Judaism, Jews, Israel, and Hebrew

Jewish people are best described in modern terms as an ethnoreligious group, defining their rules of membership as well as their rules of practice. Modern concepts of ethnicity, religion, and nationality are not entirely sufficient to capture the millennia-long meaning of Jewishness. Being Jewish is a mix of being born into a Jewish community, and of behavior according to the regulations of the community. Judaism is the religious practice of Jewish people.

The word Judaism comes from Judah-ism and means means of the people of Judah — referring to people from the tribe of Judah. This was one of the twelve tribes which constituted the nation when it came into existence. The word Jewish comes from Judah as well. This is used in many languages, and by Jews, to refer to Jewish people, although other terms exist as well.

The Jewish view is that Jews have a common ancestor: Jacob, and before Jacob, of course, going back to Adam. Jacob's condensed family tree is below, including the twelve tribes of Jacob, who gained the second name Israel. The tree below uses the notation of personal name + ben (son of) + father’s personal name for clarity.

Hebrew is the language of the Jewish people. It is descended from ancient Aramaic, which was the lingua franca of West Asia in antiquity. The term Hebrew is also used to refer to the Jewish people, sometimes. It is etymologically related to words meaning to cross — it may refer to Jewish people immigrating, or it may refer to Jewish people standing across from the idolatrous nation. Abraham is sometimes referred to as Abram Ha-Ibri, meaning Abram the Hebrew, before his name was changed to Abraham.