pired to and obtained civic privileges in the cities of the Hellenistic world.
Josephus maintains that Jews have every right to call themselves Alexan-
drians, Antiochenes, or Ephesians. And Philo refers to his home as “our
Alexandria.” An inscription from the Phrygian city of Acmonia, set up by a
Jew or group of Jews, alludes to the fulfillment of a vow made to the
“wholepatris.” This records a conspicuous and public pronouncement of
local loyalty. Philo confirms the sentiment in striking fashion: Jews con-
sider the holy city as their “metropolis,” but the states in which they were
born and raised and which they acquired from their fathers, grandfathers,
and distant forefathers they adjudge to be theirpatrides.That fervent ex-
pression denies any idea of the “doctrine of return.” Diaspora Jews, in
Philo’s formulation at least, held a fierce attachment to the adopted lands
of their ancestors.
None of this, however, diminished the sanctity and centrality of Jeru-
salem in the Jewish consciousness. The city’s aura retained a powerful hold
on Jews, wherever they happened to reside. Even the pagan geographer
Strabo observed the Jews’ devotion to their sacred “acropolis.” Numerous
other texts characterize Palestine as the “Holy Land.” That designation ap-
pears in works as different as 2 Maccabees, the Wisdom of Solomon, the
Testament of Job,theSibylline Oracles,and Philo. Most, if not all, of those
texts stem from the Diaspora. They underscore the reverence with which
Jews around the Mediterranean continued to regard Jerusalem and the
land of their fathers. But the authors who speak with reverence do not de-
mand the “Return.” Commitment to one’s local or regional community
was entirely compatible with devotion to Jerusalem. The two concepts in
no way represented mutually exclusive alternatives.
What meaning, then, did the notion of a homeland have for Jews
dwelling in scattered Mediterranean communities? They never yielded the
principle. Jewish attitudes here, as in many other regards, corresponded
with those of their pagan neighbors. Loyalty to one’s native land repre-
sented a frequent sentiment in the rhetoric of the Hellenistic world. Philo
more than once endorses the idea that adherence to one’s native land held
singular power. He puts failure to worship God on a level with neglecting
to honor parents, benefactors, and native land. It does not follow, however,
that Diaspora Jews set their hearts upon a return to the fatherland. Broad
pronouncements about love of one’s country accord with general Helle-
nistic expressions. They do not require that those native environs be re-
inhabited for life to be complete.
Jerusalem as concept and reality remained a powerful emblem of Jew-113Judaism in the DiasporaEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:03:56 PM