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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous] It is not so clear cut. For example, the children of a Jewish woman are automatically considered to be Jewish, without any baptism or similar process, suggesting being Jewish is being part of a race and/ or ethnic group, beyond a religion per se.[/quote] The Jewish religion does not require a ceremony akin to baptism in order to be a member of the religion. If you are born Jewish, you are Jewish; that doesn't mean it's a race, it means that it's a religion with customs that are different from some other religions.[/quote] Well, that is your interpretation. To me the "If you are born Jewish, you are Jewish" sounds much more like a race or ethnicity than a religion. Try this...how would these statements sound: "If you are born Buddhist, you are Buddhist." "If you are born Catholic, you are Catholic" "If you are born atheist, you are atheist."[/quote] I am the PP you are quoting and these sound fine to me. When you grow up with the belief that you are born into your religion, it is the "other" custom that sounds odd - a baby or child must be officially welcomed/initiated into the religion in order to be a part of it. My children already have this belief - they are girls and they know their unborn children will be Jewish because they are. They don't think it is odd, just as Christian children likely don't think it is odd that their siblings or future children will have to be christened/baptized/etc. To the PPs who asked about seemingly Jewish children being asked to convert, well, that's a difference between levels of observance. In Israel, the Orthodox run things. Traditionally, Judaism is matrilineal because you know who the mother is; historically, determining paternity is a more difficult task, while seeing a baby emerge from its mother's body is pretty clear-cut. In modern Orthodoxy, this has turned into a law - Judaism is matrilineal, and if your mother wasn't Jewish, you must convert. American Reform and sometimes Conservative Jewish leaders will "accept" as Jewish children who are born to a Jewish parent, mother or father, and raised in the religion. So you could easily grow up in this country with a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother, attend services and religious school, celebrate your Bar or Bat Mitzvah (which recognizes not that you are a Jew, to address another PP, but rather that you have assumed the responsibilities of a Jewish adult), and then have an Orthodox rabbi require your conversion if you wanted to marry another Jew, emigrate to Israel as a Jew, etc. You are who you are, you believe what you believe, but sometimes the people in charge follow different rules. No one particularly likes the reality of that, especially the Jews who aren't of matrilineal descent, and I have friends who have experienced this. All religions have people who are more or less rigid in their beliefs and practices; Judaism is no different. [/quote]
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