I have a couple of things to add. 1. It's hard to come up with a number no one will dispute because many believe you aren't Jewish if you don't practice Judaism, so I think there are probably more of us than self-identify as Jews. (however the current wave of Jew hate is helping with solidarity). But in any case just not very many of us. 2. It's a bit like the current USA preoccupation with transpeople. Even if they were the huge threat to public restroom safety that crazy conservatives think they are, they are so few that they would pose no danger to 99% of the world's population. 99.9% of Jews are no danger to anyone who isn't trying to kill Jews.
Great point about being innovative as a necessity. When we were in Israel in 2010 we visited an IDF air base. We were told that when they received broken down F15s from the US the Israeli engineers not only fixed them but improved their functions!
I guessed 18mln remembering that half of world's Jews live in Israel. But then I also remembered that 2mln of Isaraelis are Arabs :)
On education ane achievement, let us not forget that centuries of persecution and discrimination resulted in Jews having to be a head above the rest just to be treated the same. So, while Jewish tradition has prioritized scholarship, a lot of that was out of necessity to survive.
Pat, I started by trying to add up the number of Jews in Israel, the US, Canada, the UK, and France, then added a fudge factor for the rest. Them I did the mental exercise of thinking about who gets to say they are Jewish in surveys, versus synagogue membership, versus who is welcome under the Law of Return. Finally, I settled on 17 million , plus or minus a million. Even for Jews, knowing a relatively precise number is tricky.
Counting Jews is notoriously hard for all the reasons you give. That said, Sergio della Pergola, one of the foremost demographers of Jews, has some good ways to think about the issues you raise.
I have a couple of things to add. 1. It's hard to come up with a number no one will dispute because many believe you aren't Jewish if you don't practice Judaism, so I think there are probably more of us than self-identify as Jews. (however the current wave of Jew hate is helping with solidarity). But in any case just not very many of us. 2. It's a bit like the current USA preoccupation with transpeople. Even if they were the huge threat to public restroom safety that crazy conservatives think they are, they are so few that they would pose no danger to 99% of the world's population. 99.9% of Jews are no danger to anyone who isn't trying to kill Jews.
Exactly. The specific numbers are largely irrelevant.
Great point about being innovative as a necessity. When we were in Israel in 2010 we visited an IDF air base. We were told that when they received broken down F15s from the US the Israeli engineers not only fixed them but improved their functions!
Yes, in the War of Independence, Israel basically imported scrap metal and turned it into warplanes.
It's what Jews do.
I guessed 18mln remembering that half of world's Jews live in Israel. But then I also remembered that 2mln of Isaraelis are Arabs :)
On education ane achievement, let us not forget that centuries of persecution and discrimination resulted in Jews having to be a head above the rest just to be treated the same. So, while Jewish tradition has prioritized scholarship, a lot of that was out of necessity to survive.
Pat, I started by trying to add up the number of Jews in Israel, the US, Canada, the UK, and France, then added a fudge factor for the rest. Them I did the mental exercise of thinking about who gets to say they are Jewish in surveys, versus synagogue membership, versus who is welcome under the Law of Return. Finally, I settled on 17 million , plus or minus a million. Even for Jews, knowing a relatively precise number is tricky.
Counting Jews is notoriously hard for all the reasons you give. That said, Sergio della Pergola, one of the foremost demographers of Jews, has some good ways to think about the issues you raise.