Jewish Diaspora map

Diaspora nations have a unique relationship to territory, one that produces different modes of mapping relational space. On the one hand, diasporic people are constituted by a narrative of expulsion from an origin territory, return to which is often blocked by geopolitical circumstances. On the other hand, diasporic peoples that have existed for centuries outside of their "historic homeland" may also be deeply embedded in the territory in which they currently reside.

This webmap of the Jewish diaspora, designed to accompany Simon Schamaa's PBS documentary The Story of the Jews suggests a de-centered homeland mapped not through polygons of territory, but through scattered pinpoints. The pinpoints of Jewish culture cluster around Israel, but also can be found as far afield as Argentina.