The Jews are a people. We are a nation. We are indigenous to the Land of Israel.

And while God plays a central role in our indigenous culture, we are not a religion. Our civilisation contains religion. There is a difference there. The notion that Jews are a religious group, or worse, a faith, is a direct influence of Christianity. It is not an authentic representation of Judaism.

The first mention of the word “Judaism” in history occurs in the Second Book of Maccabees. Written as Ioudaismos, it did not reference a religion; rather, it was used in opposition to Hellenism and ultimately meant Jewishness. Rabbi and Hebraist Shaye J.D. Cohen argued:

“We are tempted, of course, to translate Ioudaismos as ‘Judaism,’ but this translation is too narrow, because in this first occurrence of the term, Ioudaismos has not yet been reduced to the designation of a religion. It means rather ‘the aggregate of all those characteristics that makes Judaeans Judaean (or Jews Jewish).’”

It continues: https://substack.com/home/post/p-157166156