Even more than the actual historical dispersal (Hebr. pizur) of the Jewish people, usually designated by the originally Greek “Diaspora​,” exile (Hebr. galut) represents one of the decisive concepts of the Jewish religion. To the biblical interpretation of the Babylonian exile as punishment for sins, rabbinic Judaism added the mystically-inspired interpretations of God’s immanence in exile (Aram. shekhinta ba-galuta) and of the “hidden face …