Jewish describes someone who belongs to the Jewish people, one of the world's oldest continuous cultures and religions. Many people consider a person Jewish if they were born to a Jewish mother or if they formally converted to Judaism, the Jewish religion.

Being Jewish connects people to a heritage stretching back thousands of years to the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah in the Middle East. Jewish history includes periods of independence, exile, persecution, and remarkable achievement. After the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 CE, Jewish communities spread across Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and eventually the entire world, maintaining their identity and traditions even while living among other cultures.

Judaism is the religion many Jewish people practice, centered on belief in one God and following teachings from the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible). Jewish traditions include celebrating holidays like Passover, Hanukkah, and Rosh Hashanah, and following various religious laws and customs. However, not all Jewish people practice Judaism religiously: some are secular Jews who identify with Jewish culture, history, and community without being religious.

Jewish culture has contributed enormously to human civilization in science, medicine, literature, music, philosophy, and many other fields. Today, the largest Jewish populations live in Israel (a country established in 1948 as a homeland for Jewish people) and the United States, though Jewish communities exist worldwide.