How did Judaism grow in the period after he Jews' exile?

Answer 1

Scholars generally believe that monotheistic Judaism was introduced during the seventh-century-BCE reign of King Josiah, although a minority view is that Judaism actually began during the Babylonian Exile and the events surrounding its introduction were written respectively back into the Book of Kings. Margaret Barker (The Great Angel, A Study of Israel's Second God) makes a case that monotheism was imposed with incomplete success onto Israelite faith just before the Exile, and that the suppressed traditions continued alongside monotheistic orthodoxy, absorbing new ideas and adapting to new forms.

There is some evidence in the books written during the Exile, that the monotheists were still fighting a battle to suppress polytheism among the Jews. This evidence includes: descriptions of polytheistic rituals that been performed in the Temple before the Exile but were now proscribed; pronouncements against polytheism; and clever techniques like Psalm 82 which tells the people that the other gods have failed in their duty and will die like men, with God inheriting all the nations. Why continue to worship gods who no longer live? Regardless of subsequent attribution, Psalm 82 was written during the Babylonian Exile.

Very similar in style to Psalm 82 are two related passages in the Book of Zechariah. It reports visions in which Joshua was persuaded to walk in the ways of the Lord and keep his charge. In the first passage (Zechariah 3:1-8) Joshua the high priest had been found guilty of iniquity, but the Lord needed him and was willing to offer him inducements and honour. In the second passage (Zechariah 6:9-13), we can assume that Joshua had accepted the Lord's offer. All this happened in heaven, giving it an apolyptic feel of divine authority. If the high priest was guilty of an iniquity such as corruption or challenging the authority of Zorobabel, he would have been dealt with quite differently. On the other hand, Joshua could have represented a rebellious religious cult. Or perhaps there had been no high priest of this name, in fact Joshua symbolised the sun god, and the iniquity was that he allowed his followers to worship him.

In brief, there is ample evidence that during the period during and after the Babylonian Exile, monotheists were working towards eliminating polytheism. Figurines of the fertility goddess Asherah are not found in Judah in archaeological digs associated with the post-Exilic period, but instead the more ambiguous figure of Lady Wisdom entered Jewish belief.

During the Babylonian Exile, Judaism absorbed many traditions that closely parallel those previously associated with the Zoroastrian religion of the Persians. On one view, 'Pharisee' is a corruption of 'Farsi, and the sect of that name that arose late in the Maccabean period was so named because of the greater willingness to absorb Farsi (Persian) traditions.

Answer 2

Exile occurs when people once forced to live in a foreign land. During the Isralites exile in Babylon, their religion became Judaism. Jews met each week on the Sabbath, a day to worship and rest in a house of worship.

Answer 3

Religious Growth

The Jews took their Judaism with them to the countries of their dispersion throughout North Africa, southern Europe, and the lands of nearby Asia. In the religion itself, the books of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) were canonized soon after the Babylonian exile; the prayers were set in their final wording; and (later) the Mishna (Oral Torah) and Talmud were set in written form.

Demographic Growth

Jews have a relatively high Birth Rate (compared to non-Jewish neighbors) and have had a high birth rate consistently throughout the Exile Period. In areas with less non-Jewish "supervision" and ghettoization of Jews, Jewish demographic growth has skyrocketed, such as in rural Poland in the 1800s, and the US and Israel in the 20th centuries.

Answer 4

Rabbi Jacob Emden (1697-1776) once said that the survival of the Jewish people is the greatest of miracles. It can be explained only as a fulfillment of God's covenant.

Consider also this famous quote from Mark Twain:

"If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one quarter of one percent of the human race. The Jew ought hardly to be heard of; but he is heard of, has always been heard of.

The Egyptians, the Babylonians and the Persians rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greeks and Romans followed and made a vast noise, and then they were gone; other people have sprung up and held their torch high for a time but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished.

The Jew saw them all, survived them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no dulling of his alert mind. All things are mortal but the Jews; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?"

See also:

God's covenant

Keeping Judaism strong during exile

What did Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai do for the survival of Judaism?

Answer 5

1) Through reading the Torah in the synagogue and studying it at other times.2) Keeping the laws and beliefs of the Torah. Those who didn't do this, such as the Hellenizers and Sadducees, went lost.

3) Maintaining vibrant Jewish communities, with communal prayer and study, mutual help, maintaining ties between the various communities, etc.

4) Remembering God's covenant and promise that the Jews and Judaism will never cease.

See also:

More about the diaspora

Answer 6

Judaism survived because Jews survived and there are numerous interrelated reasons that the Jews survived despite being deprived of their homeland and being almost consistently persecuted to varying degrees, regardless of whether the miracle-argument is convincing or not.

1) Identity and Distinctiveness: Both Jews and non-Jews perceived Jews as a unique ethnic group of people with specific religious beliefs. Historically, parts of the Jewish and parts of the non-Jewish communities have strongly resisted integration and legal equality between Jews and non-Jews. This distinctive identity was further reinforced by the various forms of persecution that Jews suffered. They realized that nobody would look out for their interests consistently other than themselves, which made them more resilient and inward-looking as a community with distinct customs and beliefs.

It is worth noting that in countries with more persistent persecution (but not genocide) of Jews, that Jews tend to be more religious than in countries were Jews feel less persecuted. This is not to encourage persecution, but there is a strong correlation between stronger persecution (that does not rise to genocides or massacres) and a more religious Jewish population.

2) High Degree of Literacy and Education: Jews have historically had high literacy rates and a determination to be educated. This resulted in Jews being able to more effectively preserve their traditions than the general Christian or Muslim populations with which they lived. This prevented cultural diffusion, where it did occur, from obfuscating Jewish traditions because the latter could always be reread and discussed.

3) Usefulness: Since Jews were more educated, they were able to branch out into numerous more skilled professions. Additionally, many of the professions in artisanry were forbidden to Jews. This led to many Jews becoming lawyers, doctors, bankers, and bureaucrats. Their abilities to help Gentile leaders effectively rule their states made the Jews worth protecting in a way that other minorities, such as the Romani, did not encourage.

4) Mobility: Unlike most minorities, the Jews were able to migrate from areas with increasing persecution and hardship to areas where these things were lessened. This moblity was enhanced by the above three benefits. Since Jews were distinct, it fostered a strong sense of brotherhood, meaning that a migrant Jew would be welcomed by the extant Jewish community. Additionally, the shared literacy of the Jewish communities meant that even if the migrants did not speak the vernacular, they could at least communicate with Jews using written Hebrew in a pinch. However, more useful were Jewish languages like Yiddish, Ladino, Yevanic, or Judeo-Arabic which had a larger geographic dispersions than most spoken languages of the time. Also, given that Jews were very useful, they posed less of welfare problem than non-Jewish migrants with equal resources.

Answer 7

About 45,000 Jews returned to the Holy Land as the Second Temple was built. The rest, a much larger number, remained in the lands of exile.

Answer 8

The Jewish people maintained the old Jewish traditions regardless of where they ended up. These tradition were their bias against introducing non Jewish men into their fold.

Answer 9

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