Jews

=== Religion ===
{{Main|Judaism}}
{{See also|Jewish atheism|Jewish secularism}}
{{Judaism}}
The Jewish [[ethnicity|people]] and the [[religion]] of [[Judaism]] are strongly interrelated. [[Conversion to Judaism|Converts to Judaism]] typically have a status within the Jewish ''ethnos'' equal to those born into it.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/beliefs/conversion.shtml |title=BBC Religions/Converting to Judaism: "A person who converts to Judaism becomes a Jew in every sense of the word, and is just as Jewish as someone born into Judaism." |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |access-date=2 October 2013}}</ref> However, several converts to Judaism, as well as ex-Jews, have claimed that converts are treated as second-class Jews by many born Jews.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.interfaithfamily.com/spirituality/conversion/Are_Converts_Treated_as_Second_Class.shtml |title=Are Converts Treated as Second Class? |work=InterfaithFamily|date=2 May 2011 }}</ref>
Conversion is not encouraged by mainstream Judaism, and it is considered a difficult task. A significant portion of conversions are undertaken by children of mixed marriages, or would-be or current spouses of Jews.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-golin/the-complicated-relations_b_842806.html |title=Paul Golin: The Complicated Relationship Between Intermarriage and Jewish Conversion |date=31 March 2011 |publisher=Huffingtonpost.com |access-date=2 October 2013}}</ref>

The [[Hebrew Bible]], a religious interpretation of the traditions and early history of the Jews, established the first of the [[Abrahamic religions]], which are now practiced by 54&nbsp;percent of the world. [[Judaism]] guides its adherents in both practice and belief, and has been called not only a religion, but also a "way of life,"<ref>Neusner (1991) p. 64</ref> which has made drawing a clear distinction between Judaism, [[Jewish culture]], and [[Jewish identity]] rather difficult. Throughout history, in eras and places as diverse as the ancient [[Ancient Greece|Hellenic]] world,<ref>{{cite book|last=Patai|first=Raphael|author-link=Raphael Patai|title=[[The Jewish Mind]]|year=1996|orig-year=1977|publisher=Wayne State University Press|location=Detroit|isbn=0-8143-2651-X|page=7}}</ref> in Europe before and after [[The Age of Enlightenment]] (see [[Haskalah]]),<ref>{{cite book|last=Johnson|first=Lonnie R.|title=Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbors, Friends|year=1996|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=0-19-510071-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195100716/page/145 145]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195100716/page/145}}</ref> in [[Al-Andalus|Islamic Spain and Portugal]],<ref name=Sharot2930>Sharot (1997), pp. 29–30.</ref> in [[North Africa]] and the [[Middle East]],<ref name=Sharot2930 /> [[Indian Jews|India]],<ref>Sharot (1997), pp. 42–43.</ref> [[History of the Jews in China|China]],<ref>Sharot (1997), p. 42.</ref> or the contemporary [[American Jews|United States]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Fishman|first=Sylvia Barack|title=Jewish Life and American Culture|url=https://archive.org/details/jewishlifeameric0000fish|url-access=registration|year=2000|publisher=State University of New York Press|location=Albany, N.Y.|isbn=0-7914-4546-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/jewishlifeameric0000fish/page/38 38]}}</ref> and [[Israel]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Kimmerling|first=Baruch|title=The Israeli State and Society: Boundaries and Frontiers|url=https://archive.org/details/israelistatesoci00kimm|url-access=limited|year=1996|publisher=State University of New York Press|location=Albany, N.Y.|isbn=0-88706-849-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/israelistatesoci00kimm/page/n178 169]}}</ref> cultural phenomena have developed that are in some sense characteristically Jewish without being at all specifically religious. Some factors in this come from within Judaism, others from the interaction of Jews or specific communities of Jews with their surroundings, and still others from the inner social and cultural dynamics of the community, as opposed to from the religion itself. This phenomenon has led to considerably different [[Jewish culture]]s unique to their own communities.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lowenstein|first=Steven M.|title=The Jewish Cultural Tapestry: International Jewish Folk Traditions|year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=0-19-513425-7|page=228}}</ref>