[Avodah] Summary of the Entire History of Second Temple Era

[Yitzchok Levine]

The following is from pages 400 - 401 of the essay Adar IV that 
appears in Volume II of the Collected Writings of RSRH.

If we were to summarize the entire history of the era of the Second
Temple in terms of one single thought, we would surely view it as a
preparatory period for the great migration through the ages that lay in
store for Israel. In these wanderings, Israel would find itself among
many nations of many different kinds, but the lives of none of these
nations would be compatible with the ideals of Judaism. In the midst
of these nations, Israel would have to preserve its unique individuality.
Beneath the eye of its alien overlords, and in its relations with the
subjects of these mighty rulers, Israel was expected to refuse to bow to
the gods of the nations. It was to translate into consummate reality, to
the greatest extent possible, the full abundance of God's Law, thus
demonstrating, to the amazement of the rest of the world, the awesome
sustaining power of this Law. It seems that the entire era of the Second
Temple was intended to prepare the Jews to maintain such independence
in the midst of a life that conflicted sharply with their ideals. The
political independence that had been granted them at that time was
limited from the outset. It was only an act of homage from Cyrus, King
of Persia, to the God of Israel, a gesture which was splendid, to
be sure, penetrating even the remotest future, but which Ezra from the
very beginning interpreted in these words: "And now, for a moment,
we were shown grace from our God) to leave us a remnant, to give us
a stake in the place of His Sanctuary, to enlighten our eyes and to grant
us some measure of independence in our bondage. For we are still
bondsmen and even in our  bondage we have not forsaken our God" (Ezra 9, 8-9).
Tiny Judea confronted them all, one after the other, the powerful civilized
empires that moved across the stage of world history in the course of those
centuries: the Persians, the Greeks, the Syrians, the Egyptians and 
the Romans.
In most instances Judea was dependent on these nations, but there were times
when it met them as their equal and their ally. Regardless of their 
relationship
with these alien empires, the Jews were to learn to remain Jews even 
among strangers.  
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