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

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