The Destruction of the Second Temple 

The Roman Empire seized Israel in 63 BC. The Roman emperor appointed a governor (procurator) who was in charge of collecting taxes on behalf of the Empire. There was a set goal that had to be met, but they would often collect much more than the amount they were supposed to and kept the difference, getting rich right before everyone’s eyes. Besides that, the governors came up with new taxes all the time; new reasons to fill their own pockets.

  The financial aspect of the problem obviously displeased the Jews, but they had bigger problems. Rome began choosing the high priest, which was the highest religious authority among the people. It was a known fact that the Empire only favored those who collaborated with them and this made the Jews resentful because according to tradition, the high priest had to be the purest person among them.  

During the time period around Jesus’ birth, a group of Jewish rebels, the Zealots, secretly formed among the people. They were a resistance group that aimed to expel the Roman Empire from Israel using all means possible, including violence.  

The emperor who thought he was god 

Thus begins the reign of Caligula, a notoriously psychotic Roman emperor, who was very controversial and feared inside and outside the boundaries of the Empire. If the Israelites thought the Roman domination was bad before, under Caligula everything became worse. In the year 39, the emperor issued a decree in which he claimed to be a god and was to be worshiped as such. He ordered his statue be placed in all of the temples and everywhere else that belonged to the Roman Empire. The Jewish people were the only ones to protest against this type of idolatry by refusing to desecrate the temple with a statue of a false god.  

During one of his famous bouts of madness, Caligula, threatened to destroy the temple of the Jews if they didn’t obey his decree and put his statue inside. Israel tried to calm the tyrant by sending him a mandate, but they were unsuccessful. The emperor threatened to exterminate the Jews if they didn’t obey, but died before the threat was carried out.  

Caligula’s death didn’t make everyone less nervous, as they’d expected. Most people feared that the new emperor would be just like his predecessor, if not worse. The Zealots were strengthened by the belief that the emperor’s sudden death was the work of God; confirming that He’d be alongside the Jews in any battle against other people.  

The Rebellion  

The absence of Caligula didn’t put an end to the Roman governor’s abuse against the Jews. They would go as far as burning the Torah scrolls (the sacred book of Israel) inside the temple.

  In the year 70, Emperor Titus’s roman forces breached the walls of Jerusalem. Many attribute the permission to invade to God because of the life threatening acts of immorality and idolatry being committed by the Jews.  The Jewish people were massacred by the Roman military and Jerusalem was destroyed. The second temple was looted and razed. Today, in Rome, in the ruins of the Arches of Titus, there are sculptures depicting Roman soldiers pillaging and destroying the temple, carrying with them a menorah, a sacred seven-branched candelabrum.  

Worst of all: the Jews were exiled from their land, cast out from Israel. It’s estimated that more than one million Jews were killed in what became known as the Great Revolt against the Roman Empire. Thus, began the Diaspora, where Jewish people were scattered throughout the world. They were only able to have their land back again in 1948, when the United Nations (UN) approved Israel as a state through a decisive vote from the then head of the Brazilian General Assembly, Osvaldo Aranha.  

The Exile  

Because of their exile from Jerusalem by Titus in 1948, Jews were scattered throughout the world. Historians say that when this happens, people completely lose their culture after six generations, eliminating an entire history. The Jewish people managed to maintain their culture, even though they were scattered throughout many countries all over the world.  

Although today Jewish people are back in Jerusalem, a third temple was never built. A Muslim mosque now stands where the second temple used to be, but no Jews are allowed inside.  

A large number of Jews dream of building the third temple, but this can only happen after people learn how to put into practice the teachings of the Torah; then there’ll be harmony among the people. There’s a non-profit organization called the Temple Institute which is already building artifacts and other Temple accessories as they’re described in the Bible, believing that the third temple will be built during their lifetime.  

They have a traditional belief that the new Messiah (they don’t believe Jesus was the Messiah) will be the builder of the new Temple. Still today, Jews all over the world, recite the “Shmoneh Esreh” three times a day. In which part of the prayer says: “Return in mercy to Jerusalem your city, and dwell in it as you have promised. Rebuild it soon in our day as an eternal structure”.