#1 elul

Jumbr, it's time to decide which holiday has what it takes to win!

Round 1 will be posted tonight or tomorrow. The matchups are as follows:

Purim vs. Yom Yerushalayim

Tu Bishvat vs. Shemini Atzeret

Seharane vs. 17 Tammuz

Hoshanah Rabba vs. Fast of the Firstborn

Sukkot vs. Yom HaZikaron

Rosh Chodesh vs. Tisha b'Av

Yom Kippur vs. Lag BaOmer

Mimouna vs. Pesach Sheini

Pesach vs. Yom HaShoah

Shavuot vs. 1 Elul

Shabbat vs. Purim Katan

Tu b'Av vs. Chag HaBanot

Chanukah vs. Yom HaAtzmaut

Sigd vs. 10 Tevet

Simchat Torah vs. Fast of Esther

1 Elul - Second Temple, Take -Two - 353 BCE

On this day in 353 BCE, the prophets Chagai and Zecharia prophesied that Zrubavel should continue the building of the second temple in Jerusalem. The second commonwealth of Israel had very difficult beginnings. Already in the year 371 BCE, King Cyrus of Persia (who controlled Israel) permitted the Jews to return to Israel and rebuild their Temple. Zerubavel, a descendant of King David and the presumptive monarch, led 40,000 Jews back to Israel. Most of the Jews stayed in Babylon. The Jews that returned began building the Temple immediately.

After the Jews were sent into the Babylonian exile, the Samaritans filled the land of Israel, and they were not willing to give up their homes based on ancestral claims (sound familiar). They appealed to King Cyrus to withdraw his authorization, and he acquiesced. Then, the Purim story happened. Esther became queen of Persia. She and Achashversoh had a son Darius II. He succeeded his father as King of Persia. He would give the blessing for the Jews to continue building their Temple in Israel, but the Samaritans would continue to be a thorn in the side of the Jews for another 20 years.

The settlement would still have its challenges. Ezra would come with a small group in 348 BCE. The majority would remain in Babylon. He established the Anshei Kenesses HaGedolah as the governing body. It wouldn’t be until Nechemia would come in 335 BCE that the fledgling country would finally find some stability, and begin to thrive.