Messiah, in Judaism meant a liberator or one who would alleviate the suffering of the Jewish people. They expected the Messiah would be an authoritative liberator, who would also be free from both a theological and political standpoint. Most often, Messiah meant a ruler or high priest. However, there were also non-Jews that made substantial contributions to improving and reorganizing the lives of Jews, such as Cyrus The Great who worked to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple. So, Jews anticipated Christ’s upcoming emancipation as well as the power that would free them from captivity. Messiah belief became more eschatological following the fall of second temple. (Docherty (2015) Jews began to see the Messiah as a heavenly Son of Man, gaining a better understanding of his mission to redeem mankind from sin.
Before the fall of the second temple in Jerusalem, certain activities were considered essential by the Jewish community. The first was that the Jews performed several rituals in the temple. These included the presentation of various kinds of burnt sacrifices. The recording of oral tradition, editing of written material such as the Torah and compilation of prophetic writings all played important roles before the fall of the second temple. Ecclesiastes was admitted to the Hebrew Canon, while Songs of Solomon was added. The destruction of the temple caused a significant transformation in Jewish tradition. Religious practices changed dramatically as a result of the shift from temple-based rituals such as sacrifices and rituals, to more scattered worship. The effectiveness of priests in religious rituals was greatly diminished (Malloy 2022, p. 311). This period saw a shift from ritualistic ceremonies towards a religion that was based on interpretation and text.
The most serious social injustice that could threaten Judaism is discrimination on the basis of gender. The Jewish understanding of scriptures states that women are subordinate to men and must rely on them for their survival. This reasoning implies that women are not able to fulfill the societal obligations and roles intended for men, like those of clergy. Gender-based discrimination is a key social justice issue as society adopts fairness and equality norms.
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