The Repetitiveness of Human Behavior
Rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem
Chapter 5 of Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths discusses the emergence of Judaism during the Babylonian diaspora. During this diaspora, Judahites were forced to invent new ways of observing their religion after the First Temple was destroyed. In doing so, I find it particularly impressive the flexibility of religion. This is mainly because, after Cyrus II had allowed Jews to return to Judea, many stayed in Babylon “due to the remarkable religious reform, which resulted in the religion of Judaism” (Armstrong 100). This demonstrates the evolution of Judaism going from a religion centered around the Temple to not necessarily needing it.
However, the progression of Judaism saw that Jews who were not exiled, therefore not learning the Torah, were not allowed to practice the religion. This is particularly evident with the Am-Haaretz tribe who were labeled as outsiders by returning Jews. Judaism therefore became an exclusive religion where “membership of Israel was now confined to those exiled to Babylon” along with those who understood how to read the Torah (Armstrong 102). This point set a precedent for the rest of Jewish history. From this point on, Jews formed their own communities that excluded others from joining.
Hundreds of years later, Jewish communities were isolated from the rest of society. Ultimately these communities, especially in Europe, were “semi-autonomous” as they “governed themselves and cared for the needs of their members” (Jacobs). This kind of lifestyle proved to be beneficial for Jewish groups because smaller communities allowed for more practical living standards. However, their close to complete isolation from the rest of the world proved to make Jews an easy target of hate crimes, subsequently increasing anti-Semitism which was mainly focused in Europe.
The Spanish Inquisition captures this extreme level of anti-semitism in Europe. Jews who did not convert and did not leave Spain during the inquisition were killed, forcing many to convert. This profound example of anti-Semitism comes to show how Jews were cast as outsiders in Europe just as the Am-Haaretz tribe had also been seen as outsiders by returning Judahites. Therefore, casting another group as an outsider is a repetitive behavior throughout human history because it cements one group as more legitimate than another.
Comparing anti-Semitism and the exclusion of the Am-Haaretz group in ancient Judah is, needless to say, on different levels. But the concept of one tribe seeing another group of people as inferior to them captures humanity’ egocentrism. In order for humanity to grow as a civilization, it is fundamental for us to reach a standard level of equality. Or else, hate crimes and exclusion will persist forever.
Citation (s):
Jacobs, Rabbi Jill. “The Importance of the Community (Kehilla) in Judaism.” My Jewish Learning, 6 June 2019, www.myjewishlearning.com/article/community-focused/. Accessed 15 Feb. 2024.
Nice blog post about the shifting nature of Judaism during the Babylonian period and the example of how in the post-exilic period there were exclusive claims to what counted as "true" Judaism. I like how you bring in later history, but nuance should be added to this sentence: "from this point on, Jews formed their own communities that excluded others from joining." While there are indeed Jewish communities that exclude others from joining since the Babylonian exile, this is more of an exception than the rule as we see with the influence of Hellenism and the concept of conversion in Judaism which we have examples of from antiquity and continuing to this day for most Jewish communities. Another nuance would be that the semi-autonomous Jewish communities in the medieval period weren't typically isolated because the Jewish community chose isolation, but rather that the majority non-Jewish community pushed them in this direction.
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