Jewish peoplehood in the context of "Antisemitic"

Shema Yisrael (Shema Israel or Sh'ma Yisrael; Hebrew: שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל, lit. 'Hear, O Israel') is a Jewish prayer (known as the Shema) that serves as a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services. Its first verse, Deuteronomy 6:4, encapsulates the monotheistic essence of Judaism: "Hear, O Israel: YHWH our God, YHWH is one" (שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד׃).

The first part can be translated as either "The LORD our God" or "The LORD is our God", and the second part as either "the LORD is one" or as "the one LORD" (in the sense of "the LORD alone"). Hebrew does not generally use a copula in the present tense, so translators must decide by inference which translation is appropriate in English. The word used for "the LORD" is the Tetragrammaton (YHWH).

Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemitic tendencies may be motivated primarily by negative sentiment towards Jews as a people or negative sentiment towards Jews with regard to Judaism. In the former case, usually known as racial antisemitism, a person's hostility is driven by the belief that Jews constitute a distinct race with inherent traits or characteristics that are repulsive or inferior to the preferred traits or characteristics within that person's society. In the latter case, known as religious antisemitism, a person's hostility is driven by their religion's perception of Jews and Judaism, typically encompassing doctrines of supersession that expect or demand Jews to turn away from Judaism and submit to the religion presenting itself as Judaism's successor faith—this is a common theme within the other Abrahamic religions. The development of racial and religious antisemitism has historically been encouraged by anti-Judaism, which is distinct from antisemitism itself.

There are various ways in which antisemitism is manifested, ranging in the level of severity of Jewish persecution. On the more subtle end, it consists of expressions of hatred or discrimination against individual Jews and may or may not be accompanied by violence. On the most extreme end, it consists of pogroms or genocide, which may or may not be state-sponsored. Although the term "antisemitism" did not come into common usage until the 19th century, it is also applied to previous and later anti-Jewish incidents. Historically, most of the world's violent antisemitic events have taken place in Europe, where modern antisemitism began to emerge from antisemitism in Christian communities during the Middle Ages. Since the early 20th century, there has been a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents across the Arab world, largely due to the advent of Arab antisemitic conspiracy theories, which were influenced by European antisemitic conspiracy theories.

Chapters 10, 11, and 12 of the Book of Daniel in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament comprise Daniel's final vision. The vision describes a series of coming conflicts between an unnamed "King of the North" and a "King of the South", ultimately leading to the "time of the end", when Israel will be vindicated. The dead will be raised: some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Some historians claim that, although set during the 6th century BC, the Book of Daniel was written in reaction to the persecution of the Jews by the Greek king Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 167–164 BC. Its authors were the maskilim (the "wise"), of whom Daniel is one: "Those among the people who are wise shall make many understand ..." Its fundamental theme is God's control over history. The climax comes with the prophecy of the resurrection of the dead. Daniel 7 speaks of the kingdom of the saints or "holy ones" of the Most High, but Daniel 10–12 does not say that history will end with the coming of the Jewish kingdom; instead, the "wise" will be brought back to life to lead Israel in the new kingdom of God.

Several groups of people have claimed lineal descent from the Israelites (or Hebrews), an ancient Semitic-speaking people who inhabited Canaan during the Iron Age. The phenomenon has become especially prevalent since the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. The country's Law of Return, which defines Jewishness for the purpose of aliyah, prompted many individuals to claim Israelite ancestry with the expectation that it would make them eligible for Israeli citizenship. The abundance of these claims has led to the rise of the question of "who is a Jew?" in order to determine the legitimacy of one's Jewish identity. Some of these claims have been recognized, while other claims are still under review, and others have been outright rejected.

There were numerous events in Jewish history that forced the Jewish people into exile from the Land of Israel, compelling them to disperse throughout many of the world's regions. The most significant of these events are recorded in the Hebrew Bible, but have been attested by extra-biblical evidence as well. The most notorious exilic occurrences were: the fall of the Kingdom of Israel to the Neo-Assyrian Empire in c. 720 BCE; the fall of the Kingdom of Judah to the Neo-Babylonian Empire in c. 586 BCE; the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE; and the Bar Kokhba revolt in the 130s CE. A number of these communities of the Jewish diaspora came into existence (sometimes voluntarily) as a result of Israelites and Jews emigrating before the onslaught of invading armies; because of forced deportations; or because of enslavement, including the Assyrian captivity and the Babylonian captivity. Some Jewish families or even some whole Jewish communities were forced to relocate on a near-consistent basis because of anti-Jewish persecution, while many were wiped out entirely. Although some form of contact had been maintained between most of the mainstream Jewish diaspora communities over the millennia, contact had been lost with some of them, and as a result, they came to be regarded as lost by mainstream Jewry.

Auto-Emancipation is a pamphlet written in German by Russian-Polish Jewish doctor and activist Leon Pinsker in 1882. It is considered a founding document of modern Jewish nationalism, especially Zionism.

Pinsker discussed the origins of antisemitism and argued for Jewish self-rule and the development of a Jewish national consciousness. He wrote that Jews would never become the social equals of non-Jews until they had a state of their own. He called on Jewish leaders to convene and address the problem. In the pamphlet, he describes anti-Jewish attacks as a psychosis, a pathological disorder and an irrational phobia.

Anti-Judaism denotes a spectrum of historical and contemporary ideologies that are fundamentally or partially rooted in opposition to Judaism. It encompasses the rejection or abrogation of the Mosaic covenant and advocates for the supersession of Judaism and Jewish identity by proponents of other religious, political-ideological, or theological frameworks, which assert their own precedence as the "light unto the nations" or as the chosen people of God. The opposition is often perpetuated through the reinterpretation and appropriation of Jewish prophecy and texts, reflecting a complex interplay of belief systems that challenge Jews' internally and externally conceived distinctiveness. David Nirenberg posits that the theme has manifested throughout history, including in contemporary and early Christianity, Islam, nationalism, Enlightenment rationalism, and in socioeconomic contexts.

Douglas R. A. Hare found at least three anti-Judaisms in history. The first is prophetic anti-Judaism: the criticism of Judaism's beliefs and religious practices. The second is Jewish Christian anti-Judaism: the form taken amongst Jews who believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Jewish Messiah. The third type he defined was gentilizing anti-Judaism, which emphasizes the gentile character of the new movement (i.e., Christianity) and asserts God's formal rejection of Jews as a people. Most scholarly analyses appear concerned with the phenomenon described by his third type.