The Jewish Story – A Wandering Jewish History Podcast

2,500 years of the Jewish Story

The Timeline

24 story playlists across 9 eras · All playlists

From the return out of Babylon to the present day. Each bar is a playlist, placed where its story happens; click one to listen. The map is drawn by story, not by ruler: eras with more episodes get more room, so the years are not evenly spaced.

Follow a person, place or idea through the timeline
The leaders
Across the table
Places that shaped us
Big ideas
Israel's hard questions
The American Jewish story
Through the Jewish year

The Second Temple600 BCE–70 CE · Return, Greeks, Maccabees, Rome
Sages and Geonim70–1000 · Exile, Talmud, Babylon
Sefarad and Ashkenaz1000–1492 · The medieval centers
After the Expulsion1492–1700 · Print, Safed, false messiahs
Modernity Arrives1700–1880 · Hasidism, Enlightenment, emancipation
Return and Catastrophe1880–1948 · Zionism, the Mandate, the Holocaust
The Young State1948–1967 · Independence to the Six-Day War
After 19671967–1987 · Wars, settlement and peace
Into the Present1987–2023 · Intifadas, Oslo, today
586 BCE First Temple destroyed
538 BCE Cyrus permits the return
167 BCE Maccabean revolt
70 Second Temple destroyed
135 Bar Kokhba revolt crushed
c. 500 Babylonian Talmud completed
1096 First Crusade
1138 The Rambam is born
1391 Riots across Spain
1492 Expulsion from Spain
1565 Shulchan Aruch printed
1665 Shabbetai Tzvi proclaimed
1760 The Baal Shem Tov dies
1791 Emancipation in France
1881 Pogroms; the First Aliyah
1897 First Zionist Congress
1917 Balfour Declaration
1941–45 The Holocaust
1948 Independence
1956 Sinai Campaign
1967 Six-Day War
1973 Yom Kippur War
1977 Begin elected
1979 Peace with Egypt
1982 Lebanon War
1987 First intifada
1993 Oslo Accords
2000 Second intifada
2005 Gaza disengagement
The Second Temple Era586 BCE–70 CE · 10 episodesAfter the Destruction: Rome, Babylon and the Geonim70–950 · 7 episodesGolden Age to Expulsion: The Jews of Spain900–1497 · 10 episodesFrom Safed to Shabbetai Tzvi1492–1676 · 10 episodesHasidim, Enlighteners and Reformers1736–1880 · 8 episodesThe Birth of Zionism1840–1914 · 7 episodesThe American Jewish Story1900–2023 · 13 episodesBuilding the Yishuv: Balfour to the Arab Revolt1914–1939 · 8 episodesThe Holocaust and Its Memory1933–1962 · 6 episodesMaking 1948: The Birth of the State1944–1949 · 5 episodesThe Great Aliyah: Absorbing the Exiles After 19481948–1952 · 2 episodesIsrael's Constitutional Crisis1949–2023 · 7 episodesTerror and Response1953–1976 · 6 episodesThe Road to Suez, 1954–561954–1956 · 3 episodesJews, Civil Rights and the 1960s Revolution1960–1968 · 4 episodesThe Six-Day War1963–1967 · 7 episodesLet My People Go: Soviet Jewry1964–1989 · 4 episodesThe Temple Mount1967–2023 · 4 episodesSettling the Land After 19671967–1984 · 9 episodesThe War of Attrition1967–1970 · 3 episodesThe Yom Kippur War1971–1974 · 8 episodesRabin, Begin and Peace with Egypt1974–1981 · 7 episodesThe Lebanon War1978–1985 · 4 episodesThe Intifadas and the Wall1987–2005 · 5 episodes
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The Second Temple

600 BCE–70 CE · Return, Greeks, Maccabees, Rome

  1. 586 BCE First Temple destroyed
  2. The Second Temple Era586 BCE–70 CE · 10 episodes
  3. 538 BCE Cyrus permits the return
  4. 167 BCE Maccabean revolt

Sages and Geonim

70–1000 · Exile, Talmud, Babylon

  1. 70 Second Temple destroyed
  2. After the Destruction: Rome, Babylon and the Geonim70–950 · 7 episodes
  3. 135 Bar Kokhba revolt crushed
  4. c. 500 Babylonian Talmud completed
  5. Golden Age to Expulsion: The Jews of Spain900–1497 · 10 episodes

Sefarad and Ashkenaz

1000–1492 · The medieval centers

  1. 1096 First Crusade
  2. 1138 The Rambam is born
  3. 1391 Riots across Spain

After the Expulsion

1492–1700 · Print, Safed, false messiahs

  1. 1492 Expulsion from Spain
  2. From Safed to Shabbetai Tzvi1492–1676 · 10 episodes
  3. 1565 Shulchan Aruch printed
  4. 1665 Shabbetai Tzvi proclaimed

Modernity Arrives

1700–1880 · Hasidism, Enlightenment, emancipation

  1. Hasidim, Enlighteners and Reformers1736–1880 · 8 episodes
  2. 1760 The Baal Shem Tov dies
  3. 1791 Emancipation in France
  4. The Birth of Zionism1840–1914 · 7 episodes

Return and Catastrophe

1880–1948 · Zionism, the Mandate, the Holocaust

  1. 1881 Pogroms; the First Aliyah
  2. 1897 First Zionist Congress
  3. The American Jewish Story1900–2023 · 13 episodes
  4. Building the Yishuv: Balfour to the Arab Revolt1914–1939 · 8 episodes
  5. 1917 Balfour Declaration
  6. The Holocaust and Its Memory1933–1962 · 6 episodes
  7. 1941–45 The Holocaust
  8. Making 1948: The Birth of the State1944–1949 · 5 episodes

The Young State

1948–1967 · Independence to the Six-Day War

  1. 1948 Independence
  2. The Great Aliyah: Absorbing the Exiles After 19481948–1952 · 2 episodes
  3. Israel's Constitutional Crisis1949–2023 · 7 episodes
  4. Terror and Response1953–1976 · 6 episodes
  5. The Road to Suez, 1954–561954–1956 · 3 episodes
  6. 1956 Sinai Campaign
  7. Jews, Civil Rights and the 1960s Revolution1960–1968 · 4 episodes
  8. The Six-Day War1963–1967 · 7 episodes
  9. Let My People Go: Soviet Jewry1964–1989 · 4 episodes

After 1967

1967–1987 · Wars, settlement and peace

  1. 1967 Six-Day War
  2. The Temple Mount1967–2023 · 4 episodes
  3. The War of Attrition1967–1970 · 3 episodes
  4. Settling the Land After 19671967–1984 · 9 episodes
  5. The Yom Kippur War1971–1974 · 8 episodes
  6. 1973 Yom Kippur War
  7. Rabin, Begin and Peace with Egypt1974–1981 · 7 episodes
  8. 1977 Begin elected
  9. The Lebanon War1978–1985 · 4 episodes
  10. 1979 Peace with Egypt
  11. 1982 Lebanon War

Into the Present

1987–2023 · Intifadas, Oslo, today

  1. 1987 First intifada
  2. The Intifadas and the Wall1987–2005 · 5 episodes
  3. 1993 Oslo Accords
  4. 2000 Second intifada
  5. 2005 Gaza disengagement