… when the Jews became fettered by empty forms and
imitations, the wrath of God became manifest. When they forsook the foundations
of the law of God, Nebuchadnezzar came and conquered the Holy Land. He killed
and made captive the people of Israel, laid waste the country and populous
cities and burned the villages. Seventy thousand Jews were carried away captive
to Babylon. He destroyed Jerusalem, despoiled the great Temple, desecrated the
Holy of Holies and burned the Torah, the heavenly book of Scriptures.
Therefore, we learn that allegiance to the essential foundation of the divine
religions is ever the cause of development and progress, whereas the
abandonment and beclouding of that essential reality through blind imitations
and adherence to dogmatic beliefs are the causes of a nation's debasement and
degradation. After their conquest by the Babylonians the Jews were successively
subjugated by the Greeks and Romans. Under the Roman general Titus in A.D. 70
the Holy Land was stripped and pillaged, Jerusalem razed to its foundations and
the Israelites scattered broadcast throughout the world. So complete was their
dispersion that they have continued without a country and government of their
own to the present day [1912].
- Abdu'l-Baha (From a talk, 'The Promulgation of
Universal Peace')
