Comments on: Jews in Roman Turkey

By: Dennis B. Swaney

Dennis B. Swaney — Sat, 09 Dec 2017 16:33:12 +0000

@AF

“Turkey” is a political term (derived from an ethnic term) for the country that inhabits the majority of the geographic area named “Anatolia”.

Since the vast majority of humans are geographically “illiterate”, the modern political name is used as a synonym for the Anatolia area.

By: Paul Ballotta

Paul Ballotta — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 05:48:15 +0000

“Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman?” (Jeremiah 49:7) So goes the refrain against the kingdom of Edom which would later symbolize Rome in post-Second Temple period Judaism.
A closer examination of the term “God Almighty” is actually two divine names consisting of “El” and “Shaddai” that are sort of just lumped together as in “May El Shaddai grant you compassion” (Genesis 43:13). However it is in the blessing of Jacob that we see the name “El” could be a generic name for “god” as in “from the god (el) of your father … the Shaddai…” (Genesis 49:25). The definite article “et” which means “the” is what establishes the divine name Shaddai as an official deity of the patriarchs, as it is written in Exodus 6:3.
According to the book of Zohar (1:247b), the “et” in “Et Shaddai” (The Almighty) is composed of the letters alef and tav, the first and the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, thus symbolizing the entire 22 letters. In Genesis 1:1 it states “In the beginning God created the heavens (et ha-shamayim) and the earth (et ha-arets).” The definite article “et” symbolizes the Hebrew alphabet with the written word of the holy scripture as deriving from heaven and the orally transmitted interpretation of scripture as being the earthly manifestation of the Divine.
In “The Zohar, vol. 3” by Daniel Matt, p. 517, note 937, it mentions “the Christian parallel in Revelation 1:8; ‘I am the alpha and omega.'” This verse also contains the divine name Pantocrater, or Almighty. In the next verse Revelation 1:9) the author John describes his exile in a penal colony on the island of Patmos “for having preached God’s word (written Torah) and witnessed for Jesus (oral Torah).”

By: Rob Palmer

Rob Palmer — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 03:13:00 +0000

Somewhere, somewhere out there, there has to be a good Roman.

By: Paul Ballotta

Paul Ballotta — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 01:57:34 +0000

I was off about a century, whereas this synagogue is thought to have existed in the 5th century, the reign of Justinian I was during the 6th century. Since the late 4th century only the orthodox Nicene Creed was considered the only recognized form of Christianity decreed by Emporer Theodosias I, and during the mid-5th century the “Theodosias Code” was enforced by Emporer Theodosias II which accuses those who have not adopted the state-approved religion as being “so demented, so damned by the enormity of strange savagry, that, when he sees the heaven’s with incredible swiftness define the measures of time within their spaces under the sway of the divine guidance, when he sees the movements of the stars which control the benefits of life, the earth richly endowed with the harvests, the waters of the sea, and the vastness of this immense achievement confined within the boundaries of the natural world, he does not seek the author of so great a mystery, of so mighty a handiwork…” (“Texts and Traditions” p. 584).
The image of Christ as having a cosmic aspect like the Roman god Zeus was popular in the eastern Byzantine Empire, with the designation “Pantocrater” meaning “Almighty” that is equivelant to the divine name “Shaddai” in the Old Testament. Byzantine Emporers were also depicted with a halo like the Almighty.

By: Paul Ballotta

Paul Ballotta — Sun, 27 Dec 2015 23:32:03 +0000

The administration of Anatolia under the Byzantine Christian Empire was also a balancing act between adherents of different beliefs so we don’t know if the Jews in 5th century C.E. Limyra abandoned their synagogue to the rising water table that the Emperor Justinian apparently dealt with by building a bridge in the vicinity, or perhaps the Jewish population was reduced on account of the Black Plague, or possibly the synagogogue was confiscated as a result of Justinian’s oppressive decrees enacted against non-Christian subjects within the empire, as the account of Procopius of Caesarea testifies:
“Now the shrines of these ‘heretics,’ as they are called,… contained wealth unheard of…. So the Emperor Justinian began by confiscating the properties of these sanctuaries, thus stripping them suddenly of all their wealth” (“Texts and Traditions; “A Source Reader for the Study of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism,” by Lawrence H. Schiffman, p.593).

By: Paul Ballotta

Paul Ballotta — Sun, 27 Dec 2015 19:31:39 +0000

We need not neglect the achievements of the Ottoman Empire’s delicate balance between the religious minority communities that, though constrained by taxes by a top-heavy bureaucracy, they nonetheless retained their uniqueness and autonomy, while a non-partisan police force composed of an elite force of Greek mercenaries known as Janissaries kept the peace. The Seljuk Turks who founded the Ottoman Empire were themselves a part of the military force that served as mercenary units composed of slaves from Central Asia that fought in the service of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad because the Caliph couldn’t count on support from the local tribes to maintain the balance of interests within the empire (not unlike the model in the the film “Dune” where the emperor of the galactic order of planetary dynasties relies on an elite force of soldiers conditioned on the prison planet Salusa Secundus who are known as “Sardaukar”).

By: jak40

jak40 — Sat, 26 Dec 2015 15:18:49 +0000

I left a critic so far I can still remember what I am doinf! and it doesn’t seem to have been edited…I criticized effectively that absurd denomination but it vexed abd hurt the…Redaction
Turks invaded Anatolia around 12 and 13th centuries and Ottomans Osmanlis established a domination Occupation until they were Stopped by Europe in Lepante and Vienna and Balkans…Turks whose dictatorship since then, seems to be in accordance with Strategical and Fancy History of the US Administration views…so is Anatolia at roman times, become Turkey in deference to crass ignorant american Readers!

By: AF

AF — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 05:53:01 +0000

Is it just me, or do the terms “Roman” and “Turkey” when paired together sound conspicuously odd in a chronologically divergent sort of way?