Before the destruction of the Second Tempe, people believed that in the time of the Messiah, wars would stop, and there would be universal peace and prosperity. All people, enjoying peace and harmony, will be able to devote themselves to the knowledge of God and spiritual improvement. In the Jewish tradition, the Messiah is a king, a descendant of King David, who God will send to deliver the people of Israel and save humanity.
After the destruction of the Second Temple, the faith of the Jews in the Messiah became more firmly rooted in religion. Thus, the Messiah was seen as a savior who would one day come to protect and deliver the people of Israel from the persecution they suffered (Judaism: The foundation of three great religions of the Middle East). The dualistic concept of exile and deliverance became one of the central themes in religion, and, accordingly, the Messiah became the deliverer of all Jews from persecution.
It is believed that the Judaism of the Second Temple era is the Judaism of the scribes, as opposed to the early Judaism of priests and prophets. Circumcision and Sabbath-keeping were to be the hallmarks of a Jew (Fox, 2018). A distinctive feature of Judaism of this period was the patrilineal kinship system, the national character of religion, and the need for a pilgrimage to the Jerusalem temple.
The Judaism of the Second Temple was not a single trend and fell apart in some directions: Sadducees (temple priests), Pharisees (scribes), Essenes, and Zealots. The destruction of Jerusalem profoundly affected the Jewish people and brought about dramatic changes in Judaism itself. People were again separated from God. But this time, there were no prophets to comfort and assure them of their future restoration in the holy city. After the destruction of the Temple, the Jewish world was gripped by shock, bitterness, and pessimism.
Despite the prevalence of Judaism and its peaceful existence with other religions, cases of anti-Semitist campaigns are still recorded in the world. The attitude towards Jews is based not so much on their individual qualities or achievements as on the ingrained ideas of Jewish greed, stubbornness, demonic, laziness, and greed. Thus, the non-acceptance of the people and hatred of an ethnic group and religion is an urgent and modern problem.
References
Fox, T. J. (2018). Soteriology in mainstream monotheistic religions: The Messiah conundrum (Publication No. 10933961) [Master’s thesis, Liberty University]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
Judaism: The foundation of three great religions of the Middle East. (n.d.). Adtalem. Global Education. Web.