1. The Spread of Judaism

3. Ruled by Foreigners
The land of Judah was in the path of conquering armies that marched across the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Over the years, many different groups, including the Syrians and Romans, controlled the country.

5. Syria Controls Judah
In 198 B.C.E., Syria seized control of Judah. Syrian rulers admired Greek culture, and introduced Greek beliefs to the Jewish people. Some Jews adopted these beliefs. However, others continued to observe, or follow, Jewish religious beliefs and practices. Judah’s first Syrian rulers allowed the Jews to practice their religion.

7. In 175 B.C.E., a new Syrian ruler ordered the Jewish priests to make offerings to the Greek gods. When they refused, he placed statues of Greek gods in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Syrian ruler made it a crime to observe Jewish laws or study the Torah. Some Jews fled to the hills, where they prepared to fight back.

8. Rebels fight Syria
A Jewish priest sparked the revolt to drive out the Syrians. One of his five sons, Judah Maccabee, led the revolt. Judah Maccabee had a difficult task. His tiny fighting force, called the Maccabees, faced the larger, better-equipped Syrian army. But the Maccabees’ knowledge of the countryside gave them an advantage. In battle after battle, the rebels defeated the Syrian forces, and the Maccabees regained control of Jerusalem in 164 B.C.E.

10. Rome Conquers Judea
The independence of the Jews did not last long. About a century later, in 63 B.C.E., the Romans conquered Judah, which the Romans called Judea. The Romans were very strict: the Jews were allowed to have kings and leaders, but they had to be appointed by Rome.
Another century later, in 66 C.E., a Jewish group of Zealots rebelled against Rome, and seized the fortress of Masada as their base.

12. Resistance to Roman Rule
Rome responded to the uprising by sending General Vespasian to crush the rebels. Some Jews feared that they would destroy the Temple. A teacher named Yohanan ben Zakkai asked Vespasian to set aside a place for Jewish study. This new school kept Jewish traditions alive.
Later, Vespasian’s son, Titus, stormed Jerusalem in 70 C.E. and destroyed the Temple. Today, only the Western Wall of the Temple still stands, and is a holy site for Jewish people. The Zealots were killed, along with approximately a half million other Jews during the rebellion.

14. One last attempt
The Jews attempted to rebel against the Romans again in 132 C.E., when Emperor Hadrian announced that he planned to rebuild Jerusalem as a Roman city. Another 800,000 Jews died during three years of fighting. Hadrian banned Jews from entering Jerusalem for the rest of his reign.

16. The Diaspora
The destruction of the Temple and the exile of the Jews led to what was called the Diaspora, which is a Greek word meaning “scattered”. The Romans sent some Jews as slaves to Rome, while others fled all over, including to Europe. As a result, the Jewish political state ceased to exist until the creation of Israel in 1948 C.E. This means that there was no Jewish country for 1800 years.

18. Judaism - An Ongoing Faith
Although they were scattered all over, many Jews remained faithful to their beliefs. Jewish religious leaders and teachers, called rabbis, tried to make sure that the Jewish identity was not lost. They built places of worship where Jewish people settled called synagogues. At synagogues, Jewish people gathered to listen to rabbis read the Torah and the Commentaries, which were interpretations of the Torah. Along with Christianity, Judaism strongly influenced the way Western civilizations would start.