Hi John....I know I might be making a pest of myself today, but I had to put forth a clarification.  A lot of mistakes are being made in biblical thinking because the basic knowing who is actually a "Jew" is being either ignored or not known.  Definitions and basics make up the truth of a matter.  Without this, confusion comes into being.  Maybe if this is clarified so that there is no confusion, more of the truth will ensue.

Someone said that "Abraham was the first Jew"....this is not true.  Was Moses a Jew?  No, he was a Hebrew.  When did Israel begin?  What is the difference?  I had all these questions at one time or another, so I researched them to find the answers.  Now I'm not confused any more.  I thought maybe you and all the other Doves might benefit from learning the difference.  You can decide whether this is necessary or not.  I completely trust your judgme! nt.  This is a really good link on the subject:

http://www.keyway.ca/htm2005/20050219.htm

All the Doves are so wonderfully enthusiastic...and maybe, by this, there would be less contention.  God bless your wonderful site, and also you and all my "brother and sister" Doves....

YsiC,

Arlene

PS

I found another link on the definition of "Jew" that is more simplistic...

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Was_Moses_a_Jew

It is a very common mistake to think that Abraham or Moses were "Jews", because that's been passed down as knowledge for centuries...even though it's not really true.  People tend to take word-of-mouth truths more so than actual truths because it takes time to read it for one's self.