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What Is The Jewish Diaspora?
The Jewish Diaspora is an oft-cited and crucial event in Jewish history. It is the dispersion of the Jewish people from their ancestral homeland in the Middle East and their resettlement in communities around the world. This dispersion began with the destruction of the First Temple in 70 CE and continued through subsequent conquests and exiles in the following centuries, ultimately resulting in a global Jewish presence from Europe to America, Asia to Africa.
The First Diaspora began with the Babylonian exile in 586 BCE, when the Babylonian Empire overthrew the kingdom of Judah, destroyed the temple and took Jews captive. This began the phenomenon of geographical exile of Jews and greatly influenced Jewish identity and culture going forward. During the Roman Empire, Jews were allowed to remain in the Land of Israel, however, as the Empire grew vast and its reach extended, so too did its religious intolerance. This eventually led to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, followed by another exile of Jews, this time to the Greco-Roman world. Jews spread out to Europe and Asia, introducing their culture and tradition to new lands.
The subsequent 19th and 20th centuries saw the forced exodus of Jews from the Russian Empire in 1881, while in the same year, hundreds of thousands of Jews from eastern Europe immigrated to the United States and other parts of the world. Jews fleeing the Holocaust in the mid 1940s also found shelter abroad, primarily in the United States and Palestine. By this time, Jews had become a global people, spread throughout the four corners of the world.
The Jewish Diaspora has had a large impact on Jewish culture and identity, with the spread of Yiddish, the emergence of Reform Judaism, and the development of diverse cultures and practices. While Jews may have been geographically scattered, they managed to preserve their faith and traditions through a variety of communal and religious mechanisms, such as the mitzvah bus and the Passover seder. These practices helped to keep Jews connected to their heritage, even while they were physically separated across the globe.
Today, the Jewish Diaspora continues to shape Jewish identity, culture and religion. Jews have an international presence and through this vast network of communities are able to both celebrate and expand upon the traditions of their ancestors. Like many diaspora populations, Jews have been able to draw upon the strength and resilience of their shared experience to preserve their culture and thrive, even in the face of great adversity.
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