Under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Jeshua, the people begin the work of rebuilding the temple. All the people are somehow involved. Some would provide food for the builders to eat. Others would help carry tools and goods. Some would dig holes, prepare stones, etc. The key idea is that all the people who returned from the exile contributed and helped with rebuilding the temple foundations. It was not just a task for a select few; all the people were involved.
8 Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to supervise the work of the house of the LORD.