As one of the oldest living religions upon earth, Judaism has a long history of interpreting sacred texts and applying divine commandments to everyday life.
Religions based on Scriptures have a rather monolithic, static basis in the writings and since life has changed so much since those days, there is a real problem how to deal with the dilemma - divine command, modern day life.
This is a difficulty common to the three great monotheistic religions based on the canonical Hebrew Bible or Tanakh
Tanakh is shorthand for the Torah (Teaching, the Five Books of Moses), Nevi'im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings) written in Hebrew and on small part in Aramaic. The canonical Masoretic collection was apparently finally concluded at around 100 A.D. (in Christian calendar that I use in this blog).
Archaeologically speaking, the Tanakh has materials mainly from Bronze Age, Iron Age and Persian periods as the rabbis said that the period of Prophecy ended in Persian period. However, there are some Hellenistic materials that refer to the Persian period, most importantly the Book of Daniel.
The important hierarchy of holy Scriptures in the religious heritage is
Judaism - Tanakh plus Talmud (late Roman, Byzantine period)
Christianity - Tanakh plus New Testament (Roman period)
Islam - Tanakh plus New Testament plus Qur'an (Byzantine period)
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Each of these three great monotheistic religions has its own concise declaration of faith
Judaism - Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One (Iron Age)
Christianity - Nicene Creed (early Byzantine)
Islam - I witness that there is no god except Allah and that Muhammad is a messenger of Allah (Byzantine)
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As a solution to the dilemma of living with ancient divinely inspired Scriptures there is a tradition of interpretation
Judaism - Oral Law
Christianity - Church tradition, councils, papal or patriarchal declarations etc.
Islam - Hadith
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How the leaders guide the believers in relation to Scriptures and halakhic issues in Judaism, in relation to daily life and the Holy Bible and church traditions in Christianity, in relation to Qur'an and hadith in Islam
largely profiles the character and way of life of that particular religious group.
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Well, so far so good... and what is new about that?
Not much!
Except that the rabbis are suddenly facing a massively new situation between the ancient Scriptures and modern life in the Reconquest of Promised Land.
In some ways what is happening in modern Israel could be compared to the Reconquista or al-'Istirdad, when Christians retook Spain from the Moors with consequences to many nations, not least among them the Sephardi Jews of Iberian Peninsula.
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there is a rich and impressive tradition on halachic issues concerning, for examle, in minute detail kashrut regulations for ritually clean food. There is a good and well-founded tradition how to bless a banana although this fruit was not known in the Biblical or Byzantine periods when Tanakh and Talmud were written.
However, since the utterly disastrous Bar Kochba Revolt 132 - 136 A.D. and the following Diaspora there has been very little need for the rabbis to discuss the practicalities of recapturing the Promised Land. (Possibly it was discussed in theory when promising Messianic candidates rose such as Sabbatai Zevi 1626-1676).
But now there is problem how to deal with divine commandments and rabbinical answers vary from decidedly genocidal to highly human.
Book of Joshua is not a simple issue for the inhabitants in the modern State of Israel.
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