''Golah'' refers to the

Jewish diaspora The Jewish diaspora ( he, תְּפוּצָה, təfūṣā) or exile (Hebrew: ; Yiddish: ) is the dispersion of Israelites or Jews out of their ancient ancestral homeland (the Land of Israel) and their subsequent settlement in other parts of th ...

community. While sharing the same Hebrew letters as the term '' galut'', the terms are not interchangeable: while ''golah'' refers to the diaspora itself (and thus, to those who do reside in such a state), the term ''galut'' refers to the process of residing in diaspora (that is, to be extricated, or to make voluntary

yerida Yerida ( he, ירידה ''yerida'', "descent") is emigration by Jews from the State of Israel (or in religious texts, Land of Israel). Yerida is the opposite of aliyah (, lit. "ascent"), which is immigration by Jews to Israel. Zionists are gener ...

, from the region of Israel), and is mostly synonymous with the English word '' exile''. The terms ''golah'' and ''galut'', however, are the object of controversy within Jewish literature and Jewish politics, as they have become most prominently used since the 20th century within

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

in its ideological promotion of the negation of the Diaspora.''"Arab Chains" and "The Good Things of Sepharad": Aspects of Jewish Exile''
by Marc Saperstein and Nancy E. Berg

References

{{Judaism-stub Jewish diaspora

See also

References