The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (661 page)

 
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(Gk., ‘dispersion’; Heb.,
galut
, ‘exile’, is the nearest equivalent). Jewish communities outside the land of
Israel
. Today, increased
assimilation
, higher rates of intermarriage, low birth rates, and increased secularism are threatening the identity of Jews in the Diaspora, except among the ultra-
orthodox
. The
Zionist
dream and support for the state of Israel, however, has proved a unifying focus for the diaspora communities.
Diaspora is also widely used for members of other faiths living outside their spiritual homeland, e.g. Hindus, Sikhs, Zoroastrians.

 
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(Gk., ‘through four’). The gospel story compiled into one narrative from the four gospels by
Tatian
c.
150–60 CE.

 
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Dibbuk
or dybbuk
.

An evil spirit in Jewish folklore. The term appeared in literature in Germany and Poland in the 17th cent. The spirit was supposed to enter a person as a result of a secret sin. The dibbuk is connected with belief in
ibbur
, a limited transmigration of souls: the
ibbur
is the birth in a good person of a righteous soul, thus reinforcing that person's goodness. It was a natural extension to suppose that an evil spirit could take up residence in another.

 
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(Gk., ‘teaching’). Christian instruction in prayer, ethics, church order, etc. It is distinguished from
kerygma
, ‘preaching’.
The
Didache of the Twelve Apostles
is a short early Christian manual of morals (chs. 1–6), church practice (7–15), and
eschatology
(16).

 
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(Lat., ‘day of wrath’). Opening words of the
sequence
in the Catholic
mass
for the dead. Composed in the 13th cent., it first appeared in a printed missal in 1485. Until 1969 it was obligatory also on All Souls' Day (2 Nov.).

 
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