The Israeli law of return Introduction Judaism is considered to be both a religion and a nation. More than 13 million people are now identified as Jews, with almost six million settled in the United States and five million in Israel.
Practices and beliefs among Jews range from those who call themselves Jews but have nothing more to do with the religion or culture to rigidly Orthodox who strictly observe ancient Jewish precepts. Today, Judaism is comprised of four major movements, Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist. In Israel the Jews mostly follow the either Orthodox or do not affiliate with a particular movement. Reconstructionism is the smallest, and newest movement and has virtually no presence in Israel. (1, David Singer, 2000)