Lesson 2
Far From the Place That We Call Home: Jewish Exile and Dispersal in the Middle East

After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the Jews were left without a centralized government or a country of their own. Yet under the benign rule of Babylonia, the Jews made Torah study the new epicenter of Jewish life. Twice yearly, Jews gathered at the great Babylonian academies to discuss a pre-assigned tractate. The Talmud was recorded during this intellectually fruitful period of time. In this lesson, we reflect on the role of shared study in uniting a far-flung people.