The Jewish people are descendants of Abraham, whose Semitic ancestors lived in the Fertile Crescent and who lived most of his life in the Middle Eastern country of Israel (Canaan) 3800 years ago.
Abraham is called a Hebrew (Genesis ch.14) because "Hebrews" (Ivrim) means descendants of Eber (Ever). Ever was a Western Semite and an ancestor of Abraham (Genesis ch.10-11), and the early Hebrews were Abraham's uncles and cousins for several generations back. They lived in the Fertile Crescent, in northern Mesopotamia, west of the Euphrates river. Abraham was born in the city of Ur (in Mesopotamia; now Iraq).
In 1934-39, excavations were conducted at ancient Mari on the Euphrates River. They found that ancient towns were named after the ancestors (Genesis ch.11) of Abraham:
The "city of Nahor" was found near the city of Haran which exists to this day. Equally clear signs of early Hebrew residence appear in the names of other towns nearby: Serug (Assyrian Sarugi), Terah (Til Turakhi, "Mound of Terah"), and Peleg (Paliga, on the Euphrates near the mouth of the Habur). All these names are found in Genesis ch.11.
In Ur, Abraham first repudiated idolatry. He then sojourned in Harran (Syria) for several years, and then lived most of his life in Canaan (Israel). It was in Canaan that Abraham lived most of his life, made a covenant with God (Genesis ch.15), and raised a family to be the center of carrying on his traditions (Genesis 18:19).
Abraham's chosen son was Isaac (Genesis ch.21). Isaac's son Jacob was blessed by God, who renamed him, calling him Israel (Genesis ch.35), which is why Jews are also called Israelites.
Abraham's family carried on his teachings voluntarily. Judaism as a binding, permanent entity, was set forth between God and the Israelite nation descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at Mount Sinai in the time of Moses (Exodus ch.19, ch.24, and 34:27).
All of the above places are in the ancient Fertile Crescent.
Jacob had 12 sons, who fathered the 12 Israelite tribes. The Israelites worshiped One God.
One thousand years after Jacob, ten of the tribes were exiled by the Assyrians, to points unknown. The only complete tribes left were Judah and Benjamin; plus part of Levi. The few thousands who remained from the other tribes joined the Tribe of Judah; and modern Jews are mostly descendants of Judah (hence the word "Jew").
This tradition has been substantiated by DNA analysis of Jewish communities all over the world, showing them to be inter-related and of Middle Eastern origin. The Cohanim, a family of the tribe of Levi, also share common genetics.
We possess the names and dates of our ancestors and leaders in an unbroken chain for 3800 years.
In 2000, Nicholas Wade concluded that his DNA study "provided genetic witness that Jewish communities have, to a remarkable extent, retained their biological identity separate from their host populations, evidence of relatively little intermarriage or conversion into Judaism over the centuries. The results accord with Jewish history and tradition."
Abraham was a historical person, as recorded in the Book of Genesis; and his gravesite is known to this day, in the Machpelah at Hebron, Israel. He is revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims, comprising over three billion people. The Jewish people have attested to his existence for 3800 years, and his name is mentioned by several ancient non-Jewish historians as far back as 2,300 years ago.
Chat with our AI personalities
The Jewish people are descendants of Abraham, whose Semitic ancestors lived in the Fertile Crescent and who lived most of his life in the Middle Eastern country of Israel (Canaan) 3800 years ago. Abraham is called a Hebrew (Genesis ch.14) because "Hebrews" (Ivrim) means descendants of Eber (Ever). They were Western Semites and lived in northern Mesopotamia.
In 1934-39, excavations were conducted at ancient Mari on the Euphrates River. They found that ancient towns were named after the ancestors of Abraham:
The city of Nahor was found near the city of Harran which exists to this day. Equally clear signs of early Hebrew residence appear in the names of other towns nearby: Serug (Assyrian Sarugi), Terah (Til Turakhi, "Mound of Terah"), and Peleg (Paliga, on the Euphrates near the mouth of the Habur). All these names are found in Genesis ch.11. In 2000, the analysis of a report by Nicholas Wade "provided genetic witness that Jewish communities have, to a remarkable extent, retained their biological identity separate from their host populations, showing relatively little intermarriage or conversion into Judaism over the centuries. The results accord with Jewish history and tradition and refute theories which would allege that Jewish communities consist mostly of converts."
See also the other Related Links.
Well, for a start, Germany invaded Poland, which had a Jewish population of about 3.3 million Jews ... Further conquests brought more Jews under Nazi control. Have a look at the related link for detailed estimates of where the Jewish victims came from.
No, initially in 1939 the Soviet Union welcomed Jewish refugees, but this soon turned and they were treated with suspicion.
The first Jews in Poland migrated there from the German regions as Jews moved eastward into Russia. However, the return journey from Russia back west seeded Poland's largest Jewish communities.
Jews didn't all come here; they stayed in Europe but in places that stayed free. The answer to your question is the Nazis wanted to kill them. Hitler hated the Jewish people and put them in concentration camps where they were ultimately tortured to death. Lack of food and all kinds of awful things killed millions of Jewish men, women, and children.
Really large numbers only arrived from about 1880 on, but there had been steady migration on a smaller scale since about 1830.
According to Judaism, the answer is yes. (The Jewish term for the place after death is Olam Haba; the World to Come.)
The Jewish tradition holds that God chose the Jews to receive the Torah at Mount Sinai. This does not imply an easy path to "salvation;" the Jewish tradition also holds that "the righteous of all peoples have a place in the world to come" (quoting a medieval Talmud commentary).
Adam is not a Jewish name, Jews come after Jacob.
Yes. According to our tradition, there were synagogues in the time of the Prophets (First-Temple era) as well as later.
Tradition holds that Abraham is the father of the Jewish people. He came from Ur-Kasdim, in Western Asia.
The British will not be horrible to the Jews.
Jews came to Canada in 1850-1900
In Sephardic Jewish tradition, a sheep's head is placed on the table at Rosh Hashanah to symbolize the start/head of the new year. A prayer is said along the lines of "may we be like the head and not the tail" in the year to come.
It came to America with the first Jews, in the 17th Century.
75% of Israelis are Jewish. These Jews come from all over the world. Specifically to this question, no, the majority of Israeli Jews are not descended from German Jews. Around 50% of Israel's Jewish community comes from Jews of the Arab World and their descendants (Mizrahim). 20.9% of Israel's Jews are of from the former USSR. Meanwhile, German and Austrian Jews make up around 2.7% of Israeli Jews.
No, King David is not the ansestor to many Jewish people. The closest ansestor that the Jews and Muslims share is Abraham.
According to tradition, the Exodus was in 1312 BCE.