November
22

1220: Frederick II, who would become the
protector of the Jews in Frankfurt in 1236, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor
today by Honorius III.

1280: The 3 year reign of Pope Nicholas III
whose bull Vineam sorce encouraged conversion through
“…

 November 18

1095: Pope Urban II opened the Council of
Clermont. Summoned to plan the First Crusade, it was attended by over 200
bishops. Among its official policies, the Council decreed that a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem made every other penance sup…

 November
17

9CE:  Birthdate of Titus Flavius
Vespasianus, better known as Vespasian, who as a Roman General and then Emperor
put down the Judean Revolt which included the destruction of the Second Temple.

284: Diocletian is proclaimed empe…

November
16

42
BCE: Birthdate of Tiberius, 2nd Roman emperor. The stepson of Augustus reigned
from 14 to 37 C.E. A competent general with a sour disposition, Tiberius came
to the thrown through the efforts of his pushy mother. Tiberius treatment of
th…

November 11

603 BCE (7th of Kislev): King
Jehoiakim burned the scroll which had been dictated by the prophet Jeremiah to
Barcuh ben Heriah.

518 BCE: A delegation of Babylonian
Jews arrived in Jerusalem to inquire from the prophet Zechariah whether th…

A Pentecostal reflection on Thomas C. Oden’s claim that the first Pentecost took place in the home of an African Jewish woman.

November 7

305 B.C.E.: Ptolemy, a Macedonian general who
had fought by the side of Alexander the Great, became King of Egypt.  Alexander’s empire broke into three parts
after his death.  Jerusalem and Judea
came under the sway of the Ptolemy…