How to Understand the Jewish Diaspora

Because Judaism is one of the oldest religions on earth—and because this monotheistic faith didn’t sit well with the ancient empires of Rome and Persia—Jewish people have been expelled from their territories since time immemorial. What historians call the “Jewish Diaspora” isn’t a single, recent event; rather, it’s a series of dispersions dating back to the eight century B.C. Here’s a quick outline.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. The first Diaspora began in 722 B.C. In that year, the Assyrian king Shalmaneser V conquered northern Israel, driving the mythical “ten lost tribes” into surrounding areas of the Middle East. The results of this invasion can still be seen today, in the tens of thousands of Persian Jews who lived in Iran until most of them emigrated elsewhere.

2. The second Diaspora began in 588 B.C. The invasion of Judea by another now-extinct tribe, the Chaldeans, resulted in the deportation of thousands of Jews to the Euphrates valley (the locale of modern-day Iraq) and the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem. Some of these Babylonian Jews returned to Israel decades later and, fired with newfound religious zeal, built the Second Temple.

3. The Jewish state was vanquished by Rome in the first century A.D. The Jewish people enjoyed a hundred or so years of independence under the Hasmoneans (rulers descended from the legendary warrior Judah Maccabee). In 37 B.C., King Herod allowed Judea to become a protectorate of Rome, but in 70 A.D., Roman legions crushed a Jewish uprising, launching the third and biggest Diaspora. Iit wasn’t until nearly 2,000 years later, with the founding of Israel, that the Jews again had an independent homeland.

4. Many Jews fled north and west into Europe. While many Jewish people remained in the Middle East after the destruction of the Second Temple, many more migrated to whatever European territories would have them. Historically, there are two main groups: the “Ashkenazi” Jews, who settled in northern and eastern Europe, and the “Sephardic” Jews, who settled in Spain and the Mediterranean coast.

5. The last major expulsion of Jews was in 1492. In that year, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain deported all Jews who would not convert to the Catholic religion. Though not technically considered part of the Diaspora—perhaps because many more Jews opted to convert than to go into exile—these expulsions resulted in a new wave of wanderings and resettlements.

[seedling]

on 4/6/2009 Nice history lesson. 5*

[lawyerlarry]

on 4/6/2009 Enjoyed your article == chag sameach!

[mkh1958]

on 4/6/2009 How to Understand the Jewish Diaspora - I really enjoyed your article. I hope many non-Jews stop in and begin to understand about more about the Jewish Diaspora. 5*