[Will.]

So my dad is going mad at me because I think if you're Jewish you're part of the religion but he says Jewish is a nationality and not a religion.


Please help I'm so confused

[Niamh.]

Judaism is a religion not a nationality

[Will.]

I'm scared to mention if again as he's gonnna go mad, he thinks if you're from Israel the. You're Jewish and it not a religion

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Will.

I'm scared to mention if again as he's gonnna go mad, he thinks if you're from Israel the. You're Jewish and it not a religion

If you're from Israel you're Israeli

[Pete.]

It's first and foremost a religion but it has been interpreted as a race also in recent years. But its like calling Christianity a race which is insanity imo

[Josy]

Wills dad for mastermind

But yeah what Nimah said.

[TomC]

From Wiki:

Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group[12] originating from the Israelites, or Hebrews, of the Ancient Near East.[13][14] Jewish ethnicity, nationhood and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation,[15][16][17] while its observance varies from strict observance to complete nonobservance.

[TomC]

But it's certainly not a 'nationality' as such, you could call it an ethnic group.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by TomC

But it's certainly not a 'nationality' as such, you could call it an ethnic group.

What about people who convert to Judaism then?

[LeatherTrumpet]

Its a religion

[TomC]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

What about people who convert to Judaism then?

They're not part of the ethnic group. It's got a two-fold meaning according to Wiki.

[LeatherTrumpet]

Originally Posted by Will.

So my dad is going mad at me because I think if you're Jewish you're part of the religion but he says Jewish is a nationality and not a religion.


Please help I'm so confused

I think your father is more referencing zionism but livia will be along soon to clarify

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by TomC

They're not part of the ethnic group. It's got a two-fold meaning according to Wiki.

We need Livia in here

But this is what a Jewish person on yahoo answered :

Best Answer: We literally keep telling people this (at least 10 times a day), but just get ignored. Everyone else seems to want to define what Judaism is, instead of allowing people who are actually Jewish to define themselves and explain.

Judaism IS a religion and it definitely isn't a race like some have suggested. There are Jews of ALL races the world over.

Judaism HAS distinct ethnic groups in itself, but that does not make the entire group an ethnicity. Ashkenazic (German or Eastern European), Sephardic (Spain and Portugal), Mizrahim (Middle Eastern, North African) and smaller subgroups exist.

These include: Indian Jews (Bene Israel), Romaniotes (Greece), Italian and Chinese Jews. The customs are different, so are the base languages as a whole etc..

The reason people make these distinctions is for one of two reasons 1) Antisemitism (easier to hate people who are separate from you)
2) To make claims that one can be Jewish while being a Christian

To clear up the 'who is Jewish' thing: Someone is Jewish one of two ways (according to Judaism):

A) Their mother is Jewish: If someone takes up another belief they are an apostate. Should they *want* to return to Judaism, they wouldn't have to convert back into the religion, but apostasy implies a number of things, like not being buried in a Jewish cemetery for example.

B) One converts into the religion: Judaism doesn't proselytize (because we understand that it's not for everyone), but if someone wants to convert, by all means they are welcome to.
Source(s):
~Jewish

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/i...4220051AANEwK2

[bitontheslide]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

I think your father is more referencing zionism but livia will be along soon to clarify

The last thing we need is someone that is knowledgeable on the subject

[Jamie89]

I'm no expert so could be completely wrong, but I've always thought of Judaism as being more complicated than other religions in terms of identity, because it can be based on your parentage rather than just your beliefs. I mean it's essentially just a label so it depends how you interpret it (so maybe there's no right or wrong answer) but I'm pretty sure that there are a lot of Jewish people who consider someone to be a Jew purely based on if they are born to a Jewish mother. Even if that person follows no religion or faith.

[Jamie89]

I don't know how accurate this website is but...

http://www.jewfaq.org/whoisjew.htm

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.

[LeatherTrumpet]

my advice to you will is to make sure that you just be you and dont attach any religious labels to yourself as they all all fictitious

[Jamie89]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

my advice to you will is to make sure that you just be you and dont attach any religious labels to yourself as they all all fictitious

He's not saying he want's to become Jewish, he's just trying to understand more about it

[LeatherTrumpet]

Originally Posted by Jamie89

He's not saying he want's to become Jewish, he's just trying to understand more about it

i wonder is his penis has been mutilated tho

already, before he can make a choice?

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

i wonder is his penis has been mutilated tho

already, before he can make a choice?

That's not just a Jewish thing, the vast majority of Americans get that done to their baby boys too

[LeatherTrumpet]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

That's not just a Jewish thing, the vast majority of Americans get that done to their baby boys too

well it is a jewish thing and its a horrible thing to do to any boy @america

[LeatherTrumpet]

that can be a crucial cm or so

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

well it is a jewish thing and its a horrible thing to do to any boy @america

Yes but the Americans (not just Jewish) believe it's "unclean" not to have it done, nothing to do with religious reasons

[Jamie89]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

i wonder is his penis has been mutilated tho

already, before he can make a choice?

Will's penis is irrelevant

[LeatherTrumpet]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Yes but the Americans (not just Jewish) believe it's "unclean" not to have it done, nothing to do with religious reasons

yes millions of years of evolution and natural selection and some americans think they have a better idea