1. The Tribal Era (2000-1000 BCE) - our ancestors were polytheistic nomadic shepherds and farmers.
2. The Royal Era (1000-586 BCE) - increasing urbanization, the triumph of the Yahveh cult with polytheistic beliefs and rituals blended into it, and continuous revolt against the centralization of the cult in Jerusalem.
3. The Priestly Era (520-100 BCE) - rise of the priestly class and the entrenchment of the Yahveh sacrificial cult and priestly authority.
4. The Rabbinic Era (100 BCE - 1800) - establishment of a new cult centered not around priests, sacrifices and the Temple, but around the rabbinate, prayer and rituals in the home and at the synagogue. This period is marked by increasing orthodoxy in belief and rituals.
5. The Modern Era (1790 - date) - characterized by polarized change ­ on the one hand, relaxation of the rabbinic cult with the introduction of new forms of Judaism and a secularization of Jewish life, and on the other hand, radicalization of Judaism in the Chasidic movements with a sharp trend away from rationalism.

In each period, and from period to period, we see evolving religious beliefs that result in changing practices.

Lessons of History

The fact that the Jewish people have survived the millennia, is testimony to the efficacy of human effort and ingenuity. Our suffering honed our survival and solidarity skills. The Jews became a flexible people, able to move from place to place and to adapt to each, as the need arose. We became an urban and educated people with commercial skills that were of use to the rulers and the peoples among whom we settled.

The most important lesson that we learn from the history of the Jews is that we cannot rely on the benevolence of the authorities or of God. Individually and as a people, we must be self-reliant to survive.

In a world where scientific knowledge and reason have broken through the barriers of ignorance and superstition, Secular Humanistic Judaism speaks to the modern Jew and human in all of us. By approaching Jewish history using accepted scientific methodology, it has provided us with a deeper understanding of our ancestors, both male and female, their fears and hopes, their failures and achievements, their basic struggle for survival and their search for fulfilment. By recognizing that belief in God and not God was a force in history, and that human relationships and choices, not divine will, determined the course of history, we can understand and empathize more readily with our forebears and thus connect more intimately with our roots. Most importantly, through a better understanding of the history of the Jews, we can learn from it and not be doomed to relive it.