judaism without a temple 245
religious] festival is enhanced when those who assemble are either very
great in number or of the highest repute. An example of high repute ...
is Olympia, where renowned people meet,’ but, he noted, ‘the largest
multitudes are to be found at the festival of the Hebrews living in Syria
Palestine, as they are gathered in very large numbers from most nations.’^6
In due course Jews were to develop new expressions of Judaism
which came to terms with the loss of the Temple, but it is not clear how
long it took for the yearning for a rebuilt Temple to subside. Some of the
coins of the rebels led by Bar Kokhba in 132– 5 ce carried images of the
Temple and the legend ‘For Jerusalem’. The attempted rebuilding by
Julian in the mid- fourth century passes almost unremarked in the extant
rabbinic writings from Palestine in this period, but this may be because,
being at the instigation of a pagan ruler rather than through the efforts
of Jewish priests, it was deemed invalid. Temple imagery and reference
to the priestly ‘courses’ in many mosaic inscriptions on synagogue floors
of the fifth and sixth centuries ce have encouraged speculation that
Jews in this period harboured hopes for an imminent rebuilding, but
this may be an over- interpretation. In any case, rebuilding was not a
practical possibility under Christian rulers intent on turning Palestine
into a Christian holy land in which Jesus’ prediction of the destruction
of the Temple could be witnessed as fulfilled. It would not be until the
twelfth century, in an Islamic world where sacrifice was no longer part
of the wider culture, that Maimonides would assert that God had
encouraged sacrificial cult in the first place only in order to wean Jews
away from the human sacrifice to be found among surrounding peoples.^7
Even Maimonides believed that in the last days the Temple would be
restored by God, as assumed in the daily prayer which had been in reg-
ular use, at least among rabbinic Jews, since soon after 70 ce:
To Jerusalem, your city, may you return in compassion, and may you dwell
in it as you promised. May you rebuild it rapidly in our days as an ever-
lasting structure, and instal within it soon the throne of David. Blessed are
you, Lord, who builds Jerusalem ... Find favour, Lord our God, in your
people Israel and their prayer. Restore the service to your most holy house,
and accept in love and favour the fire- offerings of Israel and their prayer.
May the service of your people Israel always find favour with you.^8
In the meantime, the response of rabbinic sages back in 70 ce to the
Temple destruction was severely practical:
If a Festival- day of the New Year fell on a Sabbath they might blow the