History remembered, history revealed

What an amazing commemoration and celebration we just experienced for the 250th anniversary of the founding of our country when the Declaration of Independence was signed! In the history of our country, 250 years is a very long time, but as King Charles of Great Britain said when he spoke to a joint session of the House and Senate in April, “The Founding fathers were bold and imaginative rebels with a cause. Two hundred and fifty years ago, or, as we say in the United Kingdom, ‘just the other day,’ they declared Independence.”

Indeed, our history is very brief compared to the 1600 years of British Monarchy, or the 2500 years since Roman history began, or the many thousand years of Egyptian or Babylonian culture. The history of the Jewish people in Ancient Israel is like the Egyptians and Babylonians, more than 3000 years ago. And how can we prove that these historical events happened? Well, we can go to the National Archives in Washington, DC to see the Declaration of Independence. We can go to London to see the Magna Carta. We can see hundreds of artifacts of ancient Egypt or Rome from the Pyramids in Cairo to numerous ancient statues, documents or tablets in museums around the world.

How can we prove the history of the ancient Hebrews and the Jewish people? Many of us turn to early Jewish history as described in the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, or as some refer to it, the Old Testament. But an ancient book or scroll is not considered historically proven, even if it is sacred to us in our religion. Historicity needs to be proven using scientific evidence, something we can hold, dig up, see. For millennia, most of the Bible could not pass that scientific test. Outside of scriptural documentation like the Dead Sea Scrolls, which provided very early texts of the Bible, there was little substantive proof of stories or events found in the Bible.

But that changed with modern archaeology in the late twentieth century when in 1993, a hugely important discovery was unearthed. Up until then, we had no physical proof of any kings of ancient Israel or Judea. There were no references in other ancient cultures, there was no evidence or documented history of the existence of King David or Solomon. That changed when Israeli archeologist Dr. Avraham Biran and his team were digging at Tel-Dan, when they discovered a piece of an ancient stone tablet from 2900 years ago. On that “stele” they read one of the earliest “extra-biblical” references to King David and the Davidic dynasty. Written in ancient Phoenician script, it is of enormous importance to the Abrahamic faiths because it gives us solid evidence of the historicity of a significant part of our Holy Bible. Even more so, it is significant not only to members of the Jewish faith, but for Christians, as well, as the New Testament traces Jesus and his family as direct descendants of King David. That tablet found 30 years ago provides direct proof that David and his dynasty are historically documented.

archeological discoveries which allow us to understand the historic foundations of the Bible. Many of these sites you have seen when visiting Israel and the Holy Land, and many others are sacred to us through our liturgy, ritual, and faiths.

From the perspective of history, the story of our country is quite short. The history of our faiths is eternal.

Rabbi Ken Kanter currently serves the local Jewish congregation at the Temple Oseh Shalom in Bluffton, S.C.