Your question. . . . Should it be Hebrew culture?
Hebrews, the name of the Jews. Hebrews is the name of the ancient Jews or ancient Israelites. They are a branch of the Semitic people in the Middle East. They originally lived in the south of the Arabian Peninsula. They herded cattle and sheep as their occupation, and lived in pursuit of water and grass. About 3000 BC, they crossed the edge of the desert and moved north to the Mesopotamia. They settled in the south of there, subdued the Sumerians, and developed the ancient Babylonian and Sumerian cultures. Around 1800 BC, they migrated north and west from the Mesopotamia and along the "Crescent-shaped fertile zone" to what is now the "Palestine area" then called the Canaan area. When they came to Canaan from the Euphrates River valley, the Canaanites called them Habiru, which means "people from beyond the river." Later, when they were written down, they became Hebrew. )people. Israel was named after Jacob, the third generation patriarch in the clan era, because when Jacob returned to his hometown in glory after getting rich at his father-in-law's family in the Mesopotamia, he spent the night in the wilderness one day on the way, and an angel came to talk to him. After wrestling, Jacob won, and the angel told him to change his name to "Israel," which means "wrestling with the gods." Therefore, his descendants called themselves "Israelites." After the Kingdom Age was divided, the Northern Dynasty was called the "Kingdom of Israel" and the Southern Dynasty was called the Kingdom of Judah. The Kingdom of Israel perished in Assyria in 722 BC and became the "Ten Lost Tribes" without a trace. It may be that they have assimilated with other ethnic groups and blended into other ethnic groups. The Kingdom of Judea fell to Neo-Babylon in 587 BC. Fortunately, the kingdom was destroyed but not exterminated. They were divided and settled in areas for easy management; they had semi-autonomy, their own laws and judges; they could start families and own property; and they could do business freely. , and some became rich. From then on, the people of Judah were called "Jews" by foreigners. This name had some discriminatory meaning at first. Later, as time passed and the convention became established, they were collectively called "Jews", and the discriminatory meaning no longer existed. In our country, we have called them Jews for 200 years, and it has become a natural habit. Some people expressed the opinion that this translation was inappropriate and meant to be contemptuous. It was better to change it to "Jewish". However, the first people who used the translated name "Jewish" were Western Europeans in the early 19th century. When they translated the place name "Jewish", they only knew the transliteration and did not take into account other ambiguities. Nestorian Christians in the Tang Dynasty translated "Hebrew" as "Shihu", Kaifeng Jews in the Song Dynasty translated "Israel" as "Yi Shi Le Ye", and Europeans in the early 19th century translated "Jew" into "Jewish", all of which are based on different pronunciations. It’s taken righteously, not to mention praise or blame.
The Brilliance of Hebrew Culture The Hebrew nation is a small and peculiar nation. In terms of territory, it is only as big as Hainan Province, the smallest province in my country; but in terms of culture, it has as long a cultural history as our country. They have the ancient precious library "The Bible" that has been handed down, which is one of the four most influential ancient libraries together with the famous books of China, India, and Greece. If we divide the ancient world into four cultural circles, China is the representative of the East Asian cultural circle, India is the representative of the Central and South Asian cultural circle, and Greece is the representative of the European cultural circle. Hebrew is the representative of the cultural circle in the Middle East. The Middle East, from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean to the two river basins, namely West Asia and North Africa, with the "fertile crescent" as the center, has been called the "cradle of ancient civilization" since ancient times and has produced many famous ancient civilizations. , claiming emperor and hegemony. For example, Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Phoenicia, etc. all produced brilliant cultures that flourished for a while. The small nation of Israel was often bullied, exploited, enslaved, captured, or expelled by them, and suffered a great deal. However, they were perseverant, relied on self-confidence, and stood firm. When they repeatedly fell into desperate situations and had no way out, they suddenly Seeing a bright future in a new village, you can rely on your own talents and efforts to preserve the existing culture and further absorb the culture of others to strengthen and develop your own culture. Therefore, the small Hebrew nation can continue to develop its own culture over the long years, absorb as much as possible the culture of the ancient countries around it and integrate its culmination, and represent the cultural circle of the Middle East with the glorious "Hebrew culture", in the world Brilliant in ancient culture. On the contrary, the surrounding countries that were once famous ancient civilizations have now been annihilated. Their ancient culture has been interrupted long ago. What remains today are only the ruins of pyramids, stone statues, hanging gardens, Tongtian Ancient Tower, and Ni. Tablets, tiles, and broken tablets are for archaeological reference by future generations. No systematic cultural works have been handed down. However, the Hebrew nation left a magnificent masterpiece-the "Old Testament", which is available to people all over the world. *Enjoy together. It was destroyed by Rome in 70 AD and was forced to live in exile all over the world for nearly 2,000 years. Now it has miraculously recovered. The cultural quality of its people is still very high, and there are outstanding figures in various cultural fields. For example, Marx, Einstein, Freud, Heine, Kafka, etc., the achievements that continue to appear are overwhelming.
In ancient times, the talents of the Israelites were displayed in poetry, literature, and music. The Bible, the Apocrypha, the Apocrypha, the Dead Sea Scrolls and other valuable libraries have been attracting the attention of the world for 3,000 years, with more and more readers, not fewer and fewer. But in ancient times, the Israelites were unknown in science and did not create any miracles. They did not even build a big bridge or build a famous waterway. The luxurious palace built by Solomon was supplied with materials and technicians by the Phoenicians.
But now, the scientific development of Israelis and the emergence of talents are astonishing. For every 10,000 residents in Israel, there are 135 scientists and engineers, while the numbers in the United States, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom are 70 and 65 respectively. , 48 and 28 people. In 1987, Israel's natural scientists and engineers published 81 papers per 10,000 labor force, which was about twice that of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, and more than four times that of Japan.
It seems that Israel has become a scientific power. Its research and development expenditures are proportionally higher than those of the seven major industrial countries such as the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, and France, accounting for approximately Its GDP accounts for 3%, and its development prospects are even more difficult to predict.
Hebrew Nationality When it comes to the national characteristics of the Jews, it can be summarized in six words: "Go out and stand firm." "Going out" means the spirit of adventure and innovation, and not being satisfied with the status quo. "Stand firm" means not forgetting our roots, not surrendering to evil forces, adhering to principles, and maintaining the traditional habits and precepts of our ancestors. "Going out" and "standing firm" seem to be contradictory and opposite, but in their practice they are opposite and complementary, becoming the characteristics of the Jews and the characteristics of Hebrew culture. In ancient times, they got rid of the low-level religion that worshiped wood and stone very early, and took the lead in entering the high-level monotheistic religion of philosophy. They used high-level poetry, music, literature and other artistic techniques to create the wonderful library of the Bible that has been spread all over the world. . In modern times, it takes the lead in the field of science. These are the fruits of their adventurous and innovative spirit of “going out”.
This small nation of theirs has lived under the bullying of various ancient civilization powers since the beginning. Especially when they broke free from the long-term slavery in ancient Egypt, they took "Exodus" as their epic masterpiece. , more than 40 years of fighting under the leadership of Moses and Joshua, under the military democracy under the leadership of the masters, and the 200-year struggle to transition to the unified kingdom, reaching the golden age of the unified kingdom of David.
When the Jewish kingdom fell to Neo-Babylon in 587 BC, people hung their harps on willow trees and would rather keep silent than sing songs of Zion for their enemies. And he swore: If he plays the harp for his enemies, may his hands wither; if he forgets Zion and sings for his enemies, may his mouthpiece become stiff and he can no longer sing.
In the 2nd century BC, during the Hellenistic period, Antiochus IV of the Greek regime wanted to Hellenize the Jews, exercised tyranny, and forced them to eat sacrificial pork that they had never eaten. Eleazar, an old man with firm faith, refused to eat. The enemy pried open his mouth and stuffed pork into his mouth. He would rather die than surrender, spit it out, and walked to the execution ground on his own initiative. The old priest who was in charge of the sacrifices was his old friend and secretly told him that I used mutton instead of pork. If you eat it like pork, you can avoid death. He said: "This kind of deception is not worthy of someone as old as me. People will think that I give up my faith at the age of 90, and the gain is just a little more time to live, but it brings humiliation and shame to myself, and it also gives young people If a person sets a bad example and goes astray, he will live such a long life in vain." He died heroically, leaving an example to the youth and glory to the nation. Another mother and seven sons also died in this way. Six sons died. When it was the younger son's turn, the enemy thought that the mother loved the younger son the most, so they asked her to persuade the younger son to be obedient and eat pork. The mother struggled for a while, and then said to the younger son in Hebrew: "Follow you All six brothers, die bravely. When you are resurrected in the future, I will bring you back together." When the younger son died, the mother also went straight to the burning ground to die.
In 70 AD and 135 AD, when the Jews failed in their last two resistance wars against the Roman Empire, the defenders of the last fortresses of Masada and Bethal all committed suicide, and no one surrendered. Such national integrity is glorious even in defeat.
After the defeat in 70 AD, the capital Jerusalem was destroyed, the temple, the center of national thought, was destroyed, the Bible was burned, and Jewish rituals were abolished. There was no political power, no country, and no culture. , the country is destroyed but the mountains and rivers are not there. 135 years of failure led to even worse disasters. The Jews were killed, expelled and dispersed to various countries around the world for more than 1,700 years. After more than 1,700 years of diaspora life, they had no motherland and no legal protection. They were driven, killed, and insulted everywhere. However, relying on the monotheistic beliefs and laws passed down by Moses as a bond, they still had an immortal national soul spiritually. Go out, stand firm, and after untold hardships, still be able to restore the characteristics of the Hebrew language and Hebrew culture, return to the ancestral base, and establish the new State of Israel, which is equipped with modern conditions and a high cultural level.
Jews will never forget their origins and will always remember their roots, their great ancestor Abraham; overseas Chinese will never forget that they are descendants of Yan and Huang, and any conscientious person will never betray his motherland or recognize a thief as his father.
Priests, prophets, rabbis, etc. of the Hebrews throughout the ages have constantly encouraged and spurred them not to forget the God of Yahweh, the law of Moses, and the traditional commandments, as a Bonds, the sustenance of national life