quarta-feira, janeiro 28, 2004
Kerem saber de onde veio o nome Azrael? Então leiam isto e vejam até onde vai a toca do coelho. desculpem la isto tar em inglês, espero ke nao faça mal.
So, you want to hear the story of Azrael? But before we go any further, you have to ask yourself one very important question. Do you want to know the truth? You see, legends were created from the interesting spins people gave to reality, and while that may seem like a harmless tradition, it is responsible for causing a few problems as well. Our Remembrance of Azrael, and the generations who followed after him, have been reshaped by religious conflicts that led to war. That which we've all desired, the right to be remembered, hangs in the balance. It is my hope that by sharing his history with you, we can once again Remember.
His true and inspiring legacy begins in ancient Babylon. Azra (), whose name means "help" in Hebrew, was the descendant of the powerful priests of Aaron.
He was born into a time of great upheaval. In the year 597 (BC), the holy city of Jerusalem was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Chaldea who captured an estimated 10,000 Judean leaders and priests, and took them hostage to Babylon. They became known as the "Gola" (the exiled). Those who were allowed to remain were the "am hares" (the people of the land). This event is known in history as the Babylonian exile or the great "captivity" of the Jews.
As fate would have it, the Chaldeans were defeated by the Persians in 538 BC, and it was this event that gave Judeans a second chance. By a special decree of King Cyrus, they were freed from exile and could return to their ancestral home.
Azra, one of the "bene Gola" (sons of the exiled), had been raised in the captivity. He had never seen the land of his fathers, but by virtue of his bloodline, he was educated in Jewish law and custom. He was taught, and he believed that the exile was a consequence of God's punishment for the sin of Avodah Zarah (Idolatry). Azra vowed to restore God's faith in his people by teaching the Laws of God.
He was well favored in the royal court of the Persian monarch, King Artaxerxes II, and not only had been given permission to return to Jerusalem, he was also granted funds from the king's treasury, a decree giving him the power of Judgement over all his people, and the return of artifacts which had been stolen from the Temple.
Book of Azra (aka: 1 Ezra 7:25, 26) - King Artaxerxes:
And you Azra, appoint magistrate and judges that may judge all who are beyond the river, who know the laws of God, and teach ye those who know them not.
And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death...
Having been granted the power of Judgement by both his God and the King, Azra gathered his people together by the riverside of Ahava, carefully recording the names of all those who came and the households to which they belonged, as was the custom of his people. After three days time, they left the riverside and set off for their return to Jerusalem.
However, when Azra arrived in Jerusalem, he learned that the very crimes that were said to be responsible for the destruction of the first Temple, were still being practiced - the most powerful being, intermarriage between his own people and the other people of the lands. Inter-marriage was not lawful. Not because the people were evil, but because it was a known cause of war, especially when children were born into the mixed unions.
Parental conflicts involving how the children would be raised, what language the children would speak and which God the children would serve, go as far back in Jewish history as the book of Genesis... and the consequences were disasterous! Jerusalem had just been reclaimed but she was still vulnerable. If Azra had any hope of restoring her strength, he had to address every known threat to her. He detailed these issues in his book. These are his own words:
Book of Azra (aka: 1 Ezra 9: 1, 2):
Now, after these things were done, the princes came to me saying: The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the people of the lands...
For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons, so their holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of the lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.
After a long hearing involving the family elders, he recorded the names of all who were guilty of inter-marriage and they are ordered to divorce... or forfeit their claim to Jerusalem forever.
It may interest you to know that this story was retold several hundred years later, but it somehow became twisted and speaks of angels who mated with human women, again naming all those angels who were guilty. A misinterpretation of the words [holy seed] and [descent] may have been the cause of the misunderstanding.
But for his efforts to reclaim and restore the holy city of Jerusalem, his name was held in the highest honor. His legacy became a legend, and he was soon looked upon as a second Moses, because Azra had led his people out of the Babylonian exile just as Moses had done in Egypt before him. Judaism exists because of him.
Sanhedrin 21b:
The Torah could have been given to Israel through Ezra, if Moses had not preceded him."
Some scholars believe that Azra was the inventor of the Ashuri script, which is still used today. This comes out of a dispute between the Jews and the Samaritans who accuse Azra as follows:
Epiphanius:
The Samaritans, however, retain the deesse non, which form, as we have said, was engraved in older times in the stone tablets. But when Ezra came up from Babylon and desired to make Israel different from the other peoples in order that the offspring of Abraham, should not appear to be defiled by the inhabitants of the land (who have indeed the Law but not the Prophets), he changed the previous form, abandoning the deesse non, because that form was already in the hands of the Samaritans.
In Jewish history Azra is remembered as the Father of Judaism and his book appears in the Old Testament of the bible. His name is translated differently. The most notable are: Ezra (hebrew to english), Esdras (hebrew to greek), Uzayr (arabic), and Idris (arabic of Esdras).
Para mais informações clique aqui.
So, you want to hear the story of Azrael? But before we go any further, you have to ask yourself one very important question. Do you want to know the truth? You see, legends were created from the interesting spins people gave to reality, and while that may seem like a harmless tradition, it is responsible for causing a few problems as well. Our Remembrance of Azrael, and the generations who followed after him, have been reshaped by religious conflicts that led to war. That which we've all desired, the right to be remembered, hangs in the balance. It is my hope that by sharing his history with you, we can once again Remember.
His true and inspiring legacy begins in ancient Babylon. Azra (), whose name means "help" in Hebrew, was the descendant of the powerful priests of Aaron.
He was born into a time of great upheaval. In the year 597 (BC), the holy city of Jerusalem was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Chaldea who captured an estimated 10,000 Judean leaders and priests, and took them hostage to Babylon. They became known as the "Gola" (the exiled). Those who were allowed to remain were the "am hares" (the people of the land). This event is known in history as the Babylonian exile or the great "captivity" of the Jews.
As fate would have it, the Chaldeans were defeated by the Persians in 538 BC, and it was this event that gave Judeans a second chance. By a special decree of King Cyrus, they were freed from exile and could return to their ancestral home.
Azra, one of the "bene Gola" (sons of the exiled), had been raised in the captivity. He had never seen the land of his fathers, but by virtue of his bloodline, he was educated in Jewish law and custom. He was taught, and he believed that the exile was a consequence of God's punishment for the sin of Avodah Zarah (Idolatry). Azra vowed to restore God's faith in his people by teaching the Laws of God.
He was well favored in the royal court of the Persian monarch, King Artaxerxes II, and not only had been given permission to return to Jerusalem, he was also granted funds from the king's treasury, a decree giving him the power of Judgement over all his people, and the return of artifacts which had been stolen from the Temple.
Book of Azra (aka: 1 Ezra 7:25, 26) - King Artaxerxes:
And you Azra, appoint magistrate and judges that may judge all who are beyond the river, who know the laws of God, and teach ye those who know them not.
And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death...
Having been granted the power of Judgement by both his God and the King, Azra gathered his people together by the riverside of Ahava, carefully recording the names of all those who came and the households to which they belonged, as was the custom of his people. After three days time, they left the riverside and set off for their return to Jerusalem.
However, when Azra arrived in Jerusalem, he learned that the very crimes that were said to be responsible for the destruction of the first Temple, were still being practiced - the most powerful being, intermarriage between his own people and the other people of the lands. Inter-marriage was not lawful. Not because the people were evil, but because it was a known cause of war, especially when children were born into the mixed unions.
Parental conflicts involving how the children would be raised, what language the children would speak and which God the children would serve, go as far back in Jewish history as the book of Genesis... and the consequences were disasterous! Jerusalem had just been reclaimed but she was still vulnerable. If Azra had any hope of restoring her strength, he had to address every known threat to her. He detailed these issues in his book. These are his own words:
Book of Azra (aka: 1 Ezra 9: 1, 2):
Now, after these things were done, the princes came to me saying: The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the people of the lands...
For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons, so their holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of the lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.
After a long hearing involving the family elders, he recorded the names of all who were guilty of inter-marriage and they are ordered to divorce... or forfeit their claim to Jerusalem forever.
It may interest you to know that this story was retold several hundred years later, but it somehow became twisted and speaks of angels who mated with human women, again naming all those angels who were guilty. A misinterpretation of the words [holy seed] and [descent] may have been the cause of the misunderstanding.
But for his efforts to reclaim and restore the holy city of Jerusalem, his name was held in the highest honor. His legacy became a legend, and he was soon looked upon as a second Moses, because Azra had led his people out of the Babylonian exile just as Moses had done in Egypt before him. Judaism exists because of him.
Sanhedrin 21b:
The Torah could have been given to Israel through Ezra, if Moses had not preceded him."
Some scholars believe that Azra was the inventor of the Ashuri script, which is still used today. This comes out of a dispute between the Jews and the Samaritans who accuse Azra as follows:
Epiphanius:
The Samaritans, however, retain the deesse non, which form, as we have said, was engraved in older times in the stone tablets. But when Ezra came up from Babylon and desired to make Israel different from the other peoples in order that the offspring of Abraham, should not appear to be defiled by the inhabitants of the land (who have indeed the Law but not the Prophets), he changed the previous form, abandoning the deesse non, because that form was already in the hands of the Samaritans.
In Jewish history Azra is remembered as the Father of Judaism and his book appears in the Old Testament of the bible. His name is translated differently. The most notable are: Ezra (hebrew to english), Esdras (hebrew to greek), Uzayr (arabic), and Idris (arabic of Esdras).
Para mais informações clique aqui.
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