Jew/Jewish (Definition)
12/12/2022 1:48 AM UTC by Jack
The Merriam-Webster definition of the the word Jew is, "1. a person belonging to a continuation through descent or conversion of the ancient Jewish people 2. one whose religion is Judaism 3. a member of the tribe of Judah 4. a member of a nation existing in Palestine from the sixth century b.c. to the first century a.d."1
The word Jew conflates both adherents to the religion of Judaism and the ethnic descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through the maternal line. If the word Hebrew was used as meaning the ethnic descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through the maternal line and the word Jew was used to describe an adherent to the religion of Judaism then many things would change. Change the question, was Hitler racist against Jews to, was Hitler racist against Hebrews? The answer is a resounding no. Hitler had at least 150,000 Hebrews (non-Jews) in his army2, 2 of his field marshals were Hebrew (non-Jews), 10 of his generals were Hebrew (non-Jews), and 20 Hebrew soldiers (non-Jews) received the Knight's Cross (the highest commendation for wartime soldiers)3. If the word Jew is used both as an ethnic and a religious term then Hitler was racist against Jews. If the two words are separated into Hebrew and Jew then Hitler did not hate Hebrews but he did hate Jews.
The word Jew conflates both adherents to the religion of Judaism and the ethnic descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through the maternal line. If the word Hebrew was used as meaning the ethnic descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through the maternal line and the word Jew was used to describe an adherent to the religion of Judaism then many things would change. Change the question, was Hitler racist against Jews to, was Hitler racist against Hebrews? The answer is a resounding no. Hitler had at least 150,000 Hebrews (non-Jews) in his army2, 2 of his field marshals were Hebrew (non-Jews), 10 of his generals were Hebrew (non-Jews), and 20 Hebrew soldiers (non-Jews) received the Knight's Cross (the highest commendation for wartime soldiers)3. If the word Jew is used both as an ethnic and a religious term then Hitler was racist against Jews. If the two words are separated into Hebrew and Jew then Hitler did not hate Hebrews but he did hate Jews.
References
1
Jew noun