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{{Jew}}
The word '''''Jew''''' (]: '''יהודי''') is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or a member of the Jewish ] or ] and often a combination of these attributes. This article discusses the term as describing an ]; for a consideration of the religion, please refer to ].

Most Jews regard themselves as a people, members of a ], and the ancestry of Jewish national identity is traced from the Biblical patriarch ] through his son ] and in particular ], Isaac's son, as well as to those who subsequently joined them over the course of history as converts. (See also ]s.) The term ''Jew'' came into being when the Kingdom of Israel was split between the northern ] and the southern ]. Hence, the Israelites (who were later destroyed by the Assyrians) were those of the northern kingdom and the Jews (who survived) were those of the southern kingdom. Over time, the word ''Jew'' has come to refer to those of the Jewish faith rather than those from Judah. In modern usage, Jews include both those Jews actively practicing Judaism, and those Jews who, while not practicing Judaism as a religion, still identify themselves as Jews by virtue of their family's Jewish heritage and their own cultural identification.

==Etymology==

:''Main article: ]''

There are different views as to the origin of the ] word ''Jew''. The most common view is that the ] word ''Jew'' is from the Old French ''giu'', earlier ''juieu'', from the Latin ''iudeus'' from the Greek. The Latin simply means ''Judaean'', from the land of '']''.

==Who is a Jew?==
:''Main article: ]''

A member or descendant of the Jewish faith, religion, and/or culture.

==Jewish culture==
:''Main article: ]''

] guides its adherents in both practice and belief, and has been called not only a religion, but also a "way of life," which has made the job of drawing a clear distinction between Judaism, Jewish culture, and Jewish nationality rather difficult. In many times and places, such as in the ancient ] world, in ] before and after the ] (see ]), and in contemporary United States and Israel, cultural phenomena have developed that are in some sense characteristically Jewish without being at all specifically religious. Some factors in this come from within Judaism, others from the interaction of Jews with others around them, others from the inner social and cultural dynamics of the community, as opposed to religion itself.

==Ethnic divisions==
:''Main article: ]''

The most commonly used terms to describe ethnic divisions among Jews presently are: '']'' (meaning "]" in Hebrew, denoting the Central European base of Jewry); and '']'' (meaning "]" or "]" in Hebrew, denoting their Spanish, Portuguese and ]n location). They refer to both religious and ethnic divisions. (Some scholars hold that Ashkenazi Jews are descendants of those who originally followed the ] Jewish religious tradition, and Sephardic Jews are descendants of those who originally followed the ]ian religious tradition.)

Other Jewish ethnic groups include ]s (a term overlapping ''Sephardi'', but emphasizing North African and Middle Eastern rather than Spanish history, and including the ]); ] (]ite Jews); and such smaller groups as the ] and ] from the ], the ] and ] of ], the ] of ], the ] (Bené Roma) of ], various ]s (most notably the ] or ]n Jews), and the ] of Central Asia.

==Population==
:''Main article: ], see also ]''

Prior to ] the world population of Jews was around 18 million. The ] reduced this number to around 12 million. Today, there are an estimated 13 million <sup>]</sup> Jews worldwide in over 134 countries.

===Significant geographic populations===

{| border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" align="center"
|-
! style="background:#efefef;" | Country !! style="background:#efefef;" | Jewish population
|-
| ]
|5,671,000 (est.) <sup>]</sup>
|-
|]
| 5,200,000 (est.) <sup>]</sup>
|-
|]
| Fewer than 2 million (est.)
|-
|&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;]
|600,000 (est.) <sup>]</sup>
|-
|&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;]
|267,000 (2001 census)
|-
|&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;]
|100,000 (2004 est.) or 60,000 (est.) <sup>]</sup>
|-
|&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Former ]
|400,000 (est.) <sup>]</sup>
|-
|]
| 371,000 (est.) <sup>]</sup>
|-
|]
| 250,000 (est.) <sup>]</sup>
|-
|]
| 130,000 (est.) <sup>]</sup>
|-
|]
| 100,000 (est.) <sup>]</sup>
|-
|]
| 106,000 (est.) <sup>]</sup>
|-
|]
| 40,700 (est.) <sup>]</sup>
|-
|] (excluding Israel)
| 50,000 (est.)
|- style="font-weight:bold;"
|-
| Total
| 13,900,000 (est.)
|}

===State of Israel===
] (First Prime Minister of Israel) publicly pronouncing the ] (He is between the two banners)]]

] is the only country in which Jews make up a majority of the citizens, although the United States has a larger number of Jews. It was re-established as an independent ] state on ], ]. Of the 120 members in its parliament, the ], about ten members are Israeli ] who are not Jews. At the time of its independence, approximately 600,000 Jews lived there. Since then, its Jewish population has increased by about one million over each decade as more immigrants arrive, and more Israelis are born, in one of the most significant global Jewish population shifts in over 2,000 years.

All the ] have not slowed Israel's growth. Israel opened its doors to the ] survivors. It has absorbed a majority of the ] and ]s from the ] countries. And it has taken in hundreds of thousands of Jews from the former ]. In the past decade nearly a million immigrants came to Israel from the former Soviet Union. Many Jews who emigrated to Israel have moved elsewhere, known as ] ("descent" ), due to its economic problems or due to disillusionment with political conditions and the continuing ]

===Europe===
Western Europe's largest Jewish community can be found in France, home to 600,000 Jews, most of whom are immigrants or refugees from North African Arab countries such as ], ], and ]. There are over 265,000 Jews in the ]. In ], there are anywhere from 500,000 to over one million Jews living in ], ], ], ] and the other areas once dominated by the ]. Exact figures are difficult to establish.

The fastest-growing Jewish community in the world, outside of Israel, is the one in ], especially in ], its capital. Tens of thousands of Jews from the former ] have settled in Germany since the fall of the ]. Some factors that make Germany amenable: A cosmopolitan atmosphere; a welcoming, liberal, post-war education; and the political freedoms garnered since the ] have created an atmosphere of tolerance in Germany which is still missing in some post-Communist states. Familiarity with ] for older Russian Jews, may make it easier to adapt to ].

German Jews belong to either the ] with about 100,000 members or the liberal ]. However, there are many secular Jews who do not belong to any organisation or synagogue.

===Population Changes: Wars against the Jews===
Many empires and rulers have sought to "liquidate" the Jews through wars of destruction, extinction, genocide, expulsions, exiles, and torture. Some examples in the ] are: the ] against the ] as described by ]; the ] led by ] and the '']'' against the ] Jews; the ] ] massacres in ]; the ]s backed by the Russian ] ] and ]; ]. The persecution culminated in ]'s ] which led to the ] of the European Jewry. Modern wars such as the ] and the ] via "]" of the ] with its ] have resulted in major loss of life.

While Jewish communities throughout the Islamic world were often treated well by their ] rulers, depending on the regime in power, Jewish communities in Spain, North Africa, and the Middle East were at times subject to persecutions, expulsions, and forced conversion.

===Population Changes: Assimilation===
Secular Jews tend to marry late and have smaller families with wide acceptance of ] . When granted political, economic and religious freedom, many Jews, probably the majority, choose to adopt the ways and religions of their host nations, abandoning many vestiges of their own ethnicity and religion, and then frequently choose to marry non-Jews. In the United States, the 2000 ] has shown that close to 50 percent (and possibly up to 75 percent according to some calculations) of America's Jews presently marry non-Jewish partners. These figures are probably also true for the Jews of ] today. Most non-Jewish spouses do not convert to Judaism, surveys show. This phenomenon is known as ] , and is the leading cause for the shrinkage of almost all Jewish populations in Western countries since World War II. Some Orthodox Rabbis have used the controversial term ] to describe the loss of Jews to assimilation, intermarriage, conversion to other faiths and abortion. Ironically, many ] present as a key evidence for their claims the "lack" of Jewish assimilation.

===Population Changes: Growth===
Only in the State of Israel have secular Jews increased due to natural growth and immigration, and both ] Jews and ] Jews, who often shun ] for religious reasons, have increased due to their large families.

Reform Judaism has an outreach effort to bring in not only the non-Jewish spouses of inter-married Jews, but to actively seek new members for the faith.

Conservative Judaism has an outreach effort to bring in the non-Jewish spouses of inter-married Jews. The ], the international body of Conservative rabbis, issued a rabbinic letter on human sexuality which discussed the issue of the decrease in Jewish population low reproductive rates.

There is also a growing movement of ] by ] who make the decision to head in the direction of becoming Jews. There is a "return to Judaism" movement known as the ''] movement'' that has brought many secular Jews to become more religiously observant. There are a number of efforts undertaken by all the denominations to re-introduce alienated Jews to Jewish religion and customs through educational and beginners programs.

==Jewish languages==

:''Main article: ]''

] is the ] of Judaism (termed ''lashon ha-kodesh'', "the holy tongue"), and is the language of the State of Israel. Jews today speak the local languages of their respective countries. ] is the historic language of many ] Jews, and ] of many ]c Jews.

==History of the Jews==

:''Main articles: ], ]''

===Jews and Migrations===

The notion of ] seems to be intertwined with Jews and their history. Often in history, Jews have been both ] ("coming as settlers") and ] ("leaving countries", see also ].)
Incomplete list of such migrations:
*The patriarch Abraham was a migrant to the land of ] from ] of the ].
*The ] are strongly identified with the ] (meaning "departure" or "going forth" in Greek) from ], as recorded in the ].
*The ] was sent into permanent exile and scattered all over the world by ].
*The ] was exiled first by ]ia and then by ].
*The 2,000 year dispersion of the ] beginning under the ], as Jews were spread throughout the Roman world and, driven from land to land, and settled wherever they could live freely enough to practice their religion.
*Forced migrations during the period of ] in Islamic Spain.
*Following the ] in 1492, the Sephardic Jews were dispersed, some migrating mainly to ], others migrating to ] and the ].
*Many forced expulsions during the Middle Ages in Europe, including: ], 16,000 Jews were expelled from ]; in ], 100,000 from ]; and in ], about 200,000 from ].
*The ] in Eastern Europe, the rise of modern ], the ] and the rise of ] all served to fuel the movements and migrations of huge segments of Jewry from land to land and continent to continent, until they have now arrived back in large numbers at their original historical homeland in Israel.
*During the 19th century, ]'s policies of equal citizenship regardless of religion led to the immigration of Jews (esp. from Eastern and Central Europe), which was encouraged by ].
*The arrival of millions of Jews in the ], including immigration of over 1,000,000 Eastern European Jews to the United States from 1890-1925, see ].

===Kingdoms of Israel and Judah===
:''See related article ]''.

Looking at the ], the first two periods of the history of the Jews is mainly that of ] or ]. There was constant rivalry with ancient ] and ], nearby ], and later ] and ] within the general area lying between the ] ] on the one side and the ] and the ] rivers on the other. Surrounded by ancient seats of culture in ] to the west and ] to the east, by the mysterious ]s of ] to the south, and by the highlands of ] to the north, the land of ], later ], then ], then ], was a meeting place of ]s. The land was traversed by old-established ]s and possessed important harbors on the ] and on the ] coast, the latter exposing it to the influence of the ] culture.

Jews descend mostly from the ancient ] (also known as ]), who settled in the ]. The Israelites traced their common lineage to the ] patriarch ] through ] and ]. A ] was established under ] and continued under ] and ]. King David conquered ] (first a ], then a ] town) and made it his capital. After Solomon's reign the nation split into two kingdoms, the ] (in the north) and the ] (in the south). The ] was conquered by the ]n ruler ] in the ] and spread all over the Assyrian empire commencing the era of the "Ten Lost Tribes". The ] was conquered by a Babylonian army in the early ]. The Judean elite was exiled to Babylonia, but later at least a part of them returned to their homeland after the subsequent conquest of Babylonia by the Persians. This period of exile is known as the ].

===Persian, Greek, and Roman rule===
The ] Kingdom, which arose after the Persians were defeated by ], sought to introduce Greek culture into the Persian world. When the Seleucid king ], supported by ] Jews (those who had adopted Greek culture), attempted to convert the Jewish ] to a temple of ], the non-Hellenized Jews revolted under the leadership of the ] and rededicated the Temple to the Jewish God (hence the origins of '']'') and created an independent Jewish kingdom known as the ] which lasted from ] to ]. This was followed by a period of ] rule.

Under the ], with frequent changes of policies by conflicting and empire-building ]s, generals, governors, and consuls who were often cruel and always ready for war, Rome's attitudes swung from tolerance to hostility against its Jewish subjects. The Romans, worshipping a ], could not readily accommodate the exclusive ] of Judaism, and the religious Jews could not accept Roman ]. In AD ], the Judeans began to revolt against their Roman rulers. The revolt was smashed by the ] ] and ]. In Rome the ] still stands, depicting the enslaved Judeans and the '']'' with trumpets being brought to Rome (''illustration, right'').

] of ] still stands, depicting the enslaved Judeans and the menorah with trumpets being brought to Rome.]]

The Romans all but destroyed ]; only a single "]" of the ] remained. The ] pillaged and burned the city. Yet, the Judeans continued to live in their land in significant numbers, and were allowed to practice their religion, until the ] when ] ravaged Judea while putting down the ] revolt. After ], Jews were not allowed to enter the city of Jerusalem. The ], which came to control the region after the split of the Roman Empire, cherished the city for its Christian history. However, in accordance with traditions of religious tolerance often found in the ancient East, Jews were allowed into it in the ].

===Roman exile===
Many of the ancient Jews were sold into ], while others became citizens of other parts of the ]. This is the traditional explanation to the ], almost universally accepted by past and present rabbinical or Talmudical scholars, who believe that Jews are almost exclusively biological descendants of the Judean exiles, a belief backed up at least partially by DNA evidence. Some secular historians speculate that a majority of the Jews in Antiquity were most likely descendants of converts in the cities of the ] world, especially in ] and ]. They were only affected by the diaspora in its spiritual sense and by the sense of loss and homelessness which became a cornerstone of the Jewish creed, much supported by persecutions in various parts of the world. Any such policy of conversion, which spread the Jewish religion throughout the ] civilization, seems to have ended with the wars against the Romans and the following reconstruction of Jewish values for the post-Temple era.

===Ancient Migration===
Before the rise of ], Jews were to be found throughout the entire ]; with the ] expansion, some of them would move as far as ] and ]. Some Jewish people are also descended from converts to Judaism outside the ] world. While the ]' Hebrew origins/conversion debate continues, it is known that some ], ], and ], as well as many ], particularly in ] earlier, converted to Judaism in the past; even today Gentiles in the United States and Israel convert to Judaism. In fact, there is a greater tradition of conversion to Judaism than many people realize. The word '']'' originally meant a ] who had converted to Judaism. As late as the ] the rump Roman empire (i.e. ]) was issuing decrees against conversion to Judaism, implying that conversion to Judaism was still occurring.

===Middle Ages: Europe===
:''Main article: ]''
Jews settled in ] during the time of the Roman Empire. With the rise of the ] Church, Jews were subject to frequent expulsions and persecutions. At the same time, Church laws against ], which was interpreted as the charging of interest, left Jews as one of the few sources of loans for the Christian population, leading to increasing influence for some Jews. Individual conditions varied from country to country and time to time, but, as rule, Jews generally were forced, by decree or by informal pressure, to live in highly segregated ghettos and villages. See Persecution, below.

===Middle Ages: Islamic Europe and North Africa===
:''Main article: ]''

During the Middle Ages, Jews in Islamic lands generally had more rights than under Christian rule, with a Golden Age of coexistence in Islamic Spain from about 900 to 1200. However, after the conquest of the ], the situation of the Jews worsened.

===Renaissance and Enlightenment===
During the period of the European Renaissance and Enlightenment, significant changes were happening within the Jewish community. The ] movement paralelled the wider Enlightenment, as Jews began in the 1700s to campaign for emancipation from restrictive laws and integration into the wider European society. Secular and scientific education was added to the traditional religious instruction received by students, and interest in a national Jewish identity, including a revival in the study of Jewish history and Hebrew, started to grow. Haskalah gave birth to the Reform and Conservative movements and planted the seeds of Zionism while at the same time encouraging cultural assimilation into the countries in which Jews resided. At around the same time another movement was born, one preaching almost the opposite of Haskalah, ]. Hasidic Judiasm began in the 1700s by ], and quickly gained a following with its more exubarent, mystical approach to religion. These two movements, and the traditional orthodox approach to Judiasm from which they spring, formed the basis for the modern divisions within Jewish observance.

At the same time, the outside world was changing. Though persecution still existed in some European countries (hundreds of thousands of Jews were killed in ] in the 18th and 19th centuries), ] invited Jews to leave the ] and seek refuge in the newly created tolerant political regimes that offered equality under Napoleonic Law (see ]). At the same time, Jewish migration to the United States (''see ]'') created a new community in large part freed of the restrictions of Europe.

===Modern times===
Modern Jewish history includes two defining events: the killing of approximately six million Jews during the ] and the founding of the Jewish state of ].

==Persecution==
:''Main article: ]''

:''Related articles: ], ], ]''

==Historical schisms among the Jews==
:''Main article: ]''

==Jewish leadership==

:''Main article: ]''
There is no single governing body for the Jewish community, nor a single authority with responsibility for religious doctrine. Instead, a variety of secular and religious institutions at the local, national, and international levels lead various parts of the Jewish community on a variety of issues.

==Famous Jews==
:''Main articles: ], ]''

Despite the relatively small number of Jews worldwide, many influential thinkers and leaders in modern times have been ethnically Jewish. Ethnic Jews have stood at the basis of ] and modern ], ], ], ] and many important ] and ] advances were first discovered by Jews.

The following is only a sampling of famous ethnic Jews from all kinds of backgrounds, a number even having abandoned ]:

<!--Because the following list is inevitably controversial, it is suggested that deletions of names that aren't OBVIOUSLY inappropriate be done by comment marks. ] | ] 21:16, Nov 2, 2004 (UTC) -->
] (1135&ndash;1204) (rabbi and philosopher);
] (1632&ndash;1677) (philosopher);
<!--] (1740&ndash;1785) (financier of the ]); -->
] (1797-1856) (German romantic poet);
] (1804&ndash;1881) (British ], was a baptized Christian);
<!--] (1811&ndash;1884) (] leader);-->
] (1818&ndash;1883) (founder of ]);
] (1856&ndash;1939) (father of modern ]);
] (1860&ndash;1904) (founder of modern secular ]);
] (1879&ndash;1940) (creator of the ] and philosopher);
] (1879&ndash;1955) (physicist who proposed the ]);
] (1881&ndash;1973) (economist);
] (1886&ndash;1973) (founding ]);
] (1887&ndash;1985) (] artist);
] (1889&ndash;1951) (philosopher);
] (1900&ndash;1986) (admiral, father of U.S. ]);
] (1905&ndash;1982) (writer);
] (1908&ndash;2003) (father of the ]);
] (1923&ndash;) (]);
] (1928&ndash;) (], philosopher, and social theorist);
<!--] (movie actor);-->
] (movie producer);
] (comedian, actor, and film director);
] (1929&ndash;1945) (diarist);
] (1930&ndash;) (billionaire philanthropist, founder of the ]);
] (1936&ndash;) (co-founder and chairman of ]);
] (1942&ndash;) (billionaire financier and ] ]).

===Jewish history===
*]
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==See also==
] - conversion to Judaism

==External links==

===Ancient History===
*

===Photos===
*
*: The Flash-intensive site of Jewish photographer Zion Ozeri documents the appearance of a wide variety of Jewish communities around the world.

===General===
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*. This is a class curriculum that links to numerous online documents.

===Major secular organizations===
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===Zionist and Israeli institutions===
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* - Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority
* - Union of Progressive Zionists

===Orthodox===
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===Reform===
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===Conservative===
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===Reconstructionist===
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===Traditional===
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===Karaite===
*
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==Notes==
:<sup>1</sup> 1993 Russian census. Some experts (e.g. ISBN 580620068X) estimate the real number to be more than 1 million.
:<sup>2</sup> ,
:<sup>3</sup> Data based on a study by ''Jewish People Policy Institute'' (JPPI). See '''' by Tovah Lazaroff, ], June 24, 2004.
:<sup>4</sup> Data based on a study by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. See '''' by Zeev Klein, ''Globes online'' September 13, 2004. Includes (about 370,000) Israeli citizens living in the West Bank and Gaza.

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Revision as of 14:38, 12 January 2005

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