who is the surfer who lost her arm

Bethany Meilani Hamilton-Dirks (born February 8, 1990) is an American professional surfer who survived a 2003 shark attack in which her left arm was bitten off but who ultimately returned to—and was victorious in—professional surfing. She wrote about her experience in the 2004 autobiography Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board. In April 2011, the feature film Soul Surfer was released.

Bethany Hamilton

On October 31, 2003, Hamilton, aged 13 at the time, went for a morning surf along Tunnels Beach, Kauai, with best friend Alana Blanchard, Alana's father, Holt, and brother Byron. Around 7:30 a.m., with numerous turtles in the area, she was lying on her surfboard with her left arm dangling in the water, when a 14-foot-long (4.3 m) tiger shark attacked her,[3] severing her left arm just below the shoulder. The Blanchards helped paddle her back to shore, then Alana's father fashioned a tourniquet out of a surfboard leash and wrapped it around the stump of her arm. She was rushed to Wilcox Memorial Hospital. By the time she arrived there she had lost over 60% of her blood and was in hypovolemic shock. A doctor living in a hotel nearby raced to the rescue. Her father, who was scheduled to have knee surgery that morning, was already there, but she took his place in the operating room. She spent a week in recovery before being released. During subsequent media interviews, she confirmed that she felt normal when she was bitten and did not feel much pain from the bite at the moment of the disaster, but felt numb on the way to the hospital.

When the news broke out of the shark attack, a family of fishermen led by Ralph Young presented to investigators photos of a 14-foot-long (4.3Â m) tiger shark they had caught and killed about one mile from the attack site. It had surfboard debris in its mouth. When measurements of its mouth were compared with those of Hamilton's broken board, it matched. In late 2004, the police officially confirmed that it was the one that attacked her.

Despite the trauma of the incident, Hamilton was determined to return to surfing.[4] One month after the attack, she returned to her board.[5]

Initially, she adopted a custom-made board that was longer and slightly thicker than standard and had a handle for her right arm, making it easier to paddle, and she learned to kick more to make up for the loss of her left arm. After teaching herself to surf with one arm, on January 10, 2004, she entered a major competition. She now uses standard competitive performance short-boards.[6] The shark-bitten surfboard that Hamilton was riding during the attack, as well as the bathing suit she was wearing at the time, a gift from ocean photographer Aaron Chang, are on display at the California Surf Museum in Oceanside, California.[7][8]

Since the attack, she has appeared as a guest on numerous television shows. Her manager, Roy "Dutch" Hofstetter, who went on to produce the film Soul Surfer, managed her rise through the media from shark attack victim to inspirational role model. The television shows she has appeared on include The Biggest Loser, 20/20, Good Morning America, Inside Edition, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Today Show, and The Tonight Show, as well as in magazines People, Time, and American Girl. Additionally, she was the cover story in the premier issue of niNe magazine.[9]

In 2004, she won the ESPY Award for Best Comeback Athlete[10] and also received the Courage Teen Choice Award.[11]

In 2004, MTV Books published Hamilton's book, Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board (ISBNÂ 0-7434-9922-0), which describes her ordeal. Her story is also told in the 2007 short subject documentary film Heart of a Soul Surfer, directed by Becky Baumgartner. Described as a "faith-based documentary," the film addresses her devout Christianity and the courage and faith in Jesus Christ in the aftermath of the shark attack, and follows her quest for spiritual meaning.[12][13]

On August 7, 2009, she was a contestant on Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? and won $25,000. On May 16, 2010, she appeared on an episode of ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. In March 2011, Hamilton appeared in a video for the Christian organization I Am Second, telling of her struggle after the shark attack and how she trusted in God to get her through it.

On April 8, 2011, a feature film Soul Surfer, based on her 2004 book, was released in theaters. Hamilton was portrayed by actress AnnaSophia Robb. Hamilton herself performed all the one-armed surfing stunts in it.[14] The movie was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 2, 2011.

On October 11, 2011, she appeared on the TLC series 19 Kids and Counting, in the episode titled "Duggars Under the Sea," when the Duggar family visited her, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Hamilton plays herself in the film Dolphin Tale 2, which revolves around the baby dolphin Hope's story. Filming began in Clearwater, Florida, on October 7, 2013. It was released on September 12, 2014.[15] Hamilton and her husband, Adam Dirks, competed as a team on the 25th season of The Amazing Race, finishing in third place. Filmed in June 2014, it premiered on September 26 on CBS.[16]

Hamilton was home-schooled from 6th grade and went back to school for high school. Bethany is a Christian.[4] She is the youngest of three siblings.[17] In early 2012, Hamilton met youth minister[18] Adam Dirks through mutual friends.[19] They became engaged in April 2013.[20][21] The couple were married on August 18, 2013, in front of 300 friends and family members at a secluded 130-acre estate on Kauai's north shore, near where she grew up.[22][23] In June 2015, Hamilton gave birth to a son.[24] In October 2017, Hamilton and Dirks announced that they were expecting their second child.[25]


where were the hebrews moved after the fall of judah in 597 b.c.e

The Assyrian Empire was overthrown in 612 BCE by the Medes and the Neo-Babylonian Empire. In 586 BCE King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon conquered Judah. According to the Hebrew Bible, he destroyed Solomon's Temple and exiled the Jews to Babylon. The defeat was also recorded by the Babylonians in the Babylonian Chronicles.[34][35] The exile of Jews may have been restricted to the elite.

History of the Jews and Judaism in the Land of Israel

The Jewish people originated in the land of Israel, and have maintained physical, cultural, and religious ties to it ever since. Although they had first emerged centuries earlier as an outgrowth of southern Canaanites,[1][2][3][4] and the Jewish Bible claims that a Jewish monarchy existed starting in the 10th century BCE, the first appearance of the name "Israel" in the secular (non-Biblical) historic record is the Egyptian Merneptah Stele, circa 1200 BCE. During the Biblical period, two kingdoms occupied the highland zone, the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) in the north, and the Kingdom of Judah in the south. The Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire (circa 722 BCE), and the Kingdom of Judah by the Neo-Babylonian Empire (586 BCE). Upon the defeat of the Babylonian Empire by the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great (538 BCE), the Jewish elite returned to Jerusalem, and the Second Temple was built.

In 332 BCE the Macedonian Greeks under Alexander the Great conquered Israel, starting a long religious struggle that split the Jewish population into traditional (orthodox) and Hellenized components.

In 165 BCE, after the religion-driven Maccabean Revolt, the independent orthodox Hasmonean Kingdom was established. In 64 BCE the Romans conquered Israel, turning it into a Roman province. Although coming under the sway of various empires and home to a variety of ethnicities, the area of ancient Israel was predominantly Jewish until the Jewish–Roman wars of 66–136 CE, during which the Romans expelled most of the Jews from the area and replaced it with the Roman province of Palaestina, beginning the Jewish Diaspora. After this time, Jews became a minority in most regions, except Galilee, and the area became increasingly Christian after the 3rd century, though the percentages of Christians and Jews are unknown, the former perhaps coming to predominate in urban areas, the latter remaining in rural areas[5] Jewish settlements declined from over 160 to 50 by the time of the Muslim conquest. Michael Avi-Yonah calculated that Jews constituted 10–15% of Palestine's population by the time of the Persian invasion of 614,[6] while Moshe Gil claims that Jews constituted the majority of the population until the 7th century Muslim conquest (638 CE).[7]

In 1099 the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem and nearby coastal areas, losing and recapturing it for almost 200 years until their final ouster from Acre in 1291. In 1517 the Ottoman Empire conquered it, ruling it until the British conquered it in 1917, and ruled it under the British Mandate until 1948, when the Jewish State of Israel was proclaimed, which was made possible by the Zionist movement and its promotion of mass Jewish immigration.

The term "Jews" originates from the Biblical Hebrew word Yehudi, and in its original meaning refers to the people of the Tribe of Judah or the people of the Kingdom of Judah. The name of both the tribe and kingdom derive from Judah, the fourth son of Jacob.[8] Originally, the Hebrew term Yehudi referred only to members of the tribe of Judah. Later, after the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), the term "Yehudi" was applied to anyone from the Kingdom of Judah, including the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi, as well as scattered settlements from other tribes.[9]

The land of Israel, which is considered by Jews to be the promised land, was the place where Jewish identity was formed,[10][need quotation to verify] although this identity was formed gradually reaching much of its current form in the Exilic and post-Exilic period. By the Hellenistic period (after 332 BCE) the Jews had become a self-consciously separate community based in Jerusalem.

The name Israel first appears in the stele of the Egyptian pharaoh Merneptah c. 1209 BC, "Israel is laid waste and his seed is not."[11] This "Israel" was a cultural and probably political entity of the central highlands, well enough established to be perceived by the Egyptians as a possible challenge to their hegemony, but an ethnic group rather than an organized state.[12] Ancestors of the Israelites may have included Semites who occupied Canaan and the Sea Peoples.[13] According to modern archaeologists, sometime during Iron Age I a population began to identify itself as 'Israelite', differentiating itself from the Canaanites through such markers as the prohibition of intermarriage, an emphasis on family history and genealogy, and religion.[14]

Villages had populations of up to 300 or 400,[15][16] which lived by farming and herding, and were largely self-sufficient;[17] economic interchange was prevalent.[18] Writing was known and available for recording, even in small sites.[19] The archaeological evidence indicates a society of village-like centres, but with more limited resources and a small population.[20]

The archaeological record indicates that the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah emerged in the Early Iron Age (Iron Age I, 1200–1000 BCE) from the Canaanite city-state culture of the Late Bronze Age, at the same time and in the same circumstances as the neighbouring states of Edom, Moab, Aram, and the Philistinian and Phoenician city-states.[21] The oldest Hebrew text ever found was discovered at the ancient Israelite settlement, Elah Fortress,[22] which dates to between 1050 and 970 BCE.[23]

The Bible states that David founded a dynasty of kings and that his son Solomon built a Temple. Possible references to the House of David have been found at two sites, the Tel Dan Stele and the Mesha Stele.[24] Yigael Yadin's excavations at Hazor, Megiddo, Beit Shean and Gezer uncovered structures that he and others have argued date from Solomon's reign,[25] but others, such as Israel Finkelstein and Neil Silberman (who agree that Solomon was a historical king), argue that they should be dated to the Omride period, more than a century after Solomon.[26]

By around 930 BCE, Judaism was divided into a southern Kingdom of Judah and a northern Kingdom of Israel. By the middle of the 9th century BCE, it is possible that an alliance between Ahab of Israel and Ben Hadad II of Damascus managed to repulse the incursions of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III, with a victory at the Battle of Qarqar (854 BCE).[27] The Tel Dan stele tells of the death of a king of Israel, probably Jehoram, at the hands of an Aramean king (c. 841).[28]

From the middle of the 8th century BCE Israel came into increasing conflict with the expanding neo-Assyrian empire. Under Tiglath-Pileser III it first split Israel's territory into several smaller units and then destroyed its capital, Samaria (722 BCE). Both the biblical and Assyrian sources speak of a massive deportation of the people of Israel and their replacement with an equally large number of forced settlers from other parts of the empire â€“ such population exchanges were an established part of Assyrian imperial policy, a means of breaking the old power structure - and the former Israel never again became an independent political entity.[29] This deportation gave rise to the notion of the Lost Tribes of Israel. The Samaritan people claim to be descended from survivors of the Assyrian conquest.

The recovered seal of the Ahaz, king of Judah, (c. 732–716 BCE) identifies him as King of Judah.[30] The Assyrian king Sennacherib, tried and failed to conquer Judah. Assyrian records say he leveled 46 walled cities and besieged Jerusalem, leaving after receiving tribute.[31] During the reign of Hezekiah (c. 716–687 BCE) a notable increase in the power of the Judean state is reflected by archaeological sites and findings such as the Broad Wall and the Siloam Tunnel in Jerusalem.[32]

Judah prospered in the 7th century BCE, probably in a cooperative arrangement with the Assyrians to establish Judah as an Assyrian vassal (despite a disastrous rebellion against the Assyrian king Sennacherib). However, in the last half of the 7th century Assyria suddenly collapsed, and the ensuing competition between the Egyptian and Neo-Babylonian empires for control of Palestine led to the destruction of Judah in a series of campaigns between 597 and 582.[33]

Babylonian Judah suffered a steep decline in both economy and population[36] and lost the Negev, the Shephelah, and part of the Judean hill country, including Hebron, to encroachments from Edom and other neighbours.[37] Jerusalem, while probably not totally abandoned, was much smaller than previously, and the town of Mizpah in Benjamin in the relatively unscathed northern section of the kingdom became the capital of the new Babylonian province of Yehud Medinata.[38] (This was standard Babylonian practice: when the Philistine city of Ashkalon was conquered in 604, the political, religious and economic elite (but not the bulk of the population) was banished and the administrative centre shifted to a new location).[39] There is also a strong probability that for most or all of the period the temple at Bethel in Benjamin replaced that at Jerusalem, boosting the prestige of Bethel's priests (the Aaronites) against those of Jerusalem (the Zadokites), now in exile in Babylon.[40]

The Babylonian conquest entailed not just the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, but the ruination of the entire infrastructure which had sustained Judah for centuries.[41] The most significant casualty was the state ideology of "Zion theology,"[42] the idea that Yahweh, God of Israel, had chosen Jerusalem for his dwelling-place and that the Davidic dynasty would reign there forever.[43] The fall of the city and the end of Davidic kingship forced the leaders of the exile community – kings, priests, scribes and prophets – to reformulate the concepts of community, faith and politics.[44] The exile community in Babylon thus became the source of significant portions of the Hebrew Bible: Isaiah 40–55, Ezekiel, the final version of Jeremiah, the work of the Priestly source in the Pentateuch, and the final form of the history of Israel from Deuteronomy to 2 Kings[45] Theologically, they were responsible for the doctrines of individual responsibility and universalism (the concept that one god controls the entire world), and for the increased emphasis on purity and holiness.[45] Most significantly, the trauma of the exile experience led to the development of a strong sense of identity as a people distinct from other peoples,[46] and increased emphasis on symbols such as circumcision and Sabbath-observance to maintain that separation.[47]

In 538 BCE, Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon and took over its empire. Judah remained a province of the Persian empire until 332 BCE. According to the biblical history, Cyrus issued a proclamation granting subjugated nations their freedom. Jewish exiles in Babylon, including 50,000 Judeans, led by Zerubabel returned to Judah to rebuild the temple, a task which they are said to have completed c. 515.[48] A second group of 5,000, led by Ezra and Nehemiah, returned to Judah in 456 BCE although non-Jews wrote to Cyrus to try to prevent their return. Yet it was probably only in the middle of the next century, at the earliest, that Jerusalem again became the capital of Judah.[49] The Persians may have experimented initially with ruling Judah as a Dividic client-kingdom under descendants of Jehoiachin,[50] but by the midâ€“5th century BCE Judah had become in practice a theocracy, ruled by hereditary High Priests[51] and a Persian-appointed governor, frequently Jewish, charged with keeping order and seeing that tribute was paid.[52] According to the biblical history, Ezra and Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem in the middle of the 5th century BCE, the first empowered by the Persian king to enforce the Torah, the second with the status of governor and a royal mission to restore the walls of the city.[53] The biblical history mentions tension between the returnees and those who had remained in Judah, the former rebuffing the attempt of the "peoples of the land" to participate in the rebuilding of the Temple; this attitude was based partly on the exclusivism which the exiles had developed while in Babylon and, probably, partly on disputes over property.[54] The careers of Ezra and Nehemiah in the 5th century BCE were thus a kind of religious colonisation in reverse, an attempt by one of the many Jewish factions in Babylon to create a self-segregated, ritually pure society inspired by the prophesies of Ezekiel and his followers.[55]

In 332 BCE the Persians were defeated by Alexander the Great. After his death in 322 BCE, his generals divided the empire between them and Judea became the frontier between the Seleucid Empire and Ptolemaic Egypt, but in 198 Judea was incorporated into the Seleucid Kingdom.

At first, relations between the Seleucids and the Jews were cordial, but later on as the relations between the hellenized Jews and the religious Jews deteriorated, the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes (174–163) attempted to impose decrees banning certain Jewish religious rites and traditions.[clarification needed] Consequently, this sparked a national rebellion led by Judas Maccabeus. The Maccabean Revolt (174–135 BCE), whose victory is celebrated in the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, is retold in the Books of the Maccabees. A Jewish group called the Hasideans opposed both Seleucid Hellenism and the revolt, but eventually gave their support to the Maccabees. The Jews prevailed with the expulsion of the Syrians and the establishment of an independent Jewish kingdom under the Hasmonean dynasty.

The Maccabean Revolt led to a twenty-five-year period of Jewish independence due to the steady collapse of the Seleucid Empire under attacks from the rising powers of the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire. The Hasmonean dynasty of priest-kings ruled Judea with the Pharisees, Saducees and Essenes as the principal social movements. As part of their struggle against Hellenistic civilization, the Pharisees established what may have been the world's first national male (religious) education and literacy program, based around synagogues.[56] Justice was administered by the Sanhedrin, whose leader was known as the Nasi. The Nasi's religious authority gradually superseded that of the Temple's high priest (under the Hasmoneans this was the king). In 125 BCE the Hasmonean King John Hyrcanus subjugated Edom and forcibly converted the population to Judaism.[57]

The same power vacuum that enabled the Jewish state to be recognized by the Roman Senate c.Â 139 BCE after the demise of the Seleucid Empire was next exploited by the Romans themselves. Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II, Simon's great-grandsons, became pawns in a proxy war between Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great that ended with the kingdom under the supervision of the Roman governor of Syria (64 BCE).

64 BCE
Rome conquers Judea and
Jerusalem
40–37
Antigonus the Hasmonean
rules as King of Judea
37
Herod the Great made ruler
of Judea
19
Herod's Temple completed
4 BCE
Tetrarchy of Judea formed
6 CE
Iudaea province formed
20
Tiberias founded
66–73
First Jewish–Roman War

115–117
Kitos War
130
Temple of Jupiter built upon
Temple Mount
132
Judea merged into Syria Palaestina
132–136
Bar-Kochba revolt, Ten Martyrs
executed
c. 200
Mishnah completed

In 63 BCE the Roman general Pompey sacked Jerusalem and made the Jewish kingdom a client of Rome. The situation was not to last, as the deaths of Pompey in 48 BCE and Caesar in 44 BCE, together with the related Roman civil wars, relaxed Rome's grip on Judea. This resulted in the Parthian Empire and their Jewish ally Antigonus the Hasmonean defeating the pro-Roman Jewish forces (high priest Hyrcanus II, Phasael and Herod the Great) in 40 BCE. They invaded the Roman eastern provinces and managed to expel the Romans. Antigonus was made King of Judea. Herod fled to Rome, where he was elected "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate and was given the task of retaking Judea. In 37 BCE, with Roman support, Herod reclaimed Judea, and the short-lived reemergence of the Hasmonean dynasty came to an end. From 37 BCE to 6 CE, the Herodian dynasty, Jewish-Roman client kings, ruled Judea. In 20 BCE, Herod began a refurbishment and expansion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. His son, Herod Antipas, founded the Jewish city of Tiberias in the Galilee.

Judea under Roman rule was at first a client kingdom, but gradually the rule over Judea became less and less Jewish, until it became under the direct rule of Roman administration from Caesarea Maritima, which was often callous and brutal in its treatment of its Judean, Galilean, and Samaritan subjects. In this period Rabbinical Judaism, led by Hillel the Elder, began to assume popular prominence over the Temple priesthood.

In 66 CE, the Jews of Judea rose in revolt against Rome, naming their new kingdom "Israel"[58] (see also First Jewish Revolt coinage). The events were described by the Jewish historian Josephus, including the desperate defence of Jotapata, the siege of Jerusalem (69–70 CE) and heroic last stand at Gamla where 9,000 died and Massada (72–73 CE) where they killed themselves rather than fall into the hand of their enemies.

The revolt was crushed by the Roman emperors Vespasian and Titus. The Romans destroyed much of the Temple in Jerusalem and took as punitive tribute the Menorah and other Temple artefacts back to Rome. Josephus writes that 1,100,000 Jews perished during the revolt, while a further 97,000 were taken captive. The Fiscus Judaicus was instituted by the Empire as part of reparations.

It was during this period that the split of early Christianity and Judaism occurred. The Pharisee movement, led by Yochanan ben Zakai, made peace with Rome and survived. Judeans continued to live in their land in significant numbers, and were allowed to practice their religion. An estimated 2/3 of the population in the Galilee and 1/3 of the coastal region were Jewish.[59]

The 2nd century saw two further Jewish revolts against the Roman rule. The Kitos War (115–117) was followed by the more fierce Bar-Kochba revolt (132–136) led by Simon Bar Kokhba. Judea was ravaged while Julius Severus and Emperor Hadrian crushed the rebellion. According to Cassius Dio, 580,000 Jews were killed, and 50 fortified towns and 985 villages razed.[60][61]

In 131, Emperor Hadrian renamed Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina and constructed a Temple of Jupiter on the site of the former Jewish temple. Jews were banned from Jerusalem and Roman Judaea was renamed Syria Palaestina, from which derived "Palestine" in English and "Filistin" in Arabic.[62][need quotation to verify]

After suppressing the Bar Kochba revolt, the Romans permitted a hereditary rabbinical patriarch from the House of Hillel to represent the Jews in dealings with the Romans. The most famous of these was Judah the Prince. Jewish seminaries continued to produce scholars, of whom the most astute became members of the Sanhedrin.[63] The remaining Jewish population was now centred in the Galilee. In this era, according to a popular theory, the Council of Jamnia developed the Jewish Bible canon which decided which books of the Hebrew Bible were to be included, the Jewish apocrypha being left out.[64] It was also the time when the tannaim and amoraim were active in debating and recording the Jewish Oral Law. Their discussions and religious instructions were compiled in the form of the Mishnah by Judah the Prince around 200 CE. Various other compilations, including the Beraita and Tosefta, also come from this period. These texts were the foundation of the Jerusalem Talmud, which was redacted in around 400 CE,[citation needed] probably in Tiberias.

Continued persecution and the economic crisis that affected the Roman empire in the 3rd-century led to further Jewish migration from Palestine to the more tolerant Persian Sassanid Empire, where a prosperous Jewish community existed in the area of Babylon.

351–352
Jewish revolt against Gallus,
Jewish communities and academies
in disarray
358
Hillel II institutes Hebrew calendar
361–363
Rebuilding of Temple attempted
under Julian
425
Gamliel VI, last Prince of the
Sanhedrin, dies
429
Jewish Patriarchate abolished by
Theodosius II
438
Eudocia allows Jewish prayer
on Temple Mount
450
Redaction of Jerusalem Talmud
614–617
Jews gain autonomy in Jerusalem
under Persian rule
625
Liturgical poet Yanai flourishes

Early in the 4th century, Roman Empire split and Constantinople became the capital of the East Roman Empire known as the Byzantine Empire. Under the Byzantines, Christianity, dominated by the (Greek) Orthodox Church, was adopted as the official religion. Jerusalem became a Christian city and Jews were still banned from living there.

In 351â€“2, there was another Jewish revolt against a corrupt Roman governor.[65] The Jewish population in Sepphoris rebelled under the leadership of Patricius against the rule of Constantius Gallus. The revolt was eventually subdued by Ursicinus.

According to tradition, in 359 CE Hillel II created the Hebrew calendar based on the lunar year. Until then, The entire Jewish community outside the land of Israel depended on the calendar sanctioned by the Sanhedrin; this was necessary for the proper observance of the Jewish holy days. However, danger threatened the participants in that sanction and the messengers who communicated their decisions to distant congregations. As the religious persecutions continued, Hillel determined to provide an authorized calendar for all time to come.

During his short reign, Emperor Julian (361â€“363) abolished the special taxes paid by the Jews to the Roman government and also sought to ease the burden of mandatory Jewish financial support of the Jewish patriarchate.[66] He also gave permission for the Jews to rebuild and populate Jerusalem.[67] In one of his most remarkable endeavours, he initiated the restoration of the Jewish Temple which had been demolished in 70 CE. A contingent of thousands of Jews from Persian districts hoping to assist in the construction effort were killed en route by Persian soldiers.[68] The great earthquake together with Julian's death put an end to Jewish hopes of rebuilding the Third Temple.[69] Had the attempt been successful, it is likely that the re-establishment of the Jewish state with its sacrifices, priests and Sanhedrin or Senate would have occurred.[66]

Jews probably constituted the majority of the population of Palestine until the 4th-century, when Constantine converted to Christianity.[70]

Jews lived in at least forty-three Jewish communities in Palestine: twelve towns on the coast, in the Negev, and east of the Jordan, and thirty-one villages in Galilee and in the Jordan valley. The persecuted Jews of Palestine revolted twice against their Christian rulers. In the 5th century, the Western Roman Empire collapsed leading to Christian migration into Palestine and development of a Christian majority. Jews numbered 10â€“15% of the population. Judaism was the only non-Christian religion tolerated, but there were bans on Jews building new places of worship, holding public office or owning slaves. There were also two Samaritan revolts during this period.[71]

In 438, The Empress Eudocia removed the ban on Jews' praying at the Temple site and the heads of the Community in Galilee issued a call "to the great and mighty people of the Jews": "Know that the end of the exile of our people has come"!

In about 450, the Jerusalem Talmud was completed.[citation needed]

According to Procopius, in 533 Byzantine general Belisarius took the treasures of the Jewish temple from Vandals who had taken them from Rome.

In 611, Sassanid Persia invaded the Byzantine Empire. In 613, a Jewish revolt against the Byzantine Empire joined forces with these Persian invaders to capture Jerusalem in 614. The great majority of Christians in Jerusalem were subsequently deported to Persia.[72] The Jews gained autonomy in Jerusalem, until in 617 when the Persians betrayed agreements and withdrew their forces from the region. With return of the Byzantines in 628, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius promised to restore Jewish rights and received Jewish help in ousting the Persians with the aid of Jewish leader Benjamin of Tiberias. Heraclius later reneged on the agreement after reconquering Palestine by issuing an edict banning Judaism from the Byzantine Empire and thousands of Jewish refugees fled to Egypt, following Byzantine and Ghassanid perpetrated massacres across the Galilee and Jerusalem. (Egyptian) Coptic Christians took responsibility for this broken pledge and still fast in penance.[73]

638
Umar allows Jews back
into Jerusalem
691–705
Islamization of the Temple Mount
720
Jews permanently excluded
from ascending Temple Mount
c. 750
Palestinian Gaonate based in
Tiberias
c. 850
Seat of the Gaonate
transferred to Jerusalem
875
Mourners of Zion reside in
Jerusalem
921
Controversy erupts regarding
calendrical calculations of
Aaron ben Meïr
960
Masorete Aaron ben Asher
dies in Tiberias
1071
Gaonate exiled to Tyre

In 638 CE, the Byzantine Empire lost the Levant to the Arab Islamic Empire. According to Moshe Gil, at the time of the Arab conquest in the 7th century, the majority of the population was Jewish or Samaritan.[7] According to one estimate, the Jews of Palestine numbered between 300,000 and 400,000 at the time.[74] After the conquest, Arabs gradually became the majority population of the land, with Arab culture, language, and the religion of Islam dominating.[75] The Muslims continued to ban the building of new synagogues.[76] Until the Crusades took Palestine in 1099, various Muslim dynasties controlled Palestine. It was first ruled by the Medinah-based Rashidun Caliphs, then by the Damascus-based Umayyad Caliphate and after by the Baghdad-based Abbasid Caliphs.

In succeeding centuries a common view is that Christians and Muslims were equally divided. The conversion of the Christians to Islam -Gil maintaining they were a majority- is generally thought to have occurred on a large scale only after the Crusades, in the wake of Saladin's conquest, and as a result of disaffection for the Latins.[77][78]

Historical sources mentions the settlement of Arab tribes and the establishment of new settlements in the 7th century, although little archaeological records have been preserved.[79] However some Arabian settlements like Khirbet Suwwwana, located on outskirts of Jerusalem provides archaeological records of Islamic nomadic settlement and sedentarization among local population. The establishment of new Arab settlements during 7th and 8th century was relatively rare. The religious transformation of the land is evident with large congregation style mosques built in cities like Tiberias, Jarash, Beth Shean, Jerusalem and possibly Cesarea. However the establishment of these mosques point to the influx of Muslim newcomers, rather than to conversion of Jews and Christians to Islam.[80] The settlement map of the land changed dramatically between 6th and 11th century. The sixth century map revealed an urban and rural society at its height, while the 11th century map shows a society that was economically and phiscally stagnant veering toward total collapse.[81]

After the conquest, Jewish communities began to grow and flourish. Umar allowed and encouraged Jews to settle in Jerusalem. It was first time, after almost 500 years of oppressive Christian rule, that Jews were allowed to enter and worship freely in their holy city.[82] Seventy Jewish families from Tiberias moved to Jerusalem in order to help strengthen the Jewish community there.[83] But with the construction of the Dome of the Rock in 691 and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 705, the Muslims established the Temple Mount as an Islamic holy site. The dome enshrined the Foundation Stone, the holiest site for Jews. Before Omar Abd al-Aziz died in 720, he banned the Jews from worshipping on the Temple Mount,[84] a policy which remained in place for over the next 1,000 years of Islamic rule.[85] In around 875, Karaite leader Daniel al-Kumisi arrived in Jerusalem and established an ascetic community of Mourners of Zion.[86] Michael the Syrian notes thirty synagogues which were destroyed in Tiberias by the earthquake of 749.[87]

In the mid-8th-century, taking advantage of the warring Islamic factions in Palestine, a false messiah named Abu Isa Obadiah of Isfahan inspired and organised a group of 10,000 armed Jews who hoped to restore the Holy Land to the Jewish nation. Soon after, when Al-Mansur came to power, Abu Isa joined forces with a Persian chieftain who was also conducting a rebellion against the caliph. The rebellion was subdued by the caliph and Abu Isa fell in battle in 755.[88]

In 1039, part of the synagogue in Ramla was still in ruins, probably resulting from the earthquake of 1033.[89] Jews also returned to Rafah and documents from 1015 and 1080 attest to a significant community there.[90]

A large Jewish community existed in Ramle and smaller communities inhabited Hebron and the coastal cities of Acre, Caesarea, Jaffa, Ashkelon and Gaza.[citation needed] Al-Muqaddasi (985) wrote that "for the most part the assayers of corn, dyers, bankers, and tanners are Jews."[91] Under the Islamic rule, the rights of Jews and Christians were curtailed and residence was permitted upon payment of the special tax.

Between the 7th and 11th centuries, Masoretes (Jewish scribes) in the Galilee and Jerusalem were active in compiling a system of pronunciation and grammatical guides of the Hebrew language. They authorised the division of the Jewish Tanakh, known as the Masoretic Text, which is regarded as authoritative till today.[92]

According to Gilbert, from 1099 to 1291 the Christian Crusaders "mercilessly persecuted and slaughtered the Jews of Palestine."[93]

In 1099, the Jews were among the rest of the population who tried in vain to defend Jerusalem against the Crusaders. When the city fell, a massacre of 6,000 Jews occurred when the synagogue they were seeking refuge in was set alight. Almost all perished.[94] In Haifa, the Jews and Muslims held out for a whole month, (Juneâ€“July 1099).[95]

Under Crusader rule, Jews were not allowed to hold land and involved themselves in commerce in the coastal towns during times of quiescence. Most of them were artisans: glassblowers in Sidon, furriers and dyers in Jerusalem.[citation needed] At this time there were Jewish communities scattered all over the country, including Jerusalem, Tiberias, Ramleh, Ashkelon, Caesarea, and Gaza. In line with trail of bloodshed the Crusaders left in Europe on their way to liberate the Holyland, in Palestine, both Muslims and Jews were indiscriminately massacred or sold into slavery.[96]

A large volume of piyutim and midrashim originated in Palestine at this time.[citation needed] In 1165 Maimonides visited Jerusalem and prayed on the Temple Mount, in the "great, holy house".[97] In 1141 Spanish poet, Yehuda Halevi, issued a call to the Jews to emigrate to the Land of Israel, a journey he undertook himself.

In the crusading era, there were significant Jewish communities in several cities and Jews are known to have fought alongside Arabs against the Christian invaders.[98]

1191
Jews of Ascalon arrive in Jerusalem
1198
Maghreb Jews arrive in Jerusalem
1204
Maimonides buried in Tiberias
1209-1211
Immigration of 300 French and
English rabbis
1217
Judah al-Harizi bemoans state
of the Temple Mount
1260
Yechiel of Paris establishes
talmudical academy in Acre
1266
Jews banned from entering the
Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron
1267
Nachmanides arrives in Jerusalem,
Ramban synagogue established
1286
Meir of Rothenburg incarcerated
after attempting to emigrate
to Mamluk Palestine
1355
Physician and geographer
Ishtori Haparchi dies in Bet She'an

1428
Jews attempt to purchase Tomb
of David, Pope prevents ships
carrying Jews to Mamluk Palestine
1434
Elijah of Ferrara settles in Jerusalem
1441
Famine forces Jerusalem Jews to
send emissary to Europe
1455
Failed large scale immigration
attempt from Sicily
1474
Great Synagogue of Jerusalem
demolished by Arab mob
1488
Obadiah ben Abraham begins
revival of Jerusalem
1507
Joseph Saragossi dies in
Safed

The Crusader rule over Palestine had taken its toll on the Jews. Relief came in 1187 when Ayyubid Sultan Saladin defeated the Crusaders in the Battle of Hattin, taking Jerusalem and most of Palestine. (A Crusader state centred round Acre survived in weakened form for another century.) In time, Saladin issued a proclamation inviting all Jews to return and settle in Jerusalem,[99] and according to Judah al-Harizi, they did: "From the day the Arabs took Jerusalem, the Israelites inhabited it."[100] al-Harizi compared Saladins decree allowing Jews to re-establish themselves in Jerusalem to the one issued by the Persian Cyrus the Great over 1,600 years earlier.[101]

In 1211, the Jewish community in the country was strengthened by the arrival of a group headed by over 300 rabbis from France and England,[102] among them Rabbi Samson ben Abraham of Sens.[103] The motivation of European Jews to emigrate to the Holyland in the 13th-century possibly lay in persecution,[104] economic hardship, messianic expectations or the desire to fulfill the commandments specific to the land of Israel.[105] In 1217, Spanish pilgrim Judah al-Harizi found the sight of the non-Jewish structures on the Temple Mount profoundly disturbing: "What torment to see our holy courts converted into an alien temple!" he wrote.[106] Nachmanides, the 13th-century Spanish rabbi and recognised leader of Jewry greatly praised the land of Israel and viewed its settlement as a positive commandment incumbent on all Jews. He wrote "If the gentiles wish to make peace, we shall make peace and leave them on clear terms; but as for the land, we shall not leave it in their hands, nor in the hands of any nation, not in any generation."[107] In 1267 he arrived in Jerusalem and found only two Jewish inhabitants — brothers, dyers by trade. Wishing to re-establish a strong Jewish presence in the holy city, he brought a Torah scroll from Nablus and founded a synagogue. Nahmanides later settled at Acre, where he headed a yeshiva together with Yechiel of Paris who had emigrated to Acre in 1260, along with his son and a large group of followers.[108][109] Upon arrival, he had established the Beth Midrash ha-Gadol d'Paris Talmudic academy where one of the greatest Karaite authorities, Aaron ben Joseph the Elder, was said to have attended.[110]

In 1260, control passed to the Egyptian Mamluks and until 1291 Palestine became the frontier between Mongol invaders (occasional Crusader allies). The conflict impoverished the country and severely reduced the population. Sultan Qutuz of Egypt eventually defeated the Mongols in the Battle of Ain Jalut (near Ein Harod) and his successor (and assassin), Baibars, eliminated the last Crusader Kingdom of Acre in 1291, thereby ending the Crusader presence.

In 1266 the Mamluk Sultan Baybars converted the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron into an exclusive Islamic sanctuary and banned Christians and Jews from entering, which previously would be able to enter it for a fee. The ban remained in place until Israel took control of the building in 1967.[111][112] In 1286, leader of German Jewry Meir of Rothenburg, was imprisoned by Rudolf I for attempting to lead a large group of Jews hoping to settle in Palestine.[113] Exiled from France in 1306, Ishtori Haparchi (d. 1355) arrived in Palestine and settled Bet She'an in 1313. Over the next seven years he compiled an informative geographical account of the land in which he attempts to identify biblical and talmudic era locations.[114] Two other noted Spanish kabbalists, Hananel ibn Askara and Shem Tov ibn Gaon, emigrated to Safed around this time.[115] During the tolerant reign of Nassir Mahomet (1299â€“1341) Jewish pilgrims from Egypt and Syria were able to spend the festivals in Jerusalem, which had a large Jewish community.[115] Many of the Jerusalem Jews occupied themselves with study of the codes and the kabbalah. Others were artisans, merchants, calligraphers or physicians.[115] The vibrant community of Hebron engaged in weaving, dyeing and glassware manufacturing; others where shepherds.[115]

The 1428 attempt by German Jews to acquire rooms and buildings on Mount Zion over the Tomb of David had dire consequences. The Franciscans, who had occupied the site since 1335, petitioned Pope Martin V who issued a papal order prohibiting sea captains from carrying Jews to Palestine.[116] In 1438, Italian rabbi Elijah of Ferrara settled in Jerusalem and became a lecturer and dayyan.[117] In 1455, a large group of prospective emigrants from across Sicily were arrested for attempting to sail to Palestine.[118] Not wanting to forfeit revenue made from special Jewish taxes, the authorities were against the mass emigration of Jews and accused the group of planning to illegally smuggle gold off the island. After nine months of imprisonment, a heavy ransom freed 24 Jews who were then granted permission to travel to Palestine so long as they abandoned all their property.[119]

In 1470, Isaac b. Meir Latif arrived from Ancona and counted 150 Jewish families in Jerusalem.[117] In 1473, the authorities closed down the Nachmanides Synagogue after part of it had collapsed in a heavy rainstorm. A year later, after an appealing to Sultan Qaitbay, the Jews were given permission to repair it. The Muslims of the adjoining mosque however contested the verdict and for two days, proceeded to demolish the synagogue completely. The vandals were punished, but the synagogue was only rebuilt 50 years later in 1523.[120] 1481 saw Italian Joseph Mantabia being appointed dayyan in Jerusalem.[121] A few years later in 1488, Italian commentator and spiritual leader of Jewry, Obadiah ben Abraham arrived in Jerusalem. He found the city forsaken holding about seventy poor Jewish families.[122] By 1495, there were 200 families. Obadiah, a dynamic and erudite leader, had begun the rejuvenation of Jerusalem's Jewish community. This, despite the fact many refugess from the Spanish and Portuguese expulsion of 1492-97 stayed away worried about the lawlessness of Mamulk rule.[123] An anonymous letter of the time lamented: "In all these lands there is no judgement and no judge, especially for the Jews against Arabs."[123] Mass immigration would start after the Turks conquered the region in 1517.[123] Yet in Safed, the situation fared better. Thanks to Joseph Saragossi who had arrived in the closing years of the 15th century, Safed and its environs had developed into the largest concentration of Jews in Palestine. With the help of the Sephardic immigration from Spain, the Jewish population had increased to 10,000 by the early 16th century.[124] Twenty-five years earlier Joseph Mantabia had counted just 300 families in and around Safed.[125] The first record of Jews at Safed was provided by French explorer Samuel ben Samson 300 years earlier in 1210 when he found only 50 Jews in residence.[125] At the beginning of the 17th century, Safed was to boast eighteen talmudical colleges and twenty-one synagogues.[126]

Records cite at least 30 Jewish urban and rural communities in the country at the opening of the 16th century.[citation needed]

Palestine was conquered by Turkish Sultan Selim II in 1516â€“17, and became part of the province of Syria for the next four centuries.

In 1534, Spanish refugee Jacob Berab settled in Safed. He believed the time was ripe to reintroduce the old "semikah" (ordination) which would create for Jews worldwide a recognised central authority.[128] In 1538, an assembly of Safed twenty-five rabbis ordained Berab, a step which they hoped would instigate the formation of a new Sanhedrin. But the plan faltered upon a strong and concerted protest by the chief rabbi of Jerusalem, Levi ben Jacob ibn Habib.[128] Additionally, worried about a scheme which would invest excessive authority in a Jewish senate, possibly resulting in the first step toward the restoration of the Jewish state, the new Ottoman rulers forced Berab to flee Palestine and the plan did not materialize.[128] The 16th-century nevertheless saw a resurgence of Jewish life in Palestine. Palestinian rabbis were instrumental producing a universally accepted manual of Jewish law and some of the most beautiful liturgical poems. Much of this activity occurred at Safed which had become a spiritual centre, a haven for mystics. Joseph Karo's comprehensive guide to Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch, was considered so authoritative that the variant customs of German-Polish Jewry were merely added as supplement glosses.[129] Some of the most celebrated hymns were written in Safed by poets such as Israel Najara and Solomon Alkabetz.[130] The town was also a centre of Jewish mysticism, notable kabbalists included Moses Cordovero and the German-born Naphtali Hertz ben Jacob Elhanan.[131][132][133] A new method of understanding the kabbalah was developed by Palestinian mystic Isaac Luria, and espoused by his student Chaim Vital. In Safed, the Jews developed a number of branches of trade, especially in grain, spices, textiles and dyeing. In 1577, a Hebrew printing press was established in Safed. The 8,000 or 10,000 Jews in Safed in 1555 grew to 20,000 or 30,000 by the end of the century.

In around 1563, Joseph Nasi secured permission from Sultan Selim II to acquire Tiberias and seven surrounding villages to create a Jewish city-state.[134] He hoped that large numbers of Jewish refugees and Marranos would settle there, free from fear and oppression; indeed, the persecuted Jews of Cori, Italy, numbering about 200 souls, decided to emigrate to Tiberias.[135][136] Nasi had the walls of the town rebuilt by 1564 and attempted to turn it into a self-sufficient textile manufacturing center by planting mulberry trees for the cultivation of silk. Nevertheless, a number of factors during the following years contributed to the plan's ultimate failure. Nasi's aunt, DoÃ±a Gracia Mendes Nasi supported a yeshiva in the town for many years until her death in 1569.[137]

In 1567, a Yemenite scholar and Rabbi, Zechariah Dhahiri, visited Safed and wrote of his experiences in a book entitled Sefer Ha-Musar. His vivid descriptions of the town Safed and of Rabbi Joseph Karo's yeshiva are of primary importance to historians, seeing that they are a first-hand account of these places, and the only extant account which describes the yeshiva of the great Sephardic Rabbi, Joseph Karo.[138]

In 1576, the Jewish community of Safed faced an expulsion order: 1,000 prosperous families were to be deported to Cyprus, "for the good of the said island", with another 500 the following year.[139] The order was later rescinded due to the realisation of the financial gains of Jewish rental income.[140] In 1586, the Jews of Istanbul agreed to build a fortified khan to provide a refuge for Safed's Jews against "night bandits and armed thieves."[139]

In 1569, the Radbaz moved to Jerusalem, but soon moved to Safed to escape the high taxes imposed on Jews by the authorities.

In 1610, the Yochanan ben Zakai Synagogue in Jerusalem was completed.[141] It became the main synagogue of the Sephardic Jews, the place where their chief rabbi was invested. The adjacent study hall which had been added by 1625 later became the Synagogue of Elijah the Prophet.[141]

In the 1648â€“1654 Khmelnytsky Uprising in Ukraine over 100,000 Jews were massacred, leading to some migration to Israel. In 1660 (or 1662), the majorly Jewish towns of Safed and Tiberias are destroyed by the Druze, following a power struggle in Galilee.[142][143][144][145][146][147][148] In 1665, the events surrounding the arrival of the self-proclaimed Messiah Sabbatai Zevi to Jerusalem, causes a massacre of the Jews in Jerusalem.[citation needed]

The Near East earthquake of 1759 destroys much of Safed killing 2000 people with 190 Jews among the dead, and also destroys Tiberias.

The disciples of the Vilna Gaon settled in the land of Israel almost a decade after the arrival of two of his pupils, R. Hayim of Vilna and R. Israel ben Samuel of Shklov. In all there were three groups of the Gaon's students which emigrated to the land of Israel. They formed the basis of the Ashkenazi communities of Jerusalem and Safed, setting up what was known as the Kollel Perushim. Their arrival encouraged an Ashkenazi revival in Jerusalem, whose Jewish community until this time was mostly Sephardi. Many of the descendants of the disciples became leading figures in modern Israeli society. The Gaon himself also set forth with his pupils to the Land, but for an unknown reason he turned back and returned to Vilna, where he died soon after.

During the siege of Acre in 1799, Napoleon issued a proclamation to the Jews of Asia and Africa to help him conquer Jerusalem. The siege was lost to the British, however, and the plan was never carried out. In 1821 the brothers of murdered Jewish adviser and finance minister to the rulers of the Galilee, Haim Farkhi formed an army with Ottoman permission, marched south and conquered the Galilee. They were held up at Akko which they besieged for 14 months after which they gave up and retreated to Damascus.

During the Peasants' Revolt under Muhammad Ali of Egypt's occupation, Jews were targeted in the 1834 looting of Safed and the 1834 Hebron massacre. By 1844, some sources report that Jews had become the largest population group in Jerusalem and by 1890 an absolute majority in the city, but as a whole the Jewish population made up far less than 10% of the region.[149][150]

Between 1882 and 1948, a series of Jewish migrations to what is the modern nation of Israel, known as Aliyahs commenced. These migrations preceded the Zionist period.

In 1917, towards the end of World War I, following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, Palestine was occupied by British forces. The United Kingdom was granted control of the area west of the River Jordan now comprising the State of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (Mandatory Palestine), and on the east bank of what later became Jordan (as a separate mandate) by the Versailles Peace Conference which established the League of Nations in 1919. Herbert Samuel, a former Postmaster General in the British cabinet, who was instrumental in drafting the Balfour Declaration was appointed the first High Commissioner of Mandatory Palestine, generally simply known as Palestine. During World War I the British had made two promises regarding territory in the Middle East. Britain had promised the local Arabs, through Lawrence of Arabia, independence for a united Arab country covering most of the Arab Middle East, in exchange for their supporting the British; and Britain had promised to create and foster a Jewish national home as laid out in the Balfour Declaration, 1917.

In 1947, following increasing levels of violence, the British government expressed a wish to withdraw from Palestine. The proposed plan of partition would have split Palestine into two states, an Arab state and a Jewish state, and the City of Jerusalem, giving slightly more than half the land area to the proposed Jewish state. Immediately following the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of a resolution recommending the adoption and implementation of the Partition Plan (Resolution 181(II) ), and the subsequent declaration of statehood by the Jewish National Council, civil war broke out between the Arab community and the Jewish community, as armies of the Arab League, which rejected the Partition Plan which Israel accepted, sought to squelch the new Jewish state.[151]

On 14 May 1948, one day before the end of the British Mandate, the leaders of the Jewish community in Palestine led by the future prime minister David Ben-Gurion, declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel.[152]

The armies of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq marched into the territory of what had just ceased to be the British Mandate, thus starting the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The nascent Israel Defense Forces repulsed the Arab armies, and extended Israel's borders beyond the original Resolution 181(II) boundaries for the proposed Jewish state.[153] By December 1948, Israel controlled most of the portion of Mandate Palestine west of the Jordan River. The remainder of the Mandate came to be called the West Bank (controlled by Jordan), and the Gaza Strip (controlled by Egypt). Prior to and during this conflict, 711,000 Palestinians Arabs[154] were expelled or fled their homes to become Palestinian refugees.[155] One third went to the West Bank and one third to the Gaza Strip, occupied by Jordan and Egypt respectively, and the rest to Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and other countries.[156]

After the establishment of Israel, immigration of Holocaust survivors from Europe and a large influx of Jewish refugees from Arab countries had doubled Israel's population within one year of its independence. Overall, during the following years approximately 850,000 Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews fled or were expelled from Arab countries, Iran and Afghanistan. Of these, about 680,000 settled in Israel.

Israel's Jewish population continued to grow at a very high rate for years, fed by waves of Jewish immigration from round the world, including the massive immigration wave of Soviet Jews, who arrived in Israel in the early 1990s, according to the Law of Return. Some 380,000 Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union arrived in 1990â€“91 alone.

Since 1948, Israel has been involved in a series of major military conflicts, including the 1956 Suez Crisis, 1967 Six-Day War, 1973 Yom Kippur War, 1982 Lebanon War, and 2006 Lebanon War, as well as a nearly constant series of other conflicts, among them the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Despite the constant security threats, Israel—a majorly Jewish state—has thrived economically. Throughout the 1980s and the 1990s there were numerous liberalization measures: in monetary policy, in domestic capital markets, and in various instruments of governmental interference in economic activity. The role of government in the economy was considerably decreased. On the other hand, some governmental economic functions were increased: a national health insurance system was introduced, though private health providers continued to provide health services within the national system. Social welfare payments, such as unemployment benefits, child allowances, old age pensions and minimum income support, were expanded continuously, until they formed a major budgetary expenditure. These transfer payments compensated, to a large extent, for the continuous growth of income inequality, which had moved Israel from among the developed countries with the least income inequality to those with the most.


when did call of duty 3 come out

Call of Duty 3 is a 2006 first-person shooter video game developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. It is the third major installment in the Call of Duty series. It was released for PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It was a launch title for the PlayStation 3 and Wii in North America, Europe and Australia.

Call of Duty 3

The single player is modeled after the Normandy breakout, where the British, Canadian, Polish, American, and French Resistance forces pushed into the village of Chambois, France, also known as the Falaise Gap. Unlike most other games in the Call of Duty series, the events in Call of Duty 3 are based on a single combined campaign, with the player being switched between the four armed forces – U.S. Army, British SAS, Canadian Army, and the Polish 1st Armoured Division – and their respective characters for each leg of the story. There are 14 campaign missions in total, with cinematics to link between each one. Each mission also contains various action sequences where players have to input button commands, whether arming a bomb, or fighting off a melee ambush. In addition, some missions also include multiple choices in routes to completing an objective.

In addition to the single-player campaign, Call of Duty 3 features a wide range of multiplayer modes for players to participate in â€“ each team allowing up to 24 on the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, and 16 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in a single match. This is only in the online mode. All team game modes feature the soldiers of the Allied nations versus those of the Axis. Multiplayer features are absent from the Wii edition.

It is the first game in the Call of Duty series to introduce two different game modes. The "Normalized" mode was added to allow console players a way to adjust to the smaller kill box of Call of Duty, its expansion United Offensive, and Call of Duty 2.

On the Xbox 360, Call of Duty 3 divides its multiplayer aspect into Player and Ranked matches. Player matches allow players to invite other players into their games, but do not contribute points toward the leader board or unlock Achievements. Ranked matches put the player with and against teams of random players, and contribute towards player points and allow players to unlock Achievements.

The American campaign begins with Private Nichols banded with Corporal Mike Dixon, Private Leroy Huxley (voiced by Benjamin Diskin), the radio op Private First Class Salvatore Guzzo and the squad's CO, Sergeant Frank McCullin in the 29th Infantry Division. After the capture of Saint-Lô, the squad is folded with the 90th Infantry Division to secure Saint-Germain-sur-Sèves. The 90th then assaults Mayenne in order to capture its fortified bridge. McCullin succeeds in defusing the bombs rigged on the bridge at the cost of his life. Dixon assumes command of the squad and leads them to clear out Forêt d'Écouves, to aid the 2nd battalion. The squad then liberates the suburbs to secure a vital crossroads, which helps ensure the success of the Falaise Gap plan, now that the other Allied forces have finished in the north.

Nichols unit is then defending the town of Chambois from German forces trying to escape through the Falaise Gap. After much retreating and fighting, Dixon is killed and Guzzo leads the squad, aiding the Baker Company to retake the town and force the German resistance to surrender. Two days later, the squad members receive promotions and begin their march to liberate Paris.

In the British and French campaign, the player controls Sergeant James Doyle working alongside SAS members, Corporal Keith, and Major Ingram. The SAS have a rough parachute drop into France, where they link up with the Maquis Resistance, including their leader Pierre LaRoche, Isabelle DuFontaine, and a man only known as Marcel. They begin attacking a German AA position, followed by the destruction of a fuel plant. Ingram is captured, but the SAS and Maquis are able to rescue him from the outskirts of a village, along with several Resistance fighters bound for execution. Isabelle is killed as she plants a satchel charge on an armored car. The SAS and Maquis then team up to take the fight into the rest of Europe.

In the Canadian campaign the player controls Private Cole of the 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division, led by World War I veteran Lieutenant Jean-Guy Robichaud. Robichaud commands a platoon in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada, aided by Sergeant Jonathan Callard, squad member Pvt, Peterson, and the squad's radio operator, Pvt. Leslie Baron. The platoon attacks a German-held ridge in a night-time operation, then capture an industrial area and holding off a counter-attack. The platoon proceeds to clears a forest near the Laison River of several anti-tank positions and a motor pool. Baron is transferred to a Polish armored unit. Robichaud leads his unit to rescue a captured Canadian tank crew and with their help they capture the whole town. Callard is killed as he blows himself up along with a King Tiger tank. The unit then soon start helping to move more Canadian reinforcements through the town to aid the Polish struggling to defend Hill 262.

The Polish campaign revolves around Cpl. "Bohater" Wojciech, a Sherman Firefly tank driver in the Polish 1st Armored Division hunting more German tanks in revenge to the occupation of the homeland of his crew members, including Major Jachowicz, Corporal Rudinski, Sergeant Kowalski and Pte. Ulan. While aiding the Canadian and British forces in the area, Jachowicz's crew participates in a sweep across the French countryside, engaging German armor. Bohater and the rest of his tank crew eventually track down and destroy an infamous Tiger II tank. The Poles then capture Hill 262 and endure a heavy assault by the remnants of the German 7th Army desperate to escape the Falaise Pocket. With their position overrun, Bohater and his crew continue to fight the Germans with Rudinski and Kowalski getting killed and later. They are joined by Canadian radio operator Baron, who is killed in the ensuing battle. After much fighting, the Royal Canadian Air Force repels the German invaders and Hill 262 is firmly in Allied hands.

Three map packs were released for the Xbox 360 multiplayer game on the Xbox Live Marketplace.[1] The first, "Champs", was released as a free download on January 11, 2007 and contained a single self-titled map.[2] The "Valor" map pack contained five new maps: Crossing, Ironclad, La Bourgade, Stalag 23, and Wildwood. The pack was released on January 27, 2007 for 800 MP ($10).[3] The final map pack, "Bravo", contained five new maps of which two were remade from Call of Duty: United Offensive: Gare Centrale, Marseilles, Aller Haut, Seine River, and Rimling. The pack was released on May 31, 2007 for 800 MP.[4] The price of the map packs was later reduced to 400 MP ($5) each.[5]

Call of Duty 3 was unveiled by Activision shortly before E3 2006. It was revealed that Treyarch would be developing the title (their second in the series after Call of Duty 2: Big Red One) which was set to release later that year.[6] The game would be running on Treyarch's own internal engine, NGL.[7] This game served as a launch title for the PlayStation 3 and Wii in North America, Europe and Australia. It was also the only major Call of Duty installment not to be released for personal computer platforms (though ports were planned yet cancelled) and the only numerical sequel to date to have been a console-exclusive game alongside Big Red One and Call of Duty: Finest Hour.

In an interview with Video Gamer, Call of Duty: World at War senior producer, Noah Heller, revealed the team had eight months to develop Call of Duty 3.[8]

Call of Duty 3 had generally favorable reviews, with the Xbox release holding a 83 out of 100 score on Metacritic, while the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2 hold 82 out of 100, and the PlayStation 3 with 80 out of 100. The Wii release was viewed much less favorably, with a score of 69 out of 100. IGN gave a score of 8.8,[20] while GameSpot gave an 8.2.[21] The game won various awards from publications for best shooter and sound design. Institutes such as The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences awarded the game for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design in 2007.[23]

Upon release, Call of Duty 3 was one of the best selling titles of November 2006 in the United States.[24] The game debuted at #3 on UK charts and dropped off the top 10 list by February 2007.[25][26] By the end of 2006, the game had sold approximately 1.1 million units in the US according to NPD Group.[27] By February 3, 2007 total sales in the United States were 2 million units.[28] The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2 releases of Call of Duty 3 each received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[29] indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies per version in the United Kingdom.[30] By November 2013, the game had sold 7.2 million copies worldwide.[31]


what type of rock is the twelve apostles

The Twelve Apostles is a collection of limestone stacks off the shore of the Port Campbell National Park, by the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. Their proximity to one another has made the site a popular tourist attraction. There are eight Apostles left, the ninth having collapsed dramatically in July 2005. The name remains significant and spectacular, especially in the Australian tourism industry.

The Twelve Apostles (Victoria)

The apostles were formed by erosion: The harsh and extreme weather conditions from the Southern Ocean gradually eroded the soft limestone to form caves in the cliffs, which then became arches, which in turn collapsed; leaving rock stacks up to 50 metres high. Because of this erosion, there are fewer than ten remaining.[1] The site was known as the Sow and Pigs (Muttonbird Island, near Loch Ard Gorge, was the 'Sow', and the smaller rock stacks were the "Piglets"), the Pinnacles or the Twelve Apostles.[2] The formation eventually became known as the Twelve Apostles, despite only ever having nine stacks.[3]

In 2002, the Port Campbell Professional Fishermens Association unsuccessfully attempted to block the creation of a proposed marine national park at the Twelve Apostles location,[4] but were satisfied with the later Victorian Government decision not to allow seismic exploration at the same site by Benaris Energy;[5] believing it would harm marine life.[6]

The stacks are susceptible to further erosion from the waves. On 3 July 2005, a 50-metre-tall (160 ft) stack collapsed, leaving eight standing.[7] On 25 September 2009, it was thought that another of the stacks had fallen, but this was actually one of the smaller stacks of the Three Sisters formation.[8] The rate of erosion at the base of the limestone pillars is approximately 2 cm per year.[9] Due to wave action eroding the cliff face existing headlands are expected to become new limestone stacks in the future.[10]


former leader of the newfoundland and labrador new democratic party crossword clue

Lorraine Michael was elected leader of the NL NDP at the party's leadership election on May 28, 2006. She led the party during the 2007 and 2011 general elections, each time improving the party's share of vote from the previous election. In the 2011 election a record five NDP MHAs were elected under her leadership.[2] Michael was succeeded by former Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union president, Earle McCurdy on March 7, 2015.

The Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party (NL NDP) is a social democratic political party in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in 1961 as the successor to the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and the Newfoundland Democratic Party. The party first contested the 1962 provincial election.

The NL NDP is the successor party to the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). The Newfoundland CCF was founded in 1955 when Sam Drover, a member of the Newfoundland House of Assembly for White Bay (Trinity North) who left the provincial Liberal Party to sit as a member of the CCF. Drover became leader of the new provincial party, which fielded ten candidates, mostly in rural districts, in the 1956 provincial election. The CCF party failed to win any seats: Drover lost his own riding, winning 237 votes to the Liberal candidate's 1,437.[3]

The CCF did not run candidates in the 1959 election, but supported the Newfoundland Democratic Party. This party had been organised by the Newfoundland Federation of Labour with the support of the Canadian Labour Congress, to protest the Liberal government's decertification of the International Woodworkers of America in the course of a logging strike. The Newfoundland Democratic Party ran eighteen candidates, none of whom was elected. The party was led by Ed Finn, Jr. and Calvin Normore. In 1961, the federal New Democratic Party was founded in with the merger of the federal CCF and the Canadian Labour Congress. The Newfoundland Democratic Party followed suit becoming the Newfoundland New Democratic Party with Finn leading the NL NDP into the 1962 provincial election and Normore doing so in 1966.[3]

Since the 1962 general election, the party has run candidates in all of Newfoundland and Labrador's general elections. From 1962 to 1984 the party was led by seven different leaders and contested seven provincial elections. The party won an average of 3.3% of the vote in those elections and were unable to elect a candidate to the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly.

Peter Fenwick succeeded Fonse Faour as party leader in 1981. In a 1984 by-election, Fenwick won the Labrador riding of Menihek becoming the first New Democrat to be elected in the province. In the 1985 general election the party won 14 per cent of the popular vote, nearly quadrupling their share of the vote they received three years earlier. Even with their successful results Fenwick was the only NL NDP candidate elected.[4][5] In 1986, Gene Long won the party's second seat in a by-election in the riding of St. John's East (since renamed Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi). Also that year Fenwick was arrested, along with union representatives, for participating in a strike by the Newfoundland Association of Public Employees (NAPE). Fenwick retired from politics in 1989 and did not run in that year's election. Cle Newhook replaced Fenwick as party leader and the NL NDP was once again left without representation after the 1989 election when both ridings they had held were won by Progressive Conservatives.

St. John's lawyer and former Member of Parliament Jack Harris won back the riding of St. John's East in a 1990 by-election after Progressive Conservative MHA Shannie Duff resigned to run for Mayor. Harris took nearly 50% of the vote in the by-election beating the Liberal candidate by 740 votes. In 1992, Harris succeed Newhook as party leader and led the party into the 1993 general election. For the first and only time in the party's history they ran a full slate of candidates throughout the province, while they won almost 10,000 more votes than the previous election and increased their share of the popular vote from 3.4% to 7.4% Harris remained the only New Democrat elected. The 1996 general election resulted in a landslide majority government for the Liberal Party, the New Democrats received only 4.45% of the vote and nominated candidates in only 20 of the provinces 48 ridings. Though the party suffered their worst electoral result in 14 years Harris was easily re-elected in the new riding of Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.

Lorraine Michael won the leadership of the Newfoundland and Labrador NDP in 2006. After succeeding Harris as leader she was elected in his former district of Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi several months later. In the 2007 provincial election Michael was the only New Democrat elected, though she increased her party's share of the popular vote. Between 2007 and 2011 polling for the NL NDP remained below 10 per cent in public opinion polls behind the Liberal Party and governing Progressive Conservatives. However, after the federal New Democrat's success in the 2011 federal election, where they formed the official opposition, support for Michael's New Democrats saw a surge in support. In a Corporate Research Associates (CRA) poll conducted just weeks after the federal election in May 2011, the NL NDP support rose to 20 per cent. For the first time in its history the party was statistically tied for second place with the Liberal Party, who were at 22 per cent. The New Democrats' gains came at the expense of the governing Progressive Conservatives who fell to 57 per cent.[6] The NL NDP surpassed the Liberals in polling in September 2011, and won just under 25 per cent of the popular vote, and five seats, in the October 11, 2011, general election. The Progressive Conservatives won their third straight majority government and while the New Democrats placed second in the popular vote, they finished third behind the Liberal Party in seats.[7]

On October 21, 2013, it was revealed that Michael had received a letter from her caucus over the previous weekend calling for a leadership election to be held in 2014. The caucus felt that without renewal in the party they would have trouble attracting quality candidates and public support in the 2015 election. In an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Michael said she was shocked by the letter and felt betrayed by her caucus. Michael said she planned to sit down with her caucus before making a decision on what to do.[8]

The letter led to a public fight within the NDP, particularly among the caucus. Both Gerry Rogers and George Murphy said they regretted sending the letter and supported Michael, while Dale Kirby and Chris Mitchelmore stood behind what they had written in the letter. Following the caucus meeting Michael agreed to having a vote on her leadership at the next annual general meeting of the party. Both Kirby and Mitchelmore later announced they were leaving the caucus to sit as Independent MHAs, and both men joined the Liberal Party in February 2014. The dispute over Michael's leadership also led to members of the provincial executive to resign.[9][10][11] In May 2014 a party convention reaffirmed her leadership with the support of 75% of delegates. Michael announced on January 6, 2015, that she would step down as leader after the party performed poorly in four recent by-elections. While she was resigning as leader Michael also stated that she planned to seek re-election as an MHA.[12] Her term as leader ended when her successor was chosen in a leadership election held on March 7, 2015.[13]

Three candidates sought to succeed Michael as leader: former Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union leader Earle McCurdy, former Labrador City town councillor Mike Goosney and former NDP official Chris Bruce[14][15]

McCurdy won the election with 68 percent of the vote on March 7, 2015. He did not win his seat in the 2015 provincial election. Therefore, Michael subsequently served as NDP House Leader in the following parliamentary sessions.

On September 19, 2017, McCurdy announced his resignation as Leader, effective September 30, 2017.[16]

The New Democratic Party in Newfoundland and Labrador has long been a party that has advocated social democratic policies that support working people and families and the labour movement. On September 20, 2007, the party released its policy platform for the 2007 general election. The platform's main points were:

Results of elections for the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly:

The New Democratic Party won its first seat in the House of Assembly in 1984 when leader Peter Fenwick was elected in a by-election for the district of Labrador West. The party has been represented in the provincial legislature continually since 1990. Former leader and St. John's East Member of Parliament Jack Harris was elected to represent the district in the 1990, 1993, 1996, 1999 and 2003 provincial elections. Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi has been represented in the House of Assembly by party leader Lorraine Michael since 2006.

The NL NDP is affiliated with the federal New Democratic Party. Two of the three New Democratic Party Members of Parliament ever elected to the Canadian House of Commons from Newfoundland and Labrador went on to lead the provincial party:


how many senators are there in washington state

The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 140,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olympia.

Washington State Senate

As with the lower House of Representatives, state senators serve without term limits, though senators serve four-year terms. Senators are elected from the same legislative districts as House members, with each district electing one senator and two representatives. Terms are staggered so that half the Senate is up for reelection every two years.

Like other upper houses of state and territorial legislatures and the federal U.S. Senate, the state senate can confirm or reject gubernatorial appointments to the state cabinet, commissions and boards.

The Lieutenant Governor of Washington serves as the President of the Senate, but only casts a vote if required to break a tie. In his or her absence, the President Pro Tempore presides over the Senate. The President Pro Tempore is nominated by the majority party caucus and elected by the entire Senate. The President Pro Tempore is a largely ceremonial position in the Senate. The primary leaders of the respective caucuses are the majority and minority leaders, which are elected by their respective party caucuses.

Lieutenant Governor Cyrus Habib is constitutionally the President of the Senate. The current President Pro Tempore is Karen Keiser. The Majority leader is Democrat Sharon Nelson, who assumed office following a special election that gave Democrats a majority. The Minority Leader is Republican Mark Schoesler.


where is the seven sisters located in the sky

The Pleiades (/ˈplaɪədiːz/ or /ˈpliːədiːz/, also known as the Seven Sisters and Messier 45), are an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars located in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky.

Pleiades

The cluster is dominated by hot blue and luminous stars that have formed within the last 100 million years. A faint reflection nebulosity around the brightest stars was thought at first to be left over from the formation of the cluster (hence the alternative name Maia Nebula after the star Maia), but is now likely an unrelated foreground dust cloud in the interstellar medium, through which the stars are currently passing.[7]

Computer simulations have shown that the Pleiades were probably formed from a compact configuration that resembled the Orion Nebula.[8] Astronomers estimate that the cluster will survive for about another 250 million years, after which it will disperse due to gravitational interactions with its galactic neighborhood.[9]

The name of the Pleiades comes from Ancient Greek. It probably derives from plein ("to sail") because of the cluster's importance in delimiting the sailing season in the Mediterranean Sea: "the season of navigation began with their heliacal rising".[10] However, in mythology the name was used for the Pleiades, seven divine sisters, the name supposedly deriving from that of their mother Pleione and effectively meaning "daughters of Pleione". In reality, the name of the star cluster almost certainly came first, and Pleione was invented to explain it.[11]

Historically, they have also been known as Atlantides or Vergiliae (presumably connected with ver, Spring).[12] They are also known as Nā hiku o Makali‘i (the Seven Little Eyes) in the Hawaiian language,[13] as noted in James Michener's historical novel Hawaii.

The Pleiades are a prominent sight in winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and are easily visible out to mid-Southern latitudes. They have been known since antiquity to cultures all around the world,[14] including the Celts, Māori (who call them Matariki), Aboriginal Australians (from several traditions), the Persians, the Arabs (who called them Thurayya[15]), the Chinese (who called them 昴 mǎo), the Quechua, the Japanese, the Maya, the Aztec, the Sioux and the Cherokee. In Hinduism, the Pleiades are known as Krittika and are associated with the war-god Kartikeya. They are also mentioned three times in the Bible.

The earliest known depiction of the Pleiades is likely a Northern Germany bronze age artifact known as the Nebra sky disk, dated to approximately 1600 BC.[16] The Babylonian star catalogues name the Pleiades MULMUL (ð’€¯ð’€¯), meaning "stars" (literally "star star"), and they head the list of stars along the ecliptic, reflecting the fact that they were close to the point of vernal equinox around the 23rd century BC. The Ancient Egyptians may have used the names "Followers" and "Ennead" in the prognosis texts of the Calendar of Lucky and Unlucky Days of papyrus Cairo 86637.[17] Some Greek astronomers considered them to be a distinct constellation, and they are mentioned by Hesiod's Works and Days,[18] Homer's Iliad and Odyssey,[19] and the Geoponica.[20] Some scholars of Islam suggested that the Pleiades (ath-thurayya) are the "star" mentioned in Sura An-Najm ("The Star") of the Quran.[21]

In Japan, the constellation is mentioned under the name Mutsuraboshi ("six stars") in the 8th century Kojiki.[22] The constellation is now known in Japan as Subaru ("to unite"). It was chosen as the brand name of Subaru automobiles to reflect the origins of the firm as the joining of five companies, and is depicted in the firm's six-star logo.[23]

Galileo Galilei was the first astronomer to view the Pleiades through a telescope. He thereby discovered that the cluster contains many stars too dim to be seen with the naked eye. He published his observations, including a sketch of the Pleiades showing 36 stars, in his treatise Sidereus Nuncius in March 1610.

The Pleiades have long been known to be a physically related group of stars rather than any chance alignment. The Reverend John Michell calculated in 1767 that the probability of a chance alignment of so many bright stars was only 1 in 500,000, and so surmised that the Pleiades and many other clusters of stars must be physically related.[24] When studies were first made of the stars' proper motions, it was found that they are all moving in the same direction across the sky, at the same rate, further demonstrating that they were related.

Charles Messier measured the position of the cluster and included it as M45 in his catalogue of comet-like objects, published in 1771. Along with the Orion Nebula and the Praesepe cluster, Messier's inclusion of the Pleiades has been noted as curious, as most of Messier's objects were much fainter and more easily confused with cometsâ€”something that seems scarcely possible for the Pleiades. One possibility is that Messier simply wanted to have a larger catalogue than his scientific rival Lacaille, whose 1755 catalogue contained 42 objects, and so he added some bright, well-known objects to boost his list.[25]

Edme-Sébastien Jeaurat then drew in 1782 a map of 64 stars of the Pleiades from his observations in 1779, which he published in 1786.[26][27][28]

The distance to the Pleiades can be used as an important first step to calibrate the cosmic distance ladder. As the cluster is so close to the Earth, its distance is relatively easy to measure and has been estimated by many methods. Accurate knowledge of the distance allows astronomers to plot a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram for the cluster, which, when compared to those plotted for clusters whose distance is not known, allows their distances to be estimated. Other methods can then extend the distance scale from open clusters to galaxies and clusters of galaxies, and a cosmic distance ladder can be constructed. Ultimately astronomers' understanding of the age and future evolution of the universe is influenced by their knowledge of the distance to the Pleiades. Yet some authors argue that the controversy over the distance to the Pleiades discussed below is a red herring, since the cosmic distance ladder can (presently) rely on a suite of other nearby clusters where consensus exists regarding the distances as established by Hipparcos and independent means (e.g., the Hyades, Coma Berenices cluster, etc.).[3]

Measurements of the distance have elicited much controversy. Results prior to the launch of the Hipparcos satellite generally found that the Pleiades were about 135 parsecs away from Earth. Data from Hipparcos yielded a surprising result, namely a distance of only 118 parsecs by measuring the parallax of stars in the cluster—a technique that should yield the most direct and accurate results. Later work consistently argued that the Hipparcos distance measurement for the Pleiades was erroneous.[3][4][5][29][30][31] In particular, distances derived to the cluster via the Hubble Space Telescope and infrared color-magnitude diagram fitting favor a distance between 135 and 140 pc;[3][29] a dynamical distance from optical interferometric observations of the Pleiad double Atlas favors a distance of 133–137 pc.[31] However, the author of the 2007–2009 catalog of revised Hipparcos parallaxes reasserted that the distance to the Pleiades is ~120 pc and challenged the dissenting evidence.[2] Recently, Francis and Anderson[32] proposed that a systematic effect on Hipparcos parallax errors for stars in clusters biases calculation using the weighted mean and gave a Hipparcos parallax distance of 126 pc and photometric distance 132 pc based on stars in the AB Doradus, Tucana-Horologium, and Beta Pictoris moving groups, which are all similar in age and composition to the Pleiades. Those authors note that the difference between these results can be attributed to random error. More recent results using very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) (August 2014) and a preliminary solution using the Gaia satellite (September 2016), determine distances of 136.2 ± 1.2 pc[33] and 134 ± 6 pc[34] respectively. Although the Gaia team is cautious about their result, the VLBI authors assert "that the Hipparcos measured distance to the Pleiades cluster is in error".

For another distance debate see Polaris#Distance, also with a different measurement from Hipparcos, although this time it suggested a farther distance.

The cluster core radius is about 8 light years and tidal radius is about 43 light years. The cluster contains over 1,000 statistically confirmed members, although this figure excludes unresolved binary stars.[36] Its light is dominated by young, hot blue stars, up to 14 of which can be seen with the naked eye depending on local observing conditions. The arrangement of the brightest stars is somewhat similar to Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. The total mass contained in the cluster is estimated to be about 800 solar masses and is dominated by fainter and redder stars.[36]

The cluster contains many brown dwarfs, which are objects with less than about 8% of the Sun's mass, not heavy enough for nuclear fusion reactions to start in their cores and become proper stars. They may constitute up to 25% of the total population of the cluster, although they contribute less than 2% of the total mass.[37] Astronomers have made great efforts to find and analyse brown dwarfs in the Pleiades and other young clusters, because they are still relatively bright and observable, while brown dwarfs in older clusters have faded and are much more difficult to study.

The nine brightest stars of the Pleiades are named for the Seven Sisters of Greek mythology: Sterope, Merope, Electra, Maia, Taygeta, Celaeno, and Alcyone, along with their parents Atlas and Pleione. As daughters of Atlas, the Hyades were sisters of the Pleiades. The English name of the cluster itself is of Greek origin (Πλειάδες), though of uncertain etymology. Suggested derivations include: from πλεῖν plein, "to sail", making the Pleiades the "sailing ones"; from πλέος pleos, "full, many"; or from πελειάδες peleiades, "flock of doves". The following table gives details of the brightest stars in the cluster:

Ages for star clusters can be estimated by comparing the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram for the cluster with theoretical models of stellar evolution. Using this technique, ages for the Pleiades of between 75 and 150 million years have been estimated. The wide spread in estimated ages is a result of uncertainties in stellar evolution models, which include factors such as convective overshoot, in which a convective zone within a star penetrates an otherwise non-convective zone, resulting in higher apparent ages.

Another way of estimating the age of the cluster is by looking at the lowest-mass objects. In normal main-sequence stars, lithium is rapidly destroyed in nuclear fusion reactions. Brown dwarfs can retain their lithium, however. Due to lithium's very low ignition temperature of 2.5 Ã— 106 K, the highest-mass brown dwarfs will burn it eventually, and so determining the highest mass of brown dwarfs still containing lithium in the cluster can give an idea of its age. Applying this technique to the Pleiades gives an age of about 115 million years.[38][39]

The cluster is slowly moving in the direction of the feet of what is currently the constellation of Orion. Like most open clusters, the Pleiades will not stay gravitationally bound forever. Some component stars will be ejected after close encounters with other stars; others will be stripped by tidal gravitational fields. Calculations suggest that the cluster will take about 250 million years to disperse, with gravitational interactions with giant molecular clouds and the spiral arms of our galaxy also hastening its demise.[40]

With larger telescopes, the nebulosity around some of the stars can be easily seen; especially when long-exposure photographs are taken. Under ideal observing conditions, some hint of nebulosity around the cluster may even be seen with small telescopes or average binoculars. It is a reflection nebula, caused by dust reflecting the blue light of the hot, young stars.

It was formerly thought that the dust was left over from the formation of the cluster, but at the age of about 100 million years generally accepted for the cluster, almost all the dust originally present would have been dispersed by radiation pressure. Instead, it seems that the cluster is simply passing through a particularly dusty region of the interstellar medium.

Studies show that the dust responsible for the nebulosity is not uniformly distributed, but is concentrated mainly in two layers along the line of sight to the cluster. These layers may have been formed by deceleration due to radiation pressure as the dust has moved towards the stars.[41]

Analyzing deep-infrared images obtained by the Spitzer Space Telescope and Gemini North telescope, astronomers discovered that one of the cluster's stars â€“ HD 23514, which has a mass and luminosity a bit greater than that of the Sun, is surrounded by an extraordinary number of hot dust particles. This could be evidence for planet formation around HD 23514.[42]


when did the song age of aquarius come out

"Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)" (commonly called "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", "The Age of Aquarius" or "Let the Sunshine In") is a medley of two songs written for the 1967 musical Hair by James Rado & Gerome Ragni (lyrics), and Galt MacDermot (music), released as a single by American R&B group The 5th Dimension. The song peaked at number one for six weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in the spring of 1969. The single topped the American pop charts and was eventually certified platinum in the US by the RIAA.[1] Instrumental backing was written by Bill Holman and provided by session musicians commonly known as the Wrecking Crew.[2][3] The actual recording is something of a "rarity"; the song was recorded in two cities, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, then mixed together in the studio, afterwards.

Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In

The song listed at number 66 on Billboard's "Greatest Songs of All Time".[4]

This song was one of the most popular songs of 1969 worldwide, and in the United States it reached the number one position on both the Billboard Hot 100 (for six weeks in April and May) and the Billboard Adult Contemporaries Chart. It also reached the top of the sales charts in Canada and elsewhere. Billboard ranked it as the No. 2 record overall for 1969.[5]

The recording won both the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Group for the Grammy Awards of 1970, after being published on the album The Age of Aquarius by the 5th Dimension, and also being released as a seven-inch vinyl single record.

The lyrics of this song were based on the astrological belief that the world would soon be entering the "Age of Aquarius", an age of love, light, and humanity, unlike the current "Age of Pisces". The exact circumstances for the change are "When the moon is in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars." This change was presumed to occur at the end of the 20th century; however, astrologers differ extremely widely as to when. Their proposed dates range from 2062 to 2680.

Astrologer Neil Spencer denounced the lyrics as "astrological gibberish", noting that Jupiter aligns with Mars several times a year (which doesn't make sense either, since Mars' orbital year is 687 days) and the moon is in the 7thÂ House for two hours every day.[6] These lines are considered by many[who?] to be merely poetic license, though some people take them literally.

The American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Songs list, published in 2004, ranked "Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)" as number 33.

radio edit 3:07

From 1970â€“77, "Aquarius" was used as the theme song to the British arts programme Aquarius.

In 1970, "Let The Sunshine In" was used in an Ad Council PSA for the National Urban Coalition; the commercial promoted racial harmony using a large all-star choir including cameos by Ray Charles, Peggy Cass, Johnny Carson, Will Geer and Leonard Nimoy.

"Let the Sunshine In" has been adopted by soccer fans in Argentina and popularized in Uruguay's "Soy Celeste" to proclaim their support.

Peter Lawford sang the song "Aquarius" in the Hollywood Palace in November 1969.

The song also appeared in episode 3 ("Harmony of the Worlds") of Carl Sagan's Cosmos during a sequence debunking the practice of astrology.[23]

In episode 16, season 3 of The Simpsons ("Bart the Lover"), "Age of Aquarius" is played during a yo-yo demonstration at a school assembly.[24]

The song appeared at the end of the 2001 movie Recess: School's Out.

The song also appeared at the end of the 2005 movie The 40-Year Old Virgin.

A sample of the song as it appears in the film Hair carries the main loop of the Boards of Canada song of the same name, appearing on their debut LP.

The beginning of the song is heard during a flashback at the start of episode 2 of American Horror Story Season 1: Murder House

The song is featured in Just Dance 2014.