Editing Jewish diaspora (section)

{{Short description|Dispersion of Jews around the globe}}
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[[File:Jewish people around the world.svg|thumb|Map of the Jewish diaspora.<br />
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[[File:Lachish Relief, British Museum 13.jpg|alt=Photograph of a scene from Lachish Relief: Judahites from Lachish in Assyrian captivity, playing a later form of the Egyptian lyre|thumb|240x240px|Scene from [[Lachish reliefs]]: Judahites from Lachish in [[Assyrian captivity]], playing the lyre (cf. [[Psalm 137]] from a later period: 'they that carried us away captive required of us a song'.)]]

The '''Jewish diaspora''' ({{langx|he|גוֹלָה|rtl=yes}} {{Transliteration|he|gōlā}}), alternatively the '''dispersion''' ({{langx|he|תְּפוּצָה|label=none|rtl=yes}} {{Transliteration|he|təfūṣā}}) or the '''exile''' ({{langx|he|גָּלוּת|label=none|rtl=yes}} {{transliteration|he|gālūṯ}}; {{langx|yi|גלות|rtl=yes}} {{Transliteration|yi|gōləs}}),{{efn|Other [[Ashkenazic pronunciation|Ashkenazic]]- or Yiddish-based variants include ''galus'', ''goles'' and ''golus''.<ref>{{cite web |title=golus |url=https://jel.jewish-languages.org/words/198 |website=Jewish English Lexicon}}</ref> A Hebrew-based variant spelling is ''galuth''.<ref>{{Merriam-Webster|galuth}}: “Etymology: Hebrew {{transliteration|he|gālūth}}”</ref>}} consists of [[Jews]] who reside outside of the [[Land of Israel]]. Historically, it refers to the expansive scattering of the [[Israelites]] out of their homeland in the [[Southern Levant]] and their subsequent settlement in other parts of the world, which gave rise to the various [[Jewish communities]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Diaspora-Judaism|title=Diaspora {{!}} Judaism|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2018-07-12|language=en}}</ref><ref>Ben-Sasson, Haim Hillel. "Galut." ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'', edited by Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik, 2nd ed., vol. 7, Macmillan Reference (US) 2007, pp. 352–63. ''Gale Virtual Reference Library''</ref>

In the [[Hebrew Bible]], the term {{transliteration|he|gālūṯ}} ({{Literal translation|exile}}) denotes the fate of the [[Twelve Tribes of Israel]] over the course of two major exilic events in [[ancient Israel and Judah]]: the [[Assyrian captivity]], which occurred after the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]] was conquered by the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] in the 8th century BCE; and the [[Babylonian captivity]], which occurred after the [[Kingdom of Judah]] was conquered by the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] in the 6th century BCE. While those who were taken from Israel dispersed as the [[Ten Lost Tribes]], those who were taken from Judah—consisting of the [[Tribe of Judah]] and the [[Tribe of Benjamin]]—became known by the identity "[[Jew (word)|Jew]]" ({{Langx|he|יְהוּדִי|label=none|rtl=yes}} {{Transliteration|he|Yehūdī}}, {{Literal translation|of Judah}}) and were repatriated following the [[Fall of Babylon|Persian conquest of Babylonia]].<ref name="ReferenceB2">{{Cite web |date=2024-07-03 |title=Jew {{!}} History, Beliefs, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Jew-people |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Chouraqui |first=André |url=http://archive.org/details/peoplefaith00andr |title=The people and the faith of the Bible |date=1975 |publisher=Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-87023-172-8 |page=43}}</ref>

A Jewish diaspora population existed for many centuries before the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|Roman siege of Jerusalem]] in 70 CE. In the preceding [[Second Temple period]], it existed as a consequence of various factors, including the creation of political and war refugees, enslavement, deportation, overpopulation, indebtedness, military employment, and opportunities in business, commerce, and agriculture.<ref>[[Erich S. Gruen]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=t1IR4WtFjGUC&pg=PA3 Diaspora: Jews Amidst Greeks and Romans] [[Harvard University Press]], 2009 pp. 3–4, 233–34: "The vast bulk of Jews who dwelled abroad in the Second Temple period did so voluntarily. Even where initial deportation came under duress, the relocated families remained in their new residences for generations—long after the issue of forced dislocation had become obsolete. No single objective impelled them; there were multiple motives. Overpopulation in Palestine may have been a factor for some, indebtedness for others. But hardship need not have been the spur for most. The new and expanded communities that sprang up in the wake of Alexander’s conquests served as magnets for migration. And Jews made their way to locations in both the eastern and western Mediterranean. Large numbers found employment as mercenaries, military colonists, or enlisted men in the regular forces. Others seized opportunities in business, commerce, or agriculture. All lands were open to them."</ref> Prior to the mid-1st century CE, in addition to [[Judea]], [[Syria (region)|Syria]], and [[Babylonia]], large Jewish communities existed in the Roman provinces of [[Roman Egypt|Egypt]], [[Crete and Cyrenaica]], and in [[Ancient Rome|Rome]] itself.<ref name="Smallwood">{{cite book |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=AW2BuWcalXIC&q=Diaspora+before+70&pg=PA168 | title = The Cambridge History of Judaism: The early Roman period, Volume 3 |editor1= William David Davies|editor2= Louis Finkelstein|editor3= William Horbury | author = E. Mary Smallwood | chapter = The Diaspora in the Roman period before CE 70| publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1984 | isbn = 978-0521243773 }}</ref> In 6 CE, most of the Southern Levant was organized as the [[Judaea (Roman province)|Roman province of Judaea]], where a large uprising led to the [[First Jewish–Roman War]], which destroyed the [[Second Temple]] and most of [[Jerusalem]]. The Jewish defeat to the [[Roman army]] and the accompanying elimination of the symbolic centre of [[Jewish identity]] (the [[Temple in Jerusalem]]) marked the end of [[Second Temple Judaism]], motivating many Jews to formulate a new self-definition and adjust their existence to the prospect of an indefinite period of displacement.<ref>Gruen, ''Diaspora: Jews Amidst Greeks and Romans,'' [[Harvard University Press]], 2009 pp. 233–34:</ref> Nevertheless, intermittent warfare between Jewish nationalists and the [[Roman Empire]] continued for several decades. In 129/130 CE, the Roman emperor [[Hadrian]] ordered the construction of [[Aelia Capitolina]] over the ruins of Jerusalem, sparking the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]] in 132 CE. Led by [[Simon bar Kokhba]], this uprising endured for four years, but was ultimately unsuccessful and became the last of the [[Jewish–Roman wars]]; Jews were massacred or displaced across the province, banned from Jerusalem and its surrounding areas, and forbidden to practice [[Judaism]], leading to a significant rise in the Jewish diaspora.

By the [[Middle Ages]], owing to increasing migration and resettlement, diaspora Jews divided into distinct regional groups that are generally addressed according to two primary geographical groupings: the [[Ashkenazi Jews]], who coalesced in the [[Holy Roman Empire]] and [[Eastern Europe]]; and the [[Sephardic Jews]], who coalesced in the [[Iberian Peninsula]] and the [[Arab world]]. These groups have parallel histories, sharing many cultural similarities and experiences of [[Persecution of Jews|persecution]] and [[Expulsions and exoduses of Jews|expulsions and exoduses]], such as the [[Edict of Expulsion|expulsion from England in 1290]], the [[Alhambra Decree|expulsion from Spain in 1492]], and the [[Jewish exodus from the Muslim world|expulsion from the Muslim world after 1948]]. Although the two branches comprise many unique ethno-cultural practices and have links to their local host populations (such as [[Central Europe]]ans for Ashkenazi Jews, and [[Hispanic|Hispanics]] and [[Arabs]] for Sephardic Jews), their common religious practices and [[Genetic studies of Jews|shared ancestry]], as well as their continuous communication and population transfers, have been responsible for cementing a [[Jewish peoplehood|unified sense of peoplehood]] between them since the [[Later Roman Empire|late Roman period]].