In a broader sense of the term, a jew is any person belonging to the worldwide group that constitutes, through descent or conversion, a continuation of the ancient jewish people, who were themselves descendants of the hebrews of the bible (old testament). Even as the jews were exiled to the farthest corners of the earth, we have never stopped praying for our return to israel as a united nation under g‑d In israel, the holiest city is jerusalem Within jerusalem, the most sacred spot is the temple mount, where jews generally may not pray today. What does it mean to say that there were jews from every nation This seems to recognize that there were many jews living all over the world who identified as jews and also as something else
So, who were the jews in ancient times They may have started out as israelite inhabitants of canaan. Jews believe that god made a special covenant with abraham and that he and his descendants were chosen people who would create a great nation. Jews have faced incredible hatred and hostility, even genocide, throughout their history Nonetheless, they have survived and thrived, and continue to contribute to the world with their resilience, creativity, and innovative spirit. The practices and beliefs held by jews range from those who openly identify as orthodox and strictly observe ancient precepts to those that have nothing to do with the religion or culture
Orthodox, conservative, reform and reconstructionist. Today, there are an estimated 15 million jews spread throughout the world Wherever g‑d has brought them, they have reached back into their torah and discovered how it applies in every circumstance. By this estimate, there are 61,700 jews by religion in north carolina, ranging from 56,000 to 67,200 Increasingly, when surveyed, jews respond “just jewish” rather than identify with movement labels like reform, reconstructionist, humanistic, hasidic, conservative, or orthodox.
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