What race are Jews? Well, actually, Jews predate race. Here's what that means.

The idea of race is relatively modern. It developed mainly in Europe over the last 100 years to sort humans into biological categories based on appearance.

But the Jewish people have existed as a people for over 3,000 years. That's long before race theory.

As race is a modern idea, how were Jews viewed before it?

As a people. In Hebrew, Am Yisrael. That meant shared ancestry, history, language, law, culture, and memory, not just a religion

.Because Jewish identity was formed in the ancient Near East, it was rooted in a specific place, the land of Israel.

And this wasn't symbolic. It was where the early Israelite society, monarchy, and Hebrew civilization developed.