One of the unique features of Judaism is that while many of its norms, laws and mitzvoth (commandments) apply to the individual Jew, they are usually articulated in the context of the collective.

As a result, one can only fully understand and engage in Jewish life and history through belonging to the collective, the Jewish People – Am Yisrael. This conception of the Jews as a People is one distinguishing feature of Judaism different from other religions, such as Christianity or Islam, which lack a national component.

In this section we expand on how Jewish Peoplehood is the collective dimension of Jewish identity, explain how this concept is found throughout Jewish history and argue that this is more important than ever for us today.

We also propose the Enduring Understandings that relate to this concept and offer some ideas for how to teach towards it.