JEWISH DIASPORA

The term diaspora comes from an ancient Greek word meaning "to scatter about." And that's exactly what the people of a diaspora do — they scatter from their homeland to places across the globe, spreading their culture as they go.  One dictionary describes a diaspora as a dispersion of a people, language, or culture that was formerly concentrated in one place, to scatter, to displace, to live in separated communities.

That definition ably describes the Jewish people. Jews had originated in Palestine (ancient Canaan) but had begun to migrate outwards in ancient times, both because of expulsions and for economic reasons under the Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans. Under Roman rule, after the destruction of the Second Jerusalem Temple in 70 AD, they migrated farther, across North Africa and, to Germany and France. In the late Middle Ages, in the wake of persecution and expulsions, many Ashkenazi Jews moved east from Germany to the lands of Poland and Russia.

Not all Jews migrated to Europe; when the Middle East came under the rule of Islam. Some migrated across the Muslim world, including a very important population who went to Spain and flourished there and retained their identity as Spanish Jews. Many of those Spanish (or Sephardi) Jews lived in Turkey, Greece, the Balkans and North Africa. And still others, dating to the times of the Babylonians, Persians, and Greeks, the Mizrahim, lived in Egypt, Iraq, Syria, and Iran, some of the longest lasting Jewish populations in the world.

A very small population of Jews remained in Palestine under Roman, Byzantine, and Muslim rule. Their numbers grew after the Spanish expulsion of 1492 and again with migration of Jews from Eastern Europe to the holy land, often for religious reasons, or to study. By the end of the 19th century, Jews—nearly all religious—with a core of Mizrahi Jews, an influx of Sephardi Jews, and a later immigration of religious Ashkenazim, were about 5% of Palestine’s population.

During the Ottoman Empire's rule over Palestine from 1517 to 1917, the Jewish population in the region lived alongside the Muslim and Christian communities and experienced a complex and evolving relationship with the Ottoman authorities and the local population.

Under Ottoman rule, Jews had access to their holy sites in Jerusalem, including the Western Wall and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. Ottoman authorities maintained and regulated access to these sites, and local Jewish communities played a role in their administration.

The late Ottoman period saw the emergence of the Zionist movement, which sought to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Zionist organizations and Jewish immigration to the region increased during this time, leading to tensions with both the Ottoman authorities and the local Arab population.

 

The Jewish presence in Palestine during the Ottoman Empire laid the groundwork for the subsequent developments in the region, including the British Mandate period and the eventual establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. It also set the stage for the complex and ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

 

Conflict with Jews both in Palestine and the diaspora, was associated primarily with Jewish exceptionalism. They practiced monotheism in polytheistic cultures. They observed the Sabbath when non-Jews did not. Their boys were circumcised in keeping with the Abrahamic covenant. In addition, their use of kosher foods and observance of holy days identified them as different, and subjected them to disdain.

 

It was this disdain that aided antisemitism. Antisemitism was more of a problem in the diaspora than in Palestine. In Palestine, Jews, Christians and Muslims showed much tolerance as neighbours. In the diaspora, Jews struggled with integrating in their respective countries. Theologically, strong divisions were evident among liberal and orthodox Jews. Culturally, there were strong differences with nationalism and cultural autonomy. Some of this discourse provided fodder for the birthing of Zionist movements.

 

Zionism led to the first wave of immigration to Palestine in 1882. Their mission was to purchase land and become involved in agriculture in the Galilian region. The mission was somewhat disorganized. The major organization came from Central Europeans, and most importantly, Theodor Herzl. In 1897 he convened the First Zionist Congress in Switzerland. That move provided Central and Western European Jews with the organizational backbone for the second wave on Zionist immigration. As mentioned earlier, the timing coincided with invitations from the Ottoman Empire for investments in Palestine.

 

Because European Jews were not naturally connected to the soil, some were convinced the path was bad for the Jews. In addition, plantation owners were expatriate Arabs, and they were known for exploitative practices. Those fears pushed for the separation of Jewish and Arab agricultural economies, and founded all-Jewish farming cooperatives called Kibbutzim – today, about 120,000 persons live in some 270 kibbutzim in Israel.

 

Although the Jewish intent to migrate was a secular move, many Bible scholars believe the move was prophetic. Some scholars will quote the prophet Ezekiel to support their position: “I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them back into their own land…I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people and I will be their God” (Ezekiel 37:21-23).

 

The process of accomplishing Ezekiel’s prophecy is another matter. That matter we will consider in a subsequent blog.