Where did the Jews go in 70 CE?

Answer 1

The Jews of Judea were permitted to remain and even to occupy Jerusalem - it was only after the Second Roman Jewish War that this changed. However, Judaism had to change, leading to the development of what is now known as Rabbinic Judaism. The Sadducees had lost their power base and faded from history. The scribes, aligned with the Pharisees, were the rabbis of the Judaism that came out of this maelstrom.
Prior to 70 CE, worship mainly involved animal sacrifice in the Temple, and Torah readings in the synagogues. Only after 70 CE was prayer instituted on a daily basis. Decisions were also made on finalising the canon of the Hebrew scriptures. Over time, new writings also added meaning to and interpretations of the ancient scriptures.

A new and very different form of Judaism had arisen and was now challenging Rabbinic Judaism for dominance - Christianity. Ultimately Rabbinic Judaism won out, at least among Palestinian Jews. Christians were banned from the synagogues and worshippers were required to denounce Christians in the synagogues.

Answer 2

The Romans did not force the Jews out of Judea in a single expulsion. Rather, the Romans expelled them from Jerusalem only; and the rest of Judea lost its Jews slowly, over a period of centuries, as conditions in Judea became too harsh. Even then, we have records of Jewish communities who lived in Judea (Palestine) pretty continuously.

To answer the original question, those Jews who left Judea went to southern Europe, North Africa, Arabia, the Near East, and (slowly) further afield (especially towards central and Western Europe). Note that some of those regions (such as Italy, Babylonia and Tunisia/Libya) had already had Jewish communities, even during Second Temple times.

As to how the migrating Jews were treated, they experienced ups and downs: eras or decades of stability and even prosperity, peppered with maltreatment from time to time, including pogroms, crusades, expulsions, etc. (totaling many hundreds of such attacks).

Answer 3

They were scattered all over the world as The Bible says:

My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them (Ezekiel 34.6)

Answer 4

After the destruction of the Temple, the gold and silver that had been removed, including the Menorah were transported by Titus to Rome. Many Jews were forcibly enslaved and were used in building projects in Rome. Some one thousand rebels called Sicarii, still were at large and used the old fort built by King Herod as a refuge. It was called Masada. After a long siege by the 10th Roman Legion, under the command of Silva, a ramp was built to get into the fort. But when they finally got to the fort, the Romans found that the Jews had committed suicide rather than becoming Roman slaves. With the Temple destroyed, Jews in the Dispora could not send in donations to the non-existent Temple and the Romans ordered that these funds be sent to the Temple of Jupiter in Rome.

Answer 5

The second Temple was destroyed 1943 years ago. The majority of the Jews who had been in the land (and survived) remained in the land (unlike at the time of the first destruction 490 years earlier). In Babylonia there had been a very large Jewish community throughout the Second Temple period. After the second Temple's destruction, the Judean Jewish population dwindled slowly, as people trickled into Babylonia, North Africa and other areas, in a process that took centuries.

Answer 6

They were able to continue living in the north of the country, and a few hundred thousand did so, though others joined the Jewish communities preexisting in Babylonia and elsewhere. During periods of war or Roman and Christian persecution (several times in the 250 years following the Second Destruction), more and more Jews left Judea to join their compatriots in Babylonia, North Africa, or southern Europe. During this time, the Babylonian Jews were flourishing.

Did daily prayer begin at that time?

Of course not. That is a misconception based on lack of familiarity with source material. Jews always worshiped in synagogues, even when the Holy Temple stood. Even within the Temple premises, there were several synagogues. During the Second Temple era, ancient Greek authors repeatedly attest to the large synagogues that stood in all the countries where Jews lived. The Dioploston in Alexandria, for example, was famous for its size (Talmud, Tosefta Sukkah 4:6). In First Temple times also, synagogues served the same function (of daily prayer and study) that they do today (Talmud, Megillah 26b and Berakhot 31a).

Answer 7

The Diaspora (scattering of the Jewish people) began because we were unable to live in the Holy Land. The prophets had constantly warned the Israelites that ignoring the Torah would result in exile.
1) Around 2600 years ago, the Assyrians forcibly exiled the Ten Israelite tribes to points unknown. A small percentage of each of these tribes is still among us, but most of them were exiled and didn't return.
2) Around 2500 years ago, the Babylonians destroyed the First Temple and forcibly exiled the remainder of Israel's population to Babylonia. (See: The Destruction)
While the Jews were permitted to return to Israel (Judea) seventy years later, and tens of thousands did so (and rebuilt the Temple), most of them remained in Babylonia, while others began to settle in North Africa, southern Europe, the Crimea, throughout the Near East and elsewhere.

3) In 68 CE, the Romans destroyed the Second Temple. The Romans did not force the Jews out of Judea in a single expulsion. Rather, the Romans expelled them from Jerusalem only; and the rest of Judea lost its Jews slowly, over a period of centuries, as living there became too harsh. Even then, we have records of Jewish communities who lived in Judea (Palestine) during the entire period of the last two millenia. (See: History of the Jews in Israel)

Those Jews who left Judea went to southern Europe, North Africa, Arabia, the Near East, and (slowly) further afield (especially throughout Europe).

See also:

Jewish history timeline

Where do Jews live today?

Related topic:
The diaspora (scattering) was difficult for us:

1) Because certain mitzvot (such as those related to agriculture in the Holy Land) now became suspended for the duration of the exile.

2) Because of the impediment to communication between the various communities. This could lead to the development of rivaling groups, each claiming to be authentic.

(See for example: What are the Karaites?)

3) Because the Jews were now a minority among other nations, who were sometimes quite hostile.

4) Along with the Torah, the Land of Israel (Judea) and the Holy Temple had been central to Judaism. It now was to be seen whether Torah-observance could be maintained on the high level that those ideal factors had been conducive to.

Related topic:
How did the diaspora affect the Jews?
To a certain extent, the diaspora caused the various Jewish communities to take on minor aspects of their host countries.
The religion itself was affected little, if at all, since all Jews share the same Torah and Talmud, and differences within halakhah (Jewish laws) are relatively small. In addition, the Jews were dissuaded from assimilating because the Romans were the polar opposite of Judaism; plus the fact that some of their greatest historians spewed diatribes of hate against the Jews.However, in secondary matters of culture such as pronunciation, mannerisms, and introduction of new vocabulary, every community is influenced somewhat by the others among whom they dwell; so some traits of our regions of residence have rubbed off on us. Examples are the differences in pronunciation and accent (for the Hebrew alphabet), differences in dress, and minor differences in customs.

See also:

Maintaining Judaism during the exile

Answer 8

It wasn't just the "Temple" that got destroyed!

More than a million Jews were stuck in the city of Jerusalem during Passover because they were surrounded by Roman army. The siege lasted three-and-a-half years until AD 70. During that time of intense hunger, sickness and famine, even mothers ate their babies, says historian Josephus. He states that more than a million Jews died. The city and the temple were razed to the ground. 97,000 were captured and enslaved. That's what happened to the "Jews of Judea." Rebels who managed to escape the siege in Jerusalem took refuge in Herod's fort in Masada. They chose to commit suicide when capture was certain.

Answer 9

The Second Temple was destroyed. 70 CE is the year which is commonly named; while the year 68 is given in some Jewish sources.