2:1 Temple Destruction and the Transformation of Judaism

In the wake of the Temple’s destruction in 70 AD, Rabbi Issac would declare, ‘At this time we have neither prophet nor priest, neither sacrifice, nor Temple, nor altar — what is it that can make atonement for us, even though the Temple is destroyed? The only thing that we have left is prayer!’ Long before the Roman attack, a monumental shift had been taking place in Jewish faith and practice. For hundreds of years, Jews had already been discovering how to worship and encounter the presence of God independently of the temple and its sacrifices. And this was happening through the practice of prayer. During-the era of the 2nd Temple, it certainly would have appeared that the building in Jerusalem was the indispensable heart of Judaism.  But the reality was actually something quite different. The real soul of Jewish faith was not to be found in the Temple. It was to be found in the home, and in a new community institution called the synagogue.  In these places, prayer was becoming the spiritual equivalent of animal sacrifice.