How do you know what a Jew looks like?

A woman explains the diversity of the Jewish world and the rarity of Jews globally.

DIVERSITY IN MOTION on Jerusalem’s Jaffa Street during the pandemic (Illustrative). (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
DIVERSITY IN MOTION on Jerusalem’s Jaffa Street during the pandemic (Illustrative).
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

In a video posted to Instagram, a woman explains the diversity of Jewish appearance and how rare it is for most people to meet a Jew.

With only 15 million Jews in the world, they make up less than one percent of the world's population, "so chances are the majority of human beings have never met a Jew."

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Of these 15 million, 7 million live in Israel, "not a popular vacation spot," and 6 million live in America, with the remaining two million spread out over the world.

"Take a look at America," she says, which despite being the country with the second-highest number of Jews, they only make up about 2% of the population and are mostly concentrated in the cities of New York, Los Angeles, and Miami.

This, she says, shows how rare it is for even most Americans to meet a Jew outside of these cities, and this is before considering the rest of the world where Jews are far scarcer.

American and Israeli Jews [Illustrative] (credit: REUTERS)
American and Israeli Jews [Illustrative] (credit: REUTERS)

This leads her to ask "So, how do you know what a Jew looks like?"

How do you know what a Jew looks like?

Then saying that movies and television tend to only portray Jews as Ashkenazi Haredim who only make up around 8% of the total Jewish population.

She goes on to show the variety and diversity found in the Jewish people, "Black, and brown, and every other color" she says as pictures of Ethiopian, Indian, and Iraqi Jews are shown on screen.

"Some are straight, some are gay. Some dress modestly, some have tattoos."