Relations between the Diaspora and the Land of Israel

Abstract

The great Jewish Diaspora, in the Parthian and in the Roman Empires, was linked by many ties with the centre of Jewish life in the Land of Israel. These contacts had a great influence on the way of life and the organization of Jews in the Diaspora, and on the development and destiny of Judaism in the lands. Relations between the Diaspora and the centre in the homeland depended on a number of basic factors in Judaism, and on the political and military realities of the period; but in the main, the relationship depended on the quality of Judaism in the Diaspora. Little is known about the character and quality of Judaism in the Parthian Empire in early times. More ample information in this regard becomes available mainly after the destruction of the Second Temple, and for the second century of the Christian era in particular.Keywords: Christian era; Jewish Diaspora; Land of Israel; Parthian Empire; Roman Empires; second century