Jewish Diaspora

The Jewish Diaspora ( Tefutzah , “dispersed” or Galout , “exile”) indicates the dispersion of the Jewish people.

History

Diaspora pre-Roman

After the inversion in -588 of the Kingdom of Juda, and the deportation of a considerable number inhabitants towards the valleys of the Euphrate, the Jewish people concentrated in two points: Babylon and the Ground of Israel.

Although a majority of the Jewish people, especially richest, was in Babylon, its existence was difficult there under the reign of the Achéménides, of the Séleucides, the Parthes, the néo- Perse S and the Sassanides. Poorest as well as most enthusiastic among exiled are turned over out of Ground of Israel during the reign of Achéménès. With the rebuilding of the Temple of Jerusalem, they are organized in a community animated by religious personalities attached to the Torah and the awakening of the Jewish identity.

After many risks, especially problems within the dynasty of Séleucides on the one hand, and the interested support of the Romans on the other hand, the cause of independence triumphed finally. Under the reign of the Hasmonéens, the Jewish state reaches a certain dimension and appendix some territories. However, the discords within the royal family and the amplification of the disaffection of the piles, the heart of the nation, in favor of the leaders, made Jewish state an easy prey for the Roman Empire. In -63, Pompée invades Jerusalem and Gabinius fixes the Jews with the tribute.

Populations of the first diaspora

During the II E, the authors of the third book of the Oracula Sibyllina address themselves to the " populate élu" while saying: “Each country and each sea also are filled by it”. Various witnesses like Strabon, Philon of Alexandria, Sénèque and Yosef Ben Matthias testify owing to the fact that the Jews were already disseminated in the known world.

The king Hérode Clutched Ier, in a letter with Caligula, enumerates among the provinces of the Jewish diaspora almost all the Greek and nonGreek countries of the East; and this enumeration is far from being complete because the Italy and Cyrène are not included/understood there. Epigraphic discoveries year by year increase the number of known Jewish communities. There is only little information in connection with the precise number of these Jewish communities, and they must be employed with precaution. After the Earth of Israel and Babylon, it is in Syria that according to Yosef Ben Matthias the Jewish population was densest; particularly with Antioche and then Damas, where at the time of the great insurrection, 10  000 with 18  000 Jews were massacred. Philon of Alexandria advances the figure of 1  000  000 of Jews living in Egypt, is a eighth of the population. Alexandria was the most important community by far there, where the Jews were installed in two of the five districts of the city. According to the number of people massacred in 115, the number of Jewish inhabitants of Cyrénaïque, Cyprus and Mésopotamie was to also be important. In Rome, at the beginning of the reign of Auguste, one counted more 8  000 Jews. Lastly, the amounts confiscated by the Propréteur Flaccus in 62, representing the taxes, make believe that at least 45  000 men, or a total of at least 180  000 Jews lived in minor Asia.

Diaspora post-Roman

Destruction of Judaea

See also: First war judéo-Roman

The Roman reign will continue until a revolt which will last of 66 with 70, by the catch of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple, the center of the national life and nun of the Jews of the whole world. After this catastrophe, the Judaea formed a separate province of the Roman Empire, controlled by a legate, initially propretor then proconsul, which was also the commander of the armies and the occupation. Complete destruction of Jerusalem, and the Colonization of many Greek provinces and Romans in Judaea indicate the intention of the Roman government to prevent the rebuilding of the Jewish nation. Nevertheless, 40 years later, the efforts of the Jews were rewarded with covering for their preceding freedom.

These efforts, reserved but not very judicious, were removed by Trajan. Under Hadrian, the same fate will repeat last once with a glorious attempt at independence which will last of 133 with 135. Since this period, in spite of some movements of no importance under Marc Aurèle and Severe Septime, the Jews of Palestine, reduced of number, relieved and demolished, lost their preponderance in the Jewish world. The Jews did not have consequently any more reason to cling to this ground where the memory of their last size was which make even bitterer the spectacle of their current humiliation when Jerusalem became under the name of Ælia Capitolina , an entirely pagan Roman colony where the access to the Jews was interdict under penalty of death there.

The dispersion of the Jews

The destruction of the Judaea exerted a decisive role during the dispersion of the people Juif through the world, with the passage of the religious authority of the Temple to the Rabbin S.

Some Juif S were sold like Esclave S and were transported, others united the existing Diaspora S, while others started to work on the Talmud. The latter then were generally accepted within the Roman Empire, but with the rise of the Christianisme, of new restrictions appeared.

During the the Middle Ages, the Juif S were divided into distinct groups which today are generally classified in two groups: the Ashkénaze S of the north and the east of the Europe and the Séfarade S of the Iberian peninsula and the Mediterranean basin. These two groups share a series of parallel stories of persecutions and expulsions, with finally, the return in Ground of Israel to the 20th century.

Jewish communities of the Diaspora

The Juif S occupied of the important Territoire S through the old then Nouveau world, and exist since thousand-year-old Ier before the common era. Extremely diversified Jewish cultures thus existed, being expressed in many Langue S.

Often very autonomous, these groups however corresponded between them, allowing the maintenance of a relatively stable Jewish identity. The Rituel Séfarade thus spread starting from Spain through all the Mediterranean basin, while the Juifs of Cochin (India) traditionally made come their holy books from the Yemen.

The really isolated communities, like the Jewish of China, the Bucket Israel of Bombay (India) or the Falashas of Ethiopia ended up being assimilated completely (Juifs of China), rather largely (Bene Israel), or by developing very particular religious forms ( Falashas ).

Without being exhaustive, one can however quote of great cultural, autonomous but more or less inter-connected units.

Hellenized Jewish communities

Those appeared with the expansion of the hellenistic Culture through the the Middle East following the conquests of Alexandre Large the. They were particularly numerous with Alexandria and Eléphantine in Egypt, like in Greece or Anatolia. Helene civilization had also penetrated the Ground of Israel (cf Livres of the Stiffs), sometimes involving conflict relations with the not hellenized Jews.

Their influence on the birth of the primitive Christianisme is important. They gave him their version of the Bible, the Seventy (different from the Hebraic Bible current), which will be used as a basis for the catholic Bible. Their Theology, marrying Jewish tradition and Greek philosophy, also influenced the first Christian theologists.

After the disappearance of the hellenized Jews (converted with Christianity or reabsorbed by the orthodoxe Judaism), of the Jews of Greek culture however continued to exist until the 20th century, through the Romaniotes of the south of the Balkans, having adopted the ritual Séfarade.
Indeed, the Greece, mainly Rhodos and the Thessalonique was the cradle of an important community sépharade and another karaïte, after the expulsion of the Jews of Spain in 1492. They almost disappeared today, following the Shoah, and with the emigration which followed towards Israel.

Jews originating in the Iberian peninsula

See also: Decree of Alhambra, Séfarade, Ladino (language), Judeo-Spanish

The Jews of the Iberian peninsula settled there after the fall of the Second Temple. After the Arab conquest at the 8th century, they become a community subjected to the double influence of the culture Mozarabe (Latin culture influenced by the Arab world) and of the culture arabo-Moslem woman.

As from the 10th century, the Christians taken refuge in the North of the Iberian peninsula start to increase their zones of influences appreciably, until the ousting of the Musulman S in 1492. The Juif S then pass under cultural influences Spanish and Portuguese. It is as from this period that one can speak about a Spanish Jewish culture independent of the Arab culture of the Jews of the previous times.

After the victory of the Christian S against the Sultanate of Grenade, the Juifs are expelled in the wave of religious exaltation which follows, of Spain in 1492 and the Portugal in 1493.

The Jews of the peninsula emigrate then (except those which convert, becoming Marranes then) towards the Italy, the Balkans, the countries of North Africa, the Ottoman Empire (mainly the Syria but also the Yichouv). The Jews sépharades will find themselves in the Compagnie of the Indies, reaching Americas. In addition, of many marranes take refuge with the Netherlands, the England and, for some the south of France (Bordeaux), joining the populations of Provence; the majority are reconverted.

This population dispersed but equipped with a rich person Spanish culture preserved its cultural identity a long time, speaking the Judéo-espagnol, and avoiding mixing with the other Jewish communities. Its religious influence was strong, since the Balkan communities and of the Arab world, whatever their origins, ended up adopting the ritual monks séfarades, becoming by extension they-even indicated like Séfarades. The definite séfarades from the point of view of the ritual and not of the origin are thus a multi-cultural group, gathering Jews of culture Arab, Berber, Spanish or Greek.

The Balkan communities were decimated by the Shoa.

The survivors or the Judeo-Spanish communities alive in the Arab world emigrated in very great number towards Israel or the France (for the Maghrebian Jews, where they deeply marked the French Jewish landscape, although the second generation tends to adopt the surrounding Occidental culture). The more modest communities of Americas practically lost the use of their language, like those of the Netherlands, largely destroyed by Shoa. The Judeo-Spanish culture seems in the process of disappearance.

Jews of German and Eastern-European culture

See also: Ashkenaze, Yiddish, History of the Jews in Poland

Jews are present in Western Europe since the Roman Empire. Towards the Year 1000, communities are identified in the Vallée of the Rhine, centered around the towns of Worms, Spire and Mainz, where Rav Guershom Ben Juda codifies the bases of the Judaism Ashkénaze, and where it is supposed that the first forms of Yiddish are formed, a Yiddish language.

From this original center, the Jews ashkénazes disperse towards the European East, in particular the Poland, the Ukraine and the Lithuania. From this compost will leave some the most prestigious names of the Judaism (Rachi, the Tossafiste S, the Maharal of Prague, etc).

The Jewish populations of Eastern-European become very important, since the Jews Ashkénaze S accounted for 75% of the world Judaism towards 1880, or 10% of the Polish population before the Second world war.

Thanks to their number and to the tradition of study (originally religious) of the Judaism Ashkenaze, these populations will give important actors to the intellectual, scientific and industrial revolution which sets up in Western Europe then central between the end of the 18th century and the 20th century. Monks or “déjudaïsés”, sometimes converted, one can quote among them Moïse Mendelssohn, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Edmund Husserl, Franz Kafka, Stefan Zweig or Albert Einstein. It should be noted the influence of Bund in the emergence of the revolutionary movements in Russia, as well as the big number of leaders Bolshevik S of Jewish origin (Trotsky, Kamenev, Zinoviev, Sverdlov, Radek, etc).

It is also this enlightened Judaism '' '' which, under the influence of the European Nationalisme created the Jewish nationalist movement, the Sionisme, tried a laicization of the definition of “Jew”, but also produced in reaction the Jewish Ultra-orthodoxy.

As from the end of the 19th century for economic reasons (poverty) and policies (Anti-semitism, revolutions), the Juif S ashkénazes begin a massive emigration towards the American continent (especially the the United States, but also the Canada or the Argentine), the Western Europe (especially the Germany, the France and the England) and finally towards the Palestine then Israel.

The Shoa destroyed a strong proportion of the Eastern-European communities ashkénazes (92% in Poland). Between emigration and extermination, the Eastern Europe, principal world center of the Judaïsme at the 19th century became today a secondary center of settlement Juif, and the Yiddish culture almost disappeared, the communities remaining on the spot having largely adopted the local languages.

Some groups, as the Israeli Edah Haredit continue to practice the Yiddish like language of the daily newspaper, but this use became marginal or non-existent in almost all the communities current Ashkénaze S (in Europe, North America and Israel).

Jews of Indian culture

See also: History of the Jews in India

Two current groups were strongly assimilated to the traditional Indian culture, integrating even the system of castes within their own communities. They are the Jews of Cochin (south-western of India) and the Israel Bucket of Bombay (North-western of India). Completely indianized except with regard to the religion, these two communities largely have immigrant in Israel in second half of the 20th century.

Jews of Ethiopian culture

See also: Falashas

The Falasha or Beta Israel have a badly defined origin. their liturgical language is the Guèze, a Semitic language of Ethiopia, which is used also as liturgical language with the Ethiopian church copte. Their culture is very marked by the Ethiopian Christian habits. There exists thus “a vast literature crowned in Guèze”, partly of Christian, but expurgée origin. In the same way, until the 20th century, the community Beta Israel had an important tradition monacale, probably borrowed from the monachism of the Christians of Ethiopia. This institution disappeared in second half of the 20th century. The community Beta Israel thus one of the Jewish communities is influenced by the Christian religion (Christianity copte of Ethiopia east contrary one to more influenced by the Judaism, for example through its practice of the Circoncision or its respect of the Shabbat).

The Falasha lived during centuries in the North of Ethiopia, in particular the provinces of the Gondar and the Tigré. After having profited from small independent States until the 17th century, they were conquered by the empire of Ethiopia, and became a marginalized minority, to which it was interdict to have grounds, marked to have the “evil eye”.

They return in contact with the Western Judaism at the end of the 19th century. As from the beginning of the 20th century, an in-depth redefinition of the identity of the community is done day, and leads it to regard itself from now on Jewish, and more only as Beta Israel . This evolution reduces strong original religious particularisms gradually and brings the religion closer to the Beta Israel of the orthodoxe Judaïsme.

In 1975, the Israeli government recognizes judaïté of the Beta Israel . Those then will carry out a difficult emigration towards Israel in the years 1980 and 1990. In 2005, they are approximately 105.000 in Israel. This specific culture, like much of other Jewish cultures, thus seems in process of assimilation.

Jews of Turkish culture

These Jews especially lived in the zones of Turkish language, namely it Anatolia and the south of the Ukraine, which was of Turkish settlement of the end of antiquity to his conquest by the Russians, at the 18th century.

This area, with the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Asia, comprised as many Jews ashkénazes than sépharades, originating in Greece or Spain.

It is also in Turkey that took refuge the community karaïte expelled of Spain in 1492. These Karaïtes European, to which united the Karaïme S of the Crimea, was identified particularly at the Turkish-speaking communities, and finished, rare case within the Jewish communities, by redefining itself for a part of them as Turks of religion karaïte, and either like Juifs. It was not the case of Karaïtes of Egypt, nor other communities karaïtes of Europe, and 20 to 25.000 of them live in 2007 in Israel.

Jews of Chinese culture

See also: History of the Jews in China

The generally allowed theory is that the Jews of Kaifeng would have arrived in China at the 9th century by the Silk route, while coming from Perse or India while passing by the Afghanistan. They would then have settled with Kaifeng, capital of the Dynastie Song (907 - 1279) which reigned then on the Empire of the medium.

They lived in the most total insulation, cultivating a particular Judaïsme because isolated of the influence of the Rabbin S of Occident and strongly impresses Confucianisme. They were redécouverts by the occident 16th century, when one of them came into contact with the father Jesuit Matteo Ricci, come évangéliser China.

After the destruction of the last Synagog, towards 1850, the Chinese Jewish community lost any cohesion gradually, and, having adopted the patrilineal principle of ascent of the Han Chinese, is regarded as having disappeared at the beginning of the 20th century as a Jewish community, except for some families.

Although their history is badly known, this very specific Judaism was a rich and alive culture during at least a millenium.

Eastern Jews

See also: Mizrahim, History of the Jews in Iran, Jewish of Bukhara, Jewish of the mountains

Jewish communities resulting from Babylon

The Jewish communities of Persia and Iraq belong to oldest Jewish communities the, going down from the Jews exiled in Babylon at the time of the destruction of the First Temple, as well as talmudic communities of times. Their origin is common, even if their languages have ends up diverging.
Jews of Persia and related
Starting from the emperor Cyrus II, to the VI E, the Jews penetrate in the Persian empire. Persian communities of languages will exist during 25 century, until the 20th century, not only within the borders of current Iran, but also with its periphery. These groups developed particular cultures, sometimes marked by the Zoroastrisme, and of the judéo-Persan dialects.

Much is tradesmen, crossing the Silk route, and is at the origin of “establishments” along those, in particular the Juifs of Bukhara (an area of Central Asia) speaking the Uzbek today, but a long time of culture Persian, the Juifs of the mountains of the Caucasus, but also the Juifs of China and some Juifs of India. The Radhanites could also be originating in Persia.

These communities strongly regressed in second half of the 20th century by emigration towards Israel and the the United States. There remains however still a few thousands of people living in the areas of origin.

Jews of Iraq and Kurdistan

The Baghdadim Jews form another Jewish community having lived on the Iraqi ground, until the twentieth century. Many figures of the traditional Judaism of it result, like Rav Ovadia Yossef or Rav Itzhak Kadouri. The Baghdadi community of the Indies east besides resulting at the 19th century from the Sassoon family, having made shipwreck off the Indian coasts.

One can also quote the Juifs of Kurdistan, living the territory of Kurditan currently occupied by Iraq, of Kurdish culture, the Kurdish being a Indo-European language pertaining to the Iranian group. These Jews of Kurdistan also had a vast range of dialects Judéo-araméen S.

Jews of Arab culture

The Jews of the Middle East were under a clear cultural influence araméenne between the exile in Babylon of -586 (the Araméen being the language of the Babylonia and a broad part of the ancient Middle East) and the expansion arabo-Moslem woman of the 7th century. After this expansion, the Jews araméens became gradually the Juifs Arabic, partly absorbing the Jewish communities of North Africa, for the majority of the Berber tribes converted with the Judaism, which had not been influenced by the araméen. Some of these last however continued to use Berber languages.

The Jewish culture of the Arab world is one of most important Jewish world. She is diversified enough, the Juifs of Yemen, the Juifs of Morocco, the Juifs of Algeria, the Juifs of Egypt, the Juifs of Iraq, having each one their cultural identities. These Jews d'" Eretz Islam " were strongly influenced by the Judaism sépharade, to start with Moïse Maïmonide, born in Moslem Spain and died in Egypt.

One can note that the Jews of the Arab countries mainly adopted the religious practices Séfarades as from the 16th century, so much so that one thus often speaks about “séfarades” to indicate them, whereas this term meant originally and more closely the descendants of the Jews of Spain. In Israel, the chief rabbi séfarade represents especially the Jews resulting from the old Arab countries, much more than those claiming itself of an Iberian origin increasingly diluted with time.

The Arab Jewish culture is in the course of assimilation, the communities having massively emigrated towards France (for the Maghrebian communities) or Israel in second half of the 20th century).

The very particularistic community of the Samaritains is also of Arab culture, but absolutely not Mizrahi. Moreover, its partial emigration towards Israel involved a regression of this tradition.

Jews of Occidental culture

With the civic equality, whose beginnings start at the 18th century with the the United States and in France (1791), the Jews become citizens of the home countries, and tend to be assimilated to their cultures. The languages and the particularistic cultures, hitherto influenced but not comparable by the cultures of the home countries, regress and disappear.

The Jewish fact ceases more and more being marked by specific cultures to become either a religion, or an identity assertion, or both.

The dominant cultures become those of the principal home countries, that is to say primarily the Anglo-Saxon culture (the USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa, England) and the French culture. The Eastern-European cultures are today in strong regression because of emigration. With the schools of the Alliance Universal Jew, French will have even been between 1870 and 1950 the language of the Jewish elites of the Mediterranean basin.

The Diaspora today

In 2005, the Jewish populations most important are in the following countries:

  1. the United States: 5  280  000
  2. France: 500  000
  3. Canada: 372  000
  4. Argentinian: 350  000
  5. the United Kingdom: 298  000
  6. Russia: 235  000
  7. Brazil: 150  000

The world Jewish population counted surroundings 13 million hearts in 2002 (either 0.2% of the world population approximately), of which 40% lived in Israel. The Jewish population of Israel is estimated at 5  400  000 individuals. This one is not regarded as belonging to the diaspora.)

See too

External bond

  • History of the Jews by country on www.histoiredesjuifs.com

  • Jewish Diaspora on Imago mundi

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