Question: I’ve been reading up on Jewish history and was wondering if any Israelites displaced by the Assyrians were welcomed into Judah as refugees as Judah seems to have remained unscathed for the next 150 years or so.

Answer: I don’t have any evidence that refugees from the Ten Tribes found shelter in Judah (in fact, I’m not sure that there were all that many refugees at all – the lion’s share of the nation was forcibly relocated by their conquerors). However, I do know that their return was actively sought: the Talmud (Megila 14b) states that, in the eighth year of King Yoshiyahu’s reign (I’m afraid I don’t know how that name would be spelled in English – but it was around 100 years after the original exile), the prophet Jeremiah convinced a great many of the exiles of the Ten Tribes to return to Israel. I hope this helps.

With Best Regards,
Rabbi Boruch Clinton