An except from Rabbi Irving Greenberg’s “The Jewish Way: Living the Holidays,” this article describes the unimaginable shattering of the Jewish people and way of life that resulted from the destruction of the Second Temple, including the famine, massacre, slavery and civil war between the people and the devastating effects of the obliteration of the political, spiritual and religious center of Jewish life and worship. Reprinted on My Jewish Learning, the article also discusses the various emotional, political and religious responses to the destruction from different sects within the Jewish community.