The Jews who returned from Exile to Jerusalem soon began building a new temple, called the Second Temple. Judaism during the time of the Second Temple (c. 500 BCE-70 CE) is called Second Temple Judaism. The Jews of this period can be divided into two broad groups:

Palestinian Jews
1) Jews who returned to Jerusalem
2) Religious life centered more on the Temple and its sacrifices

Diaspora Jews
1) Jews who remained in the Babylonian colonies (Diaspora means “dispersion,” and came to be applied to all Jews living outside the traditional homeland.)
2) Religious life centered more on the torah and the synagogue (buildings where Jews gathered to read and discuss their written scriptures)

MAJOR ELEMENTS OF SECOND TEMPLE JUDAISM:

Temple
The main way Jews related to God was through sacrifice in the Temple. Sacrifices consisted of grain, incense or animals, and were burned/killed on an altar.

1) Reasons for sacrifice
a. Gifts to YHWH in thanksgiving for what he had provided
b. Petition for divine favor or help
c. Purification or atonement for sin (particularly animal sacrifices, since blood was thought to “wash away” the defilement caused by sin)

2) Essential Requirements
a. Conducted by the priests (under the leadership of the high priest). The priesthood was a hereditary position traced through the male line.
b. At the right time. Although sacrifices went on almost continually, special sacrifices were offered at certain times—on the Sabbath, on Yom Kippur (the annual Day of Atonement for the sins of the nation), and during the three “pilgrimage” festivals of Passover, Pentecost and the Feast of Booths (for which all Jewish men were supposed to journey to Jerusalem to make sacrifices).
c. With the correct offering. “Clean” animals (bulls, lambs, pigeons, doves) could be sacrificed and “unclean” animals (pigs, snakes) could not. Only the firstborn, unblemished bull or lamb could be sacrificed.
d. At the right place. Early in Israel’s history there were many altars at which sacrifices could be offered, but by the Second Temple Period all sacrifices had to be offered at the Temple in Jerusalem.

Torah
The Jews in Exile rededicated themselves to obeying God’s commands, and part of this involved a new emphasis on putting God’s laws into writing. The Deuteronomist and Priestly sources are dated during the Exile, and the final editing of the Torah began shortly after the return to Jerusalem. During the Second Temple period, following the Torah in one’s daily life became one the main ways Jews expressed themselves religiously. This included following ethical guidelines and special dietary restrictions (keeping kosher).

Messiah
The prophets had predicted that God would send someone to rescue the Jews from their affliction. During the Second Temple period the Jews began to look for such an individual, who came to be called the messiah, meaning “anointed one.” There was some disagreement about what kind of messiah he would be:
1) Some looked for a royal messiah, a great king who would establish himself on the throne in Jerusalem (see 2 Samuel 7).
2) Others looked for an apocalyptic messiah, one who would bring an end to the world, destroying the wicked and vindicating the righteous (the book of Daniel expresses such a hope).
3) Christians understood their messiah (Jesus) to be the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 52-53, one who takes onto himself the sins of the people and wins forgiveness for them through his suffering.

SUBDIVISIONS OF THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD

The Hellenistic Era

In the 330s and 320s BCE, Alexander the Great conquered much of the known world. His plan for his empire included Hellenization, the spread of Greek language, religion and culture (which Alexander thought to be superior). This created a dilemma for the Jews, some of whom accepted Hellenization, and others who did not. In 175 BCE a Greek king named Antiochus IV tried to force all Jews to adopt Greek culture. He prohibited Torah observance and made sacrifice to Zeus in the Temple. The Jews revolted in 167 under the leadership of a family called the Maccabees, and by 164 they conquered the Greeks and rededicated the Temple to YHWH. The event is celebrated annually during Hanukkah (the Festival of Lights).

The Roman Era (New Testament Times)

In the mid-first century BCE the Romans took control of Palestine, and Roman domination would continue for centuries. During this period there was a variety of Jewish groups, offering different solutions to the Roman “problem”:

1) Sadducees—the party of the upper classes (priests and landed nobility) who held whatever political and religious authority the Romans allowed. Their base of power was the Temple and the Sanhedrin (the Jewish high court). Conservative in outlook, they wanted to maintain the status quo, so sought peace and cooperation with Rome. They accepted only the Law (Pentateuch) as scripture, and did not look for a messiah.

2) Pharisees—a party of scholars who believed the most important aspect of Judaism was obedience to the Torah in daily life. They were known for pious living (alms, tithing, prayer, fasting) and tried to avoid contact with anything or anyone “unclean,” like tax collectors, prostitutes, or “sinners” (Pharisee means “separated ones”). Their base of power was the synagogue. They accepted the Law, Prophets and Writings, as well as the oral traditions of their teachers (the rabbis), and looked for a royal messiah. They were popular with the common people (the “People of the Land”).

3) Essenes—an apocalyptic group who withdrew to the desert to await the end of the world. They believed the Temple had grown so corrupt that God would destroy the present order and start over with only righteous people (like themselves). Like the Pharisees, they accepted the Law, Prophets and Writings. They were rigorous in their obedience to the Torah, believing the only way to survive the coming apocalypse was to remain as holy and pure as possible (hence their withdrawal into the desert). They looked for two messiahs—a royal messiah who would defeat the forces of evil and establish himself as king, and a priestly messiah who would cleanse the temple of the illegitimate priests, establish the Essenes as the true priests, and install himself as high priest.

4) Zealots—those who wanted to overthrow the Romans through violent revolution.

The Jewish War (66-70 CE)

1) Reasons for the Jewish Revolt:
a. Unfair system of taxation (tax farming)
b. Frequent raiding of temple treasury for “unpaid” taxes
c. Greek-speaking rulers who cared nothing for Judea or Judaism
d. Monopoly on positions of wealth and power
e. Specific incident in 66 at Caesarea: a Greek-speaking mob attacked the Jewish quarter as the Roman army stood by and watched

2) Jewish reaction:
a. Slaughter of the Roman garrison stationed in Jerusalem
b. Cessation of the sacrifices made in the temple on behalf of the Roman Empire

3) The war:
a. 66-68 The Roman general Vespasian secured the port towns and moved toward Jerusalem
b. Summer of 68 Nero died, Vespasian eventually named Emperor
c. 69-70 Vespasian’s son Titus moved toward Jerusalem and laid siege to the city. He destroyed city and temple, according to later Roman historian Sulpicius Severus, “in order that the Jewish and Christian religions might more completely be abolished; for although these religions are mutually hostile, they had nevertheless sprung from the same founders; the Christians were an offshoot of the Jews, and if the root were taken away the stock would easily perish.”
d. 70-73 Titus wiped out the remaining Jewish resistance, including a band that held out at the mountain fortress of Masada (73).

4) The result of the war was the elimination of the Sadducees, Essenes and Zealots. Only the Pharisees would survive intact, and in the following years they would invent a brand of Judaism (rabbinic Judaism) that would focus entirely on Torah observation without the need for sacrifice.

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