The
Second Temple Period and Onwards: National Ups
and Downs
The Second Temple period - a period of some six hundred years
- might be termed a period of normal national development. It is true that
for the great majority of that time, Judah – or Judea, as it came to
be called, was not independent. A whole series of empires were the ruling
powers in the area. Nevertheless, despite occasional crises, the population
grew greatly, from thousands to millions, and a complex and developed national
life took form.
During this period, we see the development of a large Diaspora,
to the west and the east, not unlike the situation of many nations at that
time. There was frequent contact between the community in Eretz Yisrael and
the Diaspora communities. Pilgrimages and visits were common and we hear of
immigrants and emigrants.
The story changes after the Roman destruction of the Second Temple.
Contrary to popular belief, there is no large-scale forced exile of the Jewish
People from their land. Rather, the term Galut or exile, is used
to describe the period that now begins because of the theological idea that
the destruction – as punishment – represents G-d’s exile
of the Jewish people from the land of Israel. In point of fact, a relatively
vibrant community lived in the land of Israel for several centuries, albeit
in difficult circumstances under Roman (and, later, Roman-Christian) sovereignty.
By the fifth century, however, motivation to remain in the land
of Israel had reached a low ebb. During the preceding centuries, the majority
of the Jewish population had left for Diaspora communities; now, the community
fell into a decline that made its survival tenuous. There would always be
Jews within the land and their numbers would fluctuate greatly; however, these
numbers would always be small and relative to the other populations - the
Jews would be only a small minority despite their sense that the land was
their own.