The Majority Stayed
The Seams — Part 4 of 6 eFireTemple.com Cyrus opened the door. He did not just tolerate the Jewish community's departure — he funded it, authorized it, and provided the infrastructure for the return to Jerusalem. Most of them did not leave. This fact is recorded in the Jewish tradition's own sources, acknowledged by historians, and confirmed by the centuries of Jewish intellectual and communal life that continued in Babylon and the eastern diaspora long after the return was authorized.
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The Seams — Part 4 of 6 eFireTemple.com Cyrus opened the door. He did not just tolerate the Jewish community's departure — he funded it, authorized it, and provided the infrastructure for the return to Jerusalem. Most of them did not leave. This fact is recorded in the Jewish tradition's own sources, acknowledged by historians, and confirmed by the centuries of Jewish intellectual and communal life that continued in Babylon and the eastern diaspora long after the return was authorized. And it is a fact that demolishes Daniel's portrayal of the Persian spiritual system. The choice The Edict of Cyrus, recorded in Ezra 1, gave every Jew in the Persian Empire the option to return to Jerusalem. It was not a forced deportation. It was not a mandatory relocation. It was an invitation, backed by imperial funding and protection. Some accepted.
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Talmud