“Does “Jews” refer to an ethnic group, or to a group of people who practice a certain religion?”
Historically, the term refers to the ethnic group; and while we might make distinctions between practicing and non-practicing Jews amongst ourselves, anti-semites wont.
For instance, I can’t imagine anyone asked Leon Klinghoffer if he was a practicing Jew before murdering him. His name was enough.
That’s all very nice, but it completely misses my point. This has nothing to do with “anti-semites”. It has everything to do with understanding voting patterns.
Is Charles Schumer (the democrat Senator from New York) Jewish?
Was Aaron Zelman (founder of JPFO) Jewish?
Most people, I think, would answer both questions in the affirmative ... yet politically, these two men could hardly be more different. Race/ethnicity and self-identified religious affiliation are not good lines of demarcation when trying to understand voting patterns ... yet many are mentally stuck using them.