The first is descriptive, as a concept factually describing the existence of the Jews as a people, i.e., a national ethnoreligious indigenous group.
The very concept of defining Jews as a nation, people, or civilization is historically accurate, and suggests a wide variety of values within the context of Judaism also.
Talmud Shevuot 39a[11] Today, outside Israel, it is not easily apparent, and many diaspora Jews would deny it outright, or use the softer term "the Jewish people."
[12]Goy גוי, in Biblical Hebrew, literally means "nation", and historically Jews are most commonly described with variations of this concept.
It was similarly invoked by the Zionist movement, which sought to Negate the Diaspora (shlilat ha'galut) by Gathering the exiled of Israel (Kibbutz Galuyot) back to their homeland, where they would achieve national self-determination.
The Jewish people originated from the Israelites and Hebrews of historical Israel and Judah, two related kingdoms that emerged in the Levant during the Iron Age.
This refers to the dispersion of Israelites or Jews out of their ancient ancestral homeland (the Land of Israel) and their subsequent settlement in other parts of the globe.
The modern political Zionist movement, which called for the establishment of a Jewish state in the land of Eretz Yisrael (lit.
Judaism has played a significant role in the development of Western culture because of its unique relationship with Christianity, the dominant religious force in the West.
The first significant use of the "peoplehood" concept was by Mordecai Kaplan, co-founder of the Reconstructionist School of Judaism, who was searching for a term that would enable him to describe the complex nature of Jewish belonging.
[19] In his work Judaism as a Civilization, Kaplan sought to define the Jewish people and religion in socio-cultural terms as well as religious ones.
Kaplan's definition of Judaism as "an evolving religious civilization" illumines his understanding of the centrality of Peoplehood in the Jewish religion.
[6] Kaplan's purpose in developing the Jewish Peoplehood idea was to create a vision broad enough to include everyone who identified as a Jew regardless of individual approaches to that identity.
[23] Alongside the use of the peoplehood concept by Jewish organizations, there is a parallel growth of intellectual interest in the topic since 2000.