Who is Yaakov Shapiro?Yaakov Shapiro, an ordained rabbi and non-conformist Lubavitcher chassid, offers a thorough, unapologetic, and uncensored presentation of everything relating to Jews, Judaism and Jewish law.
Where is Jerusalem?Jerusalem is a city in the Middle East. It is located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, and is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority claim Jerusalem as their capital, as Israel maintains its primary governmental institutions there and the State of Palestine ultimately foresees it as its seat of power; however, neither claim is widely recognized internationally.
What is Judaism?Judaism encompasses the religion, philosophy, culture and way of life of the Jewish people. Judaism is a monotheistic religion, with the Torah as its foundational text (part of the larger text known as the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible), and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash and the Talmud. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the covenantal relationship that God established with the Children of Israel.
Judaism includes a wide corpus of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Within Judaism there are a variety of movements, most of which emerged from Rabbinic Judaism, which holds that God revealed his laws and commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of both the Written and Oral Torah.
The Jews are an ethnoreligious group and include those born Jewish and converts to Judaism. In 2012, the world Jewish population was estimated at about 14 million, or roughly 0.2% of the total world population. About 42% of all Jews reside in Israel and about 42% reside in the United States and Canada, with most of the remainder living in Europe.
What is Zionism?Zionism is a political movement that supports the self-determination and homeland for Jewish people in Israel. Zionists advocate for the existence and continuation of Israel, but is used by Israel's settler movement to justify expansion and occupation into internationally recognized Palestinian lands.
The 'Greater Israel' project is a frequently contentious, right-wing Zionist project linked to settlement expansion and greater land annexation concepts for a Jewish state. The project may include the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea (including the West Bank and Gaza) to biblical, larger borders stretching from the River Nile to the Euphrates.
Jewish, Christian and Muslim Zionists are those Jews, Christians and Muslims who support Israel in its objectives in the 'Greater Israel' project.
Who was Saul?Saul was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy. His reign, traditionally placed in the late eleventh century BC, marked the transition of the Israelites from a scattered tribal society ruled by various judges to organized statehood.
The historicity of Saul and the United Kingdom of Israel is not universally accepted, as what is known of both comes largely from the Hebrew Bible. According to the text, he was anointed as king of the Israelites by Samuel, and reigned from Gibeah. Saul is said to have committed suicide when he fell on his sword during a battle with the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, in which three of his sons were also killed. Saul's son Ish-bosheth succeeded him to the throne, reigning for only two years before being murdered by his own military leaders. Saul's son-in-law David then became king.
What is USA?The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America. It is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million km2), the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles (10.1 million km2). With a population of over 327 million people, the US is the third most populous country.