The Response

From an academic perspective, there is no single Jewish people. Even if we limit the definition of the Jewish people to only those relatively few observant, orthodox Jews. There is a common language of prayer and common beliefs, so we've got that. However, Sephardim and Ashkenazim can't even agree on the order of these common prayers let alone other customs or even philosophies. If we assume that religious praxis is the barometer of the Jewish people then progressing toward ultra-orthodoxy just brings more divisions, different customs, different languages.

Only on an emotional and somewhat religious level can we speak of the Jewish people. Theoretically we could define the Jewish people as those people whose souls attended the revelation at Sinai. It's not very academic, but it works. It ties us all back to the defining moment of the Jewish people (who at that point were unified).

In terms of our public persona, "the" Jewish people is similar to "the" Hispanic minority (or majority, depending on whether you're reading this in the not so distant future) in America. The term Hispanic covers a wide swath of vastly different peoples. Yet an ignorant, xenophobic American will probably think of them as Mexicans, pay them no mind and get on with his day. Argentinians can barely understand Nicaraguans and in general are far more European in culture, language and thought. Neither of them are Mexicans; each have their own customs, traditions, dialects. However, the one (P.C.) word that binds them together is derived from their distant, once common place of origin: Spain. (Or for Americans their presumed more recent common place of origin: Mexico.)

That said, we should do all of the things you suggested above (each in their own time), except for one: never assimilate!

Courtesy of D Lyscious