"Life style for the Diaspora"

"Daniel has been said, justifiably, to be a model for 'a life-style for the Diaspora'. He illustrates how strict Jewish piety is not only compatible with success at a foreign court, but is precisely the key to such success." (John Collins APOCALYPTIC IMAGINATION 91)
Such a quote aids my understanding about some of the reasons why the Jews may have been persecuted during the post A.D. 70 Diaspora. They mis-represented Yahweh in the countries to which they were banished. They were not 'models for a life-style' for the Diaspora. One can only assume that they were overly assimilated into the cultures in which they were put. Instead of being 'set apart' as the chosen of God, and a 'light to the Gentiles', they became too much like the residents of the land. Just like the animals in George Orwell's ANIMAL FARM, where one couldn't tell which were the animals and which were the humans, so the Jews lost their distinctiveness. "Don't be like them...." was the heart cry of Jehovah to His people.
Much has been lost, destroyed, and annihilated of Jewry because of their over assimilation. Could it be submitted that 'strict Jewish piety' has been lost and an inevitable judgement has resulted?