What is a Jew, race or religion?

[trialbyerror]

may I also clock in here?

That can be considered racist >.>
All jews also have big nose, love money, and kill christian children to make bread for Matzot, right ?

And yes, u can be jew and not believe in god.
In Israel there are alot of those actually ..
I guess there are also christian who don't believe in god, right ? so nothing special

I think its just a matter of definition that everyone can choose how to call themselves, the fact that your mother is jewish just give u the option to call yourself one

Honey....

You have noooooo Idea

As per Hebrew custom, If you mother is Jewish.... You are defiantly Jewish.
If your Father was Jewish then as per the Rabbi "That's a good enough reason to be Jewish!" :biggrin:

If you understand Jewish humor, then you would get it

Now before anybody get's all uppity, I was partnered with the love of my life for around 17 years, and it ended when he passed over due to cancer. go search my post "a mutts tale" <include the quotations> then come back, then you can critisise me here.

Being Jewish cannot be defined as genetic, religious or cultural...
It is far more than that.

It is a life force.

Simplistically it makes little difference if you are Orthodox or Reformed Jewish people all over the world live their Judeasim.

I am privileged to have been involved with a Jewish man, He grounded me, he gave me meaning to my life, he is still my guide and inspiration...., long beyond his grave...

How was he able to gentle me?

Because he was Jewish? I like to believe so.

But for the grace of God... There go I

Oh my beloved, beloved mutt how I miss you so.....

[thawoods]

Basically Jews are tightly knit together by their religion which is Judaism but history has secluded Jews in a corner enough to refer to them as an ethnicity. Racially they are part of the Semitic group (Semitic being derived from Shem, one of Noah's three sons).

[Sylph]

To me, I always viewed Jewish people as White or to be "politically correct", Caucasian.

It's not like they have any significant racial characteristics that completely distinguish them from all other races, such as Black Skin, Slanted Eyes or anything like that.

I see a White guy, I see a White guy, heck, da white -.-

They may be French or Russian or Australian or whatever, to me, they're White, because what has their Country or Religion got to do with their ethnicity?

I'm a mix between, commonly called Mulatto by a lot of people and specifically, Yella here, and yet this is my physical racial disposition. But my nationality, which is not a Race, is Bermudian and my Religion, which is also not a Race, is Spiritual Agnoticism & Animism.

We have black and white Bermudians, but the White ones are White and the Black ones are Black and either or can be of a shared faith.

So Jewish people are White, so that's not their Race, it's their Religious or Heritage Rooting from where they are from.

Jew is like a Slang or informal term for Judaism, to me anyway.

You're born in America, you're American, raised on the Judaism/Hebrew faith, so you are a practicing member and so are Jewish, just like a if I was born in Italy, but raised on the Catholic faith, I would then be called a Catholic.

Atleast that's how I see it.


You can be born in Switzerland and decide to be a Rastafarian, and yet, you would still be White(or whatever you would be), A White Rasta from Switzerland. Not a Switzerlish Rasta...

[southbiochem]

Judaism is a religion..hence Jews can be (like Catholics, Mulsim, etc) from any race possible.

As to the racial group that originated Judaism, that would be Hebrews/Israelites, a racial subdivision of the larger Semitic group (hence the baaaaaadly used word anti-semitism)

Arabs are within the Semitic group as well, and yet people relate Semitic with Jew, just like they think Turks are arabs because they're muslims, when in reality they are part of the Altaic group of races, largely unrelated to arabs...

people always make this confusion about religion/race further enhanced for example by Nazi rethoric aiming to whipe out the Jewish "race"...a race clearly non existent...

[davearoo]

The concept of "If your mother is a Jew, then you're a Jew, no matter what" originated in ancient times. It was sort of a defense mechanism for Jewish women who were raped by soldiers from warring tribes. Jewish leaders did not want any question about whether children from those unions would be accepted. The rule is dated today, of course, but then again, so are the kosher laws.

In my personal opinion as someone who qualifies as "ethnically Jewish" under the above rule, I don't consider anyone to be a bonafide Jew unless they not only practice Judaism but live by its teachings.

[Dreamer]

Being a Jew doesn't constitute a race or a religion.


It's neither.


Judaism is a religion, and race is a genetic distinction.


One can be completely secular, yet still be a Jew.


If you referenced to a Jew that he or she was of the Jewish "race",
most likely, they'd take high offense.


This is because of the mindset of a "Jewish race" is what contributed to the holocaust.


Many Jews do share common ancestry, but some do not.


I can't become Black or Asian, but someone who is can become a Jew.


Some might say it's a culture, but others would argue it's more than that
because there are different cultural aspects to different Jews.


Traditionally, what makes up a Jew was understood as a "nationhood" or "people-hood",
but those terms have become so distorted over time that they are no longer accurate.


Just think of the Jewish people as a "family".


Like a family, they don't always agree with each other.
They often argue and criticize each other.
They hold each other to the very highest standards,
knowing that the shortcomings of any member of their "family" will be held against all of them.


But, when someone outside of their "family" unfairly criticizes or attacks a "family member"
or "the family" as a whole,
they are quick to join together in opposition to that unfair criticism or attack.


I hope that clears the air somewhat for you about what a Jew is.
If not, I just confused the hell out of you!
:tongue:

[Nightcrawler]

I vote for Dreamer answer

[MisterLove]

Tough question. Even Hitler had difficulties determining who was Jewish, the infamous Nuremberg laws were a complete mess.

[Nightcrawler]

@MisterLove (i cant quote for some reason)

lol, no he didn't have problem.
if ur grand-grand-grand-grand-grand parent was jew, then u was jew.

some people say that means hitler himself was jew because some far ancestor of his was jew ...
but lets not try to understand nazis logic, right ... ?

[Wade]

The reason why this issue is so confusing is because the concept of "race" is a construct developed to categorize people using fallacious methods. Are black people a "race?" Do you define the black race by skin color? What about albino Africans? Some people in southern Asia, like India certainly have similar skin color to what we would qualify for black skin. Do you define the black race by country, continent, cultural identification?

When looked at closely, "race" is a myth. There's no clear definition for what constitutes a "race" because "races" don't exist.