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How was Judaism shaped by anticipation of the destruction of the Temple?
In a newspaper article by a Jewish academic about changing support for Zionism among US American Jews (deliberately not linked to avoid distracting from my actual question), I read
More than 2,000 years ago, when Jewish leaders knew the Jerusalem Temple would fall, they left it behind and constructed a new Jewish future. What they created is what we understand as Judaism.
I'm rather confused as to what he's talking about. 2000 years ago would be 45 years before the destruction of the second Temple. Were there really Jewish leaders preparing for a post-Temple Judaism two generations before Titus? Have I got the wrong Temple and he's talking about a pre-exilic setting? Neither option makes much sense to me. In both cases, I understood that the standard analysis is that major changes occurred after the disaster, not before, as people wrestled with the theological and practical implications.
Can anyone point me to an exposition of an understanding of the development of Judaism which makes sense of the claim?
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