I'm Jewish. Ask me anything.
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Anonymous
My sense is that most secular Jews do not subscribe to any notion of Jewish chosenness (who would do the choosing) or specialness. Jews to them are a distinct people and culture, but there are many other distinct peoples and cultures. |
Anonymous
By Jewish law and tradition no. Someone with a Jewish mother is Jewish. Someone with only a Jewish father is not, unless the child converts. According to Reform, the child of a Jewish father and unconverted gentile mother may be Jewish, but only if they are raised within the Jewish religion. OTOH many ordinary Jewish people do use the term "half Jew" or at least they did when I was growing up. That was a time when Jewishness as secular identity was more important than today. I know there are young people today who call themselves culturally Jewish, but in those days there were Jewish agnostics who had grown up in Yiddish speaking homes, and who had a much greater sense of cultural distinctiveness than almost any American Jews today. |
Anonymous
I cannot speak for PPs father whom I did not know (I mean I assume I didn't, since he in anon) But there a range of ways of expressing one's secular Jewish identity, ranging from reading classical Jewish religious texts purely for their ethical messages and literary value, to engaging Jewish music, Jewish foodways, etc to involvement with Israel. Obviously gentiles can do many of those things too, but usually they are not expressing their identity in doing so. In the past many saw certain ways of using language, of thinking, certain kinds of humor, as distinctively Jewish, but many of those are rooted in the Yiddish language and in having grown up around practicing Jews and so today are more confined to secular people who have broken away from orthodox backgrounds - at one time that was the majority of the Jewish community. |
Anonymous
I find this comment to be almost Antisemetic...but I will address the issue. The jewish are a defined ethnicity; like the Greeks, Norwegians, or any other group, there are characteristics of jewish people that are genetic -- for example, Ashkenazi jews are much more likely to carry BRCA mutations. We have a culture that relates to our religion, but is not defined by the religion. For example, if you look at the Old Testament (aka the Jewish part of the bible), you will see many rules that need to be followed. Jewish people study the text, and try to understand the text -- that is called the Talmud, which while not the bible, is the collective interpretations over the years. People would get together and discuss, argue and debate what things mean. We are taught to question the meaning, to try to understand things. The why, not just the what. That is probably why there are many jews in the legal profession -- we are taught and exposed to debates. We are taught to question -- which may explain why there are so many scientists. Jewish people have had to deal with adversity throughout history....from the time of Moses, when we were slaves, to the time of Queen Esther, to the Maccabees...then the Romans who kicked us out of our lands...the Spanish inquisition. More recently, our mass expulsion from Russia around the revolution (aka Fiddler on the Roof), and of course, the attempted mass extinction during the Holocaust. Thought out this time, we have kept our identity. Not because we are better than others, but because it is who we are. If you look at the world today, there are only two places where it is safe to be jewish: Israel and the USA. And, IMHO, Israel, while justified in sending herself, needs to be more understanding...the jewish people should embrace the Palestinians...we know what is like to be persecuted...we were victim of the Diaspora. We were strangers in the land of Egypt...The recent attempted genocide against the jewish people does not justify mistreatment of other peoples. But, we are one people. I can walk into a store in Tel Aviv, in Jerusalem, in NYC, and be with my people. I can walk into any synagogue, and be welcomed. For who I am. Oh, and anyone reading this would be welcome into my synagogue....Last night, we had almost 500 people for Friday night services, because 6 crazy people protested outside. We sang words of peace and love. |
Anonymous
| You spoke about the genetic component. How accepted are converts who are "people of color"? |
Anonymous
We welcome converts....it is hard to convert to Judaism, as we do not seek converts; we are not evangelical. But, there are people of all races that have converted for their own reasons.... |
Anonymous
Isn't anti-Semitic to mistreat, oppress and sometimes even kill so many innocent Palestinian lives? |
Anonymous
If you look at the bolded paragraph (with a typo corrected), I think I addressed it. |
Anonymous
You did share your own opinion about it, which is great. What are Jewish Americans, a significant source of political and funding support for Israel, doing to change it? Aren't they de-facto supporting anti-Semitic policies and actions? |
Anonymous
I've been told that adding bread after challah is redundant. |
Anonymous
Tons of eggs, sugar, and honey. (And you don't need to say bread, it would be like saying naan bread -- kind of redundant -- but it doesn't really matter.) Fresh challah is pretty amazing. |
Anonymous
But are they accepted as full Jews? |
Anonymous
When I've made it, it was just regular egg bread. No extra sugar and no honey. You can get awesome challah or mediocre challah. Just like any type of bread! |
Anonymous
If someone is at shule, I have no way of knowing wether they are converts or born jewish. I don't care how they got there. I have never seen someone questioned on there jewishness. If you claim to be jewish, how am I supposed to know. Where it can become an issue is with immigration to Israel. There, all conversions must be done according to specific rules. |
Anonymous
So, no double takes if a black person entered the shul? |