JEWISH MOMENTS IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL

67 CE. From Yosef HaCohen to Josephus Flavius

Josephus Flavius lived through one of the most tumultuous eras in Jewish history. His life would take him from the command of Jewish forces in Galilee to the inner circles of Roman power, and eventually to the role of the most important narrative historian of the First Jewish Revolt. Within Jewish tradition, Josephus’s reputation remained deeply ambivalent. On the one hand, he defended Judaism vigorously in his writings. On the other hand, he surrendered to and then worked for the very emperors who destroyed the Temple.

Born in Jerusalem in 37 CE to a priestly and aristocratic family, Yosef ben Mattityahu, HaCohen, lived through one of the most tumultuous eras in Jewish history. A descendant of priests on his father’s side and of the Hasmonean royal house on his mother’s, he received a broad education in Hebrew traditions and Greek culture, preparing him to move between vastly different worlds. His life would take him from the command of Jewish forces in Galilee to the inner circles of Roman power, and eventually to the role of the most important narrative historian of the First Jewish Revolt.

In 64 CE, Yosef traveled to Rome as part of a delegation seeking the release of Jewish priests held there as........

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