In Jewish history, the Second Commonwealth is the period during which the Second Temple of Jerusalem was in existence, roughly 530 BCE-70 CE. During this period, when, geographically speaking, the Kingdom of Israel comprised approximately what today are the countries Israel and Jordan, as well as the Palestinian Authority, Judaism was confronted by two major challenges. First the influence of Hellenism (which culminated in the Maccabean Revolt of 167 BCE) and the Roman conquest.[1]