[Avodah] Hebrews/Israelites/Bnei Yisroel - Jews

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Oct 15, 2007 at 07:46:40PM -0400, RallisW at aol.com wrote:
: A very common misnomer used by both clergy and lay  people, is to refer to 
: the Bnei Yisroel in the Torah as  Jews. 

I thinnk there is a solid reason for it. Although I agree that it's a
misnomer.

In some circles, the people of the Bible are called by a different name
so as to (1) let them neglect the fact that the people they hate is the
same nation as that of their holy book; and/or (2) play down the value
of Judaism by claiming a disconnect between that religion and outs. E.g.
claiming Chazal invented Judaism.

: For example; when the Jews left Egypt. Forgetting that 11 other tribes also  
: left Egypt?
: Let's keep in mind Moshe Rabbeinu was not a Jew. 
: The first person in Tanach that I am aware of, that was called a Jew, was  
: Mordechai.

"Jew" doesn't refer to sheivet Yehudah. Mordechai, for example, was from
Binyamin. To be a Jew means to be a survivor of Mamlekhes Yehudah. Which
would include Yehudah, Binyamin, Shim'on, those from Levi stationed in
MY, and refugees from Mamlekhes Yisrael.

Mikhah, of Pesel Mikhah infamy, lived in Dan. I do not know if that is
typical of Mosheh's descendents; just to answer the curious question if
most of Moshe's descendents are Jews.

Jew also refers to the fact that we are a nation built on hakaras hatov
(from Leah's "hapa'am oseh es H') -- and in that sense, Moshe certainly
qualified. That allows us to emphasize continuity, to teach our children
in a language which reminds us of the unbroken chain and the unity
of family from the Yotz'ei Mitzrayim to our children, grandchildren
and beyond.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             A person lives with himself for seventy years,
micha at aishdas.org        and after it is all over, he still does not
http://www.aishdas.org   know himself.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                            - Rav Yisrael Salanter