Where did Judaism spread and how did it spread?

Answer 1

1) As the Jewish communities spread and moved. This phenomenon was set in motion by the various expulsions and persecutions, which drove Jewish populations to settle in new places.
2) As non-Jews came in contact with Jews, there was a degree of influence upon them. Ancient writers speak of large numbers of people in the Mediterranean area who had taken on various Jewish practices. Through them were spread those beliefs which they had adopted directly from Jewish sources, such as the prohibition of infanticide and human sacrifice.

See also the Related Links.

Link: The diaspora

Link: The influence of Hebrew traditions on the Western world

Answer 2

Link: Where do Jews live today?

And in the past:

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

• Link: 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.

2) 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.

• Link: 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).

Answer 3

Wherever Jews live.

History: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.

• Link: Where are the Ten Tribes
  

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

• Link: 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.

• Link: 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).

• Link: Jewish history timeline
  

Related topic:

The diaspora (scattering) 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.

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.

• Link: Contrasting Romans and 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 the other Related Links.

• Link: Maintaining Judaism during the exile

Link: Where do Jews live today?

Answer 4

Judaism is not a missionary religion, so it didn't spread by conversion. Though people can convert to Judaism, converts are not sought and most people don't do it because anti semitism tends to explode every few decades and you don't want to be caught Jewish when that happens. So in terms of physical growth of the Judaism, it generally happened through having babies.

If you're asking how Jewish ideas and influence spread, the answer would be exile. Jews were exiled from Israel first in 597BCE and then again in 70CE. From there, they were spread out to the whole world, and so were their ideas.

Answer 5

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

Answer 6

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.

• Link: Where are the Ten Tribes
  

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

• Link: 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.

• Link: 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).

• Link: Jewish history timeline
  

Related topic:

The diaspora (scattering) 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.

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.

• Link: Contrasting Romans and 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 the other Related Links.

Link: Maintaining Judaism during the exile
Link: Where do Jews live today?

Answer 7

Other answers from our community:

Jews don't actively proselytize. They themselves, however, have moved to various countries because of exile and persecutions.

Answer 2

Long story short: Jewish beliefs did not spread; Jews spread.

The reason that Jews were present in many diverse countries as opposed religions of similar size (such as Jainism and Sikhism) which are regional is that Jews were expelled from their homeland during the time of the Roman Empire and forced to settle elsewhere in that domain. Since the Roman Empire became many different countries, Jews ended up in various regions. Complicating the issue was that Jews were periodically expelled from countries at various points in the last 2000 years which resulted in the "Wandering Jew" stereotype since the Jew did not stay in any one region for a very long period of time.

Jews did not and continue to not evangelize. (There are some Jewish communities who assist converts, but they do not seek them.)

Judaism was first dominant in Biblical Israel. With the Babylonian Exile, it spread elsewhere in the Middle East. The Roman Exile led to Jews dispersing throughout southern Europe and North Africa. Jews eventually spread to Eastern Europe, India, the Americas, and Australia. To read more about Jewish History since the Roman Exile, please read the Related Question below.

Answer 8

As of mid-2009, according to the TIME/Britannica Almanac 2010, self-identified

adherents to Judaism were located in 136 countries, with a total population of

about 0.2% (two tenths of one percent) of the world's population. Israel is the

only country where more than 50% of the population are Jews, but at the end of

2010, the Jewish population of Israel was still slightly less than half of the Jews

in the world, and slightly more than half were still dispersed among 135 other

countries.

Answer 9

Another answer from our community:

It spread through Israel.

In trade, the Israelites came in contact with the Phoenicians and others. And in exile, they lived often in close proximity to the non-Jewish inhabitants. The Jews brought their religion to their locations of exile.

Answer

Through the birth mother only if she is Jewish. When a Jewish woman has children, they are Jews.
Jews brought their religion to all the places of their diaspora.

Answer 10

The Diaspora (scattering of the Jewish people) began when we were unable to live in the Holy Land.

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).