Is the Jewish Diaspora Unique? Reflections on the Diaspora's Current Situation

Abstract

THE JEWISH DIASPORA, ISRAEL, AND consequently Israeli-Jewish Diaspora relations are all in the midst of ongoing intense transformations.1 These profound changes, however, are of a chaotic nature. They are caused by contradictory trends and features. There is no wonder that such changes confuse many gentiles, as well as many in the Jewish Diaspora (hereafter the Diaspora) and in Israel. The main purpose of the present essay, therefore, is to contribute to the clarification of this situation. This essay focuses on recent developments and the current situation of the Jewish people. Because of space limitations, it does not present the significant historical perspective on the fundamental changes and their results that have occurred in world Jewry during the last two centuries, and especially since the late nineteenth century. Nevertheless, one of the most meaningful changes in this respect should be mentioned here: instead of an entity that primarily and deeply had been anchored in a national-religious culture, the Zionist movement, as well as related processes of emancipation and secularization, turned substantial segments of world Jewry into people who, to a large extent, are rooted in a secular national culture. In any case, and more specifically, the purposes here are: (I) to discuss the uniqueness of the Diaspora, or its similarity to other diasporas; (2) to consider the possible implications of either of these possibilities for predicting the future of the Diaspora; (3) to review the main transformations occurring in the Jewish Diaspora; (4) to outline the consequent major critical issues facing it; and, (5) to suggest how all these developments influence the Diaspora's reciprocal relations with Israel. To accurately grasp the deeper meanings of the changes currently occurring in the Jewish Diaspora and in Israeli-Diaspora relations, however-and consequently the problems that the Diaspora is facing-the