Interplay between external and internal factors in the Jewish community

Introduction

The title Jews has multiple variations in meaning. Jew is a term that can refer both to adherents of the religion Judaism and to members of an ethnicity (those who are Jewish). In the religious sense, Jews are followers of Judaism, whether or not they are ethnically Jewish. In the ethnic sense, Jews are those whose familial identification links them to the “peoplehood” of Jews. Ethnic Jews include both religiously observant Jews and those who, while not practicing Judaism as a religion, identify themselves as Jews culturally or through their ancestry (Cheyette, 89).

In Jewish law, or halakhah, there are two criteria for defining someone as a Jew, either one of which is sufficient. If one is the child of a Jewish mother, or if one converts to Judaism in accordance with Jewish law, then one is halakhically recognized as a Jew. This standard is mandated by the Talmud, the record of Oral Law that elaborates the Torah (also known as the Hebrew Bible, the Five Books of Moses, the Pentateuch, or, in Christian texts, the first five books of the Old Testament). However, in the second half of the 20th century, two theologically liberal branches of Judaism, Reform and Reconstructionist, have shifted position on the matter of Jewish identity.

They now recognize as Jews those who call themselves Jews, although they meet neither halakhic criterion. Based largely in the United States, these two denominations no longer require one to have a Jewish mother if one's father is a Jew, nor do they require converts to follow traditional/Orthodox conversion procedures. This shift has produced a significant rift among various groups of Jews debating the question, “Who is a Jew?” Such Reform and Reconstructionist Jews, as well as secular/ethnic Jews, consider themselves Jews, but are not necessarily viewed as such by Orthodox and Conservative Jews. In addition, many Reform Jews outside the United States maintain traditional definitions of Jewish identity, rejecting American Reform Judaism's adaptations. Given these complexities of identity, one must think broadly when defining “the Jews.”

Jewish Community

The Jews have been organized as a social unit and a distinct people for thousands of years, the earliest such unit being the ancient Hebrew clan. As they changed from a nomadic to an agrarian life style and began to settle in towns, their leadership tended to become urbanized. The ELDERS are identified as leaders of the various towns, especially for the administration of justice. In ancient Israel, towns were also organized in larger territorial or tribal units.

From the 14th century onward, the center of gravity of European Jewry began shifting to Poland, where the community was to gain its most effective autonomy and power. This sometimes took the form of a structure in which a Jewish community in one central town exercised authority over all the smaller communities in the region and became responsible for serving them. It was in Poland-Lithuania that the centralized and powerful Council of the (Four) Lands (Va'ad Arba ...