Final answer:
To maintain their religion while dispersed, Jews relied on the uniformity of the Torah, strict religious customs, and community structures, allowing them to adapt to local cultures yet preserve their distinct identity.
Step-by-step explanation:
Jews managed to keep their religion alive despite being scattered in gentile lands through a combination of religious practices, legal systems, and cultural identity preservation. The compilation of the Torah by the prophet Ezra and its meticulous copying by rabbis ensured a uniformity of practice and belief wherever Jews were located. This mobile tradition implied that Jews had a portable version of their religion that could be practiced consistently across varying geographies.
Furthermore, they maintained distinctive aspects like marriage laws, kosher dietary restrictions, and the importance of religious study. In gentile lands, Jewish communities thrived by erecting synagogues, engaging in trade and scholarship, and sometimes adopting aspects of the local culture while retaining their unique religious identity.
Despite external pressures, such as restrictive laws and persecutions in various historical periods, from both Christian and later Islamic empires, Jewish communities often found ways to exist relatively peacefully, contributing to the economies and cultures of the lands they lived in while continuing their religious observance.