Thats its blessing. But it, also, gives it its danger and its ugliness, too. Because it means that people believe that they must possess it, absolutely. The Palestinianisrael Conflict that we are experiencing today. You have seen it experienced in jerusalem for thousands of years. For the jews, jerusalem is where solomon built the holy temple. For christians, this is a place where jesus was crucified. For muslims, jerusalem is where the Prophet Muhammad made the night journey. People are said to have conquered the world have swept through this city. No other individual changed the landscape, in the way that Herod The Great did. He was determined to take on the christians and throw them out of jerusalem. At a time of ottoman islam rule, the british badly wanted to control the holy land. Against british Government Policy in palestine. We are the only people in the world. For israelis, the creation of the state of israel is seen as a miracle. And, of course, for the palestinians, its a great disaster. The History Of Jerusalem. A very complicated story. And if you dont know it, in its complexity, its very hard to understand whats going on there, today. The past is never dead. And if there is a city in the world, to which that applies, its jerusalem. When youre walking in modern jerusalem, it does not escape you that you are walking in a place where great history has happened. And you see it. You see it, whether youre at the dome of The Rock, the al aqsa mosque. The wall. There is such remarkable history that weve only, you know, read about. Youve got people living on top of people. Stones built on top of stones. Religion, based on top of religion. The first time i went to jerusalem, i thought it was probably one of the most beautiful Places Id been to on earth. But when i was on the ground, and i started to see the tensions between everyone, i felt as though this was a city of contradictions. A city that had much history. But a city that, also, had a lot of sorrow and a lot of pain. Jerusalem, beside its religious significance, it is the center of national explanation of two communities. The israeli community and the palestinian community and that adds another layer of complexity. Its impossible to imagine fixing the present and building a better future for jerusalem, without understanding the many stories of its past. For the earliest periods, our major source of information is the hebrew bible. The old testament. Some of the stories that we have in the bible have been proven by archaeological means. Others are stories that we have to take the narrative, depending on how you believe in your faith tradition. I think, what we have to remember is that the religious assertions are what made jerusalem what it is. For centuries, people who lived in and around jerusalem accepted that as a truth. So when we are reading the biblical stories, yes, we are reading the History Of Jerusalem. And the story of the Holy City begins around 1,000 b. C. In the land of canon. The major kingdoms were the egyptian kingdom to the south. This land in between, that was just a battlefield that the big boys came to duke it out on. Its the land that The Israelites believed that god gave to them as the land that they were to inherit. The problem is, is that there were, already, people in canaan. The canaanites. According to the bible, god commands The Israelites to kill every man, woman, and child there. What we would call, today, genocide. And so, you can see how, in a modern setting, that might be cause for contention between people who might say this wasnt your land, to begin with, in the first place. After conquering the lands of canaan, The Israelites settle into 12 separate tribes. United by their shared belief in an early form of judaism. The 12 tribes were divided. There were huge rivalries and feuds between them. And its during this period, that The Israelite tribes had a lot of conflicts with the philistines who were their neighbors. Philistines were israels arch enemy. And its important to remember that the only history we have of the philistines was written by the people who fought against them. So, the fact that they have become sort of a synonym for being boorish and uncultured is because all of their histories were written by their enemies. But in fact, they were a very sophisticated people. They were expert with sword and shield, technology and fighting. And these guys are conquering all of the cities that theyre coming across. Theyre marching eastward towards the judean highlands. And then, you have got The Israelites spreading out towards the coast. After a series of wars with philistines, including a very bad defeat, The Israelites decide that they want to have a King Rule over them. People are stronger, when theyre united, than when theyre divided. And Ancient Israel realized that, as long as they were separate tribes, they werent going to be very strong. And therefore, they decided to elect a king. And the king they chose was saul. Saul had the advantage of being a Military Man and, also, being very charismatic. But he was insanely paranoid about his position. You know, there had never been a king, before. There wasnt any sort of lineage that he could hang his legitimacy on. And so, he was always terrifies, once he became king, that it was going to be taken away. Shortly after saul is named king, The Israelite and philistine armies meet at the valley of ella. The philistines say, look, you pick a champion. Well pick a champion. The two champions will fight each other. The idea being that, whoever won the oneonone battle, the losing army would serve the winner. And that might be a way of sparing the massive loss of life, on both sides. What The Israelites dont know, at first, is that the philistines have goliath. And goliath is described, sometimes hes 9feet tall. He is this almostmythic hero. He is this supernatural force. If you are The Israelites and you go out onto the battlefield and you see shaq, youre not feeling so good about your chances. Their assumption here is that saul, the king, is going to take the challenge. Saul has absolutely no intention of taking this challenge. Hes just not going to do it. But there is one israelite who has the courage. An Unassuming Shepherd who is about to fight one of the most legendary battles in human history. Washed your hands a Lot Today . Probably like 40 times. Hands feel dry . Like sandpaper. Introducing new dove handwash, with 5 x moisturizer blend. Removes germs in seconds, moisturizes for hours. Soft, smooth. New dove handwash. Discover lash paradise by loreal paris. A caring Formula And Feathersoft brush. For voluptuous volume and intense length. Lash paradise by loreal paris. If youre 55 and up, tmobile has plans built just for you. 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The philistines have sent a man, goliath, out onto the battlefield to challenge any other israelite to battle and because of his size, none of The Israelites were willing to take him up on the offer. So, at this point, david enters the story. David was the youngest of eight sons, and the story goes that david was, basically, a Shepherd Boy who would take his fathers flocks out. Altogether, he is one of historys most fascinating characters. He was a poet. He was a singer. Hes a little guy. Hes not a smooth politician. Hes not an administrator. He is not a schemer. He is the opposite of all of that. He acts on impulse. David took on goliath, according to the story, because goliath was defying god. He was defying the jewish God Of Israel by taunting his armies. So for david, this was more than just a battle. It was, also, symbolic of the power of the God Of Israel. David isnt even in the army. His father tells him to take lunch to his brothers, who are fighting in sauls army. And this is the picture that we get painted of the boy, david, right . This punkylittle kid, whos like nobodys going to talk to my god like that. Right . And everyone else is like calm down, man, you dont know what youre doing. But hes willing to die to protect the honor of god. Goliath doesnt believe his eyes. Hes like, are you mocking me . What is this supposed to be . This is not a contest. Throughout the history of israel, we see this theme of the remnant. That god chooses to do his greatest work, through the leftovers. Through the disadvantaged. And Davids Defeat of goliath was proof to this struggling, desperate people that the god who had established them was, still, with them. It elevated them, as a nation. It allowed them to take pride in who they were, as a people. This young david, when he kills goliath, he gets awarded by King Saul by being appointed as general of the army. And King Saul, also, gave david his daughter to marry so in a way, he brought him very close to himself. But then, King Saul realized, later, that david became too popular. And the source of competition. Hes the equivalent of a socialmedia icon, right . David is the guy that everybodys tweeting about, and and writing songs about. People were going around, and Singing Saul has killed his thousands and david his 10,000s. So, even though Davids Victory over goliath was great and was celebrated, in fact, it made saul feel very insecure. It began to seem to saul that david was a bit of a nightmare who had infiltrated the family and was taking it over. And you got to remember that saul had just been elected king. And when you have an elective king, you can people can always elect another king. And that was his fear. So what we see Saul Doing Is Acting Out of paranoia, Acting Out of jealousy, and Acting Out of fear. Saul becomes so jealous Of David that he tries to have him put to death. He tries to kill him. David manages to escape sauls attacks. But is forced to spend the next two years in exile. With davids absence, the war between israel and the philistines ramped back up, again. Wed see Saul Losing and losing and, finally, saul mounts, you know, one more, desperate battle against the philistines. And it goes so badly, that sauls men are driven back. All three of his sons are killed in front of him. And he sees the philistines coming. He knows that this is it. This is The End. And so, he turns to his Armor Bearer and he bigs to be killed by one of his own. And so, the Armor Bearer does just that. And then, runs back and tells david that saul has died. Instead of celebrating that saul was dead because saul had been trying to kill him for so long, david publicly mourns sauls death. To such an extent, that he has the Armor Bearer killed for killing the king. David knew that, politically, it was important to mourn the death of the king of israel. Now, the entire kingdom recognizes there is only one man to lead them. Ere alone when my husband had the heart attack. Hes the most important thing in my life. Im so lucky to get him back. Your Heart Isnt just yours. Protect it with bayer aspirin. Be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. Lisa here, has had many jobs. And all that experience has led her to a job that feels like home. With home instead, you too can become a caregiver to older adults. Apply today. Washed your hands a Lot Today . Probably like 40 times. Hands feel dry . Like sandpaper. Introducing new dove handwash, with 5 x moisturizer blend. Removes germs in seconds, moisturizes for hours. Soft, smooth. New dove handwash. Customer Hi . burke happy anniversary. customer for what . burke every year youre with us, you get Fifty Dollars toward your home deductible. Its a Policy Perk for being a farmers customer. customer do i have to do anything . burke nothing. Customer Nothing . burke nothing. 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And that united, they are a force to be reckoned with at a time when, in the middle east, virtually all the great powers, such as egypt, are in decline. And thats a time when relatively small power can achieve great conquests. So, how does he maintain the peace . What can david do to prove to the 12 tribes that hes not just going to favor his home tribes . Hes going to choose a capital that will be a compromise. He settles on a Smallmountain Enclave built by canaanites over 2,000 years earlier. Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a particularly unpromising spot to have become as important as it became. It doesnt have a strategic location. Its not even on a waterway, on a river, or anything like that. Jerusalem was chosen as a Capital City because of where it lay. It was right in the middle. Kind of, like, washington, d. C. And the united states. The great thing about jerusalem was it was impregnable. It was a fortifiedstrong point, which made it very attractive. Walled cities were not all that common. So, conquering a previously built Walled City made a whole lot more sense than trying to establish one of his own. When The Israelites had, first, settled the country a couple of centuries earlier, they had not taken jerusalem. Jerusalem had remained in the hands of the native population, which the bible describes as jebusites. And they were holdouts. They were still hanging onto that last little bit of canaan. Today, essentially, again, in a political discourse, whereby some modern palestinians argue that they are their ancestors. Its so important to understand Jerusalems History because many of the modern conflicts are rooted in the past. So, if you can prove that you are descended from the jebusites, then you can say we have the earliest claim to the city, versus The Israelites. But if david wants the city, he will have to take it by force. David says to his troops, if any one of you is able to get in, penetrate the defenses, then i will make you captain of the army. They knew about this Water Shaft that went inside the city of jerusalem. His general, he sneaked up the Water Shaft and then threw open the gates, and they were able to go in and conquer the city. Now, david wants to make sure that everyone understands that jerusalem is not just the political capital of israel. But its the religious capital of his kingdom, as well. And so, what david does is he brings the Arc Of The Covenant to jerusalem. The Arc Of The Covenant is the splendid golden container that holds the scrolls, which contain the laws of moses. And which are carried by The Israelites throughout their wanderings in the desert. It had two cherub who were thought to stand in the presence of god mounted on it and between those was this empty space and the empty space was the presence of god. David has this giant ceremony, and he marches the Arc Of The Covenant up The Hill and into jerusalem. David wants this Big Show to show the people that theyre no longer a nomadic people. The problem with it is before he moved the Arc Of The Covenant to jerusalem, god lived with his people. After he moved it there, god lived at jerusalem. And that just sets up centuries of coming conflict over this physical place. But for now, the united kingdom is thriving. 12 rival tribes have, finally, found peace under King Davids rule. David has worked, all of his life, has trusted god. Hes worked hard. He started off as a simple shepherd. Hes fought all of these battles. And now, hes the king of israel. What a time to let your guard down. At the height of his power, david will make a decision that will jeopardize everything hes built. Discover lash paradise by loreal paris. A caring Formula And Feathersoft brush. For voluptuous volume and intense length. Lash paradise by loreal paris. Washed your hands a Lot Today . Probably like 40 times. Hands feel dry . Like sandpaper. Introducing new dove handwash, with 5 x moisturizer blend. Removes germs in seconds, moisturizes for hours. Soft, smooth. New dove handwash. Someone once told me, that i should get used to people staring. So i did. Its okay, you can stare. When youre a twotime gold medalist, it comes with the territory. King david has brought the 12 Tribes Of Israel peace. And created a new Capital City known as jerusalem. The bible says that, in the time that kings usually go out to war, david stayed behind. Its almost as if that, now that davids finally reached the the position of king, he decides, eh, thats enough. And he lets his guard down. And thats when bathsheba comes into his life. David is out on the roof of his palace, and he looks across and he sees this beautiful woman having a bath. And hes struck by her great beauty. Of course, hes you know, hes being a peeping tom, right . He knows that she is the wife of one of his commanders. But he admires her. He decides he has to have her. I wonder if david could take back any moment in his life, if he wouldnt take back that day that he saw Bathsheba Bathing on the rooftop. We talk a lot about Helen Of Troy but we dont talk about bathsheba in the same way, and maybe we should because her beauty starts a series of events that become very problematic for King Davids reign and all of it is his fault. He shows no acknowledgment of her, as a person. He shows what is, for the time, a very typical view of women as possessions that, if you want it, you take it. I know we want to think, today, of women having complete Agency And Stuff like that but it didnt work like that in the ancient world. Women were dependents. Bathsheba has no right to tell the king no when he calls for her. She has to go because that is the king of israel. And so, we dont get to hear from the narrative what shes feeling and what shes thinking. In the course of what happens with bathsheba, the rape that she endures by King David, she becomes pregnant. David realizes that he has a problem. Because the husband is away at war and so its going to be clear that bathsheba must have had an affair with somebody and, of course, that somebody was david. So what does he do . He calls joab, the commander of his army. And he orders him to send uriah into the battlefield at the front of the Battle Lines and to have everybody else withdraw and leave him vulnerable. And then, all of the Enemy Fire is focused on uriah and, of course, he gets killed in battle. And then, david gets to paint himself as consoling the mourning widow, bathsheba. So, david orders what is, essentially, the murder of her husband in battle. Its this immense, moral failing that is right at the center of the story Of David. And its the beginning of his downfall as king of israel. Despite his best efforts, it isnt long before news Of Davids actions spread across the kingdom. The prophet of israel goes to david and says, if i told you a story about um a rich man who went and stole the sheep of a very poor man. And, um, david says i i would kill that man. And the prophet says, your majesty, its you. You had all of the power, and you went and you took something away from someone who had no power. And you treated, both, this man and his wife with disdain and with lack of reverence. And david is terrified because he knows that god knows that he has not only committed adultery but that hes committed murder. He disregards public outrage, and forces her to marry him. It was not something that set well with lots of people, especially in the court Of David because by marrying, it created a feud on the part of the other wives Of David. If you go back and you read all these biblical stories, youll see that all of these guys had lots of wives. And they all had lots of kids. Ultimately, the significance of the storys that davids personal family, his house, right, is no longer going to have any peace in it. Davids going to be engaged in war in his family relations. Theres always going to be war. Cookies and breyers. Thats like getting two desserts wait. Do we have to thank our moms twice . I dont know. laughs breyers. 100 grade a milk and cream, and loaded with delicious cookie pieces. Better starts with breyers. Im chi lan, i am a mom, and a real estate agent. After having a kid, everything that you used to do for yourself goes out the window. The lines that i was seeing in my forehead were getting deeper than i was used to them being. And i realized, you know, what i can focus again on myself. So, what do you see when you look at yourself . I see someone who is growing and changing, who loves and is loved. Botox® cosmetic is fda approved to temporarily make frown lines, crows feet and forehead lines look better. 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David has to pick a new heir and its really important to remember that, at this point, the tradition of the crown always going from father to eldest son is not that well established. Were talking about a world, in which, until very recently, the strongest guy got the crown. This creates this knot where we dont know who the crown is going to go to. All the mothers of the different sons were, all, arguing for their sons to be made kings. Just as much as kings were making alliances, wives were making alliances, too, in order to make sure that they would be taken care of. But bathsheba was davids favorite wife. And bathsheba used her influence to make sure that david named her son, solomon, as the next king of israel. For david, this is a way of toning to her for what he did. He took her husband away. But now, hes going to make her the queen mother. Her son is going to rule over israel. After 40 years ruling Ancient Israel, King David dies around 970 b. C. And solomon takes his place. If you want to talk about a coldhearted, calculating, manipulative, hardnosed individual, look no farther than solomon. Solomon doesnt have davids charisma. That is one thing that is very, very clear, from all of the accounts. He doesnt have the same ability to make everybody follow him through sheer force of personality. So, you see political shrewdness but unfortunately not a lot of personal integrity in solomon. King solomon was a kid who grew up in the court of power and wealth, who was so consumed with his aura as king that he essentially tried to exploit it to his advantage. And he has to, somehow, make sure that he holds onto power. Instead of doing what david would have done and making people love him, he does what any other ancient dictator would do and he carries out a palace purge. He kills all the princes, all the brothers, all the guards, all the courtiers who served other people. And he brings in his own people. A bit like an american president arriving in office, except with murder added. Solomons ruthlessness is demonstrated in the bible by the story of the two women who, both, claimed the same baby. And solomon smiles and says, fine. Well cut the baby in two. You can share it. And this, of course, instantly produces the real mother because the real mother says, no, no, no, she can keep the baby. She can keep the baby. And that story was held up as great wisdom because solomon knew the mind of a mother. But thats a pretty sadistic thing to do. I think its evidence that he was a ruthless man that just didnt want to deal with petty things. He wanted grandiose things. That is solomons image in history. But his importance is because he does something astonishing in jerusalem. As a king, solomon is always laboring in the shadow of his great father. He doesnt have the same opportunity to distinguish himself as a warrior, nor does he have the inclination but hes got to distinguish himself, in some way. Solomons greatest accomplishment was the construction of the temple in jerusalem. And this was a house for the Arc Of The Covenant. Solomons father, david, had brought the Arc Of The Covenant to jerusalem and planted it, apparently, on a Rockyhigh Point overlooking the city. So, what solomon does, on top of that rocky outcrop, solomon builds a permanent house for the God Of Israel. Temple mount is the place where the first temple, built by solomon, stood. Almost certainly, on top of The Rock that, today, is the Foundation Stone of the dome of The Rock. The Gorgeous Islamic edifice that stands there, today. Probably is the most holy place in western and middle eastern civilization. But at the time the temple is done, it represents israel moving into this place as a prosperous, settled nation. With a king, whose power is acknowledged by all. But it, also, is a falling away from the original idea that god was going to dwell with his people and, therefore, you didnt have to have a physical place for him to be. Solomon spared no expense in building his temple in jerusalem. He brought in the cedars from lebanon, he brought in the best stonecutters. He wanted this to be the most beautiful temple in the region. He is determined to be greater than his father. And one of the greatest flaws in Solomons Personality was that he really believed bigger is better, with all of his heart. To build his extravagant temple, solomon forces his people to work grueling hours without pay. Solomon is a ruthless leader. He rules on the backs of his own people. And anybody who disagrees with him is going to have a problem. People call leaders like this a despot. And so all of this begins to put pressure on the kingdom. When the situation gets this dad, insurrections arent uncommon. You can see people rising up and trying to overthrow the king. Those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks [sighs wearily] here, ill take that woohoo ensure max protein. With thirty grams of protein, one gram of sugar, and now with two new flavors my auntie called me. She said uncles had a heart attack. I needed him to be here. Your Heart Isnt just yours. Protect it with bayer aspirin. Be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. At usaa, weve been called too exclusive. Because we only serve those who honorably served. All ranks, all branches, and their families. Are we still exclusive . Absolutely. And thats exactly why you should join. King solomon has built the great jewish temple in jerusalem. But it comes at the cost of alienating the very people he has sworn to protect. By The End of solomons rule, the people are incredibly unhappy. You have to workforced labor. He also forces you into the military. Youre also being heavily taxed. So its not really a peaceful kingdom. Solomons generals come together to plan an insurrection. But their king is one step ahead. Solomon crushes the rebellion. But the seeds of revolt have been planted. So his reign essentially ended up being a very brutal reign, featuring a lot of revolts as a result of his policies. Finally in 931 b. C. , King Solomon dies. One of the ways you can look at it is that King David was the real deal. Even with all of his faults, he was the king that israel fell in love with. And then his son solomon was the pretender. But he was strong. He was at least strong enough to force these tribes to stay together. And by the time solomon was gone, it all fell apart. And from that point on, the united kingdom is split into two parts. A Northern Kingdom, was known as the Northern Kingdom of israel, and the southern kingdom, which is called judah. And they each have their own monarchic successions, their own kings. Both Judah And Israel will spend the next few centuries at war. When this united kingdom comes apart, it becomes israel and judah. And that would later become S Sumeria and judea. And these are the components that would constitute the West Bank and israel. So when you study the History Of Jerusalem and you appreciate the religious symbolism, then you begin to think about, okay, so then what went wrong . What created this Big Fissure between these communities . The Clash Today over the narrative of jerusalem is largely tied to the Way History gets exploited. Politicians who would like to go back to the story of King David claim that what happened in jewish history is a kind of deed that gives judaism and the jews, for that matter, perpetual ownership of the city of jerusalem. So essentially what you see is biblical history not as history, but as political propaganda. Jerusalem wasnt supposed to be all about politics. But we see over and over again in the History Of Jerusalem, we see the rise of kings who may pay Lip Service to the ideal under which the country was founded, but succumb to the temptation to preserve their own power. Power corrupts. And absolute Power Corrupts absolutely. Weve heard this expression. And nowhere does it apply more than to jerusalem. Jerusalem was made into the city that it is today because of stories like david, like solomon. Not the natural resources, not the gold, not the oil. Its the History Of Jerusalem that makes it the center of the world. After solomons rule, jerusalem remains in a state of chaos for centuries. But that will all change when a Towering Republic arrives on the shores of palestine with one clear goal to conquer the entire world. I have one seat in first class and one in coach. Oh. Well uh ill take the first class. Class has always played a role in the history of sitcoms. Bon voyage, lady. Class is fascinating to us as a culture. I never check my bags. I cant stand to wait in the baggage area. Its good to laugh at it, to get it all out on the table. Youre going to have to go back to your seat. You know, our goal should be a society without classes if we didnt laugh about social class in the united states, we would engage in class warfare. You realize