Common Threads Shared By Jewish People

Jews are a distinct ethnicity due to a combination of shared cultural, historical, and ancestral ties. Below are some examples of key factors that make Jews an ethnicity:

  • Common Ancestry: Many Jews trace their ancestry to the ancient Israelites, who inhabited the historical Land of Israel. Over centuries, despite dispersion (diasporas) and migrations, there has been a sense of shared lineage among Jewish communities.
  • Ancestral Homeland: Jews in the US, like Jews everywhere, feel a strong connection to their ancestral homeland of Israel. Jewish tradition and rituals reinforce these connections in many ways, from the content and direction of daily prayers to Jewish holidays. For example, Jews around the world conclude the Passover meal by saying “Next year in Jerusalem.”
  • Cultural Heritage: Jews share a rich cultural heritage, including language (Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino), religious traditions, customs, and historical narratives. This cultural continuity has contributed to a distinct Jewish identity.
  • Religious Identity: While Judaism is a religion, it is also intertwined with Jewish ethnicity. Many Jews identify as being part of both an ethnic and religious group. Even secular Jews may maintain a sense of cultural and ethnic Jewish identity. To learn more about this, check out our previous blog post on the religious demographics of the US Jewish community.
  • Common History: Jews share a long and complex history, including experiences of exile, persecution, and diaspora. The Biblical account of the Exodus is a central shared narrative that unites Jews. Historical events like the Babylonian exile, the Roman destruction of the Second Temple, and the Holocaust, have contributed to a shared collective memory.

Diversity in the Jewish Community

While Jews are a distinct ethnicity connected by rich traditions, thousands of years of history, ancestry, language, and religion, it is important to recognize that there is an incredible amount of diversity within the Jewish community.

For example, there are major Jewish ethnic subgroups within the Jewish American and larger Jewish communities:

  • Mizrachi Jews are racially diverse Arabic and Farsi-speaking Jews indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa for over 2,500 years.
  • Sephardi Jews are originally Judeo-Spanish or Ladino-speaking Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal to North Africa, the Ottoman Empire, and Central and South America, beginning with Spain’s expulsion in 1492.
  • Beta Israel Jews are Amharic-speaking Jews originally from Ethiopia. Despite facing discrimination and marginalization in Ethiopia, Beta Israel maintained their Jewish identity through adherence to Jewish law and customs.
  • Cochin Jews are Jews originally from the coastal city of Kochi (formerly Cochin), located in the southwestern state of Kerala in India. Cochin Jews are believed to be one of the oldest Jewish communities in India.
  • Bukharan Jews are from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Bukharan Jews developed a unique identity blending elements of Persian, Central Asian, and Jewish cultures.

Summary: These subgroups have much in common with each other and see themselves as part of one Jewish people, yet they also have distinctive cultural practices, languages, and traditions.

Diversity extends beyond religious practices, denominations, and subcultures.

Jews of Color

According to the Jews of Color Initiative, self-identified Jews of color use the term in different ways, including as a racial grouping (e.g., Asian, Black), indication of national heritage (e.g., Iranian, Ethiopian), description of regional and geographic connections (Mizrachi, Sephardi, Latina/o/x), and more. Jewish families include multiracial households and there are diverse appearances both within families and within communities. According to a major report by the Jews of Color Initiative, 14% of Jewish Americans identify as people of color.

Jews by Choice/Conversion and Interfaith Families

Jewish Americans are also diverse because the community includes people who have chosen to be Jewish (through conversion) as well as interfaith families who include multiple religious and cultural practices in their home. All of this contributes to physical and ideological diversity. Jewish people have a wide range of opinions and beliefs about what it means to be Jewish, how Jewish identity is defined, and to what extent they identify with Judaism. Diverse physical appearances and perspectives is something Jews have in common with other American ethnic communities, such as African Americans, Latinx Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans.