Social Studies

Jewish people from Roman times,  Jews lived across the Roman Empire in relative harmony.  Fine until rebellion in Judaea led to a major change in the practice of their faith.  Practicing a very different religion from that of their neighbors, they were often unpopular. Jews had spread from their homeland in Judaea across the Mediterranean and there were major Jewish communities in Syria, Egypt, and Greece. close-knit, to protect themselves and their faith. here had been upsets: Jews had been banished from Rome in 139 BC, again in 19 AD and during the reign of Claudius. However, they were soon allowed to return and continue their independent existence under Roman law. The temple had been rebuilt three times. The first was when it had been destroyed in 587 BC by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylonia. The second was when it had been plundered and wrecked by Judaea’s foreign rulers. The third time, it had been rebuilt by Herod the Great in 20 BC. The temple was the meeting place of the Jewish Council, called the Sanhedrin.  Roman tactlessness and inefficiency, along with famine and internal squabbles, led to a rise in Jewish discontent. In 66 AD, this discontent exploded into open rebellion. Four years later, the Roman army had crushed the revolt, but had also destroyed the temple. The sacred treasures were seized and how off in a procession through the streets of Rome.  The destruction of the temple fundamentally changed the nature of Judaism. Taxes that were once paid to the temple were now paid to Rome, and the Jewish tradition of worshipping in the temple was over. With only the Western Wall remaining of the temple in Jerusalem, the local synagogues now became the new centers of the Jewish religion