What does it mean to be a Jew?

Much about Jewish identity has been changed forever as a result of the Holocaust. One of these fundamental changes has been the fact that Judaism has become a non-European religion; its three major centers (which together include more than three-fourths of world Jewry) are Israel, the Slavic region of the former Soviet Union, and the United States. (Although Jews constitute only a small fraction of the population of the United States, Judaism occupies a role far surpassing its numerical importance and is regarded with Roman Catholicism and Protestantism as one of the major American faiths.) To be Jew in the post-Holocaust world is thus to have to incorporate into one's sense of identity the sense of being part of a people scattered irrevocably far from one's homeland (Hartmen, 2000, p. 38). Thus, even for those who are secular in their beliefs and who have (for example) no idea of ever living anywhere but in California, t

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because of its close relations with other world religions and because of its demonstrated strength in surviving the Holocaust (Ibry, 1999, p. 112). Although the recurring phenomenon of the alienation of young Jews from their tradition was troubling, it is no more so than in recent past generations. Along with other major religions, Judaism's most disturbing problem yet to be solved was how to deal with secular ideologies and the growth of secularism within its own ranks. Thus, at the beginning of the 21st century, it appeared that Judaism would have to contend with as many problems as other major religions, but that it faced them with no less confidence than these, and with more confidence than it had felt earlier in the century, and that it had the strength of its own ethnocentrism Ethnocentrism - we should perhaps pause to define this term - is the name given to a tendency to interpret or evaluate other cultures in terms of one's own. This tendency has been, perhaps, more prevalent in modern nations than among preliterate tribes. The citizens of a large nation, especially in the past, have been less likely to observe people in another nation or culture than have been members of small tribes who are well acquainted with the w
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Indians Holocaust, Israel God's, Holocaust Ibry, Israeli Holocaust, Jews Diaspora, Arabs Communists, , God Obey, Catholicism Protestantism, National Socialism, jewish identity, holocaust survivors, chosen people, beilin 2000, jewish tradition, jewish community, zipperstein 1999, god's chosen, 21st century, brodkin 1999, world jewish community, 20th century 21st, concept chosen people, former soviet union, especially holocaust survivors,
Approximate Word count = 2918
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)