Picking Up the Pieces
When the Romans had destroyed the Jewish Temple and Jerusalem, they had effectively destroyed the house of God, so the Jewish understanding of God's presence was forced to change. Exiled from their sacred space, some rabbis asserted that God "could not be contained by the physical world" (Armstrong p.168). Instead, the world belonged to God, and the Jews were no longer reliant on Jerusalem for a spiritual connection with Him. Their new conception of sacred space is kind of a renewal of the Israelite's understanding of Yahweh as nomadic before they first settled in the holy city. Like before, their circumstance shaped their religious practices. The rabbis also claimed that "the unity and charity of the people" was crucial for experiencing God's presence (Armstrong p.168). Since Jerusalem had become fully romanized and Hadrian had banned Jews from the city, it was impossible for Jews to return to their temple. The belief that followers simply praying or studying the Torah as one would invite God's presence consoled the Jews. Although they were scattered across Judaea and their temple was destroyed, they were still with their god. It seems like unified prayer would act as an equalizing force between all Jews, but in practice, the concept had some form of hierarchy.
Armstrong writes that "prayer was not valid unless ten men assembled to form a minyan" (Armstrong p.168). A prayer group with less than ten people may reach God in heaven, but God would only be present among a group of ten or more men. I think it's notable that a prayer group of ten or more women still won't invite God's presence. Additionally, rabbis asserted that there were varying degrees of holiness in Jerusalem, and the Court of the Women is one degree less holy than the Court of Israelites. I don't understand why Judaism (and several other religions) consider women to be a more profane group than men—are women just a little more devilish? It wasn't just women who were a lesser group in the hierarchy of holiness; only the holiest worshippers were at the top of the hierarchy, and the Jewish temple was still the most holy symbol of Judaism. Since it was destroyed by the Romans, it had become "an object of contemplation" (Armstrong p.169). This understanding of sacred space is more familiar to me. I've never known a place that was the literal house of God, and I don't think Christianity has a church that represents God's home. Although the Jews were much more invested in the physical city than the early Christians, I think their interpretation of Jerusalem as an object of contemplation parallels to Christians' interest in "heavenly Jerusalem" described by John.
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