Galut or Diaspora?

The inhabitants of Judah, commonly called Jews, were taken captive by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, and then, after seventy years they were released, following which many but not all returned to Palestine. Some chose to remain in Mesopotamia where they had put down roots, established their trades and livelihoods, while others struck out to settle in other parts of the world. In the most simple terms, ‘Galut’ refers to a forced exile and ’Diaspora’ to a voluntary one. 

Take me, for example. I am not just an Englishman but, which is much more, I am a Yorkshireman! Not content with winning the Wars of the Roses, a fact stubbornly disputed by Lancastrians, well they would say that wouldn’t they? But the question is beyond dispute, ask a Yorkshireman. 

Besides being victorious in battle, Yorkshire lifted the antique rudimentary game of cricket to the art form it is today. Then, after several centuries of sweeping all before us and humbling our enemies, we magnanimously stood back and let others win for a change. This expression of good grace we taught to the English Cricket Team, and lesser nations have not been slow to benefit from our sporting largesse.

Yorkshiremen do not easily quit their native borders for other climes, however great the allure. So, how come I live in Arizona? Did I fall or was I pushed? Put another way, Am I Diasporated or Galuted? Was I forced, as were many Australians of British descent, or am I a voluntary exile?

The answer to that question is difficult to define unless there are such words as Diasporated or Galutorated because the truth is that it was a bit of both.

Since I was but a bit of a little lad I have been blessed with the visions of America and Americans that shone on the silver screens of my hometown cinemas, and have always longed to visit there. As it happened, some of my children ended up there, and although I didn’t know where for almost twenty-five years, we eventually got reconnected and I went to see them.

While I was there, I saw North Western Montana and I was a goner. I fell for the mountain wilderness hook, line, and sinker, and wanted to retire there. For a variety of reasons that looked as if it would never be possible, so I tucked that dream away on the forget-about-it shelf. We all have such a place where we quietly stack our major disappointments when forced to abandon them.

After my wife Norma died untimely, I kicked about for almost a year making the best out of a Norma-less life without becoming bitter or losing my faith, and then one night I surfed the web for sites where single Mormons gathered and I met a sweet lady. That was the good news. That bad news was that she was an American schoolteacher living in Arizona, and that was a long way from Huddersfield. 

After a few months, I flew to Mesa, Arizona and married her. From there, we went back to England until I retired, following which, in June 2000, we emigrated to the USA.

In October that year, we moved to Knoxville, to serve as Church Educational System missionaries based at the University of Tennessee. After eighteen months, we were released as missionaries and we returned to Mesa for three months. Then we moved to Montana’s Bull Lake Valley and settled down with our two precious dogs in a cabin in the woods. How we loved that idyllic setting.

Old age had gripped us for some time, but it tightened its choke hold around our aged throats, decreeing that both of us required more and more medical care, but our home in the Cabinet Wilderness was several hours drive, whether to the east or west. Our children decided to relocate us in Sunny Arizona, close to shops of every kind, medical specialists of every kind, and hospitals of every kind.

They put us in a wonderful new home at a peppercorn rent, and are so solicitous of our welfare that if I were to tell you all that they did you would think I was bragging. Although, being a Yorkshireman makes bragging superfluous!

That is how this old Americophile ended up living his dream surrounded by a wonderful, land inhabited by an amazing variety of peoples and cultures and in the company of a precious lady.

Well, that is the skeleton of a full and rich story that has provided insights and added enrichment to a life that I was already enjoying fully, but which God has blessed me with an unexpected and deliciously thick layer of royal icing on the fruit cake that has been my life – so far!