What are the followers of Judaism called?

Answer 1

The Jews, also called Israelites. As of 2010, there are approximately 14 million Jews in the world, the vast majority of whom reside in Israel and North America. Jews are either born and raised Jewish or are converts to Judaism.

Answer 1 (Islamic Perspective)The followers of Judaism are Jews. The Jews are the people who received the Torah from God in the Sinai desert. They are monotheists and believe in God as the Creator with no physical form, no partner, no son, no father, no companion, no associate, and no equivalence. Answer 2 (Jewish Perspective)Religious followers of Judaism are Orthodox Jews. They believe that the Torah must be fully observed. They keep the laws of Judaism as codified in the Shulchan Arukh (Code of Jewish Law), which lists the laws of the Torah and Talmud. Torah-study is seen as very important; and the modern world is seen as subservient to the Torah, not the other way around.

Answer 2

Answer A

The followers of Judaism are called Jews (Israelites; Hebrews) or the Jewish people.

The word 'Jew,' 'Jewish,' or 'Judaism' stems from the name of the tribe of Judah, one of the 12 tribes of Israel.

Before the First Temple was destroyed (586 B.C.E.), Bnei Yisroel or Children of Israel referred to all 12 tribes. Today it's hard to properly trace most of the tribes. The tribe of Judah, today the majority of the Jewish people, was one of the last to leave Israel in the Exile to Mesopotamia.

Answer B

Followers of Judaism are called "followers of Judaism". An individual whose mother was Jewish is called "A Jew", whether or not the individual follows the customs or laws of Judaism.

Answer 3

The followers of Judaism are Jews.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.

In Ur, Abraham first repudiated idolatry. He then sojourned in Harran (Syria) for several years, and then lived in Canaan (Israel). It was in Canaan that Abraham made a covenant with God (Genesis ch.15), and raised a family to be the center of carrying on his traditions (Genesis 18:19).

• Link: Abraham's biography
  

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.

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."

See also the other Related Links.

Link: Jewish history timeline

Link: What race were the Israelites?

Link: Jewish ancestry

Answer 4

Most of the people in the world who observe Judaism are the people who are called 'Jews'.
But there are plenty of Jews who do not observe Judaism, and there are even some who are not Jews but observe Judaism anyway.

Answer 5

Torah-observant Jews. Non-observant Jews follow the Torah to a lesser degree if at all.

Orthodox Jews believe that the Torah must be fully observed (Deuteronomy 13:5). They keep the laws of Judaism as codified in the Shulchan Arukh (Code of Jewish Law), which lists the laws of the Torah and Talmud. Torah-study is seen as very important (Deuteronomy 5:1); and the modern world is seen as subservient to the Torah (Talmud, Nedarim 32a), not the other way around.
Other Jewish groups (Conservative, Reform) adapt, curtail or change the Torah-laws in contemporary life, to a greater or lesser degree.See also:

Types of Jews

Modern challenges for observant Jews

Answer 6

Abraham and his Israelite descendants, following in his teachings.

Tradition states that Abraham (18th century BCE) founded Judaism, and Moses later received the Torah from God.See also: Archaeology

and What about Josiah?

Abraham, tenth-generation descendant of Noah, of Hebrew lineage, was the son of Terah, uncle of Lot, father of Isaac, grandfather of Jacob, and ancestor of the Israelites. His story is in Genesis ch.11 (end), through ch.25. Jewish tradition states that he was the first to teach belief in One God; and it is in his merit that Jews continue to exist (Genesis 18:19, and ch.17).

Abraham came from ancestry that had been aware of God a couple of centuries earlier but had afterwards slipped into idolatry (Joshua 24:2). (See: How did polytheism start.)

By the time of Abraham, the area where he lived was full of pagan cults; they were polytheistic, worshiping multiple deities. Abraham became the first to advance the idea of ethical monotheism: the worship of One God, and the appropriate ethical code of conduct.

Nimrod, the idolatrous tyrant, had brought Abraham's father (Terah) from the Semitic ancestral seat near the confluence of the Balikh and the Euphrates, and instated him in a position of power in his army in the royal Babylonian city of Ur, where Abraham was born. Nimrod persecuted any who would question his idolatrous cult.

The Kuzari (Rabbi Judah HaLevi, 1075-1141) states that Abraham was gifted with high intelligence; and, as Maimonides (1135-1204) describes, Abraham didn't blindly accept the ubiquitous idolatry. The whole populace had been duped, but the young Abraham contemplated the matter relentlessly, finally arriving at the conclusion that there is One God and that this should be taught to others as well. 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, 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 Abraham 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. (See: Thirteen basic Jewish beliefs)

Abraham became the greatest thinker of all time. His originality, perseverance, strength of conviction, and influence, cannot be overestimated.

Abraham, with God's help, trounced the supremacy of the evil Nimrod.

He received God's promise of inheriting the Holy Land (Genesis ch.13).

He strove to raise a family (Genesis ch.15, 17, and 24) which would serve God (Genesis 18:19); and God eventually blessed his efforts, granting him many children (ibid., ch.16, 21 and 25), as He had promised (Genesis ch.17).

Abraham 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 as well (Talmud, Yoma 28b).

He saved the population of the south of Canaan from invading foreign kings (Genesis 14); and he was feared by neighboring kings (ibid., ch.12 and 20).

Abraham gave tithes (Genesis ch.14), 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), rebuked others when necessary (Genesis ch.20), 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 gravesite of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their wives (Genesis 49:29-32) is located in Hebron and has been known and attested to for many centuries.

All of the above practices of Abraham were based upon the ways of God, which Abraham comprehended through his contemplations. These, and similar personality traits, were the teachings of Abraham and his descendants (unlike idolatry, which had tended to go hand in hand with cruel, licentious and excessive behavior, since the caprices which were narrated concerning the idols were adopted as an excuse to imitate those types of behavior). (See: Cruelties of the polytheists)

It is therefore clear why God expresses His love for Abraham (Isaiah 41:8) and calls Himself the God of Abraham (Genesis 26:24), and says that Abraham obeyed Him fully (Genesis 26:5). And this is why Abraham is credited with having begun the religion which became known as Judaism. (However, Abraham and his descendants observed their traditions voluntarily, until the Giving of the Torah to Moses 3325 years ago, when God made it obligatory.)

Answer 7

Judaism was the religion of the southern Hebrew kingdom of Judah. Monotheistic Judaism is believed to have originated with the Deuteronomistic reforms of King Josiah in the seventh century BCE. He and his subjects were the first followers of monotheistic Judaism. Although The Bible shows that polytheism was restored under his successor, Jehoahaz (2 Kings 23:32), monotheism was firmly established by the time of the Babylonian Exile..

Answer 8

The followers of Judaism are Jews. 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.

In Ur, Abraham first repudiated idolatry. He then sojourned in Harran (Syria) for several years, and then lived in Canaan (Israel). It was in Canaan that Abraham made a covenant with God (Genesis ch.15), and raised a family to be the center of carrying on his traditions (Genesis 18:19).

• Link: Abraham's biography
  

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.

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."

See also the other Related Links.

Link: Jewish history timeline

Link: What race were the Israelites?

Link: Jewish ancestry

Answer 9

All Jews have the same Torah.
Religious followers of Judaism are Orthodox Jews. They believe that the Torah must be fully observed (Deuteronomy 13:5). They keep the laws of Judaism as codified in the Shulchan Arukh (Code of Jewish Law), which lists the laws of the Torah and Talmud. Torah-study is seen as very important (Deuteronomy 5:1); and the modern world is seen as subservient to the Torah (Talmud, Nedarim 32a), not the other way around.
Other Jewish groups (Conservative, Reform) adapt, curtail or change the Torah-laws in contemporary life, to a greater or lesser degree.See also:

Modern challenges for observant Jews

Answer 10

Most of the people in the world who observe Judaism are the people

who are called 'Jews'.

But there are plenty of Jews who do not observe Judaism, and there are

even some who are not Jews but observe Judaism anyway.