The Jews (Hebrew: יְהוּדִים Yehudim ), also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and an ethnoreligious group, originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation. Converts to Judaism, whose status as Jews within the Jewish ethnos is equal to those born into it, have been absorbed into the Jewish people throughout the millennia.
In Jewish tradition, Jewish ancestry is traced to the Biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the second millennium BCE. The modern State of Israel was established as a Jewish nation-state, and defines itself as such in its Basic Laws. Its Law of Return grants the right of citizenship to any Jew who requests it. Israel is the only country where Jews are a majority of the population. Jews also enjoyed political autonomy twice before in ancient history. The first of these periods lasted from 1350 to 586 BCE, and encompassed the periods of the Judges, the United Monarchy, and the Divided Monarchy of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, ending with the destruction of the First Temple. The second was the period of the Hasmonean Kingdom spanning from 140 to 37 BCE. Since the destruction of the First Temple, most Jews have lived in diaspora. A minority in every country in which they live (except Israel), they have frequently experienced persecution throughout history, resulting in a population that has fluctuated both in numbers and distribution over the centuries.
As of 2010, the world Jewish population was estimated at 13.4 million by the North American Jewish Data Bank, or less than 0.2% of the total world population (roughly one in every 514 people). According to this report, about 42.5% of all Jews reside in Israel (5.7 million), and 39.3% in the United States (5.3 million), with most of the remainder living in Europe (1.5 million) and Canada (0.4 million). These numbers include all those who consider themselves Jews, whether or not they are affiliated with a Jewish organization. The total world Jewish population, however, is difficult to measure. In addition to issues with census methodology, there are halakhic disputes regarding who is a Jew and secular, political, and ancestral identification factors that may affect the figure considerably.
Read more about Jews: Name and Etymology, Origins, Judaism, Who Is A Jew?, Ethnic Divisions, Languages, Genetic Studies, Leadership, Notable Individuals
Other articles related to "jews, jew":
... Main article Lists of Jews Jews have made contributions in a broad range of human endeavors, including the sciences, arts, politics, and business ... Although Jews comprise only 0.2% of the world's population, over 20% of Nobel Prize laureates have been Jewish, with multiple winners in each field ...
... Main article Israeli Jews See also Ashkenazi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Sephardi Jews, Beta Israel, and Jewish ethnic divisions According to Israel's Central Bureau ...
... Zalkind Hourwitz (1738–1812) was a Polish Jew active in the political discussions of the French Revolution ... His essay, Vindication of the Jews, was one of three winning essays answering the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in the city of Metz's question "Are there means for making the Jews happier and more useful in France ... In Vindication of the Jews, Hourwitz demands the full privileges of citizenship, including land ownership, occupational freedom and education ...
... Irving used the label "traditional enemies of the truth" to describe Jews, and in a 1963 article about a speech by Sir Oswald Mosley wrote that "Yellow Star did not make a showing" ... In 1992, Irving stated that "...the Jews are very foolish not to abandon the gas chamber theory while they still have time" and claimed he "foresees a new wave of antisemitism" the world over due to Jewish "exp ... an interview with the American writer Ron Rosenbaum, Irving stated his belief that Jews were his "traditional enemy" ...
... See also History of the Jews in Pakistan At the time of Pakistani independence in 1947, some 1,300 Jews remained in Karachi, most of them Bene Israel Jews, observing Sephardic Jewish rites ... committed violent anti-Semitic acts against the Bene Israel Jews of Karachi and other Jewish communities in Pakistan ... By 1953, fewer than 500 Jews were reported to reside in all of Pakistan ...
Famous quotes containing the word jews:
“His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”
—A.J. (Arthur James)
“When Hitler attacked the Jews ... I was not a Jew, therefore, I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the Catholics, I was not a Catholic, and therefore, I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the unions and the industrialists, I was not a member of the unions and I was not concerned. Then, Hitler attacked me and the Protestant church—and there was nobody left to be concerned.”
—Martin Niemller (1892–1984)
“... the histories of Blacks and Jews in bondage and out of bondage, have been blood histories pursued through our kindred searchings for self-determination. Let this blood be a stain of honor that we share. Let us not now become enemies to ourselves and to each other.”
—June Jordan (b. 1936)