The Great Revolt – 21
The Great Revolt and the destruction of the Temple represent, of course, a major turning point in Jewish history from every perspective. The pattern of life in exile had been established previously, with the creation of the Babylonian community; however, the diaspora as we know it is really only known to us from 70 CE onward.
A few key points regarding this period that are of interest for our teaching of Israel:
- The escape to Yavneh: trading the struggle for political sovereignty for acceptance of limited religious/communal autonomy
- The Bar Kochba revolt and the historical power of messianism
- The historical memory and observance of the destruction in the Jewish tradition (this was dealt with in lesson 15, on the destruction of the first Temple)
- The two revolts as symbols in modern Israeli culture