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Genetically the modern Jewish people is thought to come from the people of the southern Davidic kingdom, or the tribe of Judah (with Benjamin), and the Levites. Many of this people spent some time in captivity Babylon. The name Jew is related to Judah in almost every language.

The Tanach (Old Testament) accounts Abraham as the origin of the nation, with his son Isak, with his son Jacob. This Jacob, also called Israel, had 12 sons, patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel. The northern tribes are sometimes called the lost tribes, and their history is uncertain. These 12 tribes lived in an area a little bigger than modern-day Israel.

Abraham is told to be a descendant of Sem, hence the name semite, which would include other Middle. East nations - the Arabs are thought to have Abraham as ancestor too. Abraham was born in Mesopotamia and moved to live in the area of Israel.

After the rebellions against Roman occupation in 70-71 and 133-135 CE, the Romans decided to crush the Jewish nation in Judea etc deporting them to different parts of the empire. Thus in the last 2000 years, Jews have settled in many places, most notably in Spain (sefardic), Germany/Poland (ashkenazi) and Yemen/North Africa, resulting in several dialects and languages, e.g. Yiddish. Because of limited rights to own properties and have certain professions due to discriminatory legislation since the Middle Ages, Jews have moved around in Europe, finding one of their safest haven in Poland for many centuries. In many countries the Jews were accused by the Church, sometimes forbidden to profess their faith, but the Polish kings wanted to borrow money from them.

In the modern World with global means of transport, Jews are found in most countries, as well as other people moving because of professional reasons.

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13y ago

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