How the Dustman Lost His Job

The story is told during the Exile period from 605 BCE to 587 BCE when many inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem were taken away to Babylon in at least three deportations under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar II. The Neo-Babylonian Empire emerged in 626 BCE with Nabopolassar as the King of Babylon; he was succeeded in 605 BCE by his famous son, Nebuchadnezzar II, whose 43-year reign made his kingdom the most powerful in the Fertile Crescent. The only significant ruler who came after his death was Nabonidus in 556 BCE, along with his son Belshazzar, who acted as a regent in Nabonidus’ absence. They ruled until Babylon fell to the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE, and an edict by him shortly after allowed those Jews who wished to return to their ancestral land would be allowed to do so. The grandfather in the story, having memories of the pre-destruction Temple in Jerusalem, was among those transported to Babylon during one of the deportations, likely one in 586 BCE. By this time, the previously exiled Jews had already begun to codify their scriptures, with the Torah assuming a central role in establishing Jewish worship and way of life within Babylonia. The returning Exiles and their successive generations always considered Babylon as the epitome of sinfulness. Yet, was it that bad for those who remained and adapted, but did not lose their faith? Many centuries later, legal academies in Babylonia became the Jewish authoritative centers of the Jewish world. The grandfather tries to remember some of the old stories to share with his rebellious granddaughter who seems to prefer the more exciting life in the great city of Babylon. They dialog and spar during their discussions of how sin came into the world, and why they should follow the Jewish law more than adapt to the Babylonian lifestyle.