Children in the time of Jesus were a boon because from age 8 or so, they were useful as agricultural or some other sort of labor. Only the sons of levis, cohens, and cantors were educated in any serious manner. These were the priests, rabbis, temple attendants, and singers, and they were hereditary positions. It was forbidden for these people to marry Jews who were not of their lineage, as it still is in Israel. Most occupations were hereditary. The caste system in Israel exists only because of the need of the religious parties in coalitions in the Knesset. Jewish commoners are called "Israel", and when they marry one of the higher caste people, they generally do it out of the country, with Cyprus being the favorite place.
Blood sacrifice was a BIG DEAL then. In modern times, it is what only cults generally seen as wackos do today. Here in Miami, one sees dismembered chickens and goats strewn about the parking lots at Barry and St Thomas Universities near graduation time and generally it does not even make the newspaper. Kosher regulations applied to all sorts of things, not just food. Jews at the time of Jesus had more traditional obligations and do's and don'ts than fundamentalist Muslims do today.
Gossip was the major source of entertainment. There were no soap operas, films, novels, videogames or TV, of course, and travel away from where one was born was exceedingly rare, and for Jews mostly limited to a visit to Jerusalem.
