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{{Short description|Biblical event}}
{{see also|History of Zionism}}
{{for|the present-day return of Jewish people to Israel|Aliyah}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{religious text primary|date=October 2022}}
{{More sources needed|date=March 2024}}{{Cleanup rewrite|date=March 2024}}}}
]]]
The '''return to Zion''' ({{langx|he|שִׁיבָת צִיּוֹן or שבי ציון}}, {{Transliteration|he|Shivat Tzion {{noitalics|or}} Shavei Tzion}}, {{Literal translation|] returnees}}) is an event recorded in ] of the ], in which the ] of the ]—subjugated by the ]—were freed from the ] following the ]. In 539 BCE, the Persian king ] issued the ] allowing the Jews to return to ] and the ], which was made ] under the new ].


The Persian period marks the onset of the ] in ]. ], appointed as governor of Judah by the Persian king, oversaw the construction of the ]. Later, prominent leaders like ] and ] emerged. Nehemiah's activities dated to the third quarter of the fifth century BCE, while the precise period of Ezra's activity remains a subject of debate. Their efforts to rebuild the social and spiritual life of the Jewish returnees in their ancestral homeland are chronicled in the ]. These texts also document the interactions of the Jews with neighboring figures, including ], likely the governor of Samaria, ], who likely owned lands in ], and ], king of the ], all of whom opposed Nehemiah's efforts to rebuild Jerusalem.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=מבוא לארכיאולוגיה של ארץ-ישראל: משלהי תקופת האבן ועד כיבושי אלכסנדר |publisher=למדא: ספרי האוניברסיטה הפתוחה |year=2019 |isbn=978-965-06-1603-8 |editor-last=Faust |editor-first=Avraham |volume=II |pages=329–331 |language=he |trans-title=Archaeology of the Land of Israel: From the Neolithic to Alexander the Great |chapter=9. התקופה הפרסית |editor-last2=Katz |editor-first2=Hayah}}</ref>
'''''The Return to Zion''''' ({{lang-he|שיבת ציון}}, ''Shivat Tzion'', or '''שבי ציון''', ''Shavei Tzion'', lit. ''Zion Returnees'') is a term that refers to the event in which the Jews returned to the ] from the ] following the decree by the Persian king ], the conqueror of the ] in 538 BC, also known as ''Cyrus's Declaration''.


One of the significant achievements of the Persian period was the canonization of the ], a topic of enduring scholarly interest due to its profound impact on ]. Traditionally attributed to Ezra, who presented the "Torah of Moses" to the people of Judah, possibly around 398 BCE, this process of creating a unified book of rules played an important role in fostering the distinctive identity of the Jews during this period.<ref name=":0" />
The term was first coined, after the Destruction of the ] (mentioned in the ]<ref name="Psalms 126">Psalms 126 </ref>), and afterwards was attributed to the event of the return of the Jews from the ], after the destruction of the ], to the Land of Israel following the decree of Cyrus the Great.


Babylonian texts, archaeological evidence, and population estimates suggest that only a small group of exiles, likely around 4,000, returned to ] over several decades, contrary to the figure of 42,360 listed in ].<ref>{{cite book |last=Schipper |first=Bernd U. |translator-last=Lesley |translator-first=Michael |title=A Concise History of Ancient Israel: From the Beginnings Through the Hellenistic Era |publisher=Eisenbrauns |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-57506-732-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cJmYEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA75 |page=75 |quote=Given the situation depicted in the Babylonian texts, it is perhaps unsurprising that most likely only a small group of exiles returned to Judah. Even if the list of returnees in Ezra 2 does contain some historical truth, the number of returnees it gives, 42,360, is wholly unrealistic. In the early Persian period the province of Yehud probably had only 12,000 inhabitants (Finkelstein), or perhaps at the most 30,000 (Lipschits). At the same time, the archaeological record rules out the possibility of a mass return. Neither Jerusalem nor Yehud shows evidence of a spike in settlement growth in the early Persian period. A more realistic number of returnees would be around 4,000 people coming back to Yehud over several decades.}}</ref>
==Biblical term vs. modern term==
The '''''Biblical''''' term of "The Return to Zion" was later on borrowed from this event and was adopted as the definition of all the immigrations of Jews to the Land and the ], '' ]'', in our '''''modern''''' times, beginning from the '' Aliyah'', in the midst of the 19th century, to Jaffa, of the followers of ] ] and Rabbi ], known as the '' ]'' ('''מבשרי ציון''') pioneers of modern ], and up to the rest of the ''Aliyot'' made after the establishment of the State of Israel. The period between the biblical Return to Zion and the modern Return to Zion, consisted of many attempts of small groups to immigrate to the Land of Israel, and this period, could be roughly divided into two categories: One is the ''Aliyah'' during the ] and during the period of ], and the other is the ''Aliyah'' during the ] (18th century and at the start of the 19th century).


==Babylonian exile== ==Babylonian exile==
The Babylonian empire, under the ruling of ] occupied the ] between 597-586 BC. The Babylonian army, under the commandment of ], also named "chief ]" by the bible, had destroyed the first ]. The king of ], ], was forced to watch his own two sons being slaughtered, and thereafter, his own eyes were put out and he was exiled to ] (2 Kings 25) . The population of the middle class and above was also deported along side King Zedekiah, whereas the Kingdom of Judah was left only with the poor ones. The Neo-Babylonian Empire under the rule of ] occupied the ] between 597–586 BCE and destroyed the ] in ].<ref>{{cite web |title=Temple of Jerusalem |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Temple-of-Jerusalem |website=www.britannica.com |date=2 June 2023 |publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> According to the Hebrew Bible, the last king of ], ], was forced to watch his sons put to death, then his own eyes were put out and he was exiled to ] (2 Kings 25).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/15931/jewish/Chapter-25.htm|title=2 Kings 25 at chabad.org}}</ref>


=={{anchor|Return to Zion}}Return to Zion==
The deportees were led by ], also named the prince of Judah, and ''] the son of ]'' a descendant of ]. Sheshbazzar, who was probably Shenazzar the son of ], king of Judah (] 3:18), was picked by Cyrus to lead the deportees, but Zerubbabel was appointed shortly afterwards as a representative of the ] in the Land of Israel (though some claim Zerubbabel and Sheshbazzar where the same person). The Jews in Babylon never lost the affinity they had for ] as well as their faith in salvation.
]]]


According to the books of ], a number of decades later in 538 BCE, the Jews in Babylon were allowed to return to the Land of Judah, due to Cyrus's decree. Initially, around 50,000 Jews returned to the Land of Judah following the decree of Cyrus as described in Ezra, whereas some remained in Babylon.<ref>Ezra 2:64–65</ref><ref>http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/jews.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624113208/http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/jews.htm |date=2018-06-24 }} , the "population" section of this article estimates a pre-exilic population of 1.8 million in Israel and Judah combined. referenced on 6/26/2018.</ref> Later, an unknown number of exiles returned from Babylon with Ezra himself.<ref>Ezra 8:1–32</ref> The return of the deportees to Judah during the next 110 years is known as the return to Zion, an event by which Jews ever since have been inspired.<ref name="Psalms 126">{{bibleref|Psalms|126|HE}}</ref>
==The Return to Zion==
]'']]
A number of decades afterwards, in 538 BC, the Jews in Babylon were allowed to return to the Land of Israel, due to ''Cyrus's declaration'', the decree of Cyrus the Great, the ruler of the Persian Empire that had conquered the region and granted the Jews the right to worship their God in Jerusalem, in some form of an ]. Around 50,000 Jews made ''Aliyah'' to the Land of Israel, following the decree of Cyrus the Great, whereas some remained in Babylon. The return of the deportees to Judah during the next 110 years to follow since the decree of Cyrus the Great is known as "The Return to Zion", an event that Jews ever since have been inspired by <ref name="Psalms 126"/>.


===Yehud Medinata===
The ''Zion Returnees'' <ref name="Psalms 126"/>have settled in what became known as '' ]'' <ref> (Book of Ezra 5:8) </ref>. Yehud or Judah was a self governing Jewish province under the ruling of the ], and was a small piece of territory out of '']'' (the ]), containing Jerusalem and ], which even issued their own ] inscribed with the three letters '''Y'''e'''h'''u'''d'''. The borders of ''Yehud Medinata'' can be marked today as between ''Shephelaht ]'' (]'s lowland), ], ], the ], ], and ].
{{main|Yehud Medinata}}
The returnees settled in what became known as Yehud Medinata or Yehud. Yehud Medinata was a self-governing Jewish province under the rule of the ] which even issued their own ] inscribed with the three letters Y-H-D.{{cn|date=October 2022}}


==Biblical account==
The self governing of ''Yehud Medinata'' has known to inspire the future generation of Jews, their notion of their own national identity and aspirations, the need to end 2000 years of exile since the Babylon captivity and to continue to make ''Aliyah'' to the Land of Israel.
According to the books of Ezra–Nehemiah in the ], the return to Zion occurred in several waves: those of ], ], ], and ].


===Sheshbazzar's return===
The ancient ''Yehud Medinata'', also resembles to the name of modern Jewish state of '' ]'', the ].
The ] first depicts the return of ] at the behest of the Persian King Cyrus in 538 BC, the first year after he conquered Babylon:

{{quote
The Returnees to the Land of Israel were also faced with some difficulties:
|text=<poem>7 And King Cyrus took out all the vessels of the House of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of Jerusalem and had placed them in the temple of his god;
* There were some tension created between the ''Zion Returnees'' and the local Israelites who resided in the areas of Judea, ] and ].
8 Now Cyrus, the king of Persia, took them out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah…</poem>
* Additional religious tension was created between them and the ] because the Samaritans have perceived themselves as Jews in every count, whereas the ''Zion Returnees'' have treated them as '']'' (non Jews, Gentile).
|sign=
* Additional difficulty was the livelihood, due to the consecutive years of a harsh ] that hit the land of Israel, shortly after ''The Return to Zion''.
* There were also some security difficulties aspects because the ] of Jerusalem was destroyed and did not provide defense.
* In addition to all those difficulties, the struggles between the communities' leaders, was also a factor because while ''Joshua the son of Jehozadak'' (]), was satisfied with the Religious Autonomy granted to Jerusalem by the Persians, Zerubbabel aspired to a statehood independence.

Therefore, though feelings of disappointments were developed among the ''Zion Returnees'', which also delayed the Construction of the ] that eventually was completed only in 516 BC.

Despite all the difficulties, ''The Return to Zion'' was the first time in human history where people who were exiled from their own homeland by the force of a foreign ruler had returned to reestablish their own joint national home on their native Soil, which they were forced to leave, in addition to its contribution to the National Identity notion of the ] that had always been different from other people and nations.

==The Zion Returnee's waves of Aliyah==

=== Sheshbazzar's Aliyah===
Sheshbazzar's Aliyah (those claiming that Zerubbabel and Sheshbazzar were the same person, associate Sheshbazzar's Aliyah with Zerubbabel's Aliyah), had occurred near after ''Cyrus's Declaration'', in 538 BC. Approximately 1,000 young Jews made ''Aliya'' in what became known as Sheshbazzar's Aliyah, out of the notion to redeem the land of Israel form its ruins and to reestablish the Holy Temple on ]. This ''Aliyah'' was named after its leader Sheshbazzar because most scholars have agreed that he is a descendant of the House of Jeconiah, King of Judah.

The ] depicts Sheshbazzar's Aliyah as a consent and encouragement of the Persian King Cyrus:

{{epigraph
| quote = '''7''' And King Cyrus took out all the vessels of the House of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of Jerusalem and had placed them in the temple of his god; '''8''' Now Cyrus, the king of Persia, took them out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah…
|cite =
}} }}
{{quote
{{epigraph
| quote ='''11''' All the vessels of silver and gold were five thousand, four hundred; Sheshbazzar brought up everything when the exiles were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem. |text=11 All the vessels of silver and gold were five thousand, four hundred; Sheshbazzar brought up everything when the exiles were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
|cite =Book of Ezra 1:7-11 |sign=Book of Ezra 1:7–8,11 <ref><br />{{bibleref|Ezra|1:7|HE}} at mechon-mamre.org (HE = Hebrew beside English)</ref>
}} }}


=== Zerubbabel's Aliyah === === Zerubbabel's return ===
The second migration recounted in the Book of Ezra is that of ] (either in 538 BC with the first wave or 520 BC, the second year of ], when work resumed).<ref>Janet E. Tollington, ''Tradition and Innovation in Haggai and Zechariah 1–8'' (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993), 132.</ref> According to the apocryphal book of ], this was the result of Zerubbabel's victory in a ] under King Darius.<ref>''''</ref>
The second wave of ''Aliyah'', known as Zerubbabel's Aliyah, was led by ''Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel'', the grandson of Jeconiah, king of Judah, and a descendant of the ] as well as ''Joshua the son of Jehozadak'' who was appointed to ] (]), in 538 BC.


This wave included 42,360 people, not including servants or handmaids Among them, there were 24,144 ordinary men (57%) and 12,452 women and children (29%). There were also 4,289 ] (10%), 74 regular ], 128 singer Levites, 139 gatekeeper Levites, and 392 ] temple assistants. The count was completed by 652 people of unknown ancestry and another unspecified 90. The addition of 7,337 servants and handmaids boosted the population to 49,697. Their working animals included 736 horses (one for every 68 people), 246 mules (one per 202), 435 camels (one per 114), and 6,720 donkeys (one per 7).<ref>{{bibleref|Ezra|2|HE}}</ref>
According to the story detailed in Book of Ezra 42,360 made ''Aliyah'' in this wave of ''Zion Returnees'' to Jerusalem and Judah. Among them, 24,144 men, 4,289 ]s (Presits), 74 ], 128 Singers, 139 Gatekeepers (Singers and Gatekeepers were the roles of the Levites in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem that had been past from one generation to another), 392 ], 652 could not tell their fathers' houses and their seed, and 12,542 women and children. In addition to those Returnees, 7,337 servants and handmaids joined in. They also brought up their working animals: 736 horses, 246 mules, 435 camels, 6,720 donkeys <ref> (Book of Ezra 2) </ref>. A Smaller portion of this wave of ''Aliyah'' was well to do, possibly one-sixth of the ''Zion Returnees'', whereas the rest were of a lower class and poor. ''The Zion Returnees'', in this ''Aliyah'', were of the ] and the ] and settled in their cities and places from before the destruction of the first temple, ], as many of them kept scribed documents indicating their Land tenure status of land ownership in various places.


===Ezra's return===
Due to the return of many single men, and the lack of Jewish single women, a phenomenon of mixed marriages with alien women has evolved; probably even the sons of the Kohen Gadol have married alien women. This wave of ''Aliyah'' had been on good terms with the Persian Government, whom allowed the ''Zion Returnees'' to run a religious autonomy. However, the economy situation was not very well, there was a lack of infrastructures, due to the consecutive ruins in the aftermath of the destruction of the first temple, taxes and many housing needs, as well as consecutive years of harsh drought and other natural disasters that hit the land of Israel, which the ''Zion returnees'' suffered from. At those times the Jews have reinstituted the sacrificial offerings to god with the reestablishment of the ] in 538 BC ('''כ"ה בכסלו, שנת ג'רכ"ב'''). This event was prior to the reconstruction of the newly emerging temple in Jerusalem, which has restored the status of Jerusalem as the heart and soul of the ]. The Samaritans made proposals for co-operation in the work, but their proposals were declined. Consequently the Jews had suffered from harassment at the hands of the Samaritans. Despite the disruptions and delays in the construction works of the Temple and Jerusalem, on the part of various foes, the ''Zion returnees'' have managed to complete the construction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in 516 BC.
The third migration was led by ] in the seventh year of ] (458 or 457 BC).<ref name=":Dating">On the date, see {{cite book|title=Ezra-Nehemiah: A Commentary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6rW7BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA140|date=1 January 1988|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=978-0-664-22186-7|page=140}}</ref> According to the ], he delayed his return to Judah to stay with his rabbi, ], the renowned disciple of Jeremiah who was too old and weak to travel.<ref>Babylonian Talmud: Order Moed, Tractate Megillah 16b <br /> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124155511/http://halakhah.com/pdf/moed/Megilah.pdf |date=2010-11-24 }} on page 65 of 127, (last paragraph before footnotes), see last footnote on next page also.</ref>


Ezra returned with the approval of the Persian government and license to spend all donations to the Jerusalem holy temple. He was also permitted to transfer the returned holy vessels to the Temple, and a decree allocated them government money, wheat, wine and oil. In addition, all who served in the holy temple, the priests, Levites and Nethinim were given tax exemption, and Ezra was authorized to appoint magistrates and judges and to teach the law of God to the people of Judah, as well as judicial authority to impose penalties of confiscation, banishment or execution.<ref>{{bibleref|Ezra|7|HE}}</ref>
===Ezra's Aliyah===
The third Aliyah of the ''Zion Returnees'' was led by '' ]'', in 458 BC. Around 5,000 Jews made Aliyah in this wave of ''Zion Returnees''.


===Nehemiah's return===
The ] mentions that ] was delayed in making ''Aliyah'' to the Land of Israel, because he had to stay alongside his Rabbi, ], a ''Talmid'' (disciple) of ] and one of the leading figures among Jews, but too old and weak to make such ''Aliyah'' to the Land of Israel <ref> Babylonian Talmud: Order Moed,Tractate Megillah 16b</ref>. The situation was not easy at the time in the Land of Israel in many ways. The economic burden of heavy taxes was tough for the Jews there, politically; the harassments from various enemies had increased, and they even managed to influence the Persian Government to order the stopping of the construction works of refortification of Jerusalem's City Walls. Religiously, the mixed marriage was a spreading phenomenon that was perceived as a major threat to the culture and the future of the Jews as a nation. Ezra, who was one of the greatest scholars of that generation, made ''Aliyah'' in order to improve the situation for the Jews in the land of Israel, and indeed began a serious of initiatives upon his arrival in Jerusalem, that was to influence the life of the Jew there and the days of the Second Temple.
The fourth migration was led by ], who was granted a leave of absence to rebuild Jerusalem and repair its city walls in the twentieth year of ] (445 or 444 BC).<ref name=":Dating" /> He was given permission to cut down woods and was escorted by Persian troops.<ref>{{bibleref|Nehemiah|2|HE}}</ref>


Due to economic distress in Judea, Nehemiah faced a public crisis during the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah heard the Jewish people's complaints and got angry at the profiteering of the Jewish nobles and officials, especially those serving in the holy temple who were exempt from the heavy Persian taxes. Nehemiah assembled a public hearing and urged the nobles to restore confiscated fields and houses and forgive loans. He was the first to do so, proclaiming that he and his close associates would forgive their debts. He put the nobles under oath to fulfill their promises.<ref>{{bibleref|Nehemiah|5|HE}}</ref> On the twenty-fifth day of the month of ], 52 days after the work began, the whole wall was completed.<ref>{{bibleref|Nehemiah|6:15|HE}}</ref>
Ezra made ''Aliyah'' with an official approval of the Persian Government and license to take out all donated money from exiled Jews and Government officials to the Holy Temple and Jews living in Israel. He was also permitted to transfer holy vessels to the Temple in Jerusalem, and a decree was given to the government treasurers to allocate them with money, wheat, wine and oil. In addition, all which served in the Holy Temple, the Kohens, Levites and Nethinim were given tax exemption, and he was authorized to appoint magistrates and judges and to teach the law of God to the people of Israel, as well as the authority to impose penalties of confiscation, banishment or execution, if needed <ref> (Book of Ezra 7)</ref>.
Along with other scholars, Ezra has established the ], which served as the highest authority of deciders on the ] in cases of religious laws and as a body of leaders to the nation of Israel. In addition, he served in the Holy Temple as the ''Kohen Gadol'' (High Priest).


==Cyrus cylinder==
Ezra decided on many regulations of the religious laws, '' ]'', with the purpose of resuming public order in the aftermaths of the destruction of the first temple and the Babylonian exile. Notably, strengthening Jewish relationship to ], strengthening Jewish identity, and preventing assimilation. In that conjunction, he revolutionized the usage of the ].
]]]
=== Nehemiah's Aliyah===
{{main|Cyrus cylinder}}
The fourth ''Aliyah'' was led by '' ]'', in 445 BC. Prior to that, he served as the royal cupbearer to the king of Persia and as Man of the Great Assembly. It is not clear how many ''Zion returnees'' have joined him, but the ] depicts a strong army escort supplied by the king.
The biblical Book of Ezra includes two texts said to be decrees of Cyrus the Great allowing the deported Jews to return to their homeland after decades and ordering the Temple rebuilt. The differences in content and tone of the two decrees, one in Hebrew and one in Aramaic, have caused some scholars to question their authenticity.<ref>{{cite book |ref=Bedford |last=Bedford |first=Peter Ross |title=Temple Restoration in Early Achaemenid Judah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MOd320e710IC&q=%22Hebrew+edict%22+%22Aramaic+edict%22+Williamson&pg=PA112 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |year=2001 |page=112 (Cyrus edict section pp. 111–131) |isbn=9789004115095}}</ref> The ], an ancient tablet on which is written a declaration in the name of Cyrus referring to restoration of temples and repatriation of exiled peoples, has often been taken as corroboration of the authenticity of the biblical decrees attributed to Cyrus,<ref name="Becking">{{cite book |last=Becking |first=Bob |editor1-last=Lipschitz |editor1-first=Oded |editor2-last=Oeming |editor2-first=Manfred |chapter="We All Returned as One!": Critical Notes on the Myth of the Mass Return |title=Judah and the Judeans in the Persian Period |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1zi2i_C1aNkC&q=%22Cyrus+cylinder%22+Jerusalem&pg=PA8 |year=2006 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |location=Winona Lake, IN |page=8 |isbn=978-1-57506-104-7}}</ref> but other scholars point out that the cylinder's text is specific to Babylon and Mesopotamia and makes no mention of Judah or Jerusalem.<ref name="Becking" /> Professor Lester L Grabbe asserted that the "alleged decree of Cyrus" regarding Judah, "cannot be considered authentic", but that there was a "general policy of allowing deportees to return and to re-establish cult sites". He also stated that archaeology suggests that the return was a "trickle" taking place over decades, rather than a single event.<ref name="Grabbe355">{{cite book |last= Grabbe |first =Lester L. |work= A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period |title= Yehud - A History of the Persian Province of Judah |volume= 1 |year= 2004 |publisher= T & T Clark |series= The Library of Second Temple Studies |isbn= 9780567089984 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=-MnE5T_0RbMC&pg=PA355 |page= 355}}</ref>


== In the diaspora ==
Nehemiah requested to temporarily go to Judah, to the place of his forefathers, in order to rebuild Jerusalem and repair its City walls and his request was approved by the king. For this purpose, he was given permission to cut down woods and was escorted by the army <ref> (Nehemiah 2) </ref>.
In the middle of the 5th century BCE, the exiled Judean communities experienced a significant national awakening. It has been demonstrated that the Judean residents of ], the majority of whom had names of Babylonian origin, suddenly began giving their children Judean theophoric names.<ref>Talshir, David, “The Habitat and History of Hebrew during the Second Temple Period,” Pages 251-275 in ''Biblical Hebrew: Studies in Chronology and Typology.'' Edited by Ian Young. London: T&T Clark, 2003.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Webmaster |date=2022-10-30 |title=#37 Fulfill the dreams of our ancestors |url=https://whyaliyah.com/37-fulfill-the-dreams-of-our-ancestors/ |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=Why Aliyah? |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Young |first=Ian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-1KtAwAAQBAJ&dq=jews+experienced+a+national+awakening+in+the+5th+century+BCE&pg=PA253 |title=Biblical Hebrew: Studies in Chronology and Typology |date=2003-11-01 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-0-8264-6841-3 |language=en}}</ref>

Nehemiah divided the construction work into 42 groups of families; each was responsible for its own district. Since Nehemiah found out in advance about the plan of Judah's enemies to come together and wage war against Jerusalem and to wreak destruction, each group would be building and watching at the same time; and thus he managed to prevent it, " The builders of the wall and the carriers of the loads were loading, with one hand doing the work and one holding the sword" (Nehemiah 4:11). In order to ensure the security of Jerusalem, he ordered the builders to lodge overnight in Jerusalem and to blow the horns immediately, when needed.

Due to a tough economic situation, that the people of Israel were under, Nehemiah had to face a public crisis during the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah heard the Jewish people's complaints and got angry at the Jewish nobles and officials for taking advantage of the crisis to make money off the poor Jews, especially those serving in the Holy Temple that were tax exempt, whereas the rest of the people of Israel were feeling the economic burden of heavy taxes by the Persian government. Nehemiah assembled a public hearing and contended with the nobles of Judah. He urged them to restore the poor ones of their fields and houses and relinquish their loans, and in order to set a personal example, he was the first to follow his own steps, proclaiming that he and his close associates would forgo their debts. He managed to get their assurances on this matter, but did not settle with their assurances and put them under oath that they should do according to this promise <ref> (Nehemiah 5) </ref>.

On the twenty-fifth day of the month ], 52 days after the work began, the whole wall was completed <ref> (Nehemiah 6:15) </ref>. Jews from all classes had taken part in the reconstruction work that provided the poor Jews with livelihood and payments.

After twelve years in the land of Israel, he kept his promise and returned to Persia to the service of his royal master, but due to the deteriorating security, religious and social conditions in the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem in 431 BC, escorted by the army.

He acted with decisiveness upon his return. He ousted '']'' who Ensconced himself inside the Holy Temple and placed back the Levites. He stopped the commerce on the ] and acted against mixed marriage that evolved during his absence. In that conjunction, he drove out the Grandson of the Kohen Gadol (high priest) for his own mixed marriage.
In his time Jerusalem's Jewish population had grown considerably.


==See also== ==See also==
*] * ]
*] * ]
*] * ]
*] * ]
*] * ]
*] * ]
* ]
*] (First Temple)
* ] (a '' ]'' of cooperative agricultural community)
*]
* ] (today a city in Israel)
*]
* ]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*] (a '' ]'' of cooperative agricultural community)
*] (Today a City in Israel)
*] (The Province of Judah)
*]


==References== ==References==
{{reflist}}
<references/>
* Jewish virtual library
* MFA.gov.il
* MFA.gov.il
* Jewish virtual library
* myjewishlearning.com
* map,
* map, CET – Center For Educational technology
* on the coins of ''Yehud'', Jewish virtual library
* Jewish virtual library
* Chabad

* '''Between Cyrus and Balfour Declarations''' , ''Ancient and modern Return to Zion'', ], Friedman shin publisher, 2005

* '''Where the alien women in fact exiled?''' , Yonina Dor, ''The question of being aloof during the times of the Return to Zion'', ] Magnes Press, 2006

* Book of Ezra

* Book of Nehemiah

==External links==
* on coins and ''Yehud'' coins, Jewish virtual library

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Latest revision as of 02:26, 8 January 2025

Biblical event For the present-day return of Jewish people to Israel, see Aliyah.
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Cyrus restoring the vessels of the temple, by Gustave Doré

The return to Zion (Hebrew: שִׁיבָת צִיּוֹן or שבי ציון, Shivat Tzion or Shavei Tzion, lit. 'Zion returnees') is an event recorded in Ezra–Nehemiah of the Hebrew Bible, in which the Jews of the Kingdom of Judah—subjugated by the Neo-Babylonian Empire—were freed from the Babylonian captivity following the Persian conquest of Babylon. In 539 BCE, the Persian king Cyrus the Great issued the Edict of Cyrus allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem and the Land of Judah, which was made a self-governing Jewish province under the new Persian Empire.

The Persian period marks the onset of the Second Temple period in Jewish history. Zerubabel, appointed as governor of Judah by the Persian king, oversaw the construction of the Second Temple. Later, prominent leaders like Nehemiah and Ezra emerged. Nehemiah's activities dated to the third quarter of the fifth century BCE, while the precise period of Ezra's activity remains a subject of debate. Their efforts to rebuild the social and spiritual life of the Jewish returnees in their ancestral homeland are chronicled in the biblical books named after them. These texts also document the interactions of the Jews with neighboring figures, including Sanballat the Horonite, likely the governor of Samaria, Tobiah the Ammonite, who likely owned lands in Ammon, and Geshem the Arabian, king of the Qedarites, all of whom opposed Nehemiah's efforts to rebuild Jerusalem.

One of the significant achievements of the Persian period was the canonization of the Torah, a topic of enduring scholarly interest due to its profound impact on Western civilization. Traditionally attributed to Ezra, who presented the "Torah of Moses" to the people of Judah, possibly around 398 BCE, this process of creating a unified book of rules played an important role in fostering the distinctive identity of the Jews during this period.

Babylonian texts, archaeological evidence, and population estimates suggest that only a small group of exiles, likely around 4,000, returned to Judah over several decades, contrary to the figure of 42,360 listed in Ezra 2.

Babylonian exile

The Neo-Babylonian Empire under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar II occupied the Kingdom of Judah between 597–586 BCE and destroyed the First Temple in Jerusalem. According to the Hebrew Bible, the last king of Judah, Zedekiah, was forced to watch his sons put to death, then his own eyes were put out and he was exiled to Babylon (2 Kings 25).

Return to Zion

the Achaemenid Empire

According to the books of Ezra–Nehemiah, a number of decades later in 538 BCE, the Jews in Babylon were allowed to return to the Land of Judah, due to Cyrus's decree. Initially, around 50,000 Jews returned to the Land of Judah following the decree of Cyrus as described in Ezra, whereas some remained in Babylon. Later, an unknown number of exiles returned from Babylon with Ezra himself. The return of the deportees to Judah during the next 110 years is known as the return to Zion, an event by which Jews ever since have been inspired.

Yehud Medinata

Main article: Yehud Medinata

The returnees settled in what became known as Yehud Medinata or Yehud. Yehud Medinata was a self-governing Jewish province under the rule of the Achaemenid Empire which even issued their own Yehud coinage inscribed with the three letters Y-H-D.

Biblical account

According to the books of Ezra–Nehemiah in the Hebrew Bible, the return to Zion occurred in several waves: those of Sheshbazzar, Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah.

Sheshbazzar's return

The Book of Ezra first depicts the return of Sheshbazzar at the behest of the Persian King Cyrus in 538 BC, the first year after he conquered Babylon:

7 And King Cyrus took out all the vessels of the House of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of Jerusalem and had placed them in the temple of his god;
8 Now Cyrus, the king of Persia, took them out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah…

11 All the vessels of silver and gold were five thousand, four hundred; Sheshbazzar brought up everything when the exiles were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

— Book of Ezra 1:7–8,11

Zerubbabel's return

The second migration recounted in the Book of Ezra is that of Zerubbabel (either in 538 BC with the first wave or 520 BC, the second year of Darius I, when work resumed). According to the apocryphal book of 1 Esdras, this was the result of Zerubbabel's victory in a contest of wits under King Darius.

This wave included 42,360 people, not including servants or handmaids Among them, there were 24,144 ordinary men (57%) and 12,452 women and children (29%). There were also 4,289 priests (10%), 74 regular Levites, 128 singer Levites, 139 gatekeeper Levites, and 392 Nethinim temple assistants. The count was completed by 652 people of unknown ancestry and another unspecified 90. The addition of 7,337 servants and handmaids boosted the population to 49,697. Their working animals included 736 horses (one for every 68 people), 246 mules (one per 202), 435 camels (one per 114), and 6,720 donkeys (one per 7).

Ezra's return

The third migration was led by Ezra the scribe in the seventh year of Artaxerxes I (458 or 457 BC). According to the Talmud, he delayed his return to Judah to stay with his rabbi, Baruch ben Neriah, the renowned disciple of Jeremiah who was too old and weak to travel.

Ezra returned with the approval of the Persian government and license to spend all donations to the Jerusalem holy temple. He was also permitted to transfer the returned holy vessels to the Temple, and a decree allocated them government money, wheat, wine and oil. In addition, all who served in the holy temple, the priests, Levites and Nethinim were given tax exemption, and Ezra was authorized to appoint magistrates and judges and to teach the law of God to the people of Judah, as well as judicial authority to impose penalties of confiscation, banishment or execution.

Nehemiah's return

The fourth migration was led by Nehemiah, who was granted a leave of absence to rebuild Jerusalem and repair its city walls in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes I (445 or 444 BC). He was given permission to cut down woods and was escorted by Persian troops.

Due to economic distress in Judea, Nehemiah faced a public crisis during the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah heard the Jewish people's complaints and got angry at the profiteering of the Jewish nobles and officials, especially those serving in the holy temple who were exempt from the heavy Persian taxes. Nehemiah assembled a public hearing and urged the nobles to restore confiscated fields and houses and forgive loans. He was the first to do so, proclaiming that he and his close associates would forgive their debts. He put the nobles under oath to fulfill their promises. On the twenty-fifth day of the month of Elul, 52 days after the work began, the whole wall was completed.

Cyrus cylinder

The Cyrus Cylinder
Main article: Cyrus cylinder

The biblical Book of Ezra includes two texts said to be decrees of Cyrus the Great allowing the deported Jews to return to their homeland after decades and ordering the Temple rebuilt. The differences in content and tone of the two decrees, one in Hebrew and one in Aramaic, have caused some scholars to question their authenticity. The Cyrus Cylinder, an ancient tablet on which is written a declaration in the name of Cyrus referring to restoration of temples and repatriation of exiled peoples, has often been taken as corroboration of the authenticity of the biblical decrees attributed to Cyrus, but other scholars point out that the cylinder's text is specific to Babylon and Mesopotamia and makes no mention of Judah or Jerusalem. Professor Lester L Grabbe asserted that the "alleged decree of Cyrus" regarding Judah, "cannot be considered authentic", but that there was a "general policy of allowing deportees to return and to re-establish cult sites". He also stated that archaeology suggests that the return was a "trickle" taking place over decades, rather than a single event.

In the diaspora

In the middle of the 5th century BCE, the exiled Judean communities experienced a significant national awakening. It has been demonstrated that the Judean residents of Nippur, the majority of whom had names of Babylonian origin, suddenly began giving their children Judean theophoric names.

See also

References

  1. ^ Faust, Avraham; Katz, Hayah, eds. (2019). "9. התקופה הפרסית". מבוא לארכיאולוגיה של ארץ-ישראל: משלהי תקופת האבן ועד כיבושי אלכסנדר [Archaeology of the Land of Israel: From the Neolithic to Alexander the Great] (in Hebrew). Vol. II. למדא: ספרי האוניברסיטה הפתוחה. pp. 329–331. ISBN 978-965-06-1603-8.
  2. Schipper, Bernd U. (2019). A Concise History of Ancient Israel: From the Beginnings Through the Hellenistic Era. Translated by Lesley, Michael. Eisenbrauns. p. 75. ISBN 978-1-57506-732-2. Given the situation depicted in the Babylonian texts, it is perhaps unsurprising that most likely only a small group of exiles returned to Judah. Even if the list of returnees in Ezra 2 does contain some historical truth, the number of returnees it gives, 42,360, is wholly unrealistic. In the early Persian period the province of Yehud probably had only 12,000 inhabitants (Finkelstein), or perhaps at the most 30,000 (Lipschits). At the same time, the archaeological record rules out the possibility of a mass return. Neither Jerusalem nor Yehud shows evidence of a spike in settlement growth in the early Persian period. A more realistic number of returnees would be around 4,000 people coming back to Yehud over several decades.
  3. "Temple of Jerusalem". www.britannica.com. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2 June 2023.
  4. "2 Kings 25 at chabad.org".
  5. Ezra 2:64–65
  6. http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/jews.htm Archived 2018-06-24 at the Wayback Machine , the "population" section of this article estimates a pre-exilic population of 1.8 million in Israel and Judah combined. referenced on 6/26/2018.
  7. Ezra 8:1–32
  8. Psalms 126
  9. Ezra 1:7–8 at chabad.org
    Ezra 1:7 at mechon-mamre.org (HE = Hebrew beside English)
  10. Janet E. Tollington, Tradition and Innovation in Haggai and Zechariah 1–8 (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993), 132.
  11. 1 Esdras 3-4
  12. Ezra 2
  13. ^ On the date, see Ezra-Nehemiah: A Commentary. Westminster John Knox Press. 1 January 1988. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-664-22186-7.
  14. Babylonian Talmud: Order Moed, Tractate Megillah 16b
    Megilah PDF in English Archived 2010-11-24 at the Wayback Machine on page 65 of 127, (last paragraph before footnotes), see last footnote on next page also.
  15. Ezra 7
  16. Nehemiah 2
  17. Nehemiah 5
  18. Nehemiah 6:15
  19. Bedford, Peter Ross (2001). Temple Restoration in Early Achaemenid Judah. Leiden: Brill. p. 112 (Cyrus edict section pp. 111–131). ISBN 9789004115095.
  20. ^ Becking, Bob (2006). ""We All Returned as One!": Critical Notes on the Myth of the Mass Return". In Lipschitz, Oded; Oeming, Manfred (eds.). Judah and the Judeans in the Persian Period. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-57506-104-7.
  21. Grabbe, Lester L. (2004). Yehud - A History of the Persian Province of Judah. The Library of Second Temple Studies. Vol. 1. T & T Clark. p. 355. ISBN 9780567089984. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  22. Talshir, David, “The Habitat and History of Hebrew during the Second Temple Period,” Pages 251-275 in Biblical Hebrew: Studies in Chronology and Typology. Edited by Ian Young. London: T&T Clark, 2003.
  23. Webmaster (2022-10-30). "#37 Fulfill the dreams of our ancestors". Why Aliyah?. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
  24. Young, Ian (2003-11-01). Biblical Hebrew: Studies in Chronology and Typology. A&C Black. ISBN 978-0-8264-6841-3.
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