The composition presented here condenses two millennia of Jewish diaspora history into a single image, allowing you to draw visible connections between ancient events and their modern day repercussions:

This composition is also available as a PDF with hyperlinks to access additional information:

Visible Connections Jewish Diaspora Pdf With Links

1.9MB ∙ PDF file

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Download this interactive PDF to learn more about each phase the Jewish Diaspora through clickable links to additional materials on the web.

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The Connection

Everyone alive today with Jewish heritage has been impacted by this difficult history, whether they are aware of it or not. This includes my wife and I, who are both 3rd generation American descendants of Jewish refugees fleeing the widespread pogroms of Russia and Eastern Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. This why I cringe every time I hear someone say that Jews aren’t worthy of sympathy because they are “privileged white oppressors,” or that their connection to the land of Israel is so long ago that it’s no longer relevant. It’s doubly upsetting to hear such language coming from young Jews who don’t know the history or are trying to avoid rejection by their social justice-minded peers.

The Purpose

I created this Visible Connections timeline to show that the 2,000 years of diaspora have been filled with persecution and pain, not privilege. My extensive research into the atrocities suffered by Jews throughout the past two millennia required a strong heart and stomach. The most difficult part was having to edit them down to fit onto one page so as not to exceed the casual reader's attention span. This meant that numerous murdered and destroyed lives would go unmentioned. Sorry 6,000+ Tunisian Jews who were massacred in 1033 AD. You didn't make the cut, along with many more.

I must admit that this project helped me appreciate Judaism on another level. Bringing the suffering of my Jewish ancestors into one place showed me how much they risked and sacrificed just to be Jewish. They could have saved themselves by assimilating and giving up Judaism. They could have skipped Shabbat, the High Holy Days, and raised their children without Judaism just as many non-observant Jews do today. But thank G-d they didn't, because the world would be an unimaginably poorer place.

Share the Journey

If you appreciate this project, please share The Jewish Diaspora: An Epic Journey Home with your network:

• See the page on Facebook

• See the slideshow on Instagram

• See the post on X / Twitter

• Order poster-sized prints of The Jewish Diaspora: An Epic Journey Home and more at the Visible Connections Store. Great for educational environments.

I hope that this timeline helps you explore the significant milestones of the Jewish Diaspora and the compelling reasons that have fueled the Jews’ enduring quest for safety and freedom in their ancient homeland - a journey that is at the heart of Zionism.

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Welcome to Visible Connections

Visible Connections is focused on clarifying complex problems through intuitive visual explanations. I created Visible Connections to address a rapidly growing problem…

The Problem

What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?

We’re seeing the answer to that question every day as the unstoppable force of technological progress meets the immovable object of human nature. The increasing pace of social media-driven news cycles and AI disruption hasn’t been accompanied by an increase in our free time needed to search for answers or our ability to resist emotional reactions and premature judgments. As people struggle to adapt to this new reality, we face exponentially more opportunities for bad actors to manipulate people while hiding behind complexity and information overload.

The Mission

My career as a behavioral researcher and digital product designer for over 20 years has allowed me to study diverse populations and develop intuitive user experiences that simplify complexity and communicate ideas clearly. After garnering awards and success leading design for high profile companies like Samsung, Citigroup, and Condé Nast Publications, my mission is to apply research and design toward enabling people to see the world with greater clarity and understanding of the hidden forces that shape it. 

The Solution

To achieve this mission, I’ve launched Visible Connections to provide one-page visual explanations of complex problems that leverage imagery, diagrams, and captions to synthesize key concepts and expedite learning. To confront the dilemma of continually-increasing information density and decreasing attention spans, these explainers are designed to be quickly consumed and shared to a wide audience to foster the greatest impact. They are also available as printable PDFs and large-format posters to display for the benefit of offline audiences. 

That is where YOU come in. Visual Connections is free, but I ask that you please share this resource with your network so that they can benefit from these insights as well. My hope is that together, we can create a more peaceful and understanding world than the one we live in today.

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