Quote:
Originally Posted by guy44
Jew = a very confusing concept, incorporating religion, ethnicity, and culture, as others have written above far better than I ever could
Hebrew and Levite = generally considered synonyms for "Jew"
Israelite = formerly used most commonly like "Hebrew" or "Levite" as another word for "Jew". Now that the country of Israel exists, with a mostly Jewish population, it's most commonly used to refer its citizens (although, obviously, the term "Israeli" is more common). This one has more or less fallen out of everyday usage
Zionist = someone who supports the (formerly establishment) existence of a Jewish state, usually as a matter of Jewish pride/self-governance/religious belief. It's more a political position than anything else. Many Jews are not Zionists, and many non-Jews are.
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A very fine response. I might wish to expand and clarify it just a bit.
Jew: A member of the ethnoreligious culture sometimes called the People or Children of Israel. Someone whose mother was a Jew, or who has themselves undergone conversion to Judaism.
Hebrew: The very first name of the ancestors of the Jews, and currently the name of the universal Jewish language. Hebrew is the accepted translation for the name "Ivri," a word which means "The One Who Crosses Over," and is mythopoeically associated with the patriarch Abraham, who crossed the Euphrates on his way from Mesopotamia to Canaan. However, many scholars now think that the name may also have been given because the Hebrews were originally a wandering, bedouin people, who partially conquered and partially colonized ancient Canaan. It may also, some speculate that it may be self-given, in reference to the more metaphorical "crossing over" from polytheism to monolatry (as distinct from monotheism, a later Israelite innovation), which the Hebrews seem to have originated in that part of the world.
Levite: A Jew who counts his or her descent from the tribe of Levi. The tribe of Levi was the priestly tribe, divided into two groups: Kohanim (priests), who were in charge of the sacrificial cult, its higher rituals, and the sanctioned divination, during the times of the ancient Temples in Jerusalem and the Tabernacle before; and regular Levites, who were assistants to the Kohanim, and were also in charge of the poetic and musical liturgy of public worship rites at the Temples and Tabernacle. Levitical and Kohanic descent is reckoned patrilinealy, in contrast to holisitic Jewish identity, which is matrilineal. Today, Levites and Kohanim are generally the only Jews who retain knowledge of their tribal descent.
Israelite: A member of the ancient Twelve Tribes of Israel, who all mythopoeically counted descent from the patriarch Jacob, called Israel (Yisra'el, meaning "He Who Wrestles with God"). This term is generally employed to describe the ancestors of the Jews, during the time of their residency in the lands of Israel and Judea, from about 1300 BCE to the beginning of the Rabbinic period, around the turn of the Common Era. Academically, "Israelite" is used to describe these people to differentiate them from "Jews," a term used to describe those who followed the teachings of the Rabbis of the Talmud-- the tradition that has become modern Judaism. "Israelite" is used because it indicates differences in their practical worship and theology from what is accepted in Rabbinic Judaism. In a non-academic sense, Israelite was sometimes used as a synonym for "Jew" from the end of the eighteenth to the beginning of the twentieth centuries, when "Jews" were considered low-class by Western society, but "Israelite" was somehow thought a classier term for wealthier, Enlightened Jews. The term Israelite is not the same as the word Israeli, which simply means a citizen of the State of Israel.
Zionist: Originally, one who supported the creation of a Jewish national entity. Currently, one who supports the continued safe existence of the State of Israel. There are and have been many different kinds of Zionists, who have had sometimes vastly different agendas in supporting the creation and existence of a Jewish State. These ranged from atheist socialists who sought a purely cultural equality in the Western World, to religious fundamentalists who believed a Jewish national entity was the first step toward the coming of the Messiah; and there were many other agendas filling out the spectrum between those two. Historically, the only idea generally shared by most Zionists was that a Jewish national entity was necessary for the continued safety of the Jewish people in an otherwise unsafe world. Zionism is a purely political concept, and is not linked inextricably to Judaism.