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[The Babylonian Exile: The Creation of a Paradigm]
[The Second Temple Period: The Creation of a Strong Diaspora]
[What Created the Diaspora - Force or Desire?]
[Jewish Loyalties in the Second Temple Diaspora]
[The Rejection of the Jeremian Paradigm]
[Living with Ambiguity]
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The
Zionist Century - Concepts - Israel Diaspora Relations
Israel-Diaspora Relations
PART I
The Biblical Period
Diaspora and Exile
We know very little about any diaspora at the time of the biblical period.
Later generations of rabbinic thought often referred to the period in Egypt
as the Egyptian Galut, but this is clearly anachronistic.
The destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel by Assyria in 722
BCE led to the expulsion of the Israelite community and their dispersion
in the lands of the Assyrian empire. Nothing more is heard about them
and the assumption is that - after an initial period of sorrow and regret
characterised by yearnings towards the land that they had lost - they
accepted their fate and slowly assimilated, losing their characteristic
national identity.
There were Jews in Egypt at the end of the First Temple period - see
the last chapters of the book of Jeremiah (chapters 43 and 44): although
the text mentions a group of Jews who left Judah after the destruction
to settle in Egypt, the impression given is that the Jews in Egypt were
spread throughout the country - probably a sign that at least some of
them had been established there for some time. Nor do they appear to be
overwrought with grief at the destruction of Judah, at which Jeremiah
is totally appalled!
Top
The Babylonian Exile: The Creation of a Paradigm
However the major community to develop outside Eretz Israel was clearly
in Babylon, from just prior to the destruction of the First Temple by the
Babylonians in 586 BCE.
Some ten years before the final destruction of the Temple, a preliminary
group of several thousand Judeans (Jews) was exiled to Babylon. In a letter
that Jeremiah sends to them he gives them advice as to how to live their
lives in Babylon. (Chapter 29). This letter constitutes the first "recipe
book" for diaspora living that we have. He urges them to accept their
lives in Babylon, to raise their households and families, and to live
in peace. If they are faithful to God and do what God wants them to do,
God will bring their families back to Jerusalem after many years. In other
words, they should not forget their origins and should remember that Judah
is really their land, but should make no practical preparations to return.
God will provide for that.
When the rest of the exiles join them, after the Destruction, they appear
to internalize Jeremiah's advice. The general picture of the Jews in the
Exile is of a people faithful to God and to Judaism. All the evidence
is that they yearn to return to their native land:
"By the waters of Babylon, we sat down and wept when we
remembered Zion," says Psalm 137.
The great prophet of the Babylonian exile, Ezekiel, develops the same idea,
promising freedom and a return to Zion as long as the Jews do not lose faith
(see: the vision of the dry bones, Ezekiel Chap. 37, and the great futuristic
visions of the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem - the last nine chapters of the
book).
The Babylonian experience epitomizes the paradigm of Israel-diaspora
relations at a time of enforced Galut:
- The Jews are punished by God;
- They must reverse that punishment - they will do this by behaviour
acceptable to God.
- As reward, God will ultimately bring them back.
There is absolutely no question as to the real identity of the land
of the Jews. Jeremiah's advice is a recipe for temporary diaspora living.
They must be loyal to the land where they live - until God brings them
back.
So much for the theory. The practice, however, is somewhat different.
This very clearly evident when the Jews are granted the option to return
and rebuild their temple and their land by Cyrus, their new ruler, after
the conquest of Babylon by the Persians. Only a minority actually go!
This is the first clear rift between declarations and actions; the first
time - but hardly the last.
Top
The Second Temple Period: The Creation of a Strong Diaspora
It is only in the period of the Second Temple that we a proper large scale
Jewish diaspora develops.
- Firstly, there are the heirs of the Jews who never came back from
Babylon/Persia, who form the basis of the large community that will
develop in the eastern lands.
- In addition, at least from the late fourth century BCE, there are
the beginnings of an enormous future diaspora, developing in the lands
that had come under the control of the Greeks from the time of Alexander
the Great. One of the centers of this diaspora was Egypt which, with
its capital, Alexandria, drew Jews like a magnet in the centuries before
the Second Temple's destruction. Contemporary estimates run at about
a million Jews in the Egyptian diaspora in the early first century CE.
- Once the Greek lands were taken over by the Romans, Jews could soon
be found throughout the Roman Empire, and in large numbers. A recent
estimate for the Jewish population of Rome in the years preceding the
destruction talked of over 50,000 Jews in that one city alone!
Top
What Created the Diaspora - Force or Desire?
Whatever the precise numbers, it is clear (although often misunderstood)
that - well before the destruction of the second Temple - more Jews lived
in diaspora than in Eretz Yisrael. This fact has very important implications.
Jews got to these lands in all sorts of ways: some went as hostages, others
went as slaves - but the majority went of their own free will, largely for
economic reasons, because they were attracted by the possibilities of "life
out there".
Contrary to popular belief, very few Jews were forced into exile after
the exile that followed the destruction of the first Temple. This means
that, by and large, Jews chose to live in the lands of diaspora rather
than the Land of Israel.
Top
Jewish Loyalties in the Second Temple Diaspora
However, unquestionably, most - if not all - Jews seem to have remained
faithful to their tradition. The Romans, for example, were wary of the Jews
throughout their empire, because they felt that the Jews were very sensitive
towards their traditions and wrong moves by their rulers could easily push
them into open rebellion. As such, the Romans generally tried to be sensitive
towards Jewish needs in the lands of diaspora - at least up to the great
Second Temple revolt which destroyed not only the Temple but also the basis
of trust between Roman rulers and their Jewish subjects.
There are also other stories which touch on the loyalties of diaspora
Jews. There is the case, for example, of two Jewish generals of the Queen
of Egypt in the second century BCE who refused to lead their armies against
the Maccabee leaders of Eretz Israel because they said that they could
not fight their co-religionists. Moreover, they warned that the Jews of
Egypt might turn against the Queen if she ordered the attack to take place.
Top
The Rejection of the Jeremian Paradigm
These were people who played by different rules to those Jeremiah proposed
to the exiles of Babylon. These were loyal Jews indeed, but in the centuries
that had passed since the days of Jeremiah, other factors had entered into
their calculations. It is clear that individual comfort and convenience
were playing larger roles in people's lives. Even if they perceived themselves
to be loyal Jews, it seems that national needs were lower down on their
priority list. So they stayed in the diaspora - although the way was open
for families and communities to pick up and move to Eretz Israel.
Top
Living with Ambiguity
If the Jews were loyal to their tradition, and the idea of Eretz Yisrael
played such an important role in the Jewish tradition, how did the Jews
of this period live with this ambiguity?
It is very difficult to say.
- There were some Jews who lived their comfortable lives until they
felt that they were really needed in Eretz Yisrael - and at that point
they made life changing decisions and went to Eretz Yisrael. The story
of Nehemiah in the biblical book of the same name is a classic example
of the beginning of this period.
- There were many Jews who went up to the Land of Israel in order to
study, sometimes to stay there for ever. The story of Hillel, the great
scholar who was born in Babylon is another such story.
- There were also many who went on pilgrimages to Jerusalem, to the
Temple, especially on the great festival days at Pesach, Shavuot and
Sukkot.
But it was not so easy. The tradition demanded that every Jew should
journey to Jerusalem for each of the big pilgrim festivals. Whereas that
might be possible for a Jew from the area around Jerusalem, and it might
even be possible for a Jew from the Galilee for example, but it could
hardly be demanded from a Jew who lived in North Africa or in Spain or
Persia. Clearly, the ideal was an ideal - while the reality was something
else. Probably, for many Jews it was a once in a lifetime journey and
the rest of the time it was a pious thought or hope.
For the most part, the Jews in the diaspora affirmed their connection
with Eretz Yisrael, with Jerusalem and with the Temple, by sending a monetary
contribution towards the upkeep of the Temple - a half shekel to be paid
by Jews and proselytes alike from throughout the diaspora. The tax had
been instituted by the Maccabee kings and, despite the fact that Jews
could not be forced to pay this money to Eretz Yisrael, the evidence indicates
clearly that it was considered very important by the Jews themselves to
pay the tax and thus help the upkeep of the Temple, and, incidentally,
strengthen their own ties with their ancient land.
In addition, there are records of wealthy Jews - for example, from Alexandria
- who made large extra financial contributions to the Temple for ornate
decorations. Thus, in this period, financial contributions, visits and
pilgrimages, and study visits to the academies of Eretz Israel were the
major forms of a very practical connection.
Top
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