The Diaspora

Recently I have read a lot of information about the Jewish diaspora. Some of it I knew and some of it was new information to me. Under the Babylonian captivity the Jews became, predictably, important to the empire. They seem to have been held in high esteem, with a few notable exceptions, and become well adapted to life in Babylon. They became comfortable there, so comfortable that some of them stayed after the captivity ended. I do not have definite numbers, but a developed correspondence did develop between Babylonian Jews and those in the homeland. It has been pointed out that the largest diaspora population was in Alexandria with a population of 200,000 in the First Century. In fact, the Alexandrian Jews even had a local temple built. Of course it did not supplant the temple in Jerusalem but its mere existence seems to me to testify to the importance of Alexandria to the Jews who also maintained well established contact with their cousins at home. Other than Babylon and Egypt, there were diaspora populations in Syria, Greece, Rome and Spain that I am certain of and probably in even more places. Jerusalem was always the center of their religion though and regular contact with the Holy City was always vitally important. I can not even imagine a Roman Catholic parish being out of contact with the Vatican for any amount of time at all and I am sure that is exactly the same view all Jews had of their relationship to Jerusalem, after all that was the land promised to them through their father Abraham.

Under Roman rule the Jews enjoyed a considerable amount of religious freedom. And why not? It was common practice of the Roman State not to interfere with local religious practice. They actually made a habit of adopting foreign religions and beginning to endorse alien cults in Rome. The only stipulation put on the Jews was that they pray for the state and pray for the state's leadership. Caesar Augustus even went so far as to fund daily sacrifices to the Most High God of the Jews in the Jerusalem temple. It is true that Jews were quite effectively vilified in the Roman Empire after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD but that was not by virtue of the merit of the accusations but by the political situation in Rome. The emperors needed to sacrifice the Jewish reputation in order to solidify their own power. After that the relationship between the Jews and the Romans steadily declined and the Jews were finally expelled from Jerusalem and Judea after a revolt in132-135 AD. The Jews did not entirely leave though. I do believe that at least 100,000-300,000 Jews always remained in Jerusalem all the way until the foundation of Israel in 1948.

What changed in Judaism in 70 AD with the destruction of the temple? Absolutely nothing for a great long time. Eventually the temple mount became a Roman camp and the headquarters of the Tenth Roman Legion around which a Roman settlement was founded. That did not happen right away though. What did happen right away was an expectation for the rebuilding of the temple was born. The corner stone was even set, which all makes perfect sense. After all, the entire empire enjoyed religious freedom and the Jews have always enjoyed a few extra privileges. Relations remained civil and for a few years both parties appeared completely agreeable with each other. The relationship of Jerusalem to the diaspora Jews remained completely unchanged. Jerusalem was still the center of the Jewish religion and diaspora Jews would have remained in regular contact with her. After 135 AD and the dispersion of the Jews by Rome that would have remained unchanged. Jerusalem would still be the center of Judaism but the Jews that remained would just have more people to keep in contact with.