FTS, thanks for your answer. When I studied at university and also under rabbi, both mentioned that majority of Jews lived outside Judea at the time of Jesus and small minority was in their homeland. Jews scattered across two empires-Persian and Roman- were not even aware of Jesus existence. I have read different demographic estimates, where 10% of the population in the Roman Empire had Jewish religion in the peak or Trajan, and only 2% of them lived in Jerusalem and vicinity. Alexandria was the biggest Jewish city, which had tremendous impact on Jewish philosophy, religion, culture; so did Persian and Parthian empire for Jews integrated in the society there. While there is not any indication that Jesus ever was in Babylonia, NT mentions Jesus living Egypt, where he would certainly encounter Jewish thoughts and education radiating from the biggest Jewish centers of learning at his time.
I love Midrash and I had a borrowed copy, but it was too extensive to read. Midrash is very interesting literature to read, as it add much of the information into the OT. For example explain who was father of Kain, how Serpent seduced Eve, why she is called mother of all living but the same is not said about Adam, what was Serpent seed, and so on. Midrash were written in span of 1400 centuries with increased interest outside Judaism. The stories were also popular in the 12/13th century monasteries and during Renaissance when they were translated into different languages like Polish, Czech, Italian, and German. Definitely, it is more interesting than Studies in the Scripture.