Traditionally, Jewish law (halakha) defined a Jew as someone who is either:
Unlike the common Western conception of membership of a religion, mere belief in the principles of Judaism does not make one a Jew under Jewish law. Similarly, non-adherence to Jewish principles of faith does not make one lose one's Jewish status.
This standard has been followed by the Jewish people for at least the past 2,000 years, and possibly longer. In the last 50 years, two liberal (primarily American) Jewish groups Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism have rejected this definition of Judaism. They no longer require converts to follow traditional Jewish procedures of conversion, and they accept a person as a Jew even if their mother is non-Jewish, so long as the father is a Jew. This has resulted in a serious schism in the Jewish people; today many Americans who consider themselves Jews are not considered Jews by Orthodox Jews, Conservative Jews, or even by many Reform Jews outside of the United States.
See [Reform Judaism on the issue of "Who is a Jew?"]
Judaism, thus, is a peculiar combination of a religion and a non-exclusive ethnic group (i.e. this ethnic group has a way to allow others to join.)
Religious Jews hold the Torah, Talmud, and Mishnah to be sacred documents. According to the Torah, there are 613 binding commandments that Jews are obliged to follow. Traditionally, Jews believe that the Torah was given by God to the prophet Moses at Mount Sinai, with hundreds of thousands of Israelites witnessing the event.
Many Jews around the world are descended from the ancient Israelites? (also known as Hebrews), a Semitic people that settled in the land of Israel. The Israelites traced their common lineage to Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. A kingship was established under Saul and continued under [King David]? and Solomon. King David conquered Jerusalem (first a Canaanite?, then a Jebusite town) and made it his capital. After Solomon's reign the nation split into two kingdoms, Israel (in the south) and Judah (in the north). Israel was conquered by the Assyrian ruler Shalmaneser V in the 8th century B.C. The kingdom of Judah was conquered by a Babylonian army in the early 6th century B.C. The Judahites were exiled to Babylonia?, but later many returned to their homeland, henceforth known as Judea. An independent Jewish kingdom led by the Hasmonaean Dynasty existed between 165 and 63 B.C. This was followed by a period of Roman rule. In A.D. 66, Judeans began to revolt against against the Roman rulers of Judea. The revolt was smashed by the Roman emperors Vespasian and Titus. The Romans conquered the Temple in Jerusalem and stole the holy menorah. Judeans continued to live in their land in significant numbers, and were allowed to practice their religion, until the 2nd century when Julius Severus ravaged Judea in putting down the bar Kokhba revolt. After A.D. 135, Jews were not allowed to enter the city of Jerusalem.
Some Jews were sold into slavery while others became citizens of other parts of the Roman Empire. The Israelite people became dispersed throughout the ancient world to places as diverse as Rome, Crimea?, India, Yemen, and China. Their descendants account for a significant proportion of the ancestry of many Jewish communities. Some contemporary Jews are also descended from converts to Judaism such as the Khazars, Edomites?, and Ethiopians?.
The main divisions of Jews in modern times are: Ashkenazim (Central and East European Jews), Sephardim (Spanish and Portuguese Jews), Mizrakhim (Oriental Jews from Asia from countries like Kurdistan and Persia), Gruzim (Georgian Jews from the Caucasus), Juhurim (Mountain Jews from Daghestan and Azerbaijan in the eastern Caucasus), Teimanim (Yemenite Jews from southern Arabia), Maghrebim (North African Jews), Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews), and Bene Israel (Indian Jews). Out of these communities, the largest are the Ashkenazim, whose ancestors lived in countries like Germany, Russia, and Poland.
Sects of Jews that survive into modern times include the Rabbinical Jews (followers of the Talmud, a component of the Oral Law), the [Karaite Jews]? (who reject the authority of Rabbinical Oral Law), and the Samaritans (whose temple is located at Mount Gerizim rather than at Jerusalem). Rabbinical Jewish communities are led by rabbis (spiritual leaders) and cantors (singers), whereas the spiritual leader of a Karaite community is often called a hakham. Many Sephardic? communities also refer to their leaders as hakham. Among Teimanin, the term mori (teacher) is used.
Prior to World War II the world population of Jews was around 17 million. The Holocaust reduced this number to around 11 million. Today, there are an estimated 13 million Jews worldwide. Of these, around 6 million live in the United States and slightly fewer than 6 million live in Israel. Most of the remainder live in Canada, Hungary, Ukraine, France, Argentina and Russia.
Israel is the only country in which Jews form a majority of the population. It was established as an independent state on May 14, 1948. The symbol on the Israeli flag is known as the Star of David ("Magen David" in Hebrew).
Despite the small number of Jews worldwide, many influential thinkers in modern times have been ethnically Jewish. These include Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, [Ludwig von Mises]?, Ayn Rand, and Milton Friedman.
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