Jewish diaspora in the Hellenistic period

The Jewish Diaspora is commonly mixed up with both the Babylonian and Roman Diasporas. But the Jewish Diaspora is something completely different from the Babylonian and Roman Diasporas. The difference between the Jewish Diaspora and the Babylonian Diaspora is that the Jewish Diaspora of the Hellenistic period did not start because of contrived expulsion, but instead it was mostly a deliberate choice of movement of Jews to the Hellenistic lands. This migration built a new Jewish occupation outside of Judea and mostly in Ptolemaic, Egypt. This diaspora had two sides to it. One side had the values of Mosaic law and the other had the values of Hellenism of the Greeks. The ways that the Jews of this …show more content…
"The connection of Jews to the land of Egypt is almost as old as Israel itself, the story of the Exodus is retold every year at Passover. Judea is strategically located as the only place from which Egypt can be invaded. In the North the Mediterranean Sea offers perfect cover, the West is protected by the Libyan desert, and the South is secured by the Ethiopian desert."(The Jewish) It is clear that whoever had controlled Egypt would keep a main interest in Judea throughout the Jewish diaspora of the Hellenistic period and even past that. As mercenaries, the Jews had traveled to Egypt voluntarily, and were put to work as defenders of the throne against the regions citizens. The Ptolemaic leaders put them up to that job. Not only did they come and defend, some of the Jews came because they were drawn in by the Hellenistic practice. But also, some we're persuaded by others into thinking there were great riches, and so they came to Egypt in search for them. "Jews, as Greek speaking non-Egyptians having the official rank of Hellene, could attain practically all positions under the Ptolemies."(The …show more content…
Not only to the Jewish people individually but the entire Jewish religion. The Greeks criticized some Jewish traditions such as how they paid such close attention to how they ate. Because of this negativity, many Greek people decided to not associate the with Jewish people. "The result of these claims was a sort of Hellenistic anti-Semitism. In every culture there is distrust of foreigners, especially ones who pride themselves on being different. The presence of anti-Jewish themes in literature, however, suggests an attempt by some Greeks to ferment anti-Jewish sentiment in the ruling class of Egypt." (The Jewish) The Greeks did not like Mosaic law and fact that the Jews were antisocial. The Greeks tried many times to get rid of the Mosaic