What Is Being Jewish?

The Jewishness of the World

Judaism is not a race because Jews do not share the same ancestry. Sephardic Jews and Ashkenazi Jews are both "Jewish." Sephardic Jews hail from the Middle East via Spain or Morocco, whereas Ashkenazi Jews hail from Europe.

Many different races have become Jewish over the centuries. Being Jewish is not a Nationality because Jews have been dispersed throughout the world for almost 2,000 years. Jews come from all over the world.

To be a Jew is to be a part of a culture, a religion and a peoplehood. Jews are unique in that they are one of the few people in the world that encompass both a religious and cultural aspect. They are referred to as Am Yisrael because they are from Israel.

The Rabbinic View of Jews

The Rabbinic view states that only the Rabbinic view can determine who is or is not a Jew when a question of Jewish identity, heritage, or parentage arises. The population of Jews with two Jewish parents is starting to surpass that of half-Jews in the United States and Europe. The term a family category is used by self-identifying half-Jews to describe multiple heritages and possible Jewish practices.

"part-Jewish" and "partial-Jews" are two of the similar terms used. The term "half-Jewish" and "part-Jewish" have been used more often in connection with descendants of intermarriage, but the term "Beta Gershom" has been used more often. The term has no religious meaning, but rather describes ethnic Jewry.

The Society for Humanistic Judaism defines a Jew as someone who identifies with the history, culture and fate of the Jewish people. Amos Oz puts it this way, "It is possible for a non- religious individual to adopt Judaism and join a Humanistic Jewish community, and for the Society for Humanistic Judaism to adopt the person wanting to be part of the Humanistic Jewish family." Oz said in his monologue that "Who is a Jew?"

Everyone who calls themselves a Jew is a Jew. " The law of 1970 extended the categories of people who are entitled to immigration and citizenship to the children and grandchildren of Jews regardless of their present religious affiliation and their spouses.

There were issues regarding whether a conversion performed outside Israel was valid. Practical difficulties for many people have arisen from the variation of the definition in the Law and the definition used by various branches of Judaism. The definition of who is a Jew is applied in relation to marriage, divorce, and burial, which are under the jurisdiction of the Israeli Interior Ministry.