Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee."* According to Jewish tradition, this is the message that Abraham, the first Hebrew in recorded history, received from God. Together with his father, Terah; his wife, Sarah;and his nephew Lot, he had left his native city of Ur in ancient Babylonia and traveled north to the city of Haran in Mesopotamia. By the very act of crossing the Euphrates River, the family group became identified in the Bible as Ivrim, or Hebrews, "the people who crossed over."
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History
Chapter One IN THE BEGINNING
The Promised Land
Map
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: The Patriarchs
Joseph: Interpreter of Dreams
Moses and Joshua: Into the Promised Land
Judges and Kings
David and Solomon: Unity and Division
Return from Exile
Triumph of the Romans
Belief System
Chapter Two A LIVING FAITH
Two Names, One God
A Prophet Is Chosen
By the Finger of God
Torah: The Power of the Word
Many Paths
Cultural History
Chapter Three THE TELLERS AND THE TALES
Tanakh: The Hebrew Bible
Mishnah: The Six Orders
Talmud: The Way of the Scholar
Midrash: Reading between the Lines
Beliefs and Society
Chapter Four THE UNIVERSAL WAY
Centers of Learning
Foundations for the Future
Feasts and Festivals
The Legacy of the Hebrews
Chapter Five PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
Trade: A Tool for Survival
In the Arab World
The Seeds Are Sown
The Seeds Bear Fruit
The Nation of Israel
The Intellectual Legacy
THE ANCIENT HEBREWS: A TIME LINE
GLOSSARY
FOR FURTHER READING
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX