"Who is a Jew?" (, ) 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.
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.
There is controversy over Jewish identification 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 their ancestry and persecuted them on a racial basis. 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.
Definition of "Jew" The term "Jew" lends itself to several definitions beyond simply denoting one who practices Judaism or is an Israelite. The historical Israelites and/or Hebrews, who promulgated Judaism, were not simply a heterogenous assemblage united by a common ideology; they constituted an ethnoreligious group from whom a majority of modern Jews directly descend. Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The people of the Kingdom of Israel and the ethnic and religious group known as the Jewish people that descended from them have been subjected to a number of forced migrations in their history""In the broader sense of the term, a Jew is any person belonging to the worldwide group that constitutes, through descent or conversion, a continuation of the ancient Jewish people, who were themselves descendants of the Hebrews of the Old Testament." Jew at Encyclopædia Britannica"Hebrew, any member of an ancient northern Semitic people that were the ancestors of the Jews." Hebrew (People) at Encyclopædia Britannica Because of this, an ethnic form of Jewish identity exists alongside the religious form, and the concepts of Jewish ethnicity, nationhood, and religion are strongly interrelated. "Historically, the religious and ethnic dimensions of Jewish identity have been closely interwoven. In fact, so closely bound are they, that the traditional Jewish lexicon hardly distinguishes between the two concepts. Jewish religious practice, by definition, was observed exclusively by the Jewish people, and notions of Jewish peoplehood, nation, and community were suffused with faith in the Jewish God, the practice of Jewish (religious) law and the study of ancient religious texts" "This identification in the Jewish attitude between the ethnic group and religious identity is so close that the reception into this religion of members not belonging to its ethnic group has become impossible." Additionally, conversion allows for one who has no prior connection to the historical Jewish population to become a Jew.
In essence, the word "Jew" can be defined as a conglomerate of several different, albeit closely related, ideas:
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 direct 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, "A person born Jewish who refutes Judaism may continue to assert a Jewish identity, and if he or she does not convert to another religion, even religious Jews will recognize the person as a Jew" though some scholars limit the definition to descendants of Israelites who practice Judaism. A Jew is one who, regardless of current religious identity, is directly descended from a Jewish ancestor. Traditionally, this has only applied to matrilineal ancestry, although some Jewish groups also recognize Jewishness by way of patrilineal descent.
Traditional interpretation and variations
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,* Ethnic minorities in English law. Google Books. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
a religion,Sharot, Stephen, "Judaism and Jewish Ethnicity: Changing Interrelationships and Differentiations in the Diaspora and Israel," in Ernest Krausz, Gitta Tulea, (eds.) Jewish Survival: The Identity Problem at the Close of the Twentieth Century, pp. 87–104 or peoplehood, the definition depends on either traditional or newer interpretations of Jewish law and custom.Will Herberg, David G. Dalin, From Marxism to Judaism: the Collected Essays of Will Herberg, p.240
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. The Israeli Chief Rabbinate requires documents proving the Jewishness of one’s mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother when applying for marriage. The British 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.
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
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?
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.
Contemporary Judaism All Jewish religious movements agree that a person may be a Jew either by birth or through conversion. According to halakha, a Jew by birth must be born to a Jewish mother. Halakha states that the acceptance of the principles and practices of Judaism does not make a person a Jew. However, those born Jewish do not lose that status because they cease to be observant Jews, even if they adopt the practices of another religion.
Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism, as movements which reject the concept of halakha, often accept a child as Jewish when only the father is Jewish, provided that the child chooses to identify as Jewish. As conversion processes differ, those performed by more liberal denominations are not accepted by more orthodox denominations.
Jewish by birth
According to halakha, to determine a person's Jewish status (Hebrew: ) one needs to consider the status of both parents. If both parents are Jewish, their child will also be considered Jewish, and the child takes the standing of the father (e.g., as a kohen). If either parent is subject to an halakhic breaking status (e.g., is a mamzer) then the child is also subject to that status. If one of the parents is not Jewish, the rule is that the child takes the standing of the mother (Kiddushin 68b, Shulchan Aruch, EH 4:19). The ruling is derived from various sources including , , . Accordingly, if the mother is Jewish, so is her child, and if she is not Jewish, neither is her child considered Jewish. In Orthodox Judaism the child of a non-Jewish mother can be considered Jewish only by a process of conversion to Judaism. The child is also freed from any special status to which the father may have been subject (e.g., being a mamzer or kohen) under Jewish law.The Principles of Jewish Law, Ed. Menachem Elon, p. 429m .
The Orthodox and Conservative branches of Judaism maintain that the halakhic rules (i.e. matrilineal descent) are valid and binding. Reform and Liberal Judaism do not accept the halakhic rules as binding, and most branches accept a child of one Jewish parent, whether father or mother, as Jewish if the parents raise the child as a Jew and foster a Jewish identity in the child, noting that "in the Bible the line always followed the father, including the cases of Joseph and Moses, who married into non-Israelite priestly families."Patrilineal Descent, Jewish Virtual Library, . Retrieved September 2, 2008. (However, according to the oral tradition of Orthodox Judaism, the spouses of both Joseph and Moses converted to Judaism prior to marrying them.) The Reform movement's standard states that "for those beyond childhood claiming Jewish identity, other public acts or declarations may be added or substituted after consultation with their rabbi"."Reform Movement's Resolution on Patrilineal Descent, The Status of Children of Mixed Marriages" from the final text of the Report of the Committee on Patrilineal Descent adopted on March 15, 1983, Central Conference of American Rabbis Advocates of patrilineal descent point to and .Fighting for Patrilineal Descent, Jewish Justice , . Retrieved September 2, 2008. This policy is commonly known as patrilineal descent, though "bilineal" would be more accurate.
Patrilineal descent
In 1983, the Reform Central Conference of American Rabbis passed the Resolution on Patrilineal Descent, declaring that "the child of one Jewish parent is under the presumption of Jewish descent. This presumption of the status of the offspring of any mixed marriage is to be established through appropriate and timely public and formal acts of identification with the Jewish faith and people ... Depending on circumstances, mitzvot leading toward a positive and exclusive Jewish identity will include entry into the covenant, acquisition of a Hebrew name, Torah study, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, and Kabbalat Torah (Confirmation). For those beyond childhood claiming Jewish identity, other public acts or declarations may be added or substituted after consultation with their rabbi."Jewish Living: A Guide to Reform Contemporary Practice by Rabbi Mark Washofsky (URJ Press)