the Romans until 73 CE and, according to Josephus, chose death over slavery.
- Jews of GalileeThey seem to have been more willing to come to terms with Rome than the Jews of Judea. After Bar Kochba, Galilee became the center of Jewish life in Palestine.
- Jews of RomeThey lived among images venerated by their neighbors without venerating them; they were expelled from the city yet again in the 40s, amid unrest linked to Christian mission. Rome became one of the centers of the diaspora.
- Jews of Cyrene (Libya)Rebels from Judea tried to stir them up after 70 CE; it was in Libya that the Diaspora Revolt seems to have begun, in 115.
- Jews of CyprusCaught up in the Diaspora Revolt; afterward Jews were banned from the island.
- Jews of Babylonia under the ParthiansThe only large Jewish community outside the Roman Empire in the first century, little known because the main source is the much later Babylonian Talmud. The rebels of 66 hoped for its mediation with the Parthians; after Bar Kochba it attracted sages from Palestine.
- The men of En-GediRecipients of a letter from Bar Kochba rebuking them for looking after themselves rather than their brothers.
- The sages of YavnehThe first rabbinic center after the Temple's destruction, according to tradition; there is no archaeological evidence of that activity.
- The patriarchate at SepphorisSeat of the patriarchate under Judah ha-Nasi, who brought the rabbinic movement closer to the cities.
- Rabbis of TiberiasThe final seat of Palestinian rabbinic activity, linked to the Palestinian Talmud, Rabbi Yohanan's academy and, later, the Masoretes.
- The Sura academyFounded by Rav around 219; one of Babylonia's two great academies, later headed by the Geonim.
- The Pumbedita academyThe other great Babylonian academy, also headed by the Geonim and later moved to Baghdad.
- The Nehardea academyAcademy headed by Samuel in the third century.
- Jews of MahozaA well-integrated community, in daily contact with non-Jews, that spoke the population's Aramaic.
- Jews of Dura-EuroposA frontier community between Rome and the Sasanians, whose painted synagogue was buried around 256.
- Jews of RomeWith at least 11 known synagogues, one of them named in honor of Alexander Severus.
- Jews of CallinicumTheir synagogue was destroyed by a mob in 388 and was not rebuilt.
- Jews of ClermontA community forcibly converted in the sixth century, under threat of expulsion.
- Jews of QayrawanA community the Geonim apparently used as a communication hub with the West.
- Jews of BaghdadThe Abbasid capital where the exilarch and the Babylonian academies were based; the city drew immigrants from across the empire.
- The Sura academy under the GeonimOne of the two great Babylonian academies, which also served as a supreme court, gathered scholars at the kallot and was headed by Saadya from 928.
- The Pumbedita academy under the GeonimThe other great Babylonian academy, headed by Sherira (968 to 998) and Hai (998 to 1038).
- Jews of Fustat (Old Cairo)A community whose documents, preserved in the Genizah, illuminate daily life, commerce and relations with Muslims between the tenth and twelfth centuries.
- Jews of QayrawanA community of merchants, such as the Taherti brothers, whose letter to Cairo shows the risks of extortion in luxury trade.
- Jews of CórdobaCommunity of the Umayyad capital in which Hasdai ibn Shaprut worked and where Menahem and Dunash developed Hebrew poetry and philology.
- Jews of GranadaCommunity of the taifa kingdom in which Samuel ha-Nagid was chief minister; attacked in 1066 and scattered by the Almoravids in 1090.
- Karaites of JerusalemA community that stressed the duty of dwelling in the Holy Land and made up a significant part of the city's Jewish population, until the Crusades.
- Jews of MainzA Rhineland merchant community and home of an academy, attacked in 1096; the Hebrew chronicle notes that some Jews took up arms.
- Jews of WormsOne of the Rhineland communities and a school where Rashi studied, also devastated in 1096.
- Jews of SpeyerA community to which the bishop granted a charter of privileges, an example of a privilege for an entire community and not for individuals, and of its fragile character.
- Jews of TroyesRashi's hometown and seat of the school he founded, in northern France.
- Jews of ParisSite of the Talmud trial and of a host desecration case in 1290; expelled by the French crown.
- Jews of YorkIn 1190 they sheltered in the king's tower and died in a collective suicide; the moneylenders' records were destroyed.
- Jews of BarcelonaCity of the 1263 disputation and of the plague-time attacks, when Peter IV tried to protect the community.
- Jews of GironaBirthplace of Nahmanides, a central figure of Jewish learning and of Catalonia's Kabbalistic lore.
- Jews of ToledoCity conquered by Castile in 1085, with a celebrated fourteenth-century synagogue (El Transito).
- Jews of ValenciaCity taken by El Cid in the 1090s and retaken by Aragon in the thirteenth century; Jews took part in the Reconquista's colonization.
- Jews of TortosaSite of the 1413 to 1414 debate, after which still more Jews embraced Catholicism.
- Jews of Istanbul, a multiethnic imperial community.Jews of Istanbul, a multiethnic imperial community.
- Jews of Salonika, a Sephardi center of Ladino and textiles.Jews of Salonika, a Sephardi center of Ladino and textiles.
- Jews of Safed, an economic, legal, and mystical community.Jews of Safed, an economic, legal, and mystical community.
- Jews of Fez, bringing together natives and Iberian exiles.Jews of Fez, bringing together natives and Iberian exiles.
- Jews of Marrakesh, settled in a dynastic mellah.Jews of Marrakesh, settled in a dynastic mellah.
- Jews of Venice, a diverse community in the first ghetto.Jews of Venice, a diverse community in the first ghetto.
- Jews of Rome, an ancient community confined by the pope in 1555.Jews of Rome, an ancient community confined by the pope in 1555.
- Jews of Prague, a center of printing, history, and architecture.Jews of Prague, a center of printing, history, and architecture.
- Jews of CracowCenter of Isserles, Talmud printing, and rabbinic life.
- Jews of LublinCommunity of fairs, council meetings, and printing.
- Jews of KazimierzLarge community exercising residence controls.
- Jews of PragueCommunity spared in the 1620 sack because of its financial usefulness.
- Jews of BerlinCommunity renewed by families expelled from Vienna.
- Amsterdam SephardimCommercial Portuguese nation combining Iberian and Jewish identities.
- Jews of HamburgSephardi and Ashkenazi communities tied to trade and Sabbatianism.
- Livorno SephardimCommunity protected by the Livornina and oriented toward maritime commerce.
- Jews of LondonVoluntary former-converso community without a formal readmission charter.
- Jews of New AmsterdamSmall community founded by refugees from Brazil in 1654.
- New Christians in BahiaMerchants and mill owners under inquisitorial watch between 1624 and 1654.
- New Christians in Minas GeraisMerchants and miners tried for Judaism during the Gold Age.
- Jews of IzmirCommunity divided by Zvi's messianic proclamation.
- Donme of SalonikaFollowers of Zvi who converted to Islam while retaining a Sabbatian identity.
- Berlin Jews amid salons, conversion, and reform.Berlin Jews amid salons, conversion, and reform.
- Alsatian Jews, tied to rural credit and emancipation debate.Alsatian Jews, tied to rural credit and emancipation debate.
- Bordeaux Sephardim, the first emancipated Jews of France.Bordeaux Sephardim, the first emancipated Jews of France.
- London Jews, merchants, athletes, and emancipation leaders.London Jews, merchants, athletes, and emancipation leaders.
- Newport's congregation and American religious liberty.Newport's congregation and American religious liberty.
- Australian Jews from the First Fleet onward.Australian Jews from the First Fleet onward.
- Salonikan Sephardim between millet and nation-state.Salonikan Sephardim between millet and nation-state.
- Millions of Jews in Russia's Pale of Settlement.Millions of Jews in Russia's Pale of Settlement.
- Habsburg Jews under toleration and Germanization.Habsburg Jews under toleration and Germanization.
- Besht's circlePietistic and Kabbalistic nucleus of early Hasidism.
- Habad HasidimCommunity organized around Shneur Zalman's teachings.
- Vilna MitnaggedimCenter of opposition to Hasidism and Talmud learning.
- Volozhin YeshivaIndependent academy drawing students from distant regions.
- Berlin MaskilimNetwork of philosophers, educators, authors, and patrons.
- Galician MaskilimIntellectuals who adapted Haskalah to a Yiddish environment.
- Odessa Jewish intellectualsCenter of schools, press, and modern Jewish literature.
- Hamburg reformersPioneering congregation of reformed worship.
- Breslau SeminaryPositive-Historical institution joining tradition and scholarship.
- Budapest Neolog communityBuilder of the monumental Dohány Street Synagogue.
- Leopoldstadt JewsA Viennese district where Galician migrants made up about half the population.
- The Paris PletzlA Marais quarter formed largely by Jews arriving from Alsace.
- Kishinev communityCity struck by the 1903 pogrom and the desecration of Torah scrolls.
- Vilna Bund workersNucleus of the Bund's founding and of Jewish labor organizing.
- Warsaw's Jewish electorateA major urban center and a local electoral base of the Bund.
- Odessa nationalistsA port linked to Hibbat Zion, Pinsker, and cultural Zionism.
- Degania collectiveThe first Jewish agricultural collective, founded beside the Sea of Galilee.
- Lower East Side immigrantsA densely populated district of workers, synagogues, and hometown societies.
- East End immigrantsOrthodox, Yiddish-speaking Russian Jews in London.
- Weimar JewsA community with new access to the state and exposure to political violence.
- Moscow JewsAn urban population multiplied after the Pale was abolished.
- Birobidzhan settlersA small farm and town population under a fragile autonomous status.
- Polish JewryThe largest European community, pressed by boycott and quotas.
- Lehrhaus circleAdults relearning Jewish texts from modern life.
- Mandate YishuvA Hebrew society under construction, urban and institutional.
- Baghdad JewsA relative majority of the capital, with commercial networks and Alliance schools.
- Berlin JewsThe largest German community, with physicians, the Kulturbund, and Leo Baeck's leadership.
- Vienna's Jews after the AnschlussAbout 190,000 people fell under the Reich in 1938 and were stripped of property with speed.
- Warsaw ghettoAt its peak, about 450,000 people, with hunger, typhus, and Ringelblum's archive.
- Lodz ghettoAbout 200,000 Jews, led by Rumkowski and liquidated last.
- Vilna ghettoOf 57,000 Jews, more than 30,000 had already been shot at Ponary by early 1942.
- Theresienstadt prisonersAbout 140,000 people passed through the model ghetto; most were killed afterward.
- Jews of the NetherlandsOf 140,000 in 1939, 107,000 were killed; thousands survived in hiding.
- Hungarian JewsBetween May and July 1944, 437,000 were murdered at Auschwitz.
- Melbourne's Buchenwald BoysYouths freed at Buchenwald who restarted life in Australia and still mark the liberation.
- Bavarian displaced personsSurvivors in American-zone camps, with a high birth rate, yeshivas, and an edition of the Talmud.
- Iraqi Jews on the airliftAbout 100,000 people taken to Israel in 1950 and 1951, after their assets were frozen.
- Mizrahi immigrants in peripheral areas and Wadi SalibImmigrants from the Middle East and North Africa settled in peripheral areas and in the deprived Haifa neighborhood that named the 1959 protests.
- Williamsburg HasidimCommunities that grew through Yiddish, traditional dress, and a network of their own schools.
- North African Jews of ParisMigrants from Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria who came to weigh on French communal life.
- Mount Scopus studentsThe largest Jewish day school in the diaspora, with over 3,000 students in the 1980s.
- Audience of the Cracow FestivalAnnual gathering in the old Jewish quarter, the largest festival of its kind in Europe.