| What is a Jew?
A Jew is a person who identifies him or herself as Jewish. Beyond cultural identity as Jews, there is no difference between those who are Jewish and those who are not. Jews do not have significant physical differences to other people.
Judaism is a religion, a culture and a way of life. Jews regard themselves as a people sharing a common history and religious-based culture. According to normative Orthodox Judaism, a Jew is a person whose mother is Jewish. Progressive and Reform Jews consider a person to be a Jew if either parent is Jewish. It is possible to convert to Judaism, and converts to Judaism become members of the Jewish people. However conversion is not an easy option and is discouraged by normative Orthodox Judaism. It is a far easier to convert to Progressive or Reform Judaism.
In open societies such as Australia, most Jews are not religious but identify themselves as Jews through a personal mixture of religious observance, Zionism, education, cultural, including sporting, affiliations, and social groups. For many Jews living in the State of Israel, the source of their Jewish identity is their national identity.
The word Jew is derived from the Hebrew name Yehudah, or Judah. Judah was one of the twelve tribes of Israel, descended from the fourth son of Jacob. After the exile of the Israelites to Babylon (586-536 BCE), the word Jew became synonymous with Hebrew or Israelite.
The Jews claim descent from the biblical patriarch, Abraham, his son Isaac, and his grandson, Jacob, also known as Israel. Originally referred to as the Children of Israel, the Jews became a people when they escaped Egyptian slavery led by Moses, and entered into a covenant with G-d at Mount Sinai and received the Torah ( literally, law, otherwise referred to as the Old Testament). After some years of preparation, the Jews reconquered Canaan, the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and settled it. There has been continual Jewish occupation of the land of Israel since biblical times. |
Antisemitism 