INTRODUCTION

The idea of diaspora – a group’s forced dispersion or exile from their homeland – is a focal theme in the long history of the Jewish people. The bible tells Jews that they were sent out of the Promised Land for violation of God’s law (Patai 1971). Each year, during the Passover Seder, they commemorate their exile and express their desire to return to the Promised Land with the phrase “next year in Jerusalem.”