Some appear to assume that the current state of Jewish observance – where only a small minority of Jews are Torah-loyal – is an historical anomaly. The centuries and millennia preceding the European Enlightenment, so the thinking goes, saw more or less universal halachic compliance, and it was only through a combination of hostile external and internal 18th Century forces that we lost most of our population.
But I’m not sure that’s true. First of all, mass defections seem to have been common through most periods of Jewish history. And second, Jewish life could hardly be considered “settled” during the early modern period (c. 1450-1800) that preceded the Enlightenment. In other words, while things may not be great right now, I’m not sure they were ever all that much better. There has always been free will and bad choices have always been an option.
Whichever way you define observance, there have been so many halachically-deviant historical movements through the ages that it’s hard to imagine any time when observance was the overwhelming norm. From our very birth as a nation, as predicted by Deut. 31:16, religious rebellion has been a real force in our history.
Let’s explore using generally available information. While we can’t be sure exactly how widespread each of these problems was, I think you’ll agree that it’s impossible to claim that they were negligible.
Just a few centuries after receiving the Torah – and immediately following our Golden Age under Solomon – ten of the twelve tribes broke away from Judah and the House of David. They rejected the status of the Temple and, for the next two centuries, ceased attending the three annual pilgrimage festivals (see 1 Kings 12). In time, most of the Northern Kingdom slipped into idolatry (see 1 Kings 19:18). Even the Jews of Judah were persistently unable or unwilling to fully observe all related Torah laws (see 1 Kings 22:44).
There seems to have been significant neglect of fundamental marriage laws in the exile during the period before the Second Temple was built. So much so, that Ezra was forced to directly intervene to keep things under control (Kiddushin 69b). Parallel problems existed among the contemporary Jewish community in Jerusalem (Ezra 10:2).
It’s unclear which era(s) Shabbos 139a (based on Isaiah 14:5) refers to, but the Jewish governing class has seen frightening periodic descent into official corruption. Note the criticism of Jewish judges who allow themselves (מקל לחזניהם) to be used by their staff and handlers in order to facilitate corrupt schemes. And note, too, how prominent Torah scholars strengthened and provided cover for the crimes of their corrupt relatives serving as judges (שבט מושלים). From Pesachim 57a (“אוי לי מבית ישמעאל בן פיאבי אוי לי מאגרופן”), it seems this kind of corruption was a recurring problem.
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