Jewish Diaspora
by Aleida Paudice
722 BCE Fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel under the reign of Shalmaneser V. Deportation of the Jews to Assyria
597 BCE The Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar conquers Jerusalem. 587 destruction of the First Temple
539 Babylon is conquered by the Persians who allow the reconstruction of the Jewish Temple (inaugurated in 516 BCE)
66 - 74 CE Great Jewish Revolt against Rome: First Jewish War. Destruction of the Second Temple by Titus (70)
During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance the Jews were progressively expelled from all the Western Countries:
1290 England
1304 and 1394 France
1492 - 97 Spain and Portugal
Elia Capsali’s Messianism
Exile was considered a punishment for the sins of the Jews, but during the sixteenth century the conception of exile changes and exile is considered also an end through which the Jewish people, scattered around the world, could become a guide and teacher for the other peoples. Messianism is the belief in the end of the Exile of the Jews from the Holy Land and their redemption through the coming of a Messiah, a descendant of David. The catastrophic element precedes or follows the salvation of the Jews. It is a permanent category in Jewish Messianism of all ages. The catastrophic elements that produced the messianic ferment in the sixteenth century are the fall of Constantinople and the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal.
Messianic events in Capsali’s history:
1453 Fall of Constantinople
1492 Expulsion from Spain and Portugal
1517 Ottoman conquest of Syria and Egypt
1522 Fall of Rhodes