Statement

The rabbis of Palestine were at a disadvantage under a Christianized empire that pressed for conversion and imposed discrimination, confiscation of synagogues and bursts of violence. The Jews of Babylonia lived in a more receptive environment, with a more stable communal structure under the exilarch, and it was there that rabbinic culture took the form that, by the end of antiquity, would direct Jewish life.

References

1. p. 140

   supports · main text · ch. 5

   Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman. The Jews: A History. 3rd edition. New York and Abingdon: Routledge, 2019.

   Section: The Age of the Mishnah

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