THE JEWISH DIASPORA the Scattering

The scattering of the Jewish people is called in a single word diaspora, a Greek word for “scattering,” used to define the spreading and resettlement of many peoples in the ancient world…We must remember that at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, more than half of all the Jews of the world were not living in Judea. Many were established in Babylonia, in other parts of the Middle East, and in various communities of the Roman Empire. It would take a thousand years to see and grasp that the war with Rome, which ended with the expulsion of the Jews from their land, had paradoxically saved them from the fate that awaited other civilizations. For the Jews were exiled into survival. Once their homeland was lost, only the diaspora could save their identity. Thus, the diaspora became the essential condition for the preservation of their identity and creativity, which would have perished if they had stayed on to be massacred in Judea.

But if their resettlement in other lands enabled the Jews to survive physically as a people, there was something deeper that permitted them to survive creatively, interacting with other civilizations while developing and fashioning their own tradition. What lifted Jews from obscurity into a central and permanent place in history has sometimes been called a passion for meaning…Underlying this passion for meaning was the invisible power of the body of law and tradition called the Talmud.

--excerpted from Heritage: Civilization and the Jews by Abba Eban

A MODERN VIEW OF DIASPORA

The vast majority of Jews outside Israel give unconditional support to the State of Israel. They contribute toward its maintenance; …visit Israel,…rally to Israel's support whenever it is attacked; and look upon themselves as partners in the work being done in Israel. They appreciate that there is no equal partnership between Israel and the Diaspora. After all, the Israelis have to bear the full burden of building up the State and their lives alone are at risk when danger threatens.

It has sometimes been argued that the attachment to Israel on the part of Diaspora Jews has created dual loyalties. Is this true? One supposes that it is. Jews loyal to Israel (as the seat of religious or ethnic heritage) can, at the same time be loyal to their own native countries. There can be tension between our love for Israel and our love for our own countries...A sensible person will not try to ignore the tensions but will consider carefully how to reconcile the two loyalties.

An early Zionist philosopher had the concept of Israel as a spiritual center, from which the intense Jewish life and the cultivation of Hebrew and Jewish learning would affect Jewish life everywhere. This has, indeed, happened. But there is also a two-way traffic. Israeli thinking has benefited from Jewish thinking in other lands. Israeli achievements would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of Diaspora Jews.

...If Jews are to continue to live outside Israel as Jews, they must build for the future in Jewish terms (in their own lands).Israelis and Diaspora Jews share the task of rebuilding Jewish life, with the State of Israel occupying a central but not an exclusive role.

--excerpted from The Book of Jewish Belief by Louis Jacobs, 1984 Judaism 101: Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews

• There are several subgroups of Jews with different culture and traditions: Ashkenazic: Descendants of Jews from France, Germany and Eastern Europe Sephardic: Descendants of Jews from Spain, Portugal, North Africa and the Middle East Mizrachi: Descendants of Jews from North Africa and the Middle East

• Other subgroups are Yemenite, Ethiopian and Oriental

Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews represent two distinct subcultures of Judaism. We are all Jews and share the same basic beliefs, but there are some variations in culture and practice. It's not clear when the split began, but it has existed for more than a thousand years, because around the year 1000 C.E., Rabbi Gershom ben Judah issued an edict against polygamy that was accepted by Ashkenazim but not by Sephardim.

Who are Ashkenazic Jews?

Ashkenazic Jews are the Jews of France, Germany, and Eastern Europe and their descendants. The adjective "Ashkenazic" and corresponding nouns, Ashkenazi (singular) and Ashkenazim (plural) are derived from the Hebrew word "Ashkenaz," which is used to refer to Germany. Most American Jews today are Ashkenazim, descended from Jews who emigrated from Germany and Eastern Europe from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s. The pages in this site are written from the Ashkenazic Jewish perspective.

Who are Sephardic Jews?

Sephardic Jews are the Jews of Spain, Portugal, North Africa and the Middle East and their descendants. The adjective "Sephardic" and corresponding nouns Sephardi (singular) and Sephardim (plural) are derived from the Hebrew word "Sepharad," which refers to Spain.

Sephardic Jews are often subdivided into Sephardim, from Spain and Portugal, and Mizrachim, from the Northern Africa and the Middle East. The word "Mizrachi" comes from the Hebrew word for Eastern. There is much overlap between the Sephardim and Mizrachim. Until the 1400s, the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa and the Middle East were all controlled by Muslims, who generally allowed Jews to move freely throughout the region. It was under this relatively benevolent rule that Sephardic Judaism developed. When the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, many of them were absorbed into existing Mizrachi communities in Northern Africa and the Middle East.

Most of the early Jewish settlers of North America were Sephardic.

The first Jewish congregation in North America, Shearith Israel, founded in what is now New York in 1684, was Sephardic and is still active. Philadelphia's first Jewish congregation, Congregation Mikveh Israel, founded in 1740, was also a Sephardic one, and is also still active.

In Israel, a little more than half of all Jews are Mizrachim, descended from Jews who have been in the land since ancient times or who were forced out of Arab countries after Israel was founded. Most of the rest are Ashkenazic, descended from Jews who came to the Holy Land (then controlled by the Ottoman Turks) instead of the United States in the late 1800s, or from Holocaust survivors, or from other immigrants who came at various times. About 1% of the Israeli population are the black Ethiopian Jews who fled during the brutal Ethiopian famine in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

What is the difference between Sephardic and Ashkenazic?

The beliefs of Sephardic Judaism are basically in accord with those of Orthodox Judaism, though Sephardic interpretations of halakhah (Jewish Law) are somewhat different than Ashkenazic ones. The best-known of these differences relates to the holiday of Pesach (Passover): Sephardic Jews may eat rice, corn, peanuts and beans during this holiday, while Ashkenazic Jews avoid them. Although some individual Sephardic Jews are less observant than others, and some individuals do not agree with all of the beliefs of traditional Judaism, there is no formal, organized differentiation into movements as there is in Ashkenazic Judaism.

Historically, Sephardic Jews have been more integrated into the local non-Jewish culture than Ashkenazic Jews. In the Christian lands where Ashkenazic Judaism flourished, the tension between Christians and Jews was great, and Jews tended to be isolated from their non-Jewish neighbors, either voluntarily or involuntarily. In the Islamic lands where Sephardic Judaism developed, there was less segregation and oppression. Sephardic Jewish thought and culture was strongly influenced by Arabic and Greek philosophy and science.

Sephardic Jews have a different pronunciation of a few Hebrew vowels and one Hebrew consonant, though most Ashkenazim are adopting Sephardic pronunciation now because it is the pronunciation used in Israel. See Hebrew Alphabet. Sephardic prayer services are somewhat different from Ashkenazic ones, and Sephardim use different melodies in their services. Sephardic Jews also have different holiday customs and different traditional foods. For example, Ashkenazic Jews eat latkes (potato pancakes) to celebrate Chanukkah; Sephardic Jews eat sufganiot (jelly doughnuts).

The Yiddish language, which many people think of as the international language of Judaism, is really the language of Ashkenazic Jews. Sephardic Jews have their own international language: Ladino, which was based on Spanish and Hebrew in the same way that Yiddish was based on German and Hebrew.

Other Jewish Subcultures

There are some Jews who do not fit into this Ashkenazic/Sephardic distinction. Yemenite Jews, Ethiopian Jews (also known as Beta Israel and sometimes called Falashas), and Asian Jews also have some distinct customs and traditions. These groups, however, are relatively small and virtually unknown in America.