How did Judaism survive when the Assyrians destroyed the kingdom of Israel?

Answer 1

The Jews lived not only in Jerusalem. There were, at the same time, tens of large and small Jewish communities in the Galilee, in the Jordan valley, and elsewhere in Israel (Judea). There were also hundreds of thousands of Jews, at the same time, in Babylonia, Greece, Italy, Turkey, throughout North Africa, and further afield.

Answer 2

Judaism survived through that portion of the Israelite people whom the Assyrians did not destroy.

The Assyrians conquered and scattered most of the Israelite tribes, but not all. The people of Judah (and Benjamin) remained where they had been; and they were then the transmitters of Judaism for posterity and the ancestors of modern Jewry.

Answer 3

Israel and Judah were separate, and sometimes mutually hostile, kingdoms. The people of both kingdoms worshipped a national God (Yahweh) as well as other gods, much like their neighbours. In spite of biblical tradition, scholars say that both kingdoms were definitely polytheistic during the period up to the destruction of Israel in 722 BCE.

During the late monarchy, after the destruction of Israel, Judah gradually moved towards monolatry - the belief that although there are many gods, only one God need be worshipped. However, some scholars believe that polytheism survived, at least among some of the people, until the Babylonian Exile or even later. Judaism, as the name implies, is the religion of Judah. At some stage possibly during the invasion by King Josiah of Judah, Samaria, the successor state to Israel, adopted a primitive form of Judaism, and used the books of the Torah (Pentateuch) but refused to accept scriptures that glorified Judah.

Judaism evolved away from its early roots, through 'Second-Temple Judaism to the Rabbinic Judaism that began in the late first century CE. John Dominic Crossan (The Birth of Christianity) says that although rabbinic Judaism claimed exclusive continuity with the past, it was as much a great leap from that ancestry as was Christianity.

Answer 4

1) Reading the Torah in the synagogue and studying it at other times. In those countries where there were zero Torah-scholars, Judaism died out. One example of that is the Kaifeng community.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

Yohanan ben Zaccai