The return of the Jewish People from Babylon, & their desire to reclaim & rebuild the tiny province of Yehudah, must have been quite a shock to those then inhabiting the land, who for two or three genera-tions had regarded it as theirs. Many would have taken over property left behind. People from across the river Yardeen & from Samaria/Shomron had settled in Yehudah, & south of Beth Lechem nearly all the ter-ritory had become Edomite. Thus, the population of the province was made up of groups with different in-terests, of whom the most influential were immigrants from Babylonia who enjoyed the poltical support of the Persian regime & claimed to be the only rightful occupants of the Promised Land. It is unlikely, then, that from this time there was a single agreed "Judaism". There may well have been disputes between local
& immigrant priestly families as to who should officiate in the Temple, for traces of competing genealogies
& dynasties {for instance, descendants of Aharon versus descendants of Tsadok} can be detected in bible-stories. To such circumstances the roots of the religious plurality & sectarianism that underlie the Dead Sea
Scrolls may well be traced. Certainly the Damascus Dicument treats the religious leadership from this time
onwards as being in error, &, together with several other Jewish writings {including the book of Enoch & the
biblical book of Dani'el}, it regards the exile as having effectively continued to its own day. Meer dan 3000
jaar geschiedenis onderhand via alle landen van de wereld, vermengd met alle rassen van pikzwart tot erg
wit & alles daartussenin: alle talen, culturen, vermenging van geloven & politieke richtingen. Wie had in de
Tweede Wereldoorlog kunnen denken dat het allemaal zo zou gaan verlopen dwars door discriminaties en
concentratiekampen, mensen van alle leeftijden, rangen en standen, gearresteerd, gedeporteerd, om het
leven gebracht op fabrieksmatige wijze door mensen in alle Europese landen die zich ooit christelijk noem-den gedurende de afgelopen 2000 jaar. En 'n soortgelijk Verhaal dat zich op talloze plaatsen NU afspeelt!