This dissertation examines the place of the Jerusalem temple in practice, thought, and self-understanding of Diaspora Jews during the Hellenistic and early Roman periods prior to the destruction of the temple in 70 CE. The significant distance separating Diaspora Jews from Jerusalem impacted their ability to participate in the sacrificial cult. It is often thought, therefore, that the temple was essentially irrelevant as an institution, even though it maintained a certain symbolic value, for most Diaspora Jews who reoriented their identity toward other universally accessible focal points, such as the Torah. Such conclusions do not appreciate fully the diversity of the perspective among Diaspora Jews concerning the Jerusalem temple and often give preference to literary evidence, most of which comes from Alexandria specifically.Taking a different approach, this dissertation investigates not only the perspectives of the individual Diaspora Jews whose writings mention the Jerusalem temple (Letter of Aristeas, Philo of Alexandria, Philo the Epic Poet, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, Sibylline Oracles, Book 3) but also the customs of Diaspora Jewish communities linking them to the temple, such as their financial contributions and pilgrimages there. More specifically, in part one, we suggest that most Diaspora Jews voluntarily adopted these practices, which increased in popularity during the Second Temple period, in order to maintain regular contact with and participation in the sacrificial cult. In part two, we analyze the place of the Jerusalem temple in Diaspora Jewish literature. Various descriptions of the grandeur of the Jerusalem temple and its environs exemplify the pride with which certain Diaspora Jews viewed the temple as well as how some Jews desired for their non-Jewish neighbors to view the temple with which Jews were foundationally connected. Accounts of the divine protection of the temple from foreign threats emphasize the unique association of the presence and worship of the God of the universe with the Jerusalem temple. In various ways, certain Diaspora Jewish authors also correlated the Jerusalem temple with the legitimacy of Diaspora Jewish communities and stressed the role of the temple as a unifying institution for the entire Jewish nation in the present and future.