PSA: Jews are a racial group

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DH was raised Christian (his Jewish grandparents converted) but is 49% Ashkenazi. The grandma who converted escaped the Holocaust and the rest of her family remained Jewish. It’s a big part of his family's identity and history. So for him it would be yes to the race part but no to the religion part.

This would be me, except great-grandparents. In my grandparents and great-grandparents era no one intermarried including their country of origin. While we don't practice Judaism, we have a significant and unique Jewish history in our family. I accept I was raised Christian and I am not representing myself as Jewish, but I will never deny my mother's origins because it's part of who I am.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH was raised Christian (his Jewish grandparents converted) but is 49% Ashkenazi. The grandma who converted escaped the Holocaust and the rest of her family remained Jewish. It’s a big part of his family's identity and history. So for him it would be yes to the race part but no to the religion part.

This would be me, except great-grandparents. In my grandparents and great-grandparents era no one intermarried including their country of origin. While we don't practice Judaism, we have a significant and unique Jewish history in our family. I accept I was raised Christian and I am not representing myself as Jewish, but I will never deny my mother's origins because it's part of who I am.

Right. And while you are, of course, able to represent yourself however you want, you are Jewish from an ancestral standpoint, even though you don't practice the religion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH was raised Christian (his Jewish grandparents converted) but is 49% Ashkenazi. The grandma who converted escaped the Holocaust and the rest of her family remained Jewish. It’s a big part of his family's identity and history. So for him it would be yes to the race part but no to the religion part.

This would be me, except great-grandparents. In my grandparents and great-grandparents era no one intermarried including their country of origin. While we don't practice Judaism, we have a significant and unique Jewish history in our family. I accept I was raised Christian and I am not representing myself as Jewish, but I will never deny my mother's origins because it's part of who I am.

Right. And while you are, of course, able to represent yourself however you want, you are Jewish from an ancestral standpoint, even though you don't practice the religion.

As in Russian Jewish? Or whatever. -DP

[Anonymous]

It does a disservice to the religion to have people who worship Jesus and take Holy Communion to claim they are Jewish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It does a disservice to the religion to have people who worship Jesus and take Holy Communion to claim they are Jewish.

Why? There's a difference between religion, ethnicity, nationality, and genetic ancestry. You're conflating these things. Someone can be Christian from a religious standpoint and Jewish from an ancestral standpoint.

To the person who asked about being "Russian Jewish": you have to think about nationality vs ethnicity. These things can overlap, but there are situations in which they are different. For example, someone can be Russian from a nationality standpoint (aka they are a Russian citizen) while being Jewish ethnically. In Russia, there is an ethnicity option for "Jewish" because they view it as different from Slavic or Tatar or the many other ethnicities in Russia. Most of those people are, from a genetic standpoint, part of the Ashkenazi Jewish group, but not all.

In any case, it's complicated, but the main point is that being Jewish is not simply a matter of religion. It can also (but doesn't have to be) a matter of one's ethnicity/culture/genetic background.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH was raised Christian (his Jewish grandparents converted) but is 49% Ashkenazi. The grandma who converted escaped the Holocaust and the rest of her family remained Jewish. It’s a big part of his family's identity and history. So for him it would be yes to the race part but no to the religion part.

This would be me, except great-grandparents. In my grandparents and great-grandparents era no one intermarried including their country of origin. While we don't practice Judaism, we have a significant and unique Jewish history in our family. I accept I was raised Christian and I am not representing myself as Jewish, but I will never deny my mother's origins because it's part of who I am.

Its find that you feel an identification with your great grandparents and their identity. How does that make it a race? Two of my grandparents are from Philadelphia, my dad grew up in Philly, I feel an attachment to Philly though I have never lived there - but that does not make Philadelphia a "race". Just as being a grandchild or Holoacaust survivors is not race, and being a descendant of the confederate veterans or of the sons of the cinncinnati is not a "race".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH was raised Christian (his Jewish grandparents converted) but is 49% Ashkenazi. The grandma who converted escaped the Holocaust and the rest of her family remained Jewish. It’s a big part of his family's identity and history. So for him it would be yes to the race part but no to the religion part.

This would be me, except great-grandparents. In my grandparents and great-grandparents era no one intermarried including their country of origin. While we don't practice Judaism, we have a significant and unique Jewish history in our family. I accept I was raised Christian and I am not representing myself as Jewish, but I will never deny my mother's origins because it's part of who I am.

Right. And while you are, of course, able to represent yourself however you want, you are Jewish from an ancestral standpoint, even though you don't practice the religion.

I'm sorry, that's complete nonsense, but keep up with your ridiculous theory.

[Anonymous]

If my parents lived had lived in Israel for 20 years before my birth, that would obviously be part of who I am, but doesn't make me Israeli.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If my parents lived had lived in Israel for 20 years before my birth, that would obviously be part of who I am, but doesn't make me Israeli.

Likewise, if I discovered that my great-grandparents were born Christian but converted to Judaism, that wouldn't make me Christian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It does a disservice to the religion to have people who worship Jesus and take Holy Communion to claim they are Jewish.

I agree for many reasons, and they of course are two completely different religions that should not be mixed. While I was raised Christian, I don't belong to a church or attend services. Also, I have never worshiped in a synagogue or plan to. I don't claim Judaism as my religion or culture (to keep it simple, I just state my countries of origin). Only when I am asked about my mother's unique background do I explain further.

I would never enter a synagogue and claim to be Jewish or misrepresent myself to others. I'm aware there is more to Judaism than the genetic component. I just enjoy learning about the rabbis and Jewish artist in my mother's family line. I collect books, etc. on the artist's paintings. This is the extent of my Jewishness and that's enough for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It does a disservice to the religion to have people who worship Jesus and take Holy Communion to claim they are Jewish.

I agree for many reasons, and they of course are two completely different religions that should not be mixed. While I was raised Christian, I don't belong to a church or attend services. Also, I have never worshiped in a synagogue or plan to. I don't claim Judaism as my religion or culture (to keep it simple, I just state my countries of origin). Only when I am asked about my mother's unique background do I explain further.

I would never enter a synagogue and claim to be Jewish or misrepresent myself to others. I'm aware there is more to Judaism than the genetic component. I just enjoy learning about the rabbis and Jewish artist in my mother's family line. I collect books, etc. on the artist's paintings. This is the extent of my Jewishness and that's enough for me.

The artist is not just Jewish, his paintings, etc. are depictions of Jewish life (if that matters).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If my parents lived had lived in Israel for 20 years before my birth, that would obviously be part of who I am, but doesn't make me Israeli.

Likewise, if I discovered that my great-grandparents were born Christian but converted to Judaism, that wouldn't make me Christian.

You don’t get it.

Israeli is a nationality, not an ethnicity or genetic group. It’s not the same thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It does a disservice to the religion to have people who worship Jesus and take Holy Communion to claim they are Jewish.

I agree for many reasons, and they of course are two completely different religions that should not be mixed. While I was raised Christian, I don't belong to a church or attend services. Also, I have never worshiped in a synagogue or plan to. I don't claim Judaism as my religion or culture (to keep it simple, I just state my countries of origin). Only when I am asked about my mother's unique background do I explain further.

I would never enter a synagogue and claim to be Jewish or misrepresent myself to others. I'm aware there is more to Judaism than the genetic component. I just enjoy learning about the rabbis and Jewish artist in my mother's family line. I collect books, etc. on the artist's paintings. This is the extent of my Jewishness and that's enough for me.

The artist is not just Jewish, his paintings, etc. are depictions of Jewish life (if that matters).

Sigh.

Judaism is a religion, ethnicity, and genetic background. You can be Jewish if you have the genetic background but not the religion. It makes you Jewish by ancestry. I assume you’re unfamiliar with the idea of being a secular Jew. This is much more than a religion.

[Anonymous]

What if you thought virtually everything about you was Jewish, but then you find out there's nothing in your DNA that's Jewish?

[Anonymous]

A culture and a religion, not a racial group.