Brief note on Jewish history

I recently read some Jewish history, covering the short period from the first Temple Era to the dissemination of Rabbinic Judaism.

So far, I have only been inspired. This is a group of people that was discriminated against, forced out of their land and held against their will numerous times throughout history. Yet in each new situation, they adapted their practices and evaluated their beliefs. Jews persevered into the religion they follow today.

Lack of occupational mobility, lack of free movement, lack of freedom to read their scriptures as they wished; it seems as though they experienced far more difficulty than the average person did and thus grew much wiser than the average person did.

It wasn't a simple path to walk with just a few obstacles on the way. By no means was it so. Yet eventually, they found community stronger in many ways than other groups, a way and intensity of teaching their wisdom that is unparalleled, and perhaps even the confidence to thrive in lands that aren't their home.

There is a lot that can be learnt..