Essay on The History and Hardships of the Jewish People

Jews are perhaps the greatest race to grace the earth. The Jews have overcome a lot of challenges in their time on Earth as a civilization. Perhaps, their biggest challenge came in 70 A.D. against Rome. The Jews were living under The Roman Empire, and for the most part, they coexisted under Agrippa I, but when he died, their differences started showing. The Romans no longer understood the Jews and their status in the community, and the Jews felt like the Romans did not understand. In 66 A.D., revolts started breaking out in Jerusalem. These rebellions scared the Romans because other Roman cities might’ve rebelled as well. So, they had no choice but to react. In 70 A.D., they broke through the walls of Jerusalem, massacred the Jews, and tore down the temple. Despite being 2000 years old, the siege of Jerusalem and post war Diaspora directly influenced the Jewish communities in the modern era.

We know from the accounts given by Josephus, that Jewish captives were brought back to Rome at the conclusion of the Jewish revolt in 66-70 CE1. Emperor Vespasian told Titus to stop the Jewish revolt and he did. Titus destroyed and looted the temple. Vespasian made

Under the headship of Zerubbabel who was a offspring from the House of David. Less than century later the Second journey would take place to Israel, with Ezra the Scribe being the leader. The subsequently four centuries also saw Jews of unstable degrees of self-rule under the Persians, and the Hellenistic over lordship (Ptolemaic and Seleucid). Under Ezra’s brilliant guidance they saw the repatriation of the people as they began the erection of the Second Temple on the same site as the First Temple. This would also include the refortification of the walls of Jerusalem a longer with the establishment of the Great Assembly known as Knessel Hagedolah as the judicial body and the ultimate religion of the Jewish people, which highlighted the Second Temple period. In the course of the rule of the Persian Empire, the leadership of the inhabitants of Judah was entrusted to the high priest, with the support of the ruling body of elders in Jerusalem. The Land also remained a Jewish theocracy under the Syrian-based Seleucid leaders, as it was a part of the ancient world conquered by Alexander the Great of Greece

After the Romans destroyed the Jewish temples and the city of Jerusalem, a group of Jewish people called the Zealots, captured and took over the Masada. The Zealots were the first Jewish people to revolt against Roman rule. This is the first revolt of its kind. Based on prophecies from the bible, if the Jewish people didn't follow Gods word, bad things would happen. In Luke 19: 41-44 it states “Jesus prophesied that Jerusalem would be destroyed because of the rejection of Jesus as the Messiah”.

One of the foundations of Israeli culture is Judaism, and the Weeping Wall in Jerusalem is one of the most iconic Jewish monuments. The lone wall was once apart of the Second Temple, a holy place. So who constructed the temple, why did they build, why was it destroyed, and what secrets can it tell us about the Jewish people and the Romans? The First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, but the foundational structure was rebuilt as a part of a decree made by Cyrus.

Throughout the history of Judaism, Jewish people have faced ongoing persecution and discrimination. Despite these conflicts, the faith remains alive, strong, and continuously growing. Like many religions faced with adversity, Judaism has had to assimilate its faith to survive in an ever-changing world. One significant moment of change in the Jewish history, the fall of the Second Temple, had the opportunity to destroy Judaism, but the Jewish people bonded together and reformulated their religion in order to save their faith. The falling of the Second Temple marks a distinct change in the Jewish faith through the modification of ritual practices to accommodate their new mobile lifestyle. This change would forever impact the Jewish

Many religious and ethnic groups have been oppressed throughout history. This oppression typically occurs out of conflict between different people groups and their opposing cultural values. One of the people groups that succumbed to oppression are the Jewish people who follow the monotheistic Judaism and strict laws of the Torah. The Jews have always been an oppressed group, especially during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. In the Hellenistic era, Syrian-Greek Antiochus IV raided the temple of Jerusalem in 169 BC, and rededicated the temple to Zeus and Ba'al between 168-165 BC. During the Roman Empire, Jews were segregated and lived in harsh conditions under Flaccus in 38 AD, and had their temple destroyed during the infamous Jewish-Roman

“According to the Hebrew Bible, the Israelites established a united kingdom beginning with Saul” (Spielvogel 33). David, one of Saul’s lieutenants, was able to continue building upon what Saul had started and reunited the Israelites. This unification led to the Israelites being a power on the battlefield, which gave them ability to claim large amounts of land. One area in particular was the city of Jerusalem. Soloman, David’s son, expanded the Empire further by developing more trade routes with other Israelite settlements. He also was the one behind the creation of the temple in Jerusalem. This temple represented all the Israelites worshipped and believed, thus making Jerusalem a central hub for their empire. As time went on tensions increased

Every religious group has suffered a time when their religion was not considered to be popular or right. Out of all of these religious groups that have suffered, no one group has suffered so much as that of the Jewish religion. They have been exiled from almost every country that they have ever inhabited, beginning with Israel, and leading all the was up to Germany, France, Spain, England, and Russia. Not only have they been exiled but also they have suffered through torture, punishment, and murder. Thus, because of the history of the religion, the Jewish people have become a very resilient people. They have survived thousands of years carrying their religion with them from one country to

The Second Temple Period was a time in history that bought about a lot of physical and spiritual changes. Often in history one is able to see the affect that new leadership has on a particular area. The same can be said about the Jews and the Second Temple Period. “Formerly called the “intertestamental period,” most scholars now prefer the term “Second Temple Period” For the time from the building of the Second temple in 515BC by Zerubbabel until its destruction by the Romans in AD 70, including the time of Jesus and the early church” “The Second Temple Period is comprised of five eras demarcated by a series of occupational forces of Palestine and punctuated by five great crises for the Jewish people”

In the end, as the above evidence shows, the Jews have always been an oppressed group, especially during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Between 168-165 BC in the Hellenistic era, Syrian-Greek Antiochus rededicated the holy temple to Zeus and condemned Judaism and Jewish celebrations upon threat of death. During the Roman Empire, Jews were segregated into a small ghetto and suffered horrifying torture by Alexandrian mobs during the reign of Caligula in 38 AD. Their sacred temple was also destroyed during the First Jewish-Roman war in 70 AD. Finally, the Jews also experienced fierce oppression under Emperor Hadrian from 117-138 AD who, like Antiochus IV before him, built a temple to Jupiter on the temple ruins and condemned Judaism. However, he also went one step further and renamed Israel as Syria-Palestine, after Israel’s enemies. This led to yet another Jewish diaspora after Jerusalem was turned into a pagan city. The Jews’ strange customs and monotheistic religion held them in contempt by other nations, leading to the oppression depicted above. Although, in some cases, the Jews were simply casualties in war, the desecration of their temple, outlawing of Judaism, and horrifying torture by the Alexandrian mob, prove that the Jews should be considered an oppressed group within the ancient

Jerusalem was the heart of the kingdom of Judah. With its destruction the country lost its political and religious centre. The city had a population of tens of thousands of people at that time, after its destruction and the exile of the urban elite the pattern of settlement completely changed. Jerusalem and its close vicinity has been erased, but other parts of Judah, especially the Benjamin region, the Northern highlands, the Repha’im valley and some parts south of Jerusalem continued to exist.

Throughout the history of the world, the Jewish people have been persecuted and oppressed because of their religious beliefs and faith. Many groups of people have made Jews their scapegoat. Jews have suffered from years of intolerance because people have not understood what the religion really means. They do not understand where and why the religion began, nor the customs of it's people. For one to understand the great hardships, triumphs, and history of the Jewish people one must open-mindedly peruse a greater knowledge of the Jewish people and faith.

Imagine that you move to a new place where nobody is like you. Everyone sees your differences and hates you for it. They give you heavy taxes, make you live in a separate section of town and fabricate all kinds of lies about you. Judaism, the world’s first monotheistic religion, has been persecuted in many similar ways since its beginning to present day and yet, it still lives. The persecution began with the Romans, who burned down the Jews’ most sacred place and expelled them from their homeland, Israel. Since that time, Jews have been persecuted and expelled from many countries, leading to small Jewish communities in Eastern Europe and Spain. In fact, Judaism is so resilient that it survived the Holocaust, in which more than 6 million Jews were killed. To survive, Jewish communities have used many survival strategies. Although the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe and Spain both used the tactic of going to places they were protected to keep their religion alive, they also used tactics unique to their communities.

The nation of Israel was originally a nation of nomadic people who were isolated and oppressed. After the horrific events of the Holocaust some Jewish people made homes in Israel. The people who made their homes came to be known as Israelites. They were given this name because the nation was named after Israel who was originally known as Jacob (Fisher, 2005). The nation of Israel has always been in a state of disorder and confusion, and in 1947 the United Nations gave Israel to the Jewish people who declared it an independent state in 1948. Israel’s Arabic neighbors did not support this decision and war followed. Battles are still being fought today. Tension also exists within the Jewish community in Israel. There have been many Jewish people who have settled in Israel. These settlers have diverse backgrounds. Some are orthodox and some are not which can bring tension. Even