Biblical tradition considers the ancestor of the Jewish people to be Isaac (another name is Israel), the son of Jacob and the grandson of Abraham. He had 12 sons, from whom came the “12 tribes of Israel.” More precisely, there were 13 tribes, since Joseph became the ancestor of two tribes coming from his two sons - Ephraim and Manasseh. But one of the tribes (Levi) did not receive a land allotment, but formed a caste of priests (Levites), therefore the territory occupied by the ancient Jews was divided into 12 tribal areas.

According to the Bible , the ancient Hebrew tribes conquered the territory of Canaan (which later became known as Palestine) after leaving Egypt. Historians date this conquest to the 13th century. BC. Before the settlement of Canaan, the ancient Jewish tribes were engaged in cattle breeding; after settlement, most of the Jews switched to agriculture and crafts. The ancient Jewish tribes developed a cult of the god Yahweh, which over the course of several centuries was transformed into the special religion of Judaism.

In the 11th century BC. An ancient Jewish state was created, which flourished during the reign of King David (late 11th - early 10th century BC). David captured Jerusalem and made it his capital. David's son, King Solomon, built the Temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem. After the death of Solomon, in the 2nd half of the 10th century. BC. the single state split into two kingdoms - Israel and Judah.

The kingdom of Judah, with its capital in Jerusalem, was formed by the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The remaining 10 tribes made up the Kingdom of Israel. This kingdom in 722 BC. was conquered by Assyria, its inhabitants were evicted to remote areas of the Assyrian state and dissolved among other peoples. The kingdom of Judah lasted another century and a half. It was conquered in 586 by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II, who burned the Temple of Jerusalem.Some of the Jews fled to Egypt, the rest were deported by Nebuchadnezzar to the vicinity of Babylon. Thanks to their adherence to Judaism, they retained their identity.

Persian king Cyrus, who defeated Babylonian kingdom, allowed the Jews to return to their homeland after 50 years of “Babylonian captivity.” Some Jews returned to Palestine, but a significant part remained in Babylonia and Egypt. The Jews who returned to Palestine built the “second Temple” in Jerusalem (about 516 BC). At this time, the Jewish religion was finally formed. Written sources were collected together and organized, resulting in the Bible.

After the defeat of the Persian kingdom, Palestine was included in the power of Alexander the Great, and after its collapse - in Egyptian state Ptolemaic. The capital of the Ptolemaic state was the city of Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great. A significant part of the Jews moved there, and a large Jewish community was formed in this city. On the initiative of King Ptolemy II Philadelphus in the 3rd century. BC. was created Greek translation Bible (Septuagint).

In 201 BC. As a result of the war between the Ptolemaic and Seleucid states, Palestine became part of the Syrian Seleucid state. During the reign of the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, due to religious oppression, the Jews launched the Maccabean Revolt (167–140 BC), which led to the restoration of independence and the formation of the new Kingdom of Judah.

In 63 BC. The kingdom of Judah became dependent on Rome and gradually became completely part of the Roman Empire. Jews began to settle throughout the territory of the Roman Empire. At this time, Christianity began to develop among Jews, initially as one of the sects of the Jewish religion.

In 66 AD. An uprising against Roman rule broke out in Palestine - the Jewish War. During the suppression of the uprising in 70, the Temple was again destroyed, and a significant part of the Jews left Palestine. After the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132–135. There were practically no Jews left in the southern part of Palestine (Judea). Jews were even prohibited from entering Jerusalem.

Jews settled throughout the Roman Empire. The largest number of them settled in Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor and Greece, as well as in Rome. The Jewish community was also significant in Babylonia, since the time of the “Babylonian captivity.”

After the destruction of Jerusalem, a group of Jewish religious leaders established a high school to study laws Jewish faith. A new order of worship was introduced. At the same time, Christianity finally broke away from Judaism. For many centuries, Jews were united not by a common territory or a common language, but by a common religion. After Bar Kochba's revolt, the center of religious thought shifted to northern part Palestine (Galilee). Around 200, all oral religious laws and traditions were written down and collected in one collection, which was called the Mishnah. Later, in the 5th century, in Palestine, and then in Babylon, where the center of Jewish religious thought moved at that time, a collection of interpretations and additions toMishneh - Gemara. The Mishnah and Gemara together constituted Talmud.

After the fall of the Roman Empire and the formation of Western European kingdoms, Jews began to populate the countries Western Europe. Arab conquests contributed to the penetration of Jews into Central Asia. A significant part of international trade was in the hands of the Jews.

In Spain, conquered by the Arabs, especially favorable conditions for the life of Jews developed. These conditions generally persisted in the Christian states of Spain (until the end of the 14th century). Center for Jewish thought and culture in the 10th–11th centuries. moved from Babylonia to Spain.

During the Middle Ages, three main groups of Jews emerged, differing in language and culture. Jews who lived in Spain (Seraphards)) spoke a Ladino language close to Spanish. Jews living in Germany ( Ashkenazi) spoke Yiddish, close to German. The third group consisted of Jews living in Asia and Africa.

In 1492 the Sephardim were expelled from Spain. They moved to Italy, Holland, Turkey, and North Africa. A significant part of them died during the resettlement.

The number of Ashkenazis during the period of the 13th–16th centuries increased approximately 10 times (see. table 1 ); During the same time, the population of Europe approximately doubled. Their distribution across European countries was uneven. In the majority European countries Jews were oppressed. After the start crusades(1096) pogroms became more frequent. In 1290 the Jews were expelled from England, and in 1306 from France. They were soon allowed to return to France, but in 1394 they were expelled again. The most significant Jewish pogroms occurred in Europe during the plague epidemic of 1348.

A significant part of Ashkenazi Jews moved to Poland, where the most favorable conditions were created for them. The center of Jewish thought also moved to Poland. As a result of the three partitions of Poland in 1772–95. To Russian Empire the territories of Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania were annexed with significant Jewish population. From that moment on, the Russian Empire became one of the states most populated by Jews (see."Jews in Eastern Europe (Poland, Russian Empire, USSR)" .

At the end of the 19th century. Zionism emerged in Europe- a movement that aims to return Jews to Palestine and create a Jewish state there. However, until 1914, Jewish emigration to Palestine (which was then under Turkish rule) was insignificant (see. table 2 ). In total for the period from 1881 to 1914. 65 thousand Jews left for Palestine. During these same years, about 2.5 million Jews emigrated to the United States from Europe and Turkey (see. table 3 ). Emigration from Russia was especially facilitated by the pogroms that took place before and during the Revolution of 1905–07.

In the 80s of the 19th century. was revived in Palestine by Ben Yehuda Hebrew as a spoken language. This language is called Hebrew.

During the First World War, Palestine was captured by England. In 1917, the British government published the Balfour Declaration“, which promised to promote the creation in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. This decision contributed to an increase in Jewish migration to Palestine, but not dramatically: during the period 1919–31. About 120 thousand Jews went there. Emigration to the USA continued to prevail, which in the 20s of the 20th century. became the country most populated by Jews (see table 4).

The pace of emigration to Palestine changed after Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933. In the six years preceding World War II, more than 200 thousand Jews left for Palestine.

During World War II, about 6 million Jews died in Europe - more than a third of the world's Jewish population.

In 1947, the UN General Assembly decided to create two independent states- Jewish and Arabic. On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was proclaimed in part of Palestine. A few hours after Israel declared independence, the Arab-Israeli War began, in which 7 Arab states opposed Israel. The war ended in 1949 with the victory of Israel, which captured part of the territory intended for the Arab state of Palestine. During the Six-Day War of 1967, the entire territory of Palestine came under Israeli control.

After Israel gained independence, the rate of Jewish emigration to this country increased significantly. For the period 1948–66 More than 1.2 million Jews came to Israel - almost 2 times more than there were Jews there at the time of the declaration of independence.

The largest ethnic groups among Jews are (from Central and of Eastern Europe, in particular almost all the Jews of Russia) and (originally from Spain and Portugal, then scattered throughout the Mediterranean).

Other ethnic groups are: Arab Jews; Lakhlukhs, Persian and Bukharian Jews; Georgian Jews; Mountain Jews; Krymchaks; Indian Jews, Romaniotes, Italians (Romim), Falasha, etc.

Genotype study different groups Jews and comparison with the genotypes of other peoples shows that the main Jewish groups closer friend friend than to neighboring peoples. This contradicts arguments that Jews are united only by cultural and not ethnic origin.

Close groups

Based on religion, the so-called Jews consider themselves to be Jews. Judaizers and crypto-Jews.

Crypto-Jews are the descendants of Jews who were forcibly converted to or, who continued to secretly profess elements and preserve elements of the transformed Jewish everyday culture: Maranos (maranos - lit. “pigs”) (“new Christians” on the Iberian Peninsula, the south of the USA, in Latin America and in the Philippines; now they partially join the Jewish communities of their countries or move to Israel - the most compact group of Maranos is preserved in the city of Belmonte in Portugal); Xuetos (descendants of baptized Jews of the Balearic Islands); Jadids and Chalas in Iran and Central Asia, formally considered Muslims, but preserving elements of Jewish culture in everyday life; Dönme in Turkey.

In terms of religion, Jews are associated with Judaizers - groups of different ethnic origins who profess or strive to profess Judaism (often its unique form) and consider themselves part of the Jews: subbotniks Central Russia, Siberia and Transcaucasia; Bnei Menashe of the Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur and the Myanmar state of Chin; Telugu-speaking Bnei Ephraim in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, who converted to Judaism in 1981; abayudaya in Uganda; Bantu-speaking Lemba in South Africa and Zimbabwe, etc.

Finally, on the periphery of the Jewish ethnic group there are ethno-confessional groups and. The latter are not considered by Jews as part of the Jewish people.

Jewish languages

The oldest language of the Jews is (), in which the (Hebrew Bible) is written.

In the first centuries A.D. e. it was replaced as a colloquial language by one of them; later in the diaspora, Jewish languages ​​and ethnolects arose on the basis of the languages ​​of the surrounding peoples.

Hebrew ceased to be a means of oral communication, but persisted in the form of lashon hakodesh (“the language of holiness”) as the primary written language serving the religious, literary, educational, cultural, and business spheres.

In the 20th century, this language was revived in the form of Hebrew and became the official and main spoken language of the Jews of Israel.

In diaspora countries, Hebrew (the ancient Hebrew language) is preserved as the main language of Judaism. Spoken language serves a number of communities in the USA, Israel, Belgium, Great Britain, Canada and some other countries. Of the other specifically Jewish languages ​​and ethnolects, the most preserved are Tat (Mountain Jewish), Jewish-Aramaic, and Jewish-Iranian.

Today, about 45% of Jews speak English (in the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, South Africa, Israel, etc.), approximately 34% speak Hebrew (in Israel and the USA), 13% speak Russian, about 5 % - in Spanish, about 4.5% - in French, about 4% in Yiddish, approximately 3.5% in Arabic (including e), German, Romanian, Persian, Polish, Amharic are also common, Portuguese, Hungarian, Dutch, Turkish, etc.

Religion

Most Jewish believers are followers of Judaism (Jews).

The term "Judaism" comes from the Greek. Judaismos, which goes back to Hebrew. Yahadut (יהדות), the same root as Yehudi - Jew / Jew.

The Holy Book of the Jewish people is Tanya (Jewish Holy Scripture) (Tanya - Abbreviation: Torah IVR. תורה, nonvian Hebrew. Βšיאים, Ktuvim IVR. כתוובים -, prophets and scripture).

TaNaKh is part Holy Scripture Christians ( Old Testament) and is revered in Islam.

Traditional culture

The inferior socio-economic status of Jews in the Diaspora contributed to the formation of a specialized culture among them.

The participation of Jews in agriculture was limited everywhere, the main occupations were crafts and trade, some were engaged in entrepreneurship and usury, and liberal professions. B

Most Jews lived in closed communities (kehilah) in urban areas (ghettos in Italy and Germany, juderia in Spain and Portugal, mellahs in North Africa, mahalla in Iran and Central Asia).

Self-government (kahal) was headed by the economic elite (gvir - “strong”, parnas - “breadwinner”) and the rabbinate.

Remnants were preserved big family, in the Near and Middle East until the middle of the 20th century - polygamy (normative monogamy was introduced among the Ashkenazis in the 10th century). The account of kinship is patrilineal, but according to Judaic norms, only those born of a Jewish mother are considered a Jew.

Common Jewish traits material culture were determined by the prescriptions of Judaism: in food, mandatory head covering for men and married women, etc. With the abolition of a number of restrictions on the rights of Jews in modern times, their assimilation and acculturation took place in most European countries, a departure from, mixed marriages spread; Jews in Eastern Europe and Asia maintained longer traditional culture.

At the same time, the consolidation of Jews developed, expressed in the emergence of pan-Jewish cultural and political movements.

In 1881-1914, the migration of Jews (especially from the Russian Empire) intensified - to Western Europe, America, Australia, etc., with the spread of the ideology of Zionism, their resettlement began. The ethnic development of European Jews was destroyed by the Holocaust during World War II. After its end, the emigration of Jews to the countries of the New World intensified, as well as to the newly formed one, where the nation of Israelis was taking shape.

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Number

The population size declared in censuses may differ significantly from the number of persons who internally recognize themselves as Jews.

In Russia, in post-revolutionary censuses, the nationality was named by the respondent himself. Therefore, for example, until the 1930s. in them, people who did not consider themselves such (at that time about 20%) do not appear as Jews.

Subsequently, the proportion of Jews in the USSR who did not consider it reasonable to declare their nationality continued to grow - until the beginning of the 80s.

Jewish communities

Organized Jewish communities exist in 110 countries.

The largest Jewish communities (over 60 thousand people) are located in the following countries:

1. USA - 5.2 - 5.5 million people. (of which recent immigrants from former USSR about 400 thousand)
2. Israel - 5.4 million people. (2008 census; of these, more than 1.12 million people were recent immigrants from the former USSR)
3. France - 575 thousand people.
4. Argentina - 400 thousand people.
5. Canada - 348.6 thousand people. (2001 census)
6. Great Britain - over 300 thousand people.
7. Germany - about 250 thousand (of which 110 thousand are registered community members; in total there are about 216 thousand people from the former USSR) (data for 2004).
8. Russia - 233.4 thousand people. (2002, census, including in Moscow 80.4 thousand people, St. Petersburg 36.6 thousand people, in the city of Birobidzhan of the Jewish Autonomous Region does not exceed 7 thousand people)
9. Ukraine - 104 thousand (2001 census)
10. Australia - 90 thousand
11. South Africa - 89 thousand
12. Brazil - 87 thousand (2000 census)

The ancient Jewish ethnos was formed during the 2nd millennium BC. on the territory of Canaan (modern Israel) as a result of the integration of Semitic-speaking nomadic pastoralists and farmers of the oases of Canaan. According to Jewish tradition, as recorded in the Torah, the Jews became a people during the exodus of the enslaved ancestors of the Jews from Egypt and their conquest of God's promised "land" in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC.

At the turn of the 2nd and 1st millennia BC. Jews are already becoming an agricultural people. During this period, the first ancient Jewish kingdom was formed, founded by kings Saul (1025-1004 BC) and David (1004-965 BC) with its capital in Jerusalem, the First Temple was built, the monotheistic religion of the Jews, the priestly Judaism, created during the 1st millennium BC. Tanakh, or Old Testament of the Bible.

The ethnic and cultural unity of the ancient Jews was disrupted with the collapse of the ancient Jewish kingdom and the subsequent conquest of the two independent monarchies that formed in its place (Israel and Judea) by Assyria and Babylon in the 8-6 centuries. BC. The conquerors destroyed the First Temple and took away most population outside of Israel. Folk tradition preserved the memory of the former inhabitants of the kingdom of Israel, the so-called “10 lost tribes,” whose traces were lost somewhere behind.
At the end of the 6th century. BC. part of the Jews returns to Judea from Babylonian captivity and builds the Second Temple in Jerusalem, around which the state and spiritual consolidation of the Jews begins. Since then, a model of ethnic development has emerged that included a center in Judea and a vast diaspora, initially formed in Mesopotamia, and at the turn of the century. covering Asia Minor, Iran, the Western Mediterranean, the Caucasus, and part of Central Asia.

During the period of the second Hebrew Hasmopean, or Maccabean, kingdom (164-37 BC), the Jews included the non-Jewish Semitic peoples of the Negev and Transjordan and the Hellenized population of Galilee and coastal strip Israel. Roman conquest and defeat of the Jewish movements of the 1st and 2nd centuries. led to the massive forced eviction of a significant part of the Jews from Judea; exiles filled the Jewish communities of the Diaspora. The ethnic center in Judea practically ceased to exist after Arab conquest Palestine in 638, although small groups of Jews continued to live in their historical homeland permanently.

The desire to return to Israel, i.e. “return to Zion” (to the mountain on which the Jerusalem Temple stood) was constantly preserved among the Jews and was sanctified by Judaism. With the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Rabbinic Judaism, adapted to life in the Diaspora, took shape, which, along with the Taiah, was based on another religious and legal monument - the Talmud. The center of religious and community life becomes the synagogue, or meeting place (“meeting house”), its minister is the rabbi (rabbi), a scholar and interpreter of tradition.

In the Diaspora, several dominant centers were successively replaced, bearing traditional Jewish names: Bavel (Mesopotamia with adjacent regions of Transcaucasia and the Kurdistan Highlands), 5-11 centuries. AD; Sepharad (Iberian Peninsula), from the beginning of AD until 1492, when the Jews were expelled from ; Ashkenaz (originally Central, then Eastern Europe), from the 10th century. until 1st half. 20th century

In modern times, with the abolition of a number of medieval restrictions on the rights of Jews in most European countries, the process of rapprochement between the Jews of Western Europe and local peoples began, the Jews moved away from Orthodox Judaism, and mixed marriages spread. Eastern Europe and the countries of the East preserved traditional culture longer. The remaining restrictions on the rights and activities of European Jews, the growth social mobility, characteristic of modern times, led in the 2nd half of the 19th century. to the expansion of Jewish migration. More than 2 million Jews resettled in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. to North America; from the end of the 19th century, with the emergence of the ideology of Zionism, which set the goal of relocating all Jews to Palestine, the migration of Jews began different countries, mainly from Eastern Europe, to Palestine.

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, along with the intensified processes of acculturation and assimilation of the Jews of Europe and North America, there was also a consolidation of Jews, expressed in the emergence of pan-Jewish cultural and political movements. The ethnic development of the Jews was stopped by the mass genocide of the Jews of Europe carried out by German fascism, which resulted in the death of 6 million Jews. After the war, part of the Jewish population of Europe, and later the Middle Eastern countries, moved to the countries of the New World, mainly to, as well as to Palestine, where in 1948, based on a decision of the UN General Assembly, the State of Israel was created.

According to the 2002 population census, in Russian Federation More than 230 thousand Jews live, including Mountain Jews - 3394 people, Jews - 53 people, Central Asian Jews - 54 people.

Surely you know where, when and how the first Jews appeared? What is the phenomenon of this people, which survived against all odds and preserved its unique authenticity?

This story is, of course, old, smelling of mothballs, very confusing and therefore controversial. But what can stop a curious researcher these days, when almost any information is available to everyone through an Internet connection and basic Google skills?! You are right - just laziness! Perhaps I would have been lazy, but I have long been interested in another question: why does it always turn out that where there are Jews, it’s good there?! Let's figure it out together?!

The emergence of the Jewish people

Anthropologists are convinced: it is connected with the lands of Northern Mesopotamia.

Archaeologists assure us that it was Upper (Northern) Mesopotamia that became the cradle of the entire world civilization. It was here that the first agriculture, cattle breeding, metal working and pottery appeared. Surprisingly, at this time among other nations stone ax was considered a fairly cool and advanced “device”, and any owner of it was a highly respected, progressive and high-tech person.

There is no doubt that such favorable conditions also formed more developed spiritual states in man. So what does the word “Jew” mean? Historians denote the term “ibrim” - “passed over” from the Amorite verb “ibru” - “to cross over”. Implying the flight of the tribes living in the region of Harran from a cruel ruler who tried to subjugate the free shepherd tribes to his power. Of course, they mean the passage of the tribes who crossed the Euphrates into Syria. IN singular the verb sounds like “ibri” (“I pass”). A slight transformation into Hebrew - and this word sounded “Hebrew”, and all those who converted began to be called Jews.

Historians, of course, know better, but I very much doubt that a simple river crossing made so much noise and was able to unite the people for many thousands of years. The term “Ivri” is mentioned more than 20 times, but for the first time it is found in connection with Abraham. After all, it was Abraham who owned the truly revolutionary concept of those times - monotheism, a deep understanding and explanation of the connections of all the surrounding diversity as one single whole. This is really a real “transition”, a transition to a completely different, more high level self-awareness and relationship to each other as part of oneself. And I think that this is exactly what is capable of creating a truly monolithic people for centuries.

Heyday Ancient Egypt also directly related to the descendants of the prophet. Great-grandson Joseph, while in slavery, was able to make a dizzying career and become the first official of the pharaoh. Having carried out successful management and agrarian reforms, he enriched the treasury and ensured food abundance for the country for many years. But is it possible to achieve this without having a holistic perception of the world and without connecting together all sorts of subtle connections?

Amazing passion, a passionate desire to achieve a goal determine the success of many world powers that gave shelter to the Israeli people during the period of exile. Spain, France, England - the peak of the prosperity of these and many other powers has always been associated precisely with the growth of Jewish diasporas on their territory. By the way, humanity also owes the discovery of America to three Jews who allocated seventeen thousand ducats to finance Columbus’s expedition.

Jews in modern Europe

The history of development was such that they constantly needed to adapt to new conditions in order to survive, constantly learn, adopt the experience of others, try on their views and life. It would seem that in such conditions it is simply impossible to survive as a people...

Slogans french revolution“freedom, equality, brotherhood” made the entire population of the country, including Jews, equal in rights and opportunities, but there was a price for this. Abraham's people needed to consider themselves French. There wasn't much choice then...

And now? In Europe there is a surge in violence and... It would seem that now is the time to worry about your own safety and return to the land of your forefathers. But, for example, many French Jews, according to surveys, would rather emigrate to Canada than choose Israel. From exile to exile?

What did Abraham know?

Why is there always such a biased attitude towards a people who have done so much for the development of humanity? How did they manage to maintain their special uniqueness? What's so special about them?

The Jews actually have one. It is absorbed with mother’s milk, and its continuity is carefully preserved through a special culture of upbringing. This is a special way of relationship based on mutual support and general guarantee. This is precisely the principle that Abraham proclaimed. To know and understand that all of Israel is one whole, existing only in constant care for each other, as for oneself - this is exactly what he taught his people.

This is exactly what everyone else subconsciously feels in the people of Israel and is unlikely to calm down until the Jews themselves, by their personal example, can show how this ancient technique works and what benefits it can give to the whole world if it is taught to all of humanity.

According to scientists, the history of the Jewish people dates back to between the 1st and 2nd millennium BC.

This unique people, which is a combination of religious and ethnic elements, has a rather complex and difficult history throughout its formation and existence.

Nevertheless, the Jewish nation passed its path with dignity, without losing faith. How the Jews appeared is taught in history lessons as early as the 5th grade. We have tried to present the main points in an accessible and concise manner.

Founder of the Jews

The founders or ancestors of the Jewish family are considered to be Isaac, Jacob and Abraham.

The last of them entered into an alliance with God, pledging to fulfill all the commandments of God, for which his people were given the promised land, that is, the land of Israel.

Abraham wanted only the best for his people, and tried in every possible way to find a place that the Jews would call home.

Holy book

The Jewish people have their own sacred book, according to the interpretations and precepts of which they live. Its name is Torah - this is the first book-a summary of the religious laws by which Jews live.

The book called the Talmud is not a religious scripture, but a summary of religious, ethical and legal standards that the Jewish people should adhere to.

These ancient documents of the Jews carry not only religious concepts, but also the historical, cultural and social heritage of the entire Jewish clan.

Origin and brief history

Their name is "Jews" ancient people received through his ancestor Abraham, who through Eber in a direct line descended from the son of Noah - Shem.

Sufficiently educated and prosperous, Abraham followed his calling and settled with his people in Canaan, where there was already a fairly large Hittite population. It was in Canaan that, according to legend, the alliance between Abraham and God was concluded.

The country that is considered the cradle of the birth of the Jewish people is Egypt, where Abraham arrived in his very heyday.

The beauty of the country near the Nile River captivated him, and the development of culture and education of the Egyptian people inspired Abraham to migrate. This is how the Jews ended up in Egypt.

The Jews who settled on the fertile soil began to develop and increase their tribes, which did not suit the Egyptian state. Thus, with the arrival of the new ruling clan, the ancient Jews fell into a kind of slavery, where they were forced to dig canals, work in quarries, and carry water from the Nile to irrigate fields. Forced work through the use of sticks was the beginning of the slavery into which the Hebrew people fell.

How many Jews are there in the world

Throughout the existence of the Jewish people, Jews have settled throughout the world. If we take into account not only migration, but also mixed marriages, then the Jews have actually taken over the world, since up to 17 million representatives of this nation live on planet Earth.

The largest number of Jews living is in Canada, the USA, and Europe. It is believed that the last mass migrations took place during the Second World War.

Homeland and capital of the Jews

Israel is considered to be the homeland of the Jewish nation, since the lands of Israel were promised by God to Abraham for obedience and fulfillment of all the commandments of God. It was in this state that the Jews finally found their Jewish faith, which became their main asset.

The capital of the Jews is Jerusalem, which is the spiritual capital of Israel, as well as a holy place for many believers.

What do Jews profess?

The religion that Jews profess is called Judaism, since historically Jews and Jews were closely intertwined. IN given time the concept of “Jews” is only a religion called Judaism, and the concept of “Jews” has become a nationality.

People are called Jews not by their nationality, but by their religion. The Jewish people sacredly honor their religion, traditions and promises made by Abraham before God.

Jewish culture and traditions

The greatest asset of the Jewish people is that over so many millennia, all holidays and traditions have been preserved. Despite the fact that Jews celebrate and honor traditions and customs that are unique to the Jewish people. This is a feature of the nation.

For a people who have lost their statehood, have lived for several thousand years not in their historical homeland, but have retained their religion and national essence, this is an indicator of fortitude and unity.

Public holidays in Israel are determined according to lunar calendar, because of this they fall out different days months.

Conclusion

Quite often Jews are called a “people”, “race”, “nation”, “religious community”. This people endured many obstacles on the path of their formation, and rightfully deserved to have their own faith, country, traditions and way of life.

There is only one conclusion: Jews are a people who have their own characteristics both signs and these features distinguish him from other nationalities and races.