Many of the Jews here have emphatically said that Judaism is a belief not a race. Some have even said that the idea of Jews as a race was something started my the Nazis.
I was rather surprised to read this news item:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8325901.stm
Where the JFS (Jewish Free School) is appealing against a court decision that entry should be granted on belief not birth. Evidently the school wants to bar access to a child because of doubts about the Jewishness of his mother, despite the fact that according to her husband "[She] keeps a kosher Jewish home, we go to synagogue as a family, my daughter teaches in the Hebrew classes."
This seems to contradict what many Jewish posters here have said. Is the school wrong, or is there some other explanation?
The problem is simple – there are diverse viewpoints regarding this.
See:
Who is a Jew?
A Jew is any person whose mother was a Jew or any person who has gone through the formal process of conversion to Judaism.
It is important to note that being a Jew has nothing to do with what you believe or what you do. A person born to non-Jewish parents who has not undergone the formal process of conversion but who believes everything that Orthodox Jews believe and observes every law and custom of Judaism is still a non-Jew, even in the eyes of the most liberal movements of Judaism, and a person born to a Jewish mother who is an atheist and never practices the Jewish religion is still a Jew, even in the eyes of the ultra-Orthodox. In this sense, Judaism is more like a nationality than like other religions, and being Jewish is like a citizenship. See What Is judaism?
This has been established since the earliest days of Judaism. In the Torah, you will see many references to "the strangers who dwell among you" or "righteous proselytes" or "righteous strangers." These are various classifications of non-Jews who lived among Jews, adopting some or all of the beliefs and practices of Judaism without going through the formal process of conversion and becoming Jews. Once a person has converted to Judaism, he is not referred to by any special term; he is as much a Jew as anyone born Jewish.
Although all Jewish movements agree on these general principles, there are occasional disputes as to whether a particular individual is a Jew. Most of these disputes fall into one of two categories.
First, traditional Judaism maintains that a person is a Jew if his mother is a Jew, regardless of who his father is. The liberal movements, on the other hand, consider a person to be Jewish if either of his parents was Jewish and the child was raised Jewish. Thus, if the child of a Jewish father and a Christian mother is raised jewish, the child is a Jew according to the Reform movement, but not according to the Orthodox movement. On the other hand, if the child of a Christian father and a Jewish mother is not raised Jewish, the child is a Jew according to the Orthodox movement, but not according to the Reform movement! The matter becomes even more complicated, because the status of that children’s children also comes into question.
Second, the more traditional movements do not always acknowledge the validity of conversions by the more liberal movements. The more modern movements do not always follow the procedures required by the more traditional movements, thereby invalidating the conversion. In addition, Orthodoxy does not accept the authority of Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis to perform conversions, and the Conservative movement has debated whether to accept the authority of Reform rabbis.
More here:
http://www.jewfaq.org/whoisjew.htm
you are a jew? ha
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Being a Jew can mean any of the following:
1. Practicing the Jewish religion
2. having Jewish ancestry
3. being a member of a culturally Jewish family
References :
Jew is not a race, it’s a so-called belief.
References :
The problem is simple – there are diverse viewpoints regarding this.
See:
Who is a Jew?
A Jew is any person whose mother was a Jew or any person who has gone through the formal process of conversion to Judaism.
It is important to note that being a Jew has nothing to do with what you believe or what you do. A person born to non-Jewish parents who has not undergone the formal process of conversion but who believes everything that Orthodox Jews believe and observes every law and custom of Judaism is still a non-Jew, even in the eyes of the most liberal movements of Judaism, and a person born to a Jewish mother who is an atheist and never practices the Jewish religion is still a Jew, even in the eyes of the ultra-Orthodox. In this sense, Judaism is more like a nationality than like other religions, and being Jewish is like a citizenship. See What Is Judaism?
This has been established since the earliest days of Judaism. In the Torah, you will see many references to "the strangers who dwell among you" or "righteous proselytes" or "righteous strangers." These are various classifications of non-Jews who lived among Jews, adopting some or all of the beliefs and practices of Judaism without going through the formal process of conversion and becoming Jews. Once a person has converted to Judaism, he is not referred to by any special term; he is as much a Jew as anyone born Jewish.
Although all Jewish movements agree on these general principles, there are occasional disputes as to whether a particular individual is a Jew. Most of these disputes fall into one of two categories.
First, traditional Judaism maintains that a person is a Jew if his mother is a Jew, regardless of who his father is. The liberal movements, on the other hand, consider a person to be Jewish if either of his parents was Jewish and the child was raised Jewish. Thus, if the child of a Jewish father and a Christian mother is raised Jewish, the child is a Jew according to the Reform movement, but not according to the Orthodox movement. On the other hand, if the child of a Christian father and a Jewish mother is not raised Jewish, the child is a Jew according to the Orthodox movement, but not according to the Reform movement! The matter becomes even more complicated, because the status of that children’s children also comes into question.
Second, the more traditional movements do not always acknowledge the validity of conversions by the more liberal movements. The more modern movements do not always follow the procedures required by the more traditional movements, thereby invalidating the conversion. In addition, Orthodoxy does not accept the authority of Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis to perform conversions, and the Conservative movement has debated whether to accept the authority of Reform rabbis.
More here:
http://www.jewfaq.org/whoisjew.htm
References :
A Jew is one who practices Judaism.
There used to be a race of the Jews, but it is now called Israelite
References :
answer: Religion. This case comes from the fact that Orthodox Judaism doesn’t recognize conversions by other branches. Much like some Protestant Christians don’t consider Catholics "real" Christians.
It is NOT a race nor ethnicity because there are Jews of every ethnic group.
You can change your religion and no longer be considered Jewish.
You cannot change your ethnic background.
Here’s an experiment: look up photos of Yaphet Kotto, Alyson Hannigan, Paul Newman, Adam Sandler, Natalie Portman, Lauren Bacall and Harrison Ford
Are Jews one ethnic group? Obviously not – all of them were born Jewish.
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There are different ways to be considered a Jew. For example (and there’s probably more).
Ethnicity (not synonymous with race)
Religion (raised as)
Religion (converted by any rabbi)
Religion (converted by an orthodox rabbi)
Tradition
Mother was a Jew
Any ancestor was a Jew
Depending on the context, one or some or all might count for an individual. It looks like the JFS is sticklers when it comes to needing an orthodox rabbi to do the conversion.
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Jewish is a calling to the Jews. It is a race and their belief is called Judaism.
In many parts of the world, many schools, businesses or organizations are trying to remove any Jewish name attached to their purposes as they are always subject of many atrocities against them and they all wanted to live peacefully within the neighborhood.
It is very seldom that you will hear or find them involved in many troubles in the major cities and most often than not they are victims of harassment and vandalism. that is why they themselves are trying to have their names remove for their peace of mind.
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" in light of what Jews here have said."
You must realize that most of them are not Jews. Just loudmouth allies from the JPA. Pagans, heathens, catholics and such, claiming to be experts in Judaism.
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