Question about Jewish people

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP back. Thank you for all of the interesting discussion! I've learned so much as well as realized there are no clear cut answers.

To the PP who suggested I needed to get out more because I'm part of the dominant culture and never gave a thought to my own identity-- I'm Japanese. Not dominant culture here, and you're right, I haven't had to give much thought to my identity. Still curious about others regardless.

Japanese-American OP? If so, where did you grow up? Also, do you watch John Stewart? Do you find him funny? He has a very dry, Northeastern U.S. Jewish sense of humor, which largely comes from among the Jews of Eastern Europe. Here are the main Jewish ethnic groups:

Ashkenazic Jews: Jews from largely Central and Eastern Europe. This is the largest group of Jews in the U.S. In Europe, they largely spoke Yiddish, a High German language using a Hebrew alphabet.

Sephardic Jews: Jews from around the Mediterranean basin in Europe - largely Spain and Portugal. They spoke - and perhaps some still speak - a language called Ladino - that is based on Spanish and uses the Hebrew alphabet.

Mizrahi Jews: Jews from the Middle East, including Turkey, Syria, Armenia, Georgia, Iraq, Iran, etc. Not sure of Jews who resided in Palestine prior to the founding of the State of Israel are included in this group.

Maghrebic Jews: Jews from Northern Africa - largely Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.

Falasha or Beta Israel: Jews from Ethiopia and Eritrea

OP again. Yes, Japanese-American. Grew up in Central CA. I've watched John Stewart here and there. He's funny, but I never knew he was Jewish.

Thanks for the geographic breakdown.

[Anonymous]

BTW, I am the PP who provided this breakdown. Am not Jewish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is an ethnicity
The Hebrew names are jewish. You can guess by looking at the last name. They talk about their tribe. A shiksa is a derogative term for a non jewish person living in their neighborhood

Where did you come with this? Yes, there are common surnames that can indicate one is Jewish, but I bet there are people, like Paula Abdul or Scarlett Johannson, that you would not tell by name.

"Shiksa" and "goy" are it Hebrew words, but Yiddish.

[Anonymous]

I find it funny this thread is now six pages. What is it about Jews that elicits all of this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is an ethnicity
The Hebrew names are jewish. You can guess by looking at the last name. They talk about their tribe. A shiksa is a derogative term for a non jewish person living in their neighborhood

I believe you are referring to German names, like Weinberg and Goldsmith and Meyer. These are not "Hebrew" names. Hebrew last names are like Ben Eliezer and Dayan and are actually closer to Arabic. And not everyone with the names Weinberg, Goldsmith, etc. is Jewish so you can't "guess."

BTW, I didn't know that "tribe" meant Jews until gentiles used that reference at school. So you really are off base.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find it funny this thread is now six pages. What is it about Jews that elicits all of this?

I don't find it funny that Jews are regular people, just like everyone else. Why should any one religion/culture be "untouchable" and not allowed to be questioned and discussed?
I no longer follow the 'Muslims want their holidays in Mont. Co. schools' thread, but that was rather lively as well. Interestingly, one typically doesn't wonder, what qualifies one to be Muslim.

[Anonymous]

I find it interesting that no one is actually talking about the Jewish religion or culture here. Also, find it amusing that OP didn't think of maybe going to Wikipedia or the public library and getting a book or maybe walking down to the local synagogue and talking with a rabbi.

Part of my education growing up was to experience for my comparative religions class at a Catholic high school religious tradition different from my own. I, therefore, did attend a Sabbath service and talk with the rabbi. It was really one of the greatest thing. Of course, I grew up in South Florida, which has one of the largest Jewish communities in the U.S. and my father's best friend was Jewish.

As they both used to say when all was SNAFU in the family life, "why is this night different from all other nights?" LOL!

Now, I have a question about Nisei....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find it interesting that no one is actually talking about the Jewish religion or culture here. Also, find it amusing that OP didn't think of maybe going to Wikipedia or the public library and getting a book or maybe walking down to the local synagogue and talking with a rabbi.

Part of my education growing up was to experience for my comparative religions class at a Catholic high school religious tradition different from my own. I, therefore, did attend a Sabbath service and talk with the rabbi. It was really one of the greatest thing. Of course, I grew up in South Florida, which has one of the largest Jewish communities in the U.S. and my father's best friend was Jewish.

As they both used to say when all was SNAFU in the family life, "why is this night different from all other nights?" LOL!

Now, I have a question about Nisei....

As we clearly can see on this thread, there is no definative answer as to what exactly makes one Jewish. Every rabbi may have his/her own debatable opinion, as can anyone who considers him/herself to be Jewish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP back. Thank you for all of the interesting discussion! I've learned so much as well as realized there are no clear cut answers.

To the PP who suggested I needed to get out more because I'm part of the dominant culture and never gave a thought to my own identity-- I'm Japanese. Not dominant culture here, and you're right, I haven't had to give much thought to my identity. Still curious about others regardless.

Japanese-American OP? If so, where did you grow up? Also, do you watch John Stewart? Do you find him funny? He has a very dry, Northeastern U.S. Jewish sense of humor, which largely comes from among the Jews of Eastern Europe. Here are the main Jewish ethnic groups:

Ashkenazic Jews: Jews from largely Central and Eastern Europe. This is the largest group of Jews in the U.S. In Europe, they largely spoke Yiddish, a High German language using a Hebrew alphabet.

Sephardic Jews: Jews from around the Mediterranean basin in Europe - largely Spain and Portugal. They spoke - and perhaps some still speak - a language called Ladino - that is based on Spanish and uses the Hebrew alphabet.

Mizrahi Jews: Jews from the Middle East, including Turkey, Syria, Armenia, Georgia, Iraq, Iran, etc. Not sure of Jews who resided in Palestine prior to the founding of the State of Israel are included in this group.

Maghrebic Jews: Jews from Northern Africa - largely Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.

Falasha or Beta Israel: Jews from Ethiopia and Eritrea

You want dry humor? Try my BIL -- white, British (citizenship and heritage), raised as an Anglican.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If Judaism is a religion not an ethnicity, then how come my nieces and nephews who were born to a Jewish father and Christian mother and all had bar and bat mitzvahs, are not considered Jewish by many temples or by the state of Israel? Why were they rejected by several temples when they were young because their mother is not Jewish? Why can't they "convert" to Judaism?

In terms of acceptance at temples. I assure you all places calling themselves temples would accept them because that would be reform. Orthodox synogauges might not recognize them as Jews without a conversion.

However the state of israel would absolutely recognize them as Jewish israel allows anyone to immigrate under the law of return if they have one Jewish grandparent. This is because anyone in that category would have been deemed Jewish by Germany in WWII.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it interesting that no one is actually talking about the Jewish religion or culture here. Also, find it amusing that OP didn't think of maybe going to Wikipedia or the public library and getting a book or maybe walking down to the local synagogue and talking with a rabbi.

Part of my education growing up was to experience for my comparative religions class at a Catholic high school religious tradition different from my own. I, therefore, did attend a Sabbath service and talk with the rabbi. It was really one of the greatest thing. Of course, I grew up in South Florida, which has one of the largest Jewish communities in the U.S. and my father's best friend was Jewish.

As they both used to say when all was SNAFU in the family life, "why is this night different from all other nights?" LOL!

Now, I have a question about Nisei....

As we clearly can see on this thread, there is no definative answer as to what exactly makes one Jewish. Every rabbi may have his/her own debatable opinion, as can anyone who considers him/ herself to be Jewish.

Is this right? Or does it depend whom you ask?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it interesting that no one is actually talking about the Jewish religion or culture here. Also, find it amusing that OP didn't think of maybe going to Wikipedia or the public library and getting a book or maybe walking down to the local synagogue and talking with a rabbi.

Part of my education growing up was to experience for my comparative religions class at a Catholic high school religious tradition different from my own. I, therefore, did attend a Sabbath service and talk with the rabbi. It was really one of the greatest thing. Of course, I grew up in South Florida, which has one of the largest Jewish communities in the U.S. and my father's best friend was Jewish.

As they both used to say when all was SNAFU in the family life, "why is this night different from all other nights?" LOL!

Now, I have a question about Nisei....

As we clearly can see on this thread, there is no definative answer as to what exactly makes one Jewish. Every rabbi may have his/her own debatable opinion, as can anyone who considers him/ herself to be Jewish.

Is this right? Or does it depend whom you ask?

Well, PP, we are not all issued a FAQ upon birth or conversion. And the Torah/Talmud does not cover many of the question in here. So yes, it does depend on whom you ask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Judaism is a religion not an ethnicity, then how come my nieces and nephews who were born to a Jewish father and Christian mother and all had bar and bat mitzvahs, are not considered Jewish by many temples or by the state of Israel? Why were they rejected by several temples when they were young because their mother is not Jewish? Why can't they "convert" to Judaism?

In terms of acceptance at temples. I assure you all places calling themselves temples would accept them because that would be reform. Orthodox synogauges might not recognize them as Jews without a conversion.

However the state of israel would absolutely recognize them as Jewish israel allows anyone to immigrate under the law of return if they have one Jewish grandparent. This is because anyone in that category would have been deemed Jewish by Germany in WWII.

Exactly. You have jewish blood line, you can immigrate, but upon arrival your identity card says you are not jewish and will face discrimination. Land lords and employers are allowed to discriminate based on that religion stamp on your id.
To become a recognized jew you have to convert to orthodoxy. This is nationalism mixed with religion. You cannot really separate the 2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it interesting that no one is actually talking about the Jewish religion or culture here. Also, find it amusing that OP didn't think of maybe going to Wikipedia or the public library and getting a book or maybe walking down to the local synagogue and talking with a rabbi.

Part of my education growing up was to experience for my comparative religions class at a Catholic high school religious tradition different from my own. I, therefore, did attend a Sabbath service and talk with the rabbi. It was really one of the greatest thing. Of course, I grew up in South Florida, which has one of the largest Jewish communities in the U.S. and my father's best friend was Jewish.

As they both used to say when all was SNAFU in the family life, "why is this night different from all other nights?" LOL!

Now, I have a question about Nisei....

As we clearly can see on this thread, there is no definative answer as to what exactly makes one Jewish. Every rabbi may have his/her own debatable opinion, as can anyone who considers him/ herself to be Jewish.

Is this right? Or does it depend whom you ask?

So, this is one of the (I think) awesome things about Judaism: a HUGE part of our belief system is debate and argument. In fact, one of our holiest books isn't a collection of stories and laws, but a collection of rabbis' questions and arguments about what the Torah means. It's why Judaism places so much importance on reading and learning. It's also why there's room in Judaism for agnostics and atheists.

[Anonymous]

What happens if an uncircumcised man wants to convert?