The biblical tradition is that the Israelites were all descended from one man, Jacob, or Israel, who lived around 2000 BCE.
Scholars say that the Israelites really emerged in the mountainous hinterland of Palestine around 1250 BCE, as a small rural community closely related to their Canaanite neighbours, and at first speaking the same language. Whether or not there was ever a United Monarchy, we know that around the beginning of the first millennium BCE, there were two separate Hebrew kingdoms - Israel in the north and Judah in the south, with its capital in Jerusalem.
Israel soon fell to the Assyrians, and its people were deported from Israel in 722 BCE, although some Israelites fled south into Judah and gradually assimilated into that culture. In the seventh century BCE, King Josiah of Judah instituted far-reaching religious reforms, including the introduction of monotheism. It is this religion that we now call Judaism. By the time of the Babylonian Exile, the people of Jerusalem had become known as Jews. Centuries earlier, the Israelite refugees had been encouraged to hope to regain their homeland in Israel, and that hope was now a Jewish article of faith and would remain so for thousands of years.
The Jews of the Old Testament were brown-skinned Semitic people, much like the Palestinians of today. However, from Roman times onwards, there were conversions to Judaism and intermarriages with people of other races. It would be true to say that Jewishness is now defined more by religious belief than by racial origin.
AnswerThe Hebrews were a very old Semitic nationality which no longer exists. Judaism is a religion. The present-day Israelis are a nationality that speaks Modern Hebrew. Since Judaism is a religion, not a race, present-day Jews can be of any race.No one "started the Jewish Race." Judaism (the religion) was started when God gave Moses the 10 commandments while they were in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt.
Answer 2:
Quote, from a dictionary: "Race is a classification system used to categorize humans into large and distinct populations or groups by heritable phenotypic characteristics, geographic ancestry, physical appearance, ethnicity."
Based on all of those delineations except appearance, it would be possible to call the Jews a race. Recent DNA analyses has shown that Jews are a Middle Eastern people and share certain genetic markers.
To answer the original question, Abraham is the father of the Jews according to tradition, through his grandson Jacob.
Abraham (18th century BCE), tenth-generation descendant of Noah, of Hebrew lineage, was the son of Terah, uncle of Lot, father of Isaac, grandfather of Jacob, and forefather of the Israelites. His story is in Genesis ch.11 (end), through ch.25. Jewish tradition states that he was the first to actively spread belief in One God; and it is in his merit that Jews continue to exist (Genesis 18:19, and ch.17).
According to Genesis, we were originally the descendants of Abraham and Sarah. The official "birthday of the Jewish people" is usually taken to be the acceptance of the ten commandments at Sinai, after the exodus from Egypt.
There is no 'gentile' race. The word gentile, in Hebrew, simply implies a foreigner, thus a non-Jew. In the New Testament, this word is commonly used to refer to the descendants of the Canaanites and Philistines, who continued to occupy much of the Palestinian region. At other times, they are also referred to as 'Greeks' because by New Testament times they spoke Greek and no longer spoke their ancient languages.
Tradition states that Abraham (18th century BCE) founded Judaism, and Moses later received the Torah from God.
At the time of Abraham the Hebrew, the world was full of pagan cults; they were polytheistic, worshiping multiple deities and lacking moral character; with their rites accompanied by things such as human sacrifice, "sacred" prostitution, and animal worship. Abraham, after engaging in relentless contemplation, arrived at the conclusion that there is One God and that this should be taught to others as well. He became the first to advance the idea of ethical monotheism: the worship of God, and the appropriate ethical code of conduct. This is what is meant by his "calling out in the name of the Lord" (Genesis ch.12). As a young man, he remonstrated with passersby in public, demonstrating to them the falsehood of their idols; and our tradition tells how he was threatened and endangered by Nimrod.
Subsequently, his father Terah relocated to Harran; and it is here that Abraham began to develop a circle of disciples (Rashi commentary, on Genesis 12:5). Later, God told Abraham in prophecy to move to the Holy Land, which is where he raised his family. He continued his contemplations, eventually arriving at the attitudes and forms of behavior which God later incorporated into the Torah given to Moses.
Abraham became the greatest thinker of all time. His originality, perseverance, strength of conviction, and influence, cannot be overestimated.
He founded the Jewish people and lived to see his work live on in the persons of Isaac and Jacob; and he taught many other disciples (Talmud, Yoma 28b).
Abraham entered into a covenant with God (Genesis ch.15 and 17), welcomed guests into his home (Genesis ch.18) unlike the inhospitable Sodomites (Genesis ch.19), prayed for people (Genesis ch.18), eulogized and buried the deceased (Genesis ch.23), and fulfilled God's will unquestioningly (Genesis ch.22). He became renowned as a prince of God (Genesis 23:6).
The practices of Abraham were based upon the ways of God. These were the teachings of Abraham and his descendants (unlike idolatry, which had no moral character; with worship of the gods accompanied by things such as human sacrifice, "sacred" prostitution, and animal worship).
He eventually achieved the highest level of prophecy (Deuteronomy ch.34) and was called upon by God (Exodus ch.3). He brought the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery (Exodus ch.12). He received the Torah from God (Exodus 24:12) and later recorded it in writing (Deuteronomy 31:24). He went up on Mount Sinai for 40 days and nights (Deuteronomy ch.9-10) and brought down the Two Stone Tablets with the Ten Commandments (Exodus 31:18).
Mesopotamia
There are very few names that are exclusively of Jewish origin. Even Cohen is not exclusively Jewish in origin. Bashir is Arabic in origin. That does not mean that some Jewish families may not have used it.
It is of German origin, but it may be a Jewish name.
Yes, it is either of Jewish or German origin.
Is jewish origin.
The Jewish race
The family name Kaminsky can be German, Jewish or German-Jewish in origin.
Jewish...
The Jewish race.
No it's a language. Jewish is a race.
Marilyn is a name of non-Jewish origin and has no "Jewish meaning".
The jewish
Not in its origin, but a Jewish person can have any surname.