Jew is a term that refers to a religion or ethnicity . As a religion, this term refers to the Jewish people.
Based on ethnicity , this word refers to the tribe descended from Eber ( Gen. 10:21
) (the so-called "Hebrew") or Jacob (also called "Israel") son of Isaac
the son of Abraham (Ibrahim) and Sara, or descendants Tribe Judah, who
came from Judah, the son of Jacob. Jewish ethnicity also includes Jews who are not Jewish but Jewish identity in terms of tradition.
Judaism is a combination of religion and ethnicity. Judaism is discussed further in the article Judaism; This article discusses only in terms of ethnicity alone. Trust solely in the Jewish religion does not make someone become Jewish. In addition, by not holding to the principles of the Jewish religion does not make a Jew loses his Jewish status. However, the definition of Jewish law Jewish kingdom of Israel did not include the religion of others.
Etymology
The word "Jew" was taken by one of the clan of the twelve tribes of Israel ancestral most offspring, namely Judah . Judah is one of the 12 sons of Jacob, a prophet who lived around the 18th century BC and the degree of Israel. The entire derivative of the 12 sons of Jacob (Israel) was known as the Children of Israel (direct descendants of Israel) which later developed into a large tribe called into Israel.
After centuries of Jewish
derivative developed into a dominant part and the majority of the
Israelites, so-called Jews not only refer to people of derivative Judas,
but refers to the whole derivative of Israel (Jacob).
At first the Jews only
consists of one family group among many groups of families that live in
the soil in the 18th century BC Kan'an. When a famine in Kan'an, they go foraging into Egypt, which has adequate food supplies thanks to the participation of Joseph. Due
to the high Joseph position in the Hyksos dynasty, Egypt, Jacob's whole
family was well received in Egypt and even given agricultural land in
the northeastern part of Egypt.
In the end to all the people of Israel
, regardless of national or homeland, also known as the Jewish people
and so were all the followers of his teachings are called by the same
name as well.
Who is entitled to so-called Jewish?
Halakha, or Jewish religious laws, giving definition to a Jew who:
- Tribe of Jews, this tribe is divided into two: [1]
- A child born of a Jewish mother and father called the native Jews,
- A child born to a Jewish father and a mother from another nation, this mixture Jewish Jewish Second Class category,
- A Jew who converted according to Jewish laws.
This definition is required
by the Talmud, the source of Laws No-written that explains the Torah,
the holy book of the origin of the Jewish laws (the first five books of
the Tanakh books / Old Testament). According to the Talmud,
this definition held since giving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai
approximately 3,500 years ago to the prophet Moses. Non-Orthodox
Jewish historian believes that this definition does not follow that no
longer apply, but he admitted that this definition is used for at least
2,000 years until today.
At the end of the 20th century
, two Jewish collection (especially in the United States) in terms of
liberal theology, Jewish Reform and Reconstruction has confirmed the
Jews who do not meet these criteria to identify themselves as Jewish. They
no longer require people to embrace the religion in order to meet
pemelukan traditional customs, and they consider someone as Jewish if
their mother is not Jewish, so long as the Jewish fatherless.
Religious Jews are closed.
Jewish group
Today there are a number of major Jewish groups:
- The Ashkenazim
- The Sephardi Jews
- The Mizrahim , or "People of the East"