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Who is a Jew?

"Who is a Jew?" (Hebrew: מיהו יהודי pronounced [ˈmi(h)u je(h)uˈdi]) is a basic question about Jewish identity and considerations of Jewish self-identification. The question pertains to ideas about Jewish personhood, which have cultural, ethnic, religious, political, genealogical, and personal dimensions. Orthodox Judaism and Conservative Judaism follow Jewish law (Halakha), deeming people to be Jewish if their mothers are Jewish or if they underwent a halakhic conversion. Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism accept both matrilineal and patrilineal descent as well as conversion. Karaite Judaism predominantly follows patrilineal descent as well as conversion.

"מיהו יהודי" redirects here. For the 1930s catchphrase, see Who's Yehoodi?

Jewish identity is also commonly defined through ethnicity. Opinion polls have suggested that the majority of modern Jews see being Jewish as predominantly a matter of ancestry and culture, rather than religion.[1][2]


There is controversy over "Who is a Jew?" in Israel, as it affects citizenship and personal status issues like marriage. Israel's Law of Return grants citizenship to those with a Jewish parent or grandparent, even if not religious. But the rabbinical courts use halakhic rules for marriage, requiring Orthodox conversions for those without a Jewish mother. This creates conflicts between different branches of Judaism.


The Nazis defined Jews based on ancestry and persecuted them on a racial basis. Antisemites have also defined Jews for discriminatory goals. But Jews themselves have varying self-definitions, ranging from religious observance to secular ethnic identity. There is no consensus, but common themes emphasize ancestry, culture, and community belonging, even for secular Jews and converts to other religions.

A Jew is one who practices the Jewish religion, Judaism. This includes both converts and those who have been members of the Jewish religion since birth.

A Jew is one who is a descendant of the ancient Israelite ethnic group, and therefore is a member of the Jewish people. This includes those who may not be observantly religious, or may be irreligious altogether, and claim an overtly cultural connection.[11] But some scholars limit the definition to descendants of Israelites who practice Judaism.[12]

[10]

A Jew is one who, regardless of current religious identity, is directly descended from a Jewish ancestor. Traditionally, this has only applied to ancestry, although some Jewish groups also recognize Jewishness by way of patrilineal descent.

matrilineal

The term "Jew" lends itself to several definitions beyond simply denoting one who practices Judaism. The historical Israelites and/or Hebrews, who promulgated Judaism, were not simply a homogeneous assemblage united by a common ideology, that being the Jewish religion; they constituted an ethnoreligious group from whom a majority of modern Jews directly descend,[3][4][5][6][7] and therefore an ethnic form of Jewish identity exists alongside the religious form of Jewish identity. As such, the concepts of Jewish ethnicity, nationhood, and religion are strongly interrelated,[8][9] however, through conversion, it is possible for one who has no historical connection to the historical Jewish population to become a Jew, in that sense.


In essence, the word "Jew" can be defined as a conglomerate of several different, albeit closely related, ideas:

Should a person with only a Jewish father be considered Jewish?

Which conversion processes should be considered valid?

Can one remain a Jew after converting to another religion?

How does being unaware of having Jewish parents affect one's Jewish status?

How is Jewish identity determined in different countries throughout the Jewish Diaspora?

How is the claim to Israeli citizenship adjudicated in the context of the ?

Basic Laws of Israel

The definition of who is a Jew varies according to whether it is being considered by Jews on the basis of religious law and tradition or self-identification, or by non-Jews for other reasons, sometimes for prejudicial purposes. Because Jewish identity can include characteristics of an ethnicity,[13] a religion,[14] or peoplehood, the definition depends on either traditional or newer interpretations of Jewish law and custom.[15]


Israel's Law of Return stipulates that a Jew is someone with a Jewish mother or someone who has converted to Judaism and is not a member of another religion.[16] The Israeli Chief Rabbinate requires documents proving the Jewishness of one’s mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother when applying for marriage.[17] The Office of the Chief Rabbi (OCR) has underlined the basic principle that a child is not recognised by the OCR and other bodies as Jewish unless their mother is Jewish, or they underwent a conversion recognized by the body.[18]


According to the simplest definition used by most Jews for self-identification, a person is a Jew by birth or becomes one through religious conversion. However, there are differences in interpretations when it comes to non-Orthodox Jewish denominations in the application of this definition, including

Tannaitic Judaism

According to the Mishnah, the first written source for halakha, the status of the offspring of mixed marriages was determined matrilineally.


According to historian Shaye J. D. Cohen, in the Bible, the status of the offspring of mixed marriages was determined patrilineally. He brings two likely explanations for the change in Mishnaic times: first, the Mishnah may have been applying the same logic to mixed marriages as it had applied to other mixtures (kilayim). Thus, a mixed marriage is forbidden as is the union of a horse and a donkey, and in both unions the offspring are judged matrilineally. Second, the Tannaim may have been influenced by Roman law, which dictated that when a parent could not contract a legal marriage, offspring would follow the mother.[19]

"The resolution is advisory rather than halachic in the traditional sense. It does not establish a new definition of Jewish identity, for its preamble states expressly that it means to be operative only for Reform Jews in North America, not for all Jews everywhere."

"Jewish descent may be from either parent ...The Reform Movement presumes the child of one Jewish parent, either mother or father, as Jewish. In fact, the 1983 resolution is in one significant respect more stringent than the traditional definition of Jewish status. The child of a Jewish mother and gentile father, whom halachah regards as clearly Jewish, enjoys but a presumption of Jewish status that must be "established" by "appropriate and timely public and formal acts of identification."

"Biology remains a crucial factor. In the determination of Jewish identity ... the child of two gentile parents is, as before, definitely a non-Jew and must undergo a formal conversion in order to become a Jew."

"Both descent and behavior are crucial in determining Jewish status under the resolution. The Jewish status of a child of an intermarriage cannot be determined "automatically" either by biology or behavior. Both elements—descent from one Jewish parent and the performance of mitzvot that lead to a "positive and exclusive Jewish identity—must be present, and they must be present during childhood."

"The resolution applies only to children raised exclusively as Jews ... A child raised simultaneously in Judaism and another religious tradition does not develop a "positive and exclusive" Jewish identity; therefore the presumption of Jewish status is disproved, and the resolution does not apply to that child. He or she will require conversion prior to celebrating becoming bar or bat mitzvah in the synagogue."

[28]

Other non-religious definitions

The Society for Humanistic Judaism defines a Jew as "someone who identifies with the history, culture and fate of the Jewish people". In their view it is, therefore, possible for a non-religious individual to adopt Judaism and join a Humanistic Jewish community, and for the Society for Humanistic Judaism to adopt the person wanting to be part of the Humanistic Jewish family.[95] As Israeli author Amos Oz puts it, "a Jew is anyone who chooses or is compelled to share a common fate with other Jews."[96] Oz summed up his position more succinctly in a monologue published in Tikkun, saying "Who is a Jew? Everyone who is mad enough to call himself or herself a Jew is a Jew.".[97] From a similar perspective it is possible for a person born and raised as a Jew to leave Judaism and no longer be a Jew: famous historical examples are Heinrich Heine, Benjamin Disraeli, Gustav Mahler, Georg Brandes.

Immigrants from the  (FSU) – a study conducted between 2003 and 2005 showed that 83% of people from the FSU who started the Judaism test process successfully finished it. An estimated 10% left the process before completion. In a later study, in 2011, a 90% success rate was achieved in the FSU immigrant community.[106] Many Jews in the former Soviet Union took steps to hide their Jewishness. Besides post-Soviet copies of documents are suspected by the tribunal after widespread falsification, and the archived originals are difficult to access for genealogists.[107]

former Soviet Union

Immigrants from the United States, where government documents generally do not show religion or Jewish ethnicity.[109][110][111]

[108]

Humanistic Judaism view on Who is a Jew

by the Union for Reform Judaism

Reform view of who is a Jew

by Jewish Virtual Library

Who is a Jew

by JCPA

Orthodox and Non-Orthodox Judaism: How to Square the Circle

by the U.S. Library of Congress

The "Who Is a Jew?" Controversy