Return

When the Persians overran Babylonia in 536 B.C.E., the Persian ruler Cyrus the Great issued a proclamation allowing the Jews to return to Judea and rebuild the Temple.

Thus said King Cyrus of Persia: "The Lord God of Heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has charged me to build Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judea. Whoever is among you of all his people, let his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judea, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, which is in Jerusalem. (Ezra 1:2-3)

Despite extremely difficult conditions, the Jews completed rebuilding the Temple in 515 B.C.E.

And all the people raised a great shout extolling the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord had been laid. Many of the priests and Levites and chiefs of clans, old men who had seen the first House, wept loudly at the sight of the founding of this House. Many others shouted aloud for joy so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people and the sound was heard afar off. (Ezra 3: 10-13)

Nechamiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, and Jews lived relatively peacefully in their holy city for hundreds of years under the rule of different nations. In 332 B.C.E, Alexander the Great conquered Jerusalem from the Persians. After Alexander's death, the Ptolemies ruled Jerusalem. In 198 B.C.E., the Seleucids took over Jerusalem. While initially Jews enjoyed freedom of religion under the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III, this ended with the rise to power of his son Antiochus IV.

Rededication

In an effort to unite his kingdom, Antiochus IV tried to force the Jews to adopt Hellenistic culture and religion. The study of Torah was forbidden. Jewish rituals, such as circumcision, became punishable by death.

Judah Maccabee, of the Hasmonean family of priests, led a rebellion of loyal Jews against the great Seleucid forces. The Maccabees were able, against great odds, to regain control of the Temple Mount. The prophet Zachariah sums up this Maccabean victory when he wrote, "Not by might, not by power, but by My spirit."

The Temple, which had been desecrated by the Greek-Syrians, was cleansed and rededicated to the One God of the Jews.

The whole army was assembled and went up to Mount Zion. There they found the Temple laid to waste, the altar profaned, the gates burnt down, the courts overgrown with weeds like a thicket or wooded hill-side, and the priests rooms in ruin. They tore their garments, and wailed loudly, put ashes on their heads, and fell on their faces to the ground. They sounded the ceremonial trumpets, and cried aloud to Heaven. Then Judah ("the Maccabee") detailed troops to engage the garrison of the citadel while he cleansed the Temple. He selected priests without blemish, devoted to the law, and they purified the Temple, .... It was rededicated, with hymns of thanksgiving, to the music of harps and lutes and cymbals. All the people prostrated themselves, worshipping and praising Heaven that their case had prospered. (I Maccabees 4:36-55)

Herod

Later Hasmonean rulers did not follow in the righteous ways of Judah the Maccabee. The Romans moved into help rule Jerusalem, and then took over control of the city and its surroundings. The Romans appointed Herod as King of Judea in 37 B.C.E.

Herod embarked on a massive building campaign which included the building of the Second Temple. The building of the Second Temple required nearly twenty years of work, more than ten thousand workers, advanced engineering know-how, massive stones and costly materials such as marble and gold.

According to the Talmud, "He who has not seen the Temple of Herod, has never seen a beautiful building." (Babylonian Talmud, Baba Batra, 4a; Shemot Rabba 36:1)

Herod's building campaign made Jerusalem one of the most impressive cities in the world. According to the rabbis of that day, "Ten measures of beauty descended to the world; nine of them were allotted to Jerusalem."

Destruction

Relations between Jews and Romans deteriorated as the Romans began to impose their ways on the Jews. One Roman edict commanded that Jerusalem be decorated with statues of the Roman emperor, which transgressed Judaism's opposition to graven images. The quarrels quickly escalated into war.

Titus lead Roman forces to conquer the city of Jerusalem. When the Romans encountered surprisingly strong opposition by the Jews, led by John of Giscala in the Lower City and Temple Mount and by Simon Bar Giora in the Upper City, the Romans bombarded the city with battering arms and heavy stones. Despite the intentions of Titus and Caesar to the contrary, the Second Temple was burnt and destroyed during the fighting. After the Roman conquest of Jerusalem, Jews were banished from their holy city.

Prayers

While in exile, Jews never stopped mourning for and praying to return to Jerusalem. The word Zionism - the national movement of the Jewish people - comes from the word Zion, one of the Jewish names for the holy city of Jerusalem.

Three times every day, when Jews pray, they face to the east, toward Jerusalem, and pray for their return to the Holy City.

After every meal, Jews pray that God will "rebuild Jerusalem speedily in our days."

"Next year in Jerusalem," is recited by every Jew at the end of the Passover Seder and at the end of the Yom Kippur fast.

At Jewish weddings, a glass is broken in commemoration of the destruction of the Temple. Blessings recited during the Jewish marriage ceremony pray for the return of Zion's children to Jerusalem and for the sound of joyous nuptials to be heard in Jerusalem's streets.