Second Temple Period of Judaism

 Second Temple Period of Judaism

 

 
     For most of their lives, the original people of Jerusalem lived their lives under foreign rule: first it was the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar who conquered their kingdom and sent them to Babylon, the Persians, then the results of Alexander the Great's conquest and later, the Romans. The battle between growing influences of Hellenism, and the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah that resulted in the Judean's loss of independence, their holy city, First Temple, and battle between original beliefs caused a major change in the Jewish religion. Lasting for over 600 years, Judaism at this time could be split into several periods that maintained their own specific social and economic developments during varying foreign rulers.
     During their rule under the Persians, King Cyrus sent out over 50,000 Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their First Temple (becoming the Second Temple), which was finished in 516 BCE.
     Not long after, Persia, now under the reign of King Darius was conquered by Alexander the Great, forming what would be known as the Seleucid Kingdom and the spread of Greek(Hellenistic) culture heavily influenced the Judeans. This caused tension between Hellenstic Jews and religious Jews relations during the Hasmonean Era, that led up to the ending of that period and the rising of the Romans as Pompey attacked Jerusalem and occupied it around 63 BCE and the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 BCE after their revolt to throw off Roman rule failed.
      Though the newly modified city of Jerusalem flourished, demanded a more defined social stratification during its reconstruction under Persian rule, and less foreign influence, there always seemed to be a division between the Judeans who followed the "old ways" and the ones who favored Hellenization (Greek culture brought to Jerusalem by Alexander the Great). The most prominent of these parties was between the Pharisees who were for the ancient religion/ Mosaic laws and the Sadducees who emphasized the Second Temples rites and laws and focused more on the Written Torah containing Greek philosophy opposed to the original Prophets and other Jewish texts. This became the basis of Rabbinic Judaism. Their rivalry went as far as the Pharisees letting in the Romans to Jerusalem in order to kill the Sadducees priests who were currently at the Second Temple.
     It's even believed that this divide in Judaism and the growth of the Rabbinic Judaism paved the way for Christianity.

(Sorry this was a complicated one :))