What is the meaning of Jewish Diaspora?

Answer 1

Jewish Diaspora refers to when the Jewish people were exiled to Babylonia and then separated from the Kingdom of Juddah. This occured in the sixth century. The separation of the Jewish people resulted in a great diversity of Jewish subsets.

Answer 2

1) Around 2600 years ago, the Assyrians forcibly exiled the Ten Israelite tribes to points unknown. A small percentage of each of these tribes is still among us, but most of them were exiled.

2) Around 2500 years ago, the Babylonians destroyed the First Temple and forcibly exiled the remainder of Israel's population to Babylonia.

While the Jews were permitted to return to Israel (Judea) seventy years later, and thousands did so (and rebuilt the Temple), most of them remained in Babylonia, while others began to settle in North Africa, southern Europe, the Crimea, throughout the Near East and elsewhere.

3) In 68 CE, the Romans destroyed the Second Temple. The Romans did not force the Jews out of Judea in a single expulsion. Rather, the Romans expelled them from Jerusalem only; and the rest of Judea lost its Jews slowly, over a period of centuries, as conditions in Judea became too harsh. Even then, we have records of Jewish communities who lived in Judea (Palestine) during the entire period of the last two millenia.

Those Jews who left Judea went to southern Europe, North Africa, Arabia, the Near East, and (slowly) further afield (especially throughout Europe).

Related topic:

The diaspora (scattering) was difficult for us because of the impediment to communication between the various communities; because certain mitzvot (such as those related to agriculture in the Holy Land) now became suspended for the duration of the exile; and because the Jews were now a minority among other nations, who were sometimes quite hostile.

Related topic:

How did the diaspora affect the Jews?

To a certain extent, the diaspora caused the various Jewish communities to take on minor aspects of their host countries.

While all Jews share the same Torah and Talmud, and differences in halakhah (Jewish laws) are relatively small, nonetheless some traits of our regions of residence have rubbed off on us. Examples are the differences in pronunciation and accent (for the Hebrew alphabet), differences in dress, and differences in customs and mannerisms.