ABSTRACT
This chapter brings together what may seem to be a number of disparate topics, but they all relate to the growing importance of the written word through the Second Temple period. Several institutions first served as a way of substituting for the temple because of inaccessibility but then began to be the vehicle for effecting changes, even in the Jewish heartland around Jerusalem. These changes were: • the growth of an authoritative set of writings which can be designated
Scripture • a strong emphasis on the interpretation of that Scripture in diverse and
changing contexts • the origin and spread of the synagogue as a place of study and worship • the increasing importance of prayer as a means of individual and collective
worship away from the temple. The disparate nature of the sources and indeed the subjects themselves makes it difficult to preface discussion by a survey of the sources. Instead, in this chapter the sources are dealt with in each section.
