When people talk about jews?

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Your Friendly Jewish Accountant

THANK YOU for grasping the obvious that so many cannot.

There's no gene for religion. The idea is just preposterous.

I'm Hispanic, I'm a Jew. My friend, he's black, he's a Jew. Tell me where our genetic lines cross and I'll show you a bridge I'd like to sell you.

dandyl

Are Jews a race? No. Judiasm is considered to be both a religion and a nation/culture. More than 13 million people are now identified as Jews, with roughly six million living in the United States and five million in Israel.** Jews come in all shapes, sizes and nationalities. For example, there are black Jews from Ethiopia, Chinese Jews from Shanghai and Indian Jews from India. Practices and beliefs among Jews range from those who call themselves Jews but have nothing more to do with the religion or culture to rigidly Orthodox who strictly observe ancient Jewish precepts.But it is more than a religion.Being Jewish is not a nationality because Jews have been dispersed throughout the world for almost two thousand years. People of many different nationalities are Jewish.Being Jewish means you are a part of a religious movement. However, the great majority of Jews become a part of the religious movement through birth and not due to their beliefs or actions. In this way, being Jewish is like being a citizen of a religious movement.

A Jewish identity is automatically bestowed on the babies of Jewish mothers (according to Orthodox and Conservative Judaism) and of Jewish mothers or fathers (according to Reform Judaism). This Jewish identity stays with them throughout life even if they don't actively practice Judaism.

If a person is not born Jewish, he/she can undergo the process of conversion to become a Jew. A person who was not born Jewish or has not gone through the conversion process is not considered a Jew even if he or she believes in Judaism and observes Jewish practices. The conversion process is very meaningful because it is the only way for a non-Jew to become Jewish.

Lovely butterfly

Your right, It's the same situation with Indians. We have so many different cultures and religions yet people all think we are one type/ all the same and have the same beliefs. NOT TRUE. It's all stereo types and narrow minded people.

J. Milton

You're right. People don't seem to understand that.

mama_pajama_1

Jewish identity has never been defined by race or biology. People related to one another share genetic markers so of course many Jews do share the same genes. The ancient Hebrews had no concept of genetics and the Torah isnâ€™t based on that. Jews began as a family, then as a small group of tribes and has remained tribal in nature. However, Jews are NOT considered an ethnicity. There is simply NO single Jewish ethnicity.

Jews are a nation people, Israel (tribal origin) bound by an eternal covenant of the faith (religion) of Judaism. The Torah calls the covenant people a nation directly! We are like a huge family and only the family can determine who is a member of it by using the laws of the covenant. It is the laws of Judaism, given to the covenant nation, Israel, in the Torah, that determine Jewish identity. It is not a matter of â€œbloodâ€ but of self-determination through the laws of the Jewish people.

The Jewish people are considered both a nation and a religion. Our connection is primarily one of faith (religion) through the covenant of Israel, yet membership is also conferred by birth, through matrilineal descent .One may also become a part of the nation Israel by adoption of the faith of Judaism and formal procedures of conversion.
One who converts to Judaism is considered as FULLY Jewish as one born Jewish and their children are Jews. This has been the case since the times of the Torah.

However one can be a Jew and not belong to both. One may technically be a Jew if their mother is a Jew, but apostate to the covenant of Israel and no longer considered a member of the nation if they leave it for the covenant of faith of another religion.

We are Klal Yisrael, the community of Israel. . **MANY** different and distinctly Jewish cultures and ethnicities have developed over the millennia in Diaspora lands. The Diaspora refers to the Jewish presence outside of Israel after the destruction of the First and Second Temple periods and the Bar Kochba revolt.

There is no ONE Jewish ethnicity, but a great many ethnicities that are distinctly Jewish. There are the Mizrahi (from the Middle East and North Africa).The Sephardi (Spanish) and the Ashkenazi, (German, Polish, Russian and other Eastern European) and others not even mentioned are all Jewish ethnicities that are different from one another as to cultural practices and foods. Yet they are all Jewish ethnicities. However ethnicitiy does NOT define them as Jewish, but the faith and covenant that binds them all together as Klal Yisrael.

The Jewish nation began as a group of tribes and our connection to one another is still from the perspective of a tribal nation. (example: as the Lakota nation has tribal procedure and law to determine who is a member of their tribe, who is not, who is expelled and who is adopted, so does Judaism)
One born a member of the tribal covenant nation Israel (Jewish) may not be observant or even believe in God and theyâ€™re still a full member, a Jew. They may not be a good member or an active member but theyâ€™ve not renounced membership by following something ELSE instead of Judaism. An atheist or a secular Jew is not trying to call something ELSE Judaism. That is how one may be an "atheist Jew", they still may live Jewish ethics and identify with their people, but they did not take on foreign deities or idolatrous beliefs contradictory to monotheism or Torah
Now if one born into the covenant becomes apostate to it through rejection of the covenant by adoption of another belief contradictory to the covenant, they are still be considered a Jew, but for all intents and purposes, they're not given the status of a member. According to Jewish law they're not counted in a minyan,( the minimum number of adults required for certain prayers and other mitzvot), they can't be buried in a Jewish cemetery, they cannot be given honors to go up to read Torah at a synagogue, and they may not be allowed to speak for the Jewish people. They CAN however, return without formal conversion should they so desire and then be embraced again as full members. One who has left the Jewish people for the foreign faith of another people must undergo the steps of TESHUVAH , which means repentance and return to the God of Israel. Some groups may require that the individual also requires immersion in the mikveh before being accepted back, but they do not require the formal steps of conversion should the person wish to return.
Jews are in NO way a RACE..other than as members of the human race. It is Jewish law alone, not Christianity or any other entity that determines the status of who and what is Jewish. When a Jew adopts a belief that is in conflict with the Jewish religion, the belief does NOT become a " Jewish belief" just because a Jew chooses to believe in it. THAT is the conflict Jews have with the Christians who call themselves Jews if deceptively try to present their Christian belief AS Judaism. A Jew who converts to Hare Krishna is just as apostate, but there exists no Jews for Hare Krishna or Hare Krishna Judaism evangelical groups spending millions of dollars a year in campaigns to convert secular Jews by convincing them it is a form of Judaism.
You can become a member of a tribe or nation if you meet the criteria of citizenship. And the covenant people, Klal Yisrael, remain as in the earliest days of the covenant..a nation. It hasn't changed.
The covenant people, Israel have been MULTIRACIAL since the days of Torah, Moses' wife, Zipporah was a black woman. There have been Ethiopian Beta Yisrael since the days of Solomon! And I repeat, one cannot convert to a race. One may convert and become fully Jewish.

Many people mistakenly believe the Nazis were the first to disrespect the Jewish laws regarding Jewish identity and attempt to redefine Jewish identity as "race" rather than a covenant nation people who practice Judaism. However, it did not begin there. It was firmly entrenched into European consciousness among a great many non-Jews before Hitler ever rose to power beginning in the mid 1800's among pseudo-scientific intellectuals looking to create notions of racial superiority and inferiority based on nationalism. While the Nazis promoted the false notion that Jews are a race, Hitler used it and many other things against Jewish law in order to discredit and persecute Jews. Both the concept that the dogma of a contradictory religion to Judaism or the pseudo scientific ideas of antisemites(Nazis) have authority to determine Jewish identity OVER the right of the laws of the people in question , reveals utter disregard and disrespect of the right of the Jewish people to self-determination according to Jewish law with regard to who is or is not a Jew.

The Jewish Bible ( Tanakh ) tells from the beginning book to the end that the righteous of all nations ( Jew or Gentile ) have the capacity to connect directly to God, merit blessing and a place in the world to come. Every human is equal before God according to the Jewish religion. Atonement is directly from God. Shalom
EDIT: I have had Rabbis from Orthodox, Conservative and Reform branches attest to the accuracy of my information regarding Jewish identity by Jewish law.
second edit: Reform Judaism ( of which I am a member) will consider as Jewish one whose father is a Jew IF the child was RAISED in Judaism actively and exclusively. Even in Reform Judaism, simply having a Jewish father without exclusively Jewish upbringing, would require conversion on the part of the person with only a Jewish father to become a Jew.

You are correct but like you most of the world doesn't take the time to learn what they are talking about before speaking.

Annt Hu DeShalit

Judaism has elements of religion, nationality and culture. At least those.

There is a Jewish religion.

There is a Jewish people.

There are Jewish languages.

There is Jewish literature.

There is Jewish music.

There are Jewish foods.

There is a Jewish state.

And other characteristics.

One can convert to Judaism. And in doing so, he has all the rights and obligations of all other Jews.

There are also some genes common to many people who have Jewish ancestors.

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Tyreeisme!

most Jewish ethnic groups originate ultimately in the Middle East but Jews are not a distinct race that is a Nazi idea
There are White jews, Black jews, Asian Jews,ect.

ATL PJA Wyldstar (wa-ya-\y)

Yes I am Cherokee and I found this to be fairly accurate, many do not understand it is a Religion and not a race. I learned by talking to other Jews and listening to them rather then just making my own assumptions. Many are not educated to know these things sadly and all should know what a race is vs. a Religion or even culture.

So if you ever decided to convert it is to a Religion one cannot convert to another race you are who you are but you can change your Religion. I went to a Synagouge and had a great time and never once was pressured to convert and was treated well as a guest. I am welcome back any time I choose but they do not call or harass me to come either I like that about them there.
Edit: The one exception of course is Israel which is a Country and Nation of course but its still not a race.

Belle

Being Jewish is not a race. Jews are not connected by blood lines.

If you convert you won't join a race, but a religion. Jews are God's chosen people also.

A Jewish mother, however, has a son and he is born Jewish.

Hope this helps.

Primordius Drool

"Jewish" is a complex adjective, that has religious, genealogical and cultural meanings.

There isn't a "Jewish gene" but there are genetic markers only certain ethnic Jews typically have. It was this marker that verified the Lemba tribe of southern Africa's assertion of Jewish ancestry.

There are also some genetic diseases most commonly found among Jews whose ancestors lived in Eastern Europe. These manifested because the Jewish communities tended to intermarry, and therefore rare and recessive disorders were activated in unfortunate individuals. Similar phenomena appear in other isolated human groups, such as the people of western Ireland.

There's no need to quibble about this - "Jewish" can mean many things, so if you hear it or use it, know and make clear the context.

Gershon b

It's real simple. NASCAR is a race. To some it's a religion.

(My answer makes as much sense as your question.)

H.A

yes
but just like when people talk about muslims

The First Dragon

Jewishness actually has a religious aspect as well as an ethnic aspect. It is not a race, though. There are Jews of every race in the world.
The ethnic aspect comes because, by Jewish religious law, the child of a Jewish mother is automatically Jewish. This is true whether or not they are practicing Jews.
The religious aspect is apparent in the fact that a non-Jew can convert to the Jewish religion, Judaism.
So, many "Jews" are not "practicing" or "religious" Jews.
This is confusing to Christians, because nobody can be "born" a Christian. The Christian faith must be chosen, whether by the parents baptizing their children, or by adults making the commitment. Christianity is strictly a religion, not an ethnicity at all.

xxRachiexo

People do know they are a religion its just easier and less forgettable to talk about them as a race (:

Lando

The Jews in a way are both the religion has preserved the bloodline since Jews have never really proselytized its been passed down from generation to generation most Jews are Semetic dna has proven this

Arieh

I have always been conflicted by this dichotomy of race and religion. When I first went to Kibbutz Gadot I couldn't understand how they could be atheist yet consider themselves Jewish. How can you not believe in G-d and still say that you are Jewish? I never got a straight answer. I guess it has to do with the purity of our blood since for countless generations there was no inter-marriage with other groups of people (this is a 20th century phenomenon). Hence, since we all have the same father (Abraham), we are Jewish whether we believe in G-d or not. If you do convert, I guess your own personal, subjective mind will decide whether you are a Jew because of religious choice or because you identify with our blood.

Blah!

its because almost all jews are hebrew. Many keep their religion and culture very close. Have you ever heard of Jewish Misionaries, or seen Jewish advertisments any where? no, because they do not try to convert others, they allow others to convert.

kateAlina

it's both. they're not gonna let you convert if you don't know anything about it =) and you don't want to convert if you don't like silly people talking about you, ha.

J R

Being Jewish is an ethnicity and a religion. A Jewish gene is considered to run down the maternal side, if I am not mistaken. Here is the best example I can give: my great grandfather was a sephardic Jew and had a son in Holland (things happened, yada, yada, yada, father was not in his life). Well, this was during WWII. Even though my grandfather was raised as a Catholic, he is still gene speaking considered a Jew because a non practicing Jew is still a Jew, the same way a non- Catholic Italian is still an Italian. To make this even more clear (too bad the Holocaust comes into so many Jewish- related examples) Hitler was not satisfied with just forced conversion because being Jewish is an ethnicity, thus he exterminated to the 4th generation, so gene lines were nicely watered down. As for converting, you have a lot of studying to do... starting with your diet most likely.

Like if you're grandmother is Italian... then you would have some Itlalian genes.

999pheebs

Jewish people are a race too! Jewish people in the sense their religion is Judaism are not neccessarily Jewish by race though, gosh.

Geoff the skier

You are talking about Moses's people - a race of people.

Marita

they have made people believe their religion is a race over the years.
so when you criticise them. your accused of racism. they are goood!
but i got tricks too!
you will never be accepted as a "real jew" if you convert. you can only be born a "real jew" thats the sad fact.

That's probably because the Zionist regime abuses the Jewish religion therefore any acts committed by Israelis are automatically attributed to all Jews. And since Israel feeds off the suffering of Jews (in the Holocaust) the suffering they now inflict is correspondingly generalized to all Jews.
It's really sad how politics distorts religion.

For example this lady/gentleman here ( http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ahj898AjIVsiUh0YOsgU8c_.7BR.;_ylv=3?qid=20090318193144AADq9WE ) automatically made it an argument of Jew vs. Muslim not Israeli not Zionist (although we were all against the Zionist part) so naturally the responses were all directed towards "Jews" (which is how he/she categorized him/herself). That way people can start pointing fingers and calling anyone who attacks Israeli and Zionist politics/policies/decisions/terrorism, etc. an "anti-Semite".

If you choose to join Judaism don't worry about what people say. You are responsible as an individual to show (if you want to) that you are a Jew in terms of religion and spirituality (the way Judaism is meant to be). Religion is a lifestyle not a social group that you belong to, so yes you are very correct. Don't let categorization put you off Judaism if you intend to convert.

EDIT-
The answers are REALLY eye-opening ... and not in a good way.

EDIT @ asker: Very true, he/she isn't. I just may very well have lost my temper and manners if I didn't keep it strictly formal.

Grasshopper

The Jewish race is white.

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