S1, E18 The Second Temple, the Greeks, and the Oral Law

Many people think of the Second Temple as a replay of the first: the Jewish nation returned to the holy land to rebuild the great house of worship and revelation. But it was nothing of the sort. In that pivotal era, prophecy ceased, the divine presence did not return to its sanctuary, and the period of the Oral Law began.

All this, Chazal hint, is linked to the ascendancy of the Greek Empire. The development of Greek wisdom marked a broad shift in the focus of human consciousness. Even the way that God makes Himself known changed: prophetic image was replaced with intellect and revelation with deduction, and man became creator of divine law. 

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