The Jews were always very tribal people. They lived in close proximity to each other and depended on family connections through marriages to continue bloodlines and to foster close ties to each other.
The scattering of the Jews ( Diaspora) through conquests, wars, famines, and other calamities made it impossible for them to maintain close ties and communication.
I imagine it has hurt the community in many ways.
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The exile was difficult for us:
1) Because certain mitzvot (such as those related to agriculture in the Holy Land) now became suspended for the duration of the exile.
2) Because of the impediment to communication between the various communities. This could lead to the development of rivaling groups, each claiming to be authentic.
(See for example: What are the Karaites?)
3) Because the Jews were now a minority among other nations, who were sometimes quite hostile.
4) Along with the Torah, the Land of Israel (Judea) and the Holy Temple had been central to Judaism. It now was to be seen whether Torah-observance could be maintained on the high level that those ideal factors had been conducive to.
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.
The religion itself was affected little, if at all, since all Jews share the same Torah and Talmud, and differences within halakhah (Jewish laws) are relatively small. In addition, the Jews were dissuaded from assimilating because the Romans were the polar opposite of Judaism; plus the fact that some of their greatest historians spewed diatribes of hate against the Jews.However, in secondary matters of culture such as pronunciation, mannerisms, and introduction of new vocabulary, every community is influenced somewhat by the others among whom they dwell; so 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 minor differences in customs.
See also:
Maintaining Judaism during the exile
The Diaspora (scattering of the Jewish people) began because we were unable to live in the Holy Land. The prophets had constantly warned the Israelites that ignoring the Torah would result in exile.
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 and didn't return.
2) Around 2500 years ago, the Babylonians destroyed the First Temple and forcibly exiled the remainder of Israel's population to Babylonia. (See: The Destruction)
While the Jews were permitted to return to Israel (Judea) seventy years later, and tens of 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 living there 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. (See:History of the Jews in Israel)
Those Jews who left Judea went to southern Europe, North Africa, Arabia, the Near East, and (slowly) further afield (especially throughout Europe).
See also:
Jews do not have missionaries and Jews do not proselytize. Therefore there is no leading Jewish missionary. Jews are in multiple countries because they are in forced exile from their homeland.
The Jews were taken from their homeland and sent in exile to Babylon.
There are two questions here:Which empire ended the Babylonian exile and allowed the Jews to return to their homeland? -- The Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great.What were some results of the return? -- A minority of Jews returned to the Land of Israel and built the Second Temple.
There are two questions here:Which empire ended the Babylonian exile and allowed the Jews to return to their homeland? -- The Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great.What were some results of the return? -- A minority of Jews returned to the Land of Israel and built the Second Temple.
The Jews have been exiled from their homeland and spent most of their history in exile in foreign lands. They have only recently returned to their ancestral homeland.
exile
The Exile of Jews from palestine is known as the Diaspora
The Jews of the Babylonian Exile were granted the right to return to the Land of Israel, and rebuild the Temple which had been destroyed by Nebuhadnetzer.
Israel is the homeland of the Jews, and Palestine is the homeland of the Palestinians. (However, there are people on both sides who disagree with this statement.)
Many Jews consider Israel to be their homeland.
The Babylonians drove the Jews into their first exile. The Romans were the ones who caused the second and current exile period.
The foreign ruler who restored Jerusalem to the ancient Jews was the Persian king, Cyrus the Great. In 538 BCE, Cyrus issued a decree allowing the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem after their exile in Babylon.