Exilarch

Exilarch (Hebrew: ראש גלות Rosh Galut, Aramaic: ריש גלותא Reish Galuta lit. "head of the exile", Greek: Æchmalotarcha) refers to the leaders of the Diaspora Jewish community in Babylon following the deportation of King Jeconiah and his court into Babylonian exile after the first fall of Jerusalem in 597 BCE and augmented after the further deportations following the destruction of the kingdom of Judah in 587 BCE. The people in exile were called golah (Jeremiah 28:6, 29:1; Ezekiel passim) or galut (Jeremiah 29:22).