Skip to Content

Register
Log-in
Search
- The Free Speech / Pro White Wiki
- Page Index
- User Index
- Global
- What's New
- Wiki Index

0.0
1
2
3
4
5

0 Votes

Changes for page Jews

Last modified by Ryan C on 2025/05/20 16:10

From 3.1 to 4.1 From 8.1 to 9.1

From version

edited by Ryan C
on 2025/04/05 13:11

Change comment: There is no comment for this version

To version

edited by Ryan C
on 2025/04/05 14:21

Change comment: There is no comment for this version

Raw
Rendered

Summary

Page properties (1 modified, 0 added, 0 removed)

Details

Page properties

Content

@@ -6,32 +6,39 @@
  (((
  (% class="container" %)
  (((
--**Jews** ([[Hebrew>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language]]: יְהוּדִים‎, [[ISO 259-2>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_259#ISO_259-2]]: //Yehudim//, [[Israeli pronunciation>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Hebrew]]: [[~[jehuˈdim~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Hebrew]]), or the **Jewish people**, are an [[ethnoreligious group>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnoreligious_group]]^^[[~[14~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Jews-are-ethnoreligious-group-15]]^^ and [[nation>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation]]^^[[~[15~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-16]]^^ originating from the [[Israelites>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelites]] of [[ancient Israel and Judah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ancient_Israel_and_Judah]]^^[[~[16~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-17]]^^ and traditionally adhering to [[Judaism>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism]].^^[[~[17~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Britannica-18]][[~[18~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-19]]^^ Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly interrelated,^^[[~[19~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Lederhendler20012-20]][[~[20~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Yee20052-21]]^^ as Judaism is their [[ethnic religion>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_religion]],^^[[~[21~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Nicholson20022-22]][[~[22~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Dowty19982-23]]^^ though it is not practiced by all ethnic Jews.^^[[~[23~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-KrauszTulea2-24]][[~[24~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-25]][[~[25~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-26]]^^ Despite this, religious Jews regard [[converts to Judaism>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerim]] as members of the Jewish nation, pursuant to the [[long-standing conversion process>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_to_Judaism]].^^[[~[23~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-KrauszTulea2-24]][[~[26~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-27]]^^
++
--The Israelites emerged from within the [[Canaanite peoples>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaanite_peoples]] to establish [[Israel>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Israel_(Samaria)]] and [[Judah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Judah]] in the [[Southern Levant>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Levant]] during the [[Iron Age>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Age]].^^[[~[27~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-John_Day_pp._47-28]]^^ By the late 6th century BCE, Judaism had evolved from the Israelite religion, dubbed [[Yahwism>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahwism]] (for [[Yahweh>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahweh]]) by modern scholars,^^[[~[28~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-MINDELL2009-29]]^^ having a theology that religious Jews believe to be the expression of the [[Mosaic covenant>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_covenant]] between their ancestors and [[God>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_in_Judaism]].^^[[~[29~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Knowledge_Resources:_Judaism-30]]^^ The [[Babylonian captivity>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_captivity]] of the people of Judah following [[their kingdom's destruction>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_(587_BC)]],^^[[~[30~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-31]]^^ the movement of Jewish groups around the [[Mediterranean>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_basin]] during the [[Hellenistic period>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellenistic_period]], and subsequent periods of conflict and violent dispersion, such as the [[Jewish–Roman wars>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish%E2%80%93Roman_wars]], gave rise to the [[Jewish diaspora>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_diaspora]], which is a worldwide dispersion of Jewish communities that have maintained their sense of [[Jewish history>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_history]], [[identity>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_identity]], and [[culture>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_culture]].^^[[~[31~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-32]]^^
++= Jews: White Archive Entry =
--In the following millennia, Jewish diaspora communities [[coalesced>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalescent_theory]] into three major [[ethnic subdivisions>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_ethnic_divisions]] according to where their ancestors settled: the //[[Ashkenazim>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_Jews]]// ([[Central>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Europe]] and [[Eastern Europe>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Europe]]), the //[[Sephardim>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephardic_Jews]]// ([[Iberian Peninsula>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_Peninsula]]), and the //[[Mizrahim>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizrahi_Jews]]// ([[Middle East>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East]] and [[North Africa>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Africa]]).^^[[~[32~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-33]][[~[33~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Dosick-34]]^^ While these three major divisions account for most of the world's Jews, there are other smaller Jewish groups outside of the three.^^[[~[34~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-35]]^^ Prior to [[World War II>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II]], the [[global Jewish population>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_population_by_country]] reached a peak of 16.7 million,^^[[~[35~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-JVIL2010-36]]^^ representing around 0.7% of the world's population at that time. During World War II, approximately six million Jews throughout [[Europe>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Europe]] were supposedly systematically murdered by [[Nazi Germany>>The Third Reich]] in a genocide known as [[the Holocaust>>The Holocaust]]. Since then, the population has slowly risen again, and as of 2021, was estimated to be at 15.2 million by the demographer [[Sergio Della Pergola>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Della_Pergola]]^^[[~[2~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-JDB-3]]^^ or less than 0.2% of the total world population in 2012.^^[[~[38~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-39]][[~[b~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-41]]^^ Today, over 85% of Jews live in [[Israel>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel]] or the [[United States>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_the_United_States]]. Israel, whose population is 73.9% Jewish, is the only country where Jews comprise more than 2.5% of the population.^^[[~[2~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-JDB-3]]^^
--Jews have significantly influenced and contributed to the development and growth of human progress in many fields, both historically and in modern times, including in [[science and technology>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_culture#Science_and_technology]],^^[[~[40~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Daly2013-42]]^^ [[philosophy>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_philosophy]],^^[[~[41~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-43]]^^ [[ethics>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_ethics]],^^[[~[42~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-44]]^^ [[literature>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_literature]],^^[[~[40~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Daly2013-42]]^^ [[governance>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_political_movements]],^^[[~[40~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Daly2013-42]]^^ [[business>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_culture#Economic_activity]],^^[[~[40~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Daly2013-42]]^^ [[art>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_art]], [[music>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_music]], [[comedy>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_humor]], [[theatre>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_theatre]],^^[[~[43~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-45]]^^ [[cinema>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_culture#Cinema]], [[architecture>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_of_Israel]],^^[[~[40~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Daly2013-42]]^^ [[food>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_cuisine]], [[medicine>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_medicine]],^^[[~[44~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Rabin-46]][[~[45~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Shatzmiller,_Joseph_1995-47]]^^ and [[religion>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_religious_movements]]. Jews founded [[Christianity>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Christianity]]^^[[~[46~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-BarclaySweet1996-48]]^^ and had [[an indirect but profound influence on Islam>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic%E2%80%93Jewish_relations]].^^[[~[47~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Paterson2009-49]]^^ In these ways and others, Jews have played a significant role in the development of [[Western culture>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_culture]].^^[[~[48~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Cambridge_University_Historical_Series-50]][[~[49~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-britannica.com-51]]^^
++I will be using much of the original wikipedia page entry for Jews with the aim of expanding content and addressing the things that are misrepresented in the original wiki page. This wiki focuses on White issues and this page focuses on Jewish Involvement in the present situation Whites face. Thus, much of this information is irrelevant to what I want to discuss. However, there are many aspects of these topics that need to be expanded  with information that is relevant. Feel free to add relevant information as  you see fit.
--== Name and etymology ==
--Main article: [[Jew (word)>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jew_(word)]]
++**Jews** ([[Hebrew>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language]]: יְהוּדִים‎, [[ISO 259-2>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_259#ISO_259-2]]: //Yehudim//, [[Israeli pronunciation>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Hebrew]]: [[~[jehuˈdim~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Hebrew]]), or the **Jewish people**, are an [[ethnoreligious group>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnoreligious_group]]^^[[~[14~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Jews-are-ethnoreligious-group-15]]^^ and [[nation>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation]]^^[[~[15~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-16]]^^ originating from the [[Israelites>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelites]] of [[ancient Israel and Judah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ancient_Israel_and_Judah]]^^[[~[16~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-17]]^^ and traditionally adhering to [[Judaism>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism]].^^[[~[17~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Britannica-18]][[~[18~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-19]]^^ Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly interrelated,^^[[~[19~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Lederhendler20012-20]][[~[20~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Yee20052-21]]^^ as Judaism is their [[ethnic religion>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_religion]],^^[[~[21~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Nicholson20022-22]][[~[22~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Dowty19982-23]]^^ though it is not practiced by many ethnic Jews.^^[[~[23~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-KrauszTulea2-24]][[~[24~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-25]][[~[25~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-26]]^^ Despite this, religious Jews regard [[converts to Judaism>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerim]] as members of the Jewish nation, pursuant to the [[long-standing conversion process>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_to_Judaism]].^^[[~[23~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-KrauszTulea2-24]][[~[26~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-27]]^^
++(% class="box warningmessage" %)
++(((
++**^^It should be noted that converting to Judaism is not only difficult and not accepted by many Jews without significant efforts undertaken to prove ones loyalty and commitment to the Tribe, converting Gentiles is also discouraged in Judaism itself. {{footnote}}https://www.jpost.com/blogs/torah-commentaries/can-a-person-convert-to-judaism-409549
--For a more comprehensive list, see [[List of Jewish ethnonyms>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jewish_ethnonyms]].
--The term "Jew" is derived from the [[Hebrew>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language]] word יְהוּדִי //Yehudi//, with the [[plural>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural]] יְהוּדִים //Yehudim//.^^[[~[50~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-EJ253-52]]^^ [[Endonyms>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endonym]] in other [[Jewish languages>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_language]] include the [[Ladino>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladino_language]] ג׳ודיו //Djudio// (plural ג׳ודיוס, //Djudios//) and the [[Yiddish>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddish_language]] ייִד //Yid// (plural ייִדן //Yidn//). Originally, in ancient times, //Yehudi// (Jew)^^[[~[51~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-ReferenceB-53]]^^ was used to describe the inhabitants of the Israelite [[kingdom of Judah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Judah]].^^[[~[52~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-54]]^^ It is also used to distinguish their descendants from the [[gentiles>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentile]] and the [[Samaritans>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritans]].^^[[~[53~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-:4-55]]^^ According to the [[Hebrew Bible>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_Bible]], these inhabitants predominately descend from the [[tribe of Judah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe_of_Judah]] from [[Judah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judah_(Bible)]], the fourth son of [[Jacob>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob]].^^[[~[54~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-:0-56]]^^ Together the tribe of Judah and the [[tribe of Benjamin>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe_of_Benjamin]] made up the Kingdom of Judah.^^[[~[51~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-ReferenceB-53]]^^
++{{/footnote}} This makes it one of the only religions with a barrier to entry, preventing most people from ever joining it's ranks. This is one of the reasons Jewish ethnicity and Judaism are so closely linked, because being born into it is the primary means of achieving Jewishness.^^**
++)))
--Though Genesis 29:35 and 49:8 connect "Judah" with the verb //yada//, meaning "praise", scholars generally agree that "Judah" most likely derives from the name of a [[Levantine>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levant]] geographic region dominated by gorges and ravines.^^[[~[55~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-57]][[~[56~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-58]]^^ In ancient times, Jewish people as a whole were called Hebrews or Israelites until the [[Babylonian Exile>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_captivity]]. After the Exile, the term //Yehudi// (Jew) was used for all followers of Judaism because the survivors of the Exile (who were the former residents of the Kingdom of Judah) were the only Israelites that had kept their distinct identity as the [[ten tribes>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Lost_Tribes]] from the [[northern Kingdom of Israel>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Israel_(Samaria)]] had [[been scattered>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_captivity]] and assimilated into other populations.^^[[~[51~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-ReferenceB-53]]^^ The gradual [[ethnonymic>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnonym]] shift from "[[Israelites>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelites]]" to "Jews", regardless of their descent from Judah, although not contained in the [[Torah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torah]], is made explicit in the [[Book of Esther>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Esther]] (4th century BCE) of the [[Tanakh>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanakh]].^^[[~[57~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-59]]^^ Some modern scholars disagree with the conflation, based on the works of [[Josephus>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus]], [[Philo>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philo]] and [[Apostle Paul>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostle_Paul]].^^[[~[58~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-60]]^^
++The Israelites emerged from within the [[Canaanite peoples>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaanite_peoples]] to  establish [[Israel>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Israel_(Samaria)]] and [[Judah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Judah]] in the [[Southern Levant>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Levant]] during the [[Iron Age>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Age]].^^[[~[27~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-John_Day_pp._47-28]]^^ By the late 6th century BCE, Judaism had evolved from the Israelite religion, dubbed [[Yahwism>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahwism]] (for [[Yahweh>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahweh]]) by modern scholars,^^[[~[28~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-MINDELL2009-29]]^^ having a theology that religious Jews believe to be the expression of the [[Mosaic covenant>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_covenant]] between their ancestors and [[God>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_in_Judaism]].^^[[~[29~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Knowledge_Resources:_Judaism-30]]^^ The [[Babylonian captivity>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_captivity]] of the people of Judah following [[their kingdom's destruction>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_(587_BC)]],^^[[~[30~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-31]]^^ the movement of Jewish groups around the [[Mediterranean>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_basin]] during the [[Hellenistic period>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellenistic_period]], and subsequent periods of conflict and violent dispersion, such as the [[Jewish–Roman wars>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish%E2%80%93Roman_wars]], gave rise to the [[Jewish diaspora>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_diaspora]], which is a worldwide dispersion of Jewish communities that have maintained their sense of [[Jewish history>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_history]], [[identity>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_identity]], and [[culture>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_culture]].^^[[~[31~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-32]]^^
--The English word "Jew" is a derivation of [[Middle English>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English]] //Gyw, Iewe//. The latter was loaned from the [[Old French>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_French]] //giu//, which itself evolved from the earlier //juieu//, which in turn derived from //judieu/iudieu// which through [[elision>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elision]] had dropped the letter "d" from the [[Medieval Latin>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Latin]] //Iudaeus//, which, like the New Testament [[Greek>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greek]] term //[[Ioudaios>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ioudaios]]//, meant both "Jew" and "[[Judean>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judean]]" / "of [[Judea>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judea]]".^^[[~[59~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-61]]^^ The Greek term was a loan from [[Aramaic>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Aramaic]] //*yahūdāy//, corresponding to Hebrew יְהוּדִי //Yehudi//.^^[[~[54~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-:0-56]]^^
++In the following millennia, Jewish diaspora communities [[coalesced>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalescent_theory]] into three major [[ethnic subdivisions>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_ethnic_divisions]] according to where their ancestors settled: the //[[Ashkenazim>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_Jews]]// ([[Central>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Europe]] and [[Eastern Europe>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Europe]]), the //[[Sephardim>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephardic_Jews]]// ([[Iberian Peninsula>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_Peninsula]]), and the //[[Mizrahim>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizrahi_Jews]]// ([[Middle East>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East]] and [[North Africa>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Africa]]).^^[[~[32~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-33]][[~[33~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Dosick-34]]^^ While these three major divisions account for most of the world's Jews, there are other smaller Jewish groups outside of the three.^^[[~[34~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-35]]^^ Prior to [[World War II>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II]], the [[global Jewish population>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_population_by_country]] reached a peak of 16.7 million,^^[[~[35~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-JVIL2010-36]]^^ representing around 0.7% of the world's population at that time. During World War II, approximately six million Jews throughout [[Europe>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Europe]] were supposedly systematically murdered by [[Nazi Germany>>The Third Reich]] in a genocide known as [[the Holocaust>>The Holocaust]]. Since then, the population has slowly risen again, and as of 2021, was estimated to be at 15.2 million by the demographer [[Sergio Della Pergola>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Della_Pergola]]^^[[~[2~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-JDB-3]]^^ or less than 0.2% of the total world population in 2012.^^[[~[38~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-39]][[~[b~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-41]]^^ Today, over 85% of Jews live in [[Israel>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel]] or the [[United States>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_the_United_States]]. Israel, whose population is 73.9% Jewish, is the only country where Jews comprise more than 2.5% of the population.^^[[~[2~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-JDB-3]]^^
--Some scholars prefer translating //Ioudaios// as "Judean" in the Bible since it is more precise, denotes the community's origins and prevents readers from engaging in antisemitic [[eisegesis>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisegesis]].^^[[~[60~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-62]][[~[61~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-63]]^^ Others disagree, believing that it erases the Jewish identity of Biblical characters such as [[Jesus>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus]].^^[[~[53~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-:4-55]]^^ Daniel R. Schwartz distinguishes "Judean" and "Jew". Here, "Judean" refers to the inhabitants of Judea, which encompassed southern [[Palestine>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine_(region)]]. Meanwhile, "Jew" refers to the descendants of Israelites that adhere to [[Judaism>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism]]. Converts are included in the definition.^^[[~[62~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-64]]^^ But [[Shaye J.D. Cohen>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaye_J._D._Cohen]] argues that "Judean" should include believers of the Judean God and allies of the Judean state.^^[[~[63~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-65]]^^ Troy W. Martin similarly argues that biblical Jewishness is [[not dependent on ancestry>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_quantum_laws]] but instead, is based on adherence to 'covenantal circumcision' ([[Genesis 17:9–14>>url:https://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Genesis%2017:9%E2%80%9314&version=nrsv]]).^^[[~[64~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-:14-66]]^^
++Jews have significantly influenced and contributed to the development and growth of human progress in many fields, both historically and in modern times, including in [[science and technology>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_culture#Science_and_technology]],^^[[~[40~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Daly2013-42]]^^ [[philosophy>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_philosophy]],^^[[~[41~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-43]]^^ [[ethics>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_ethics]],^^[[~[42~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-44]]^^ [[literature>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_literature]],^^[[~[40~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Daly2013-42]]^^ [[governance>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_political_movements]],^^[[~[40~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Daly2013-42]]^^ [[business>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_culture#Economic_activity]],^^[[~[40~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Daly2013-42]]^^ [[art>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_art]], [[music>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_music]], [[comedy>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_humor]], [[theatre>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_theatre]],^^[[~[43~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-45]]^^ [[cinema>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_culture#Cinema]], [[architecture>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_of_Israel]],^^[[~[40~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Daly2013-42]]^^ [[food>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_cuisine]], [[medicine>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_medicine]],^^[[~[44~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Rabin-46]][[~[45~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Shatzmiller,_Joseph_1995-47]]^^ and [[religion>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_religious_movements]]. Jews founded [[Christianity>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Christianity]]^^[[~[46~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-BarclaySweet1996-48]]^^ and had [[an indirect but profound influence on Islam>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic%E2%80%93Jewish_relations]].^^[[~[47~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Paterson2009-49]]^^ In these ways and others, Jews have played a significant role in the development of [[Western culture>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_culture]].^^[[~[48~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Cambridge_University_Historical_Series-50]][[~[49~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-britannica.com-51]]^^
--The etymological equivalent is in use in other languages, e.g., يَهُودِيّ //yahūdī// (sg.), //al-yahūd// (pl.), in [[Arabic>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic]], "Jude" in [[German>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_language]], "judeu" in [[Portuguese>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_language]], "Juif" (m.)/"Juive" (f.) in [[French>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language]], "jøde" in [[Danish>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_language]] and [[Norwegian>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_language]], "judío/a" in [[Spanish>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language]], "jood" in [[Dutch>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_language]], "żyd" in [[Polish>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_language]] etc., but derivations of the word "Hebrew" are also in use to describe a Jew, e.g., in [[Italian>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_language]] (//Ebreo//), in [[Persian>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_language]] ("Ebri/Ebrani" ([[Persian>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_language]]: عبری/عبرانی)) and [[Russian>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_language]] (//Еврей, Yevrey//).^^[[~[65~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-67]]^^ The German word "Jude" is pronounced [[~[ˈjuːdə~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Standard_German]], the corresponding [[adjective>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjective]] "jüdisch" [[~[ˈjyːdɪʃ~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Standard_German]] (Jewish) is the origin of the word "Yiddish".^^[[~[66~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-68]]^^
++== Name and etymology ==
++Main article: [[Jew (word)>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jew_(word)]]
++
++For a more comprehensive list, see [[List of Jewish ethnonyms>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jewish_ethnonyms]].
++
++The term "Jew" is derived from the [[Hebrew>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language]] word יְהוּדִי //Yehudi//, with the [[plural>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural]] יְהוּדִים //Yehudim//.^^[[~[50~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-EJ253-52]]^^ [[Endonyms>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endonym]] in other [[Jewish languages>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_language]] include the [[Ladino>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladino_language]] ג׳ודיו //Djudio// (plural ג׳ודיוס, //Djudios//) and the [[Yiddish>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddish_language]] ייִד //Yid// (plural ייִדן //Yidn//). Originally, in ancient times, //Yehudi// (Jew)^^[[~[51~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-ReferenceB-53]]^^ was used to describe the inhabitants of the Israelite [[kingdom of Judah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Judah]].^^[[~[52~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-54]]^^ It is also used to distinguish their descendants from the [[gentiles>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentile]] and the [[Samaritans>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritans]].^^[[~[53~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-:4-55]]^^ According to the [[Hebrew Bible>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_Bible]], these inhabitants predominately descend from the [[tribe of Judah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe_of_Judah]] from [[Judah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judah_(Bible)]], the fourth son of [[Jacob>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob]].^^[[~[54~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-:0-56]]^^ Together the tribe of Judah and the [[tribe of Benjamin>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe_of_Benjamin]] made up the Kingdom of Judah.^^[[~[51~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-ReferenceB-53]]^^
++
  According to //[[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_American_Heritage_Dictionary_of_the_English_Language]]//, fourth edition (2000),
  >It is widely recognized that the attributive use of the noun //Jew//, in phrases such as //Jew lawyer// or //Jew ethics//, is both vulgar and highly offensive. In such contexts //Jewish// is the only acceptable possibility. Some people, however, have become so wary of this construction that they have extended the stigma to any use of //Jew// as a noun, a practice that carries risks of its own. In a sentence such as //There are now several Jews on the council//, which is unobjectionable, the substitution of a circumlocution like //Jewish people// or //persons of Jewish background// may in itself cause offense for seeming to imply that Jew has a negative connotation when used as a noun.^^[[~[67~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-69]]^^
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
  == Identity ==
--Main articles: [[Who is a Jew?>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_is_a_Jew%3F]] and [[Jewish identity>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_identity]][[image:250px-A_map_of_Canaan_%288343807206%29.jpg]]
++Main articles: [[Who is a Jew?>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_is_a_Jew%3F]] and [[Jewish identity>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_identity]]
  Map of [[Canaan>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan]]
@@ -48,53 +48,34 @@
  According to historian [[Shaye J. D. Cohen>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaye_J._D._Cohen]], the status of the offspring of mixed marriages was determined [[patrilineally>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrilineality]] in the Bible. He brings two likely explanations for the change in [[Mishnaic>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mishnah]] times: first, the Mishnah may have been applying the same logic to mixed marriages as it had applied to other mixtures (//[[Kil'ayim>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kil%27ayim_(prohibition)]]//). Thus, a mixed marriage is forbidden as is the union of a [[horse>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse]] and a [[donkey>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey]], and in both unions the offspring are judged matrilineally.^^[[~[84~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-J.D._Cohen-86]]^^ Second, the [[Tannaim>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tannaim]] may have been influenced by [[Roman law>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_law]], which dictated that when a parent could not contract a legal marriage, [[offspring would follow the mother>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mater_semper_certa_est]].^^[[~[84~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-J.D._Cohen-86]]^^ Rabbi Rivon Krygier follows a similar reasoning, arguing that Jewish descent had formerly passed through the patrilineal descent and the law of matrilineal descent had its roots in the Roman legal system.^^[[~[81~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Klein2016-83]]^^
--== Origins ==
--Further information: [[Canaan>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan]], [[Israelites>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelites]], [[Yahwism>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahwism]], [[Origins of Judaism>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origins_of_Judaism]], and [[History of ancient Israel and Judah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ancient_Israel_and_Judah]][[image:500px-Procession_of_the_Aamu%2C_Tomb_of_Khnumhotep_II_%28composite%29.jpg]]
++(% class="box infomessage" %)
++(((
++**Yes, Jews are against interracial marriage. This excerpt from the wiki touches on this, but is conveniently obscure about the fact that it is practiced to this very day in Israel **
--Egyptian depiction of the visit of Western Asiatics in colorful garments, labeled as //[[Aamu>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aamu]]//. The painting is from the tomb of a 12th dynasty official [[Khnumhotep II>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khnumhotep_II]] at [[Beni Hasan>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beni_Hasan]], and dated to c. 1900 BCE. Their nearest Biblical contemporaries were the earliest of Hebrews, such as [[Abraham>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham]] and [[Joseph>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_(Genesis)]].^^[[~[85~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-87]][[~[86~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-88]][[~[87~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-archaeology.org-89]][[~[88~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-90]]^^[[image:250px-Jehu_on_the_Black_Obelisk_of_Shalmaneser_III.jpg]]
++{{footnote}}
++ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_in_Israel
++{{/footnote}}
--Depiction of King [[Jehu>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehu]], tenth [[king>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King]] of the [[northern Kingdom of Israel>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Israel_(Samaria)]], on the [[Black Obelisk>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Obelisk]] of [[Shalmaneser III>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalmaneser_III]], 841–840 BCE.^^[[~[89~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-91]]^^ This is "the only portrayal we have in ancient Near Eastern art of an Israelite or Judaean monarch".^^[[~[90~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-92]]^^
++Furthermore, even if you get married outside of Israel to circumvent this, the state of Israel wont even recognize it depending on which country you're from.
--The prehistory and ethnogenesis of the Jews are closely intertwined with archaeology, biology, historical textual records, mythology, and religious literature. The ethnic stock to which Jews originally trace their ancestry was a confederation of Iron Age [[Semitic>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semitic_languages]]-speaking tribes known as the [[Israelites>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelites]] that inhabited a part of [[Canaan>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan]] during the [[tribal and monarchic periods>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ancient_Israel_and_Judah]].^^[[~[91~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-93]]^^ Modern Jews are named after and also descended from the southern Israelite [[Kingdom of Judah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Judah]].^^[[~[92~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-94]][[~[93~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Schama2014-95]][[~[94~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-96]][[~[95~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Ostrer2012-97]][[~[96~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Brenner2010-98]][[~[97~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Adams1840-99]]^^ [[Gary A. Rendsburg>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_A._Rendsburg]] links the early Canaanite [[nomadic pastoralists>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomadic_pastoralism]] confederation to the [[Shasu>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shasu]] known to the Egyptians around the 15th century BCE.^^[[~[98~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-100]]^^
++{{footnote}}
++ https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-renews-racist-marriage-law
++{{/footnote}}
--According to the [[Hebrew Bible>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanakh]] narrative, Jewish ancestry is traced back to the [[Biblical patriarchs>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchs_(Bible)]] such as [[Abraham>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham]], his son [[Isaac>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac]], Isaac's son [[Jacob>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob]], and the Biblical matriarchs [[Sarah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah]], [[Rebecca>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca]], [[Leah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leah]], and [[Rachel>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel]], who lived in [[Canaan>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan]]. The [[Twelve Tribes>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Tribes]] are described as descending from the twelve sons of Jacob. Jacob and his family migrated to [[Ancient Egypt>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt]] after being invited to live with Jacob's son [[Joseph>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_(son_of_Jacob)]] by the [[Pharaoh>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharaohs_in_the_Bible]] himself. The patriarchs' descendants were later enslaved until the [[Exodus>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exodus]] led by [[Moses>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses]], after which the Israelites conquered Canaan under Moses' successor [[Joshua>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua]], went through the period of the [[Biblical judges>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_judges]] after the death of Joshua, then through the mediation of [[Samuel>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel]] became subject to a king, [[Saul>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul]], who was succeeded by [[David>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David]] and then [[Solomon>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon]], after whom the [[United Monarchy>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Israel_(united_monarchy)]] ended and was split into a separate [[Kingdom of Israel>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Israel_(Samaria)]] and a [[Kingdom of Judah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Judah]]. The Kingdom of Judah is described as comprising the tribes of [[Judah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe_of_Judah]], [[Benjamin>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe_of_Benjamin]], partially [[Levi>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe_of_Levi]], and later adding remnants of other tribes who migrated there from the northern Kingdom of Israel.^^[[~[99~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Broshi_2001_174-101]][[~[100~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-102]][[~[101~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-103]]^^
++ When taken with the context of the near impossibility of conversion to Judaism, the full scope of Israel's stance against interracial marriage becomes evident. It's not merely a quirk of outdated religious tradition, its a full scale ban on interracial marriage.
++)))
--In the extra-biblical record, the Israelites become visible as a people between 1200 and 1000 BCE.^^[[~[102~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-104]]^^ There is well accepted archeological evidence referring to "Israel" in the [[Merneptah Stele>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merneptah_Stele]], which dates to about 1200 BCE,^^[[~[103~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-NollMerneptah-105]][[~[104~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-ThompsonMerneptah-106]]^^ and in the Mesha stele from 840 BCE. It is debated whether a period like that of the [[Biblical judges>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_judges]] occurred^^[[~[105~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Yoder2015-107]][[~[106~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Brettler2002-108]][[~[107~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Thompson2000-109]][[~[108~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-HjelmThompson2016-110]][[~[109~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Davies1995-111]]^^ and if there ever was a [[United Monarchy>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Israel_(united_monarchy)]].^^[[~[110~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-lipschits-112]][[~[111~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Finkelstein-113]][[~[112~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Kuhrtp438-114]][[~[113~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Wright-115]]^^ There is further disagreement about the earliest existence of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah and their extent and power. Historians agree that a [[Kingdom of Israel>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Israel_(Samaria)]] existed by c. 900 BCE,^^[[~[111~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Finkelstein-113]]: 169–95 [[~[112~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Kuhrtp438-114]][[~[113~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Wright-115]]^^ there is a consensus that a [[Kingdom of Judah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Judah]] existed by c. 700 BCE at least,^^[[~[114~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Pitcher-116]]^^ and recent excavations in [[Khirbet Qeiyafa>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khirbet_Qeiyafa]] have provided strong evidence for dating the Kingdom of Judah to the 10th century BCE.^^[[~[115~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-117]]^^ In 587 BCE, [[Nebuchadnezzar II>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebuchadnezzar_II]], King of the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Babylonian_Empire]], [[besieged Jerusalem>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_(587_BC)]], destroyed the [[First Temple>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon%27s_Temple]] and deported parts of the Judahite population.^^[[~[116~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-us-israel-archaeology-118]]^^
++==   ==
--Scholars disagree regarding the extent to which the Bible should be accepted as a historical source for early Israelite history. [[Rendsburg>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_A._Rendsburg]] states that there are two approximately equal groups of scholars who debate the [[historicity of the biblical narrative>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_the_Bible]], the [[minimalists>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_minimalism]] who largely reject it, and the maximalists who largely accept it, with the minimalists being the more vocal of the two.^^[[~[117~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-119]]^^
++== Origins ==
--Some of the leading minimalists reframe the biblical account as constituting the [[Israelites>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelites]]' inspiring [[national myth>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_myth]] narrative, suggesting that according to the modern archaeological and historical account, the Israelites and their culture did not overtake the region by force, but instead branched out of the [[Canaanite peoples>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaanite_languages]] and culture through the development of a distinct [[monolatristic>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolatrism]]—and later [[monotheistic>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotheism]]—religion of [[Yahwism>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahwism]] centered on [[Yahweh>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahweh]], one of the gods of the Canaanite pantheon. The growth of Yahweh-centric belief, along with a number of cultic practices, gradually gave rise to a distinct Israelite [[ethnic group>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_group]], setting them apart from other Canaanites.^^[[~[118~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-120]][[~[119~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-121]][[~[120~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-122]]^^ According to [[Dever>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_G._Dever]], modern [[archaeologists>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeology]] have largely discarded the search for evidence of the biblical narrative surrounding the patriarchs and the exodus.^^[[~[121~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-123]]^^
--
--According to the maximalist position, the modern archaeological record independently points to a narrative which largely agrees with the biblical account. This narrative provides a testimony of the Israelites as a [[nomadic>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomad]] people known to the [[Egyptians>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Kingdom_of_Egypt]] as belonging to the [[Shasu>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CA%BFApiru]]. Over time these nomads left the desert and settled on the central mountain range of the land of Canaan, in simple semi-nomadic settlements in which pig bones are notably absent. This population gradually shifted from a [[tribal>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe]] lifestyle to a monarchy. While the archaeological record of the ninth century BCE provides evidence for two monarchies, one in the south under a dynasty founded by a figure named David with its capital in [[Jerusalem>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem]], and one in the north under a dynasty founded by a figure named [[Omri>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omri]] with its capital in [[Samaria>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaria_(ancient_city)]]. It also points to an early monarchic period in which these regions shared [[material culture>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Material_culture]] and religion, suggesting a common origin. Archaeological finds also provide evidence for the later cooperation of these two kingdoms in their coalition against [[Aram>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aram-Damascus]], and for their destructions by the [[Assyrians>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyria]] and later by the Babylonians.^^[[~[122~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-124]]^^
--
  [[Genetic studies on Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_studies_on_Jews]] show that most Jews worldwide bear a common genetic heritage which originates in the [[Middle East>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East]], and that they share certain genetic traits with other Gentile peoples of the [[Fertile Crescent>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertile_Crescent]].^^[[~[123~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-WhoAreTheJews-125]][[~[124~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-126]][[~[125~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-127]]^^ The genetic composition of different Jewish groups shows that Jews share a common gene pool dating back four millennia, as a marker of their common ancestral origin.^^[[~[126~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-128]]^^ Despite their long-term separation, Jewish communities maintained their unique commonalities, propensities, and sensibilities in culture, tradition, and language.^^[[~[127~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-129]]^^
--== History ==
++**^^That Jews have maintained their ethnic unity and separation from other peoples despite their integration in various societies shows that true assimilation into non Jewish countries is largely not possible. Ashkenazi Jews, despite being in Europe for a millenia, still see themselves as Jewish not European. ^^**
--Main article: [[Jewish history>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_history]]
++== Israel and Judah ==
--For a chronological guide, see [[Timeline of Jewish history>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Jewish_history]].
--
--|=[[Tribes of Israel>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Tribes_of_Israel]]
--|[[image:120px-1695_Eretz_Israel_map_in_Amsterdam_Haggada_by_Abraham_Bar-Jacob.jpg]]
--|show(((
--The Tribes of Israel
--)))
--|show(((
--Other tribes
--)))
--|show(((
--Related topics
--)))
--|(((
--* [[v>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Tribes_of_Israel]]
--* [[t>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template_talk:Tribes_of_Israel]]
--* [[e>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Tribes_of_Israel]]
--)))
--
--=== Israel and Judah ===
--
  Further information: [[History of ancient Israel and Judah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ancient_Israel_and_Judah]]
  The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the [[Merneptah Stele>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merneptah_Stele]], which dates to around 1200 BCE. The majority of scholars agree that this text refers to the [[Israelites>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelites]], a group that inhabited the central highlands of [[Canaan>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan]], where archaeological evidence shows that hundreds of small [[settlements were constructed>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelite_highland_settlement]] between the 12th and 10th centuries BCE.^^[[~[128~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-FOOTNOTEStager199891-130]][[~[129~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-131]]^^ The Israelites differentiated themselves from neighboring peoples through various distinct characteristics including [[religious practices>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahwism]], [[prohibition on intermarriage>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endogamy]], and an emphasis on genealogy and family history.^^[[~[130~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMcNutt199935-132]][[~[131~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDever2003206-133]][[~[131~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDever2003206-133]]^^
@@ -222,82 +222,8 @@
  * [[e>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Judaism]]
  )))
--The Jewish [[people>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnicity]] and the [[religion>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion]] of [[Judaism>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism]] are strongly interrelated. [[Converts to Judaism>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_to_Judaism]] typically have a status within the Jewish //ethnos// equal to those born into it.^^[[~[179~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-181]]^^ However, several converts to Judaism, as well as ex-Jews, have claimed that converts are treated as second-class Jews by many born Jews.^^[[~[180~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-182]]^^ Conversion is not encouraged by mainstream Judaism, and it is considered a difficult task. A significant portion of conversions are undertaken by children of mixed marriages, or would-be or current spouses of Jews.^^[[~[181~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-183]]^^
--The [[Hebrew Bible>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_Bible]], a religious interpretation of the traditions and early history of the Jews, established the first of the [[Abrahamic religions>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrahamic_religions]], which are now practiced by 54 percent of the world. [[Judaism>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism]] guides its adherents in both practice and belief, and has been called not only a religion, but also a "way of life,"^^[[~[182~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-184]]^^ which has made drawing a clear distinction between Judaism, [[Jewish culture>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_culture]], and [[Jewish identity>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_identity]] rather difficult. Throughout history, in eras and places as diverse as the ancient [[Hellenic>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greece]] world,^^[[~[183~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-185]]^^ in Europe before and after [[The Age of Enlightenment>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Enlightenment]] (see [[Haskalah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haskalah]]),^^[[~[184~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-186]]^^ in [[Islamic Spain and Portugal>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Andalus]],^^[[~[185~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Sharot2930-187]]^^ in [[North Africa>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Africa]] and the [[Middle East>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East]],^^[[~[185~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Sharot2930-187]]^^ [[India>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Jews]],^^[[~[186~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-188]]^^ [[China>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_China]],^^[[~[187~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-189]]^^ or the contemporary [[United States>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Jews]]^^[[~[188~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-190]]^^ and [[Israel>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel]],^^[[~[189~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-191]]^^ 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 or specific communities of Jews with their surroundings, and still others from the inner social and cultural dynamics of the community, as opposed to from the religion itself. This phenomenon has led to considerably different [[Jewish cultures>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_culture]] unique to their own communities.^^[[~[190~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-192]]^^
--=== Languages ===
--
--Main article: [[Jewish languages>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_languages]]
--
--[[Hebrew>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language]] is the [[liturgical language>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liturgical_language]] of Judaism (termed //lashon ha-kodesh//, "the holy tongue"), the language in which most of the Hebrew scriptures ([[Tanakh>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanakh]]) were composed, and the daily speech of the Jewish people for centuries. By the 5th century BCE, [[Aramaic>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_language]], a closely related tongue, joined Hebrew as the spoken language in [[Judea>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judea]].^^[[~[191~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Grintz-193]]^^ By the 3rd century BCE, some Jews of the diaspora were speaking [[Greek>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greek]].^^[[~[192~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-194]]^^ Others, such as in the Jewish communities of [[Asoristan>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asoristan]], known to Jews as Babylonia, were speaking Hebrew and [[Aramaic>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Babylonian_Aramaic]], the languages of the [[Babylonian Talmud>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_Talmud]]. Dialects of these same languages were also used by the Jews of [[Syria Palaestina>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria_Palaestina]] at that time.^^[//[[citation needed>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed]]//]^^
--
--For centuries, Jews worldwide have spoken the local or dominant languages of the regions they migrated to, often developing distinctive [[dialectal>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialect]] forms or branches that became independent languages. [[Yiddish>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddish_language]] is the Judaeo-German language developed by [[Ashkenazi Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_Jews]] who migrated to [[Central Europe>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Europe]]. [[Ladino>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaeo-Spanish]] is the Judaeo-Spanish language developed by [[Sephardic>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephardi_Jews]] Jews who migrated to the [[Iberian peninsula>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_peninsula]]. Due to many factors, including the impact of [[the Holocaust>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust]] on European Jewry, the [[Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_exodus_from_Arab_and_Muslim_countries]], and widespread emigration from other Jewish communities around the world, ancient and distinct [[Jewish languages>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_languages]] of several communities, including [[Judaeo-Georgian>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaeo-Georgian]], [[Judaeo-Arabic>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judeo-Arabic_languages]], [[Judaeo-Berber>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judeo-Berber_language]], [[Krymchak>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krymchak_language]], [[Judaeo-Malayalam>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaeo-Malayalam]] and many others, have largely fallen out of use.^^[[~[5~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Languages-6]]^^[[image:250px-Loew-rabin-tombstone.jpg]]
--
--Tombstone of the [[Maharal>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judah_Loew_ben_Bezalel]] in the [[Old Jewish Cemetery, Prague>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Jewish_Cemetery,_Prague]]. The tombstones are inscribed in Hebrew.
--
--For over sixteen centuries Hebrew was used almost exclusively as a liturgical language, and as the language in which most books had been written on Judaism, with a few speaking only Hebrew on the [[Sabbath>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabbat]].^^[[~[193~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-195]]^^ Hebrew was revived as a spoken language by [[Eliezer ben Yehuda>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliezer_ben_Yehuda]], who arrived in [[Palestine>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine_(region)]] in 1881. It had not been used as a [[mother tongue>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_tongue]] since [[Tannaic>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tannaim]] times.^^[[~[191~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Grintz-193]]^^ [[Modern Hebrew>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Hebrew]] is designated as the "State language" of Israel.^^[[~[194~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-196]]^^
--
--Despite efforts to revive Hebrew as the national language of the Jewish people, knowledge of the language is not commonly possessed by Jews worldwide and [[English>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language]] has emerged as the [[lingua franca>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingua_franca]] of the Jewish diaspora.^^[[~[195~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-197]][[~[196~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-198]][[~[197~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-199]][[~[198~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-200]][[~[199~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-201]]^^ Although many Jews once had sufficient knowledge of Hebrew to study the classic literature, and [[Jewish languages>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_languages]] like [[Yiddish>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddish]] and [[Ladino>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaeo-Spanish]] were commonly used as recently as the early 20th century, most Jews lack such knowledge today and English has by and large superseded most Jewish vernaculars. The three most commonly spoken languages among Jews today are Hebrew, English, and [[Russian>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_language]]. Some [[Romance languages>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_languages]], particularly [[French>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language]] and [[Spanish>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language]], are also widely used.^^[[~[5~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Languages-6]]^^ Yiddish has been spoken by more Jews in history than any other language,^^[[~[200~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-202]]^^ but it is far less used today following [[the Holocaust>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust]] and the adoption of [[Modern Hebrew>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Hebrew]] by the [[Zionist movement>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zionism]] and the [[State of Israel>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel]]. In some places, the mother language of the Jewish community differs from that of the general population or the dominant group. For example, in [[Quebec>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec]], the Ashkenazic majority has adopted English, while the Sephardic minority uses French as its primary language.^^[[~[201~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-forward-203]][[~[202~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-204]][[~[203~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-205]]^^ Similarly, [[South African Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_South_Africa]] adopted English rather than [[Afrikaans>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrikaans]].^^[[~[204~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-206]]^^ Due to both Czarist and Soviet policies,^^[[~[205~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-207]][[~[206~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-208]]^^ Russian has superseded Yiddish as the language of [[Russian Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Russia]], but these policies have also affected neighboring communities.^^[[~[207~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-209]]^^ Today, Russian is the first language for many Jewish communities in a number of [[Post-Soviet states>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Soviet_states]], such as [[Ukraine>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine]]^^[[~[208~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-210]][[~[209~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-google-211]][[~[210~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-google2-212]][[~[211~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-213]]^^ and [[Uzbekistan>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzbekistan]],^^[[~[212~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-jewishvirtuallibrary2-214]][//[[better source needed>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:NOTRS]]//]^^ as well as for Ashkenazic Jews in [[Azerbaijan>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan]],^^[[~[213~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Maoz-215]][[~[214~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-216]]^^ Georgia,^^[[~[215~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-217]]^^ and [[Tajikistan>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajikistan]].^^[[~[216~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-218]][[~[217~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-219]]^^ Although communities in [[North Africa>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Africa]] today are small and dwindling, Jews there had shifted from a multilingual group to a monolingual one (or nearly so), speaking French in [[Algeria>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algeria]],^^[[~[218~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-220]]^^ [[Morocco>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco]],^^[[~[213~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Maoz-215]]^^ and the city of [[Tunis>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunis]],^^[[~[219~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-221]][[~[220~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-jdc-222]]^^ while most North Africans continue to use [[Arabic>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic]] or Berber as their mother tongue.^^[//[[citation needed>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed]]//]^^
--
--=== Leadership ===
--
--Main article: [[Jewish leadership>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_leadership]]
--
--There is no single governing body for the Jewish community, nor a single authority with responsibility for religious doctrine.^^[[~[221~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-223]]^^ 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.^^[[~[222~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-224]]^^ Today, many countries have a [[Chief Rabbi>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Rabbi]] who serves as a representative of that country's Jewry. Although many [[Hasidic Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasidic_Judaism]] follow a certain hereditary [[Hasidic dynasty>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hasidic_dynasties]], there is no one commonly accepted leader of all Hasidic Jews. Many Jews believe that the [[Messiah>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_in_Judaism]] will act a unifying leader for Jews and the entire world.^^[[~[223~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-225]]^^
--
--=== Theories on ancient Jewish national identity ===
--
--[[image:220px-Hebrew_Bible_MET_DP-15507-001.jpg]]
--
--Bible manuscript in Hebrew, 14th century. Hebrew language and alphabet were the cornerstones of the Jewish national identity in antiquity.
--
--A number of modern scholars of nationalism support the existence of Jewish national identity in antiquity. One of them is David Goodblatt,^^[[~[224~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-226]]^^ who generally believes in the existence of nationalism before the modern period. In his view, the Bible, the parabiblical literature and the Jewish national history provide the base for a Jewish collective identity. Although many of the ancient Jews were illiterate (as were their neighbors), their national narrative was reinforced through public readings. The Hebrew language also constructed and preserved national identity. Although it was not widely spoken after the 5th century BCE, Goodblatt states:^^[[~[225~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-227]][[~[226~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-228]][[~[227~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-229]]^^
--
-->the mere presence of the language in spoken or written form could invoke the concept of a Jewish national identity. Even if one knew no Hebrew or was illiterate, one could recognize that a group of signs was in Hebrew script. ... It was the language of the Israelite ancestors, the national literature, and the national religion. As such it was inseparable from the national identity. Indeed its mere presence in visual or aural medium could invoke that identity.
--
--[[Anthony D. Smith>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_D._Smith]], an historical sociologist considered one of the founders of the field of [[nationalism studies>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalism_studies]], wrote that the Jews of the late Second Temple period provide "a closer approximation to the ideal type of the [[nation>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation]] [...] than perhaps anywhere else in the ancient world." He adds that this observation "must make us wary of pronouncing too readily against the possibility of the nation, and even a form of [[religious nationalism>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_nationalism]], before the onset of modernity."^^[[~[228~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-230]]^^ Agreeing with Smith, Goodblatt suggests omitting the qualifier "religious" from Smith's definition of ancient Jewish nationalism, noting that, according to Smith, a religious component in national memories and culture is common even in the modern era.^^[[~[229~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-:23-231]]^^ This view is echoed by political scientist [[Tom Garvin>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Garvin]], who writes that "something strangely like modern nationalism is documented for many peoples in medieval times and in classical times as well," citing the ancient Jews as one of several "obvious examples", alongside the [[classical Greeks>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Greece]] and the [[Gaulish>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauls]] and [[British Celts>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_Britons]].^^[[~[230~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-232]]^^
--
--[[Fergus Millar>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fergus_Millar]] suggests that the sources of Jewish national identity and their early nationalist movements in the first and second centuries CE included several key elements: the Bible as both a national history and legal source, the Hebrew language as a national language, a system of law, and social institutions such as schools, synagogues, and Sabbath worship.^^[[~[231~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-233]]^^ [[Adrian Hastings>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Hastings]] argued that Jews are the "true proto-nation", that through the model of ancient Israel found in the Hebrew Bible, provided the world with the original concept of nationhood which later influenced Christian nations. However, following [[Jerusalem's destruction>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_(70_CE)]] in the first century CE, Jews ceased to be a political entity and did not resemble a traditional nation-state for almost two millennia. Despite this, they maintained their national identity through collective memory, religion and sacred texts, even without land or political power, and remained a nation rather than just an ethnic group, eventually leading to the rise of [[Zionism>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zionism]] and the establishment of Israel.^^[[~[232~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-234]]^^
--
--It is believed that Jewish nationalist sentiment in antiquity was encouraged because under foreign rule (Persians, Greeks, Romans) Jews were able to claim that they were an ancient nation. This claim was based on the preservation and reverence of their scriptures, the Hebrew language, the Temple and priesthood, and other traditions of their ancestors.^^[[~[233~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-235]]^^
--
--== Demographics ==
--
--Further information: [[Jewish population by country>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_population_by_country]]
--
--=== Ethnic divisions ===
--
--Main article: [[Jewish ethnic divisions>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_ethnic_divisions]][[image:170px-Ashkenazim_Jews_American_colony_1900_to_1920.jpg]]
--
--[[Ashkenazi Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_Jews]] residing in the American colony. Photo taken between 1900 and 1920.[[image:170px-1900_photo_of_a_Sephardi_couple_from_Sarajevo.png]]
--
--[[Sephardi Jewish>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephardic_Jews]] couple from [[Sarajevo>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarajevo]] in traditional clothing. Photo taken in 1900.[[image:250px-Yemenite_Elder_Blowing_Shofat%2C_February_1%2C_1949.jpg]]
--
--[[Yemenite Jew>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemenite_Jews]] blows [[shofar>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shofar]], 1947
--
--Within the world's [[Jewish population>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_population]] there are distinct ethnic divisions, most of which are primarily the result of geographic branching from an originating [[Israelite>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelite]] population, and subsequent independent evolutions. An array of Jewish communities was established by Jewish settlers in various places around the [[Old World>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_World]], often at great distances from one another, resulting in effective and often long-term isolation. During the [[millennia>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennia]] of the [[Jewish diaspora>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_diaspora]] the communities would develop under the influence of their local environments: [[political>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics]], [[cultural>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture]], [[natural>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature]], and populational. Today, manifestations of these differences among the Jews can be observed in [[Jewish cultural expressions>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_culture]] of each community, including [[Jewish linguistic diversity>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_languages]], culinary preferences, liturgical practices, religious interpretations, as well as degrees and sources of [[genetic admixture>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_admixture]].^^[[~[234~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-236]]^^
--
--Jews are often identified as belonging to one of two major groups: the //[[Ashkenazim>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_Jews]]// and the //[[Sephardim>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephardi_Jews]]//. Ashkenazim are so named in reference to their geographical origins (their ancestors' culture coalesced in the [[Rhineland>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_Jews#etymology]], an area historically referred to by Jews as [[Ashkenaz>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenaz]]). Similarly, Sephardim ([[Sefarad>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sefarad]] meaning "[[Spain>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain]]" in Hebrew) are named in reference their origins in [[Iberia>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_peninsula]]. The diverse groups of Jews of the Middle East and North Africa are often collectively referred to as //Sephardim// together with Sephardim proper for liturgical reasons having to do with their [[prayer rites>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nusach_(Jewish_custom)]]. A common term for many of these non-Spanish Jews who are sometimes still broadly grouped as Sephardim is //[[Mizrahim>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizrahi_Jews]]// (lit. 'easterners' in Hebrew). Nevertheless, Mizrahis and Sepharadim are usually ethnically distinct.^^[[~[235~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-237]]^^
--
--Smaller groups include, but are not restricted to, [[Indian Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews_in_India]] such as the [[Bene Israel>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bene_Israel]], [[Bnei Menashe>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bnei_Menashe]], [[Cochin Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochin_Jews]], and [[Bene Ephraim>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bene_Ephraim]]; the [[Romaniotes>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romaniote_Jews]] of Greece; the [[Italian Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_rite_Jews]] ("Italkim" or "Bené Roma"); the [[Teimanim>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teimanim]] from [[Yemen>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemen]]; various [[African Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews_and_Judaism_in_Africa]], including most numerously the [[Beta Israel>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_Israel]] of [[Ethiopia>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia]]; and [[Chinese Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_China]], most notably the [[Kaifeng Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaifeng_Jews]], as well as various other distinct but now almost extinct communities.^^[[~[236~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-EJ571-238]]^^
--
--The divisions between all these groups are approximate and their boundaries are not always clear. The Mizrahim for example, are a heterogeneous collection of [[North African>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Africa]], [[Central Asian>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Asia]], [[Caucasian>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasus_(geographic_region)]], and Middle Eastern Jewish communities that are no closer related to each other than they are to any of the earlier mentioned Jewish groups. In modern usage, however, the Mizrahim are sometimes termed //Sephardi// due to similar styles of liturgy, despite independent development from Sephardim proper. Thus, among Mizrahim there are [[Egyptian Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_Jews]], [[Iraqi Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_Jews]], [[Lebanese Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanese_Jews]], [[Kurdish Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdish_Jews]], [[Moroccan Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moroccan_Jews]], [[Libyan Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Jews]], [[Syrian Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Jews]], [[Bukharian Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bukharian_Jews]], [[Mountain Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Jews]], [[Georgian Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_Jews]], [[Iranian Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Jews]], [[Afghan Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Jews]], and various others. The [[Teimanim>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teimanim]] from [[Yemen>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemen]] are sometimes included, although their style of liturgy is unique and they differ in respect to the admixture found among them to that found in Mizrahim. In addition, there is a differentiation made between Sephardi migrants who established themselves in the [[Middle East>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East]] and [[North Africa>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Africa]] after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal in the 1490s and the pre-existing Jewish communities in those regions.^^[[~[236~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-EJ571-238]]^^
--
--Ashkenazi Jews represent the bulk of modern Jewry, with at least 70 percent of Jews worldwide (and up to 90 percent prior to [[World War II>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II]] and [[the Holocaust>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust]]). As a result of their [[emigration>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emigration]] from [[Europe>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe]], Ashkenazim also represent the overwhelming majority of Jews in the [[New World>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World]] continents, in countries such as the [[United States>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States]], [[Canada>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada]], [[Argentina>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina]], [[Australia>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia]], and [[Brazil>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil]]. In [[France>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France]], the immigration of Jews from [[Algeria>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algeria]] (Sephardim) has led them to outnumber the Ashkenazim.^^[[~[236~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-EJ571-238]]^^ Only in [[Israel>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel]] is the Jewish population representative of all groups, a [[melting pot>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melting_pot]] independent of each group's proportion within the overall world Jewish population.^^[[~[237~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-239]]^^
--
--=== Genetic studies ===
--
--Main article: [[Genetic studies on Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_studies_on_Jews]]
--
--[[Y DNA>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y_chromosome]] studies tend to imply a small number of founders in an old population whose members parted and followed different migration paths.^^[[~[238~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-hammer2000-240]]^^ In most Jewish populations, these male line ancestors appear to have been mainly [[Middle Eastern>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East]]. For example, Ashkenazi Jews share more common paternal lineages with other Jewish and Middle Eastern groups than with non-Jewish populations in areas where Jews lived in [[Eastern Europe>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Europe]], [[Germany>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany]], and the French [[Rhine Valley>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhine]]. This is consistent with Jewish traditions in placing most Jewish paternal origins in the region of the Middle East.^^[[~[239~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Nebel_2001-241]][[~[240~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-242]]^^
--
--Conversely, the maternal lineages of Jewish populations, studied by looking at [[mitochondrial DNA>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_DNA]], are generally more heterogeneous.^^[[~[241~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Behar2008b-243]]^^ Scholars such as [[Harry Ostrer>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Ostrer]] and Raphael Falk believe this indicates that many Jewish males found new mates from European and other communities in the places where they migrated in the diaspora after fleeing ancient Israel.^^[[~[242~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Lewontin-244]]^^ In contrast, Behar has found evidence that about 40 percent of Ashkenazi Jews originate maternally from just four female founders, who were of Middle Eastern origin. The populations of Sephardi and Mizrahi Jewish communities "showed no evidence for a narrow founder effect."^^[[~[241~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Behar2008b-243]]^^ Subsequent studies carried out by Feder et al. confirmed the large portion of non-local maternal origin among Ashkenazi Jews. Reflecting on their findings related to the maternal origin of Ashkenazi Jews, the authors conclude "Clearly, the differences between Jews and non-Jews are far larger than those observed among the Jewish communities. Hence, differences between the Jewish communities can be overlooked when non-Jews are included in the comparisons."^^[[~[13~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Abraham_2010-14]][[~[243~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-245]][[~[244~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-ReferenceA-246]]^^ A study showed that 7% of Ashkenazi Jews have the haplogroup G2c, which is mainly found in [[Pashtuns>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashtuns]] and on lower scales all major Jewish groups, Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese.^^[[~[245~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-247]][[~[246~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-248]]^^
--
--Studies of [[autosomal DNA>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autosome]], which look at the entire DNA mixture, have become increasingly important as the technology develops. They show that Jewish populations have tended to form relatively closely related groups in independent communities, with most in a community sharing significant ancestry in common.^^[[~[247~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-249]]^^ For Jewish populations of the diaspora, the genetic composition of [[Ashkenazi>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_Jews]], [[Sephardic>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephardic_Jews]], and [[Mizrahi>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizrahi_Jews]] Jewish populations show a predominant amount of shared Middle Eastern ancestry. According to Behar, the most parsimonious explanation for this shared Middle Eastern ancestry is that it is "consistent with the historical formulation of the Jewish people as descending from ancient [[Hebrew>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrews]] and [[Israelite>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelites]] residents of the [[Levant>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levant]]" and "the dispersion of the people of ancient Israel throughout the [[Old World>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_World]]".^^[[~[248~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-discovermagazine-250]]^^ [[North African>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Africa]], [[Italian>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Peninsula]] and others of [[Iberian>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_Peninsula]] origin show variable frequencies of admixture with non-Jewish historical host populations among the maternal lines. In the case of Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews (in particular [[Moroccan Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moroccan_Jews]]), who are closely related, the source of non-Jewish admixture is mainly [[Southern European>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Europe]], while Mizrahi Jews show evidence of admixture with other Middle Eastern populations. Behar //et al.// have remarked on a close relationship between Ashkenazi Jews and modern [[Italians>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italians]].^^[[~[248~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-discovermagazine-250]][[~[249~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-zooss-251]]^^ A 2001 study found that Jews were more closely related to groups of the Fertile Crescent (Kurds, Turks, and Armenians) than to their Arab neighbors, whose genetic signature was found in geographic patterns reflective of Islamic conquests.^^[[~[239~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Nebel_2001-241]][[~[250~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-252]]^^
--
--The studies also show that [[Sephardic Bnei Anusim>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephardic_Bnei_Anusim]] (descendants of the "[[anusim>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anusim]]" who were [[forced to convert>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_conversion]] to [[Catholicism>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholicism]]), which comprise up to 19.8 percent of the population of today's [[Iberia>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberia]] ([[Spain>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain]] and [[Portugal>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal]]) and at least 10 percent of the population of [[Ibero-America>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibero-America]] ([[Hispanic America>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanic_America]] and [[Brazil>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil]]), have Sephardic Jewish ancestry within the last few centuries. The [[Bene Israel>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bene_Israel]] and [[Cochin Jews>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochin_Jews]] of [[India>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India]], [[Beta Israel>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_Israel]] of [[Ethiopia>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia]], and a portion of the [[Lemba people>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemba_people]] of [[Southern Africa>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Africa]], despite more closely resembling the local populations of their native countries, have also been thought to have some more remote ancient Jewish ancestry.^^[[~[251~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-253]][[~[248~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-discovermagazine-250]][[~[252~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-in.reuters.com-254]][[~[244~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-ReferenceA-246]]^^ Views on the Lemba have changed and genetic [[Y-DNA>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-DNA]] analyses in the 2000s have established a partially Middle-Eastern origin for a portion of the male Lemba population but have been unable to narrow this down further.^^[[~[253~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-SpurdleJenkins-255]][[~[254~]>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews#cite_note-Soodyall-256]]^^
--
  === Population centers ===
  For a more comprehensive list, see [[Jewish population by city>>url:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_population_by_city]].[[image:250px-Purim_2012_Williamsburg_Brooklyn_01.jpg]]
@@ -453,3 +453,5 @@
  )))
  )))
  )))
++
++{{putFootnotes/}}