Jew



A Jew is a follower of the Jewish faith (Judaism) or a descendent of Jews, or both.
Judaism is the Jewish religion, but Jews, religious or not, also form a non-exclusive ethnic group. Those not born to a Jewish mother may become religiously accepted as Jews through a formal and usually difficult process of conversion, and they and their children may then come to be accepted as Jewish as well. This article discusses Jews as an ethnic group; for a consideration of the religion, please refer to Judaism.
In an ethnic sense, the Jews are members of the people, or "nation," that traces its ancestry from the Biblical patriarch Abraham through his son Isaac and in particular Jacob, Isaac's son, as well as to those who subsequently joined them over the course of history as converts. See also Israelites.
Ethnic Jews include both so-called "observant Jews," meaning those who practice the Biblical and Rabbinic laws, known as the halakha, and so-called "secular Jews," those who, while not practicing Judaism as a religion, still identify themselves as Jews in a cultural or ethnic sense.

The Star of David, a Jewish symbol
Total population: 13 million (est.) 1
Significant geographic populations: United States: 5,671,000 (est.)1
Israel: 5,094,000 (est.)1
Europe: Less than 2 million (est.)
 • France: 600,0003
 • United Kingdom: 267,000 (2001 census)
 • Germany: 100,000 (2004 est.)
    60,000 (est.)3
 • The Former Soviet Union: 400,000 (est.)2
Canada: 371,000 (est.) 1
Argentina: 250,000 (est.)3
Brazil: 130,000 (est.)3
Australia: 100,000 (est.)3
South Africa: 106,000 (est.)3
Mexico: 40,700 (est.)3
Asia (excluding Israel): 50,000 (est.)
Languages: Hebrew is the liturgical language of Judaism (termed lashon ha-kodesh, "the holy language"), and is the language of the State of Israel. Jews today speak the local languages of their respective countries. Yiddish is the historic language of many Ashkenazi Jews, and Ladino of many Sephardic Jews.
Related ethnic groups: • Jews
  • Ashkenazi Jews
  • Sephardic Jews
  • Oriental or "Mizrahi" Jews
  • Yemenite Jews
  • Smaller Jewish groups include:
    • The Gruzim
    • The Juhurim
    • The Bene Israel
    • The Cochin Jews
    • The Maghrebim
    • The Romaniotes
    • Various African Jews       • Ethiopian Jews


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