Galut [Hebrew: “exile”, “diaspora”, “captivity”], in the history of Jews, a period of deprivation of statehood and of life under foreign rule, particularly the life of Jews outside Palestine, and today — outside Israel.

In the Hebrew literature, the term “galut” refers to various periods and events: The Egyptian captivity, started at the end of the patriarchs’ period and completed with the exit of the Israelites, led by Moses, out of Egypt. The Babylonian captivity – a period of Jewish exile in Babylonia between 587 and ca. 520 BC. The period of Syrian domination in Palestine, 200–160 BC (called “Galut Yavan” – “Greek captivity”). The period of Roman domination (called “Galut Edom” – “Edom captivity”) up to the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD. The term applies in particular to the period from 70 AD until the establishment of Israel on 14 May 1948. Since that time the term refers to the Jewish community living outside of Israel.

© Entries taken from PWN information websites; see: The PWN Encyclopedia, Polish language dictionaries and Foreign language dictionaries.