How did Babylonian culture influence Hebrew religious practice?
Tension between the xenophobic and xenophilic in postexilic Judaism was finally resolved some two centuries later with the development of a formality of religious conversion, whereby Gentiles who so wished could be taken into the Jewish community by a single, simple procedure.
After the overthrow of Babylonia by the Persian Empire, in 537 BC the Persian ruler Cyrus the Great gave the Jews permission to return to their native land, and more than 40,000 are said to have availed themselves of the privilege, as noted in the Biblical accounts of Ezra, and Nehemiah.
Even after the Temple was rebuilt, many aspects of Jewish worship that began during the captivity continued as part of Jewish worship. These include the prominent use of the singing of Psalms, prayer and instruction as part of the synagogue service.
Many of these changes still affect Judaism. Before the Babylonian exile, Jewish religious life revolved around the Temple in Jerusalem. When the Babylonians expelled the Jews from Judea, they destroyed the Temple completely.
The Israelites could maintain their own customs. The Israelites remained captive under Persian rule. The Israelites had to practice their religion in secret.
: to banish or expel from one’s own country or home.
During the exile in Babylon, they developed what is now known as Rabbinical Judaism. They already had Judaism as given in the Law of Moses, i.e. the first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible. As currently worded, the statement is partially true.
With the exile, the religion of Israel comes to an end and Judaism begins.” This process coincided with the emergence of scribes and sages as Jewish leaders (see Ezra). Prior to exile, the people of Israel had been organized according to tribe. Afterwards, they were organized by smaller family groups.
Why did the Babylonians feel threatened by the Israelites’ practice of Judaism? The Israelites were loyal to their God and not to the Babylonian king. The Israelites believed that they had a right to claim Babylonian land. Judaism grew in popularity and began to spread across the Babylonian Empire.
The Jewish diaspora (Hebrew: תְּפוּצָה, romanized: təfūṣā) or exile (Hebrew: גָּלוּת gālūṯ; Yiddish: golus) is the dispersion of Israelites or Jews out of their ancestral homeland (the Land of Israel) and their subsequent settlement in other parts of the globe.
restructuring of Hebrew culture during the Babylonian exile. . How did Babylonian culture influence Hebrew religious practice? They tried to make the hebrews stop practicing their religion. It fused them more tightly together, centering them on their religious heritage.
