jewish people?

Question

jewish people are they are an ethnicity or a religion? or both?

Answer 1

For Jewish people being a Jew and practicing Judaism are the same and not the same. If you are born to a Jewish father and a non Jewish mother you are not considered a Jew as far as the religion goes. Only children born of a Jewish mother are considered Jews in a religious sense - a child of only a Jewish father would have to go through a conversion. Ethnicity is different from the religion. It is both and separate - a religion and a ethnicity.

For example: If you were born to two Jewish parents, but converted to Christianity - they will say you are not a Jew. On the other hand Jewish religious law states that if you were born of a Jewish woman you are a Jew. Double standard...........

I find it very confusing - my spouse is Jewish and I'm not. It is very, very confusing.

Answer 2

Judaism is a religion that anyone can join. It is one of the three major religions which developed in the Middle East. While Judaism does not actively seek out new adherents like Christianity, Buddhism or Islam, it does not turn them away, either.

There are several ethnic groups which have historically practised Judaism. These include groups from Spain, Central Europe and even Ethiopia. There are also people in China, the middle East and central Asia who are historically Jewish. So it's not like there is a Jewish gene, or you can look at someone and tell that they are ethnically Jewish. This is a bizarre ethnic stereotype that the Nazis invented.

Answer 3

There is a race called Jewish - started by Jacob.
There is a culture of Judiasm, separate from the religion, but only barely.
There is also a religion of Judiasm.
It is possible to be ethnically Jewish, but not religiously and vice versa.
Check out askmoses.com

Answer 4

Hello dear!
About 35 centuries ago, Egyptian Pharaoh decided to take lower class workers out of Egypt.
Thus, he created a case and his son, pretended He was not His son and led those people out. In order to secure no return, the mass of those people was wondering in the desert until all were dead! The new generation arrived to the lands of Philistines and outnumbering them, plus being more brutal they took over some cities and land of the hospitable Philistines.
In between, Moses, the High Priest of Egypt and son of Pharaoh, had to create religion, "history", etc., for those people so that they would stay away from Egypt. Thus, he wrote the first five books of Talmud and taught someone else writing, etc., to continue the writing. Thus, the Jewish race and religion have been formed!
Then, as in most "nations", there were the rulers/ leaders and the masses. So, most can belong to the masses, while it is impossible for newcomers to enter the leading class (Zionists).
Usually, the leading class even sacrifices part of the masses in order to secure and prolong their rein!
Thus, Jewish People are the "nation" Egyptians made 35 centuries ago. Among the issues separating them from others is also religion; although as it is clear not all are religious people, many think!

Answer 5

It's both! In order to be a "race" of people, by scientific definition, your bloodline must trace back all the way to one ancestor and as well as other people around the world (you have to have other members to be a race). You would also have certain characteristics associated with that race, that other people of other ethnicities do not have. Like Asians having yellow skin and almond shaped eyes (Asians do not possess the eye fold that other people possess), or African-Americans having dark, pigmented skin with coarse hair. Not being racial or stereotypical, that's just a fact. We all have genes associated with our race, and mixed people such as myself can look more or less like one of their races depending on the genes they inherited.

But back to the Jewish thing- Judaism is different then being Jewish in my opinion. Jewish mainly is referred to people of the Jewish faith but Judaism is only a cultural thing that is sacred to those of the Jewish race. The Jewish race is a race because all the Jews are descended from one ancestor- Abraham! God made a covenant with Abraham that all nations shall be blessed by him (meaning his bloodline, which is the very same bloodline Jesus was born in- making the Jewish race his people and Jesus king of the Jews).

You may think I'm a nut for stating biblical context but it's the truth, no one can tell me any different because God is very much real and all shall see when judgment day comes. The Jews didn't believe Jesus was the Messiah but a false prophet and a blasphemer, and they didn't want to hear the truth as they were opposed to it and were too selfish enough to heed the word of God , and they eventually gave up hope and started their own faith and their own religion; and overtime as more Jews descended from Abraham, they eventually abandoned Christianity all together and only held members of their bloodline to the Jewish faith (Judaism) and made traditions that their children can never intermarry. That however, only worked for some because members of the Jewish bloodline have scattered all over the world, including Europe (remember the holocaust in Germany) and have intermixed with people of other ethnicities therefore having interracial children and breaking the purity of the bloodline. Technically, if you're Jewish by religion, you can still be Jewish only by your mother but this only applies to the faith, not the race.

Eventually, all God's children will be called home and for now, members of the Jewish race are already being called home back to the promised land (Ye O, Israel). So rock on, for God's chosen people!

Answer 6

It is a culture. Found in every corner of the world.
It is a ancient religion dated long before the birth of Christ.

The ethnicity of the Jewish faith is chronicled by every generation and it is a matter of pride to know of which "tribe" your family is related too. As we would associate with what region our ancestors are from {Greek, Irish, Persian} for example.

I was raised Catholic and studied theology to understand the world outside of my religious beliefs and found a beauty in Jewish people that is timeless.

I was welcomed into the culture with open arms and savored the rich and honest practice of the traditional practices that incorporate your spiritual life as part of your daily life.

All religions/cultures have stereotypes and most times its not a reflection of the masses.

I hope that you got the answer you needed. Many people chose to become Jewish as with any other religion, it can be very rewarding, yet their are differing beliefs with in the religion as well.

Call and talk to a Rabbi sometime, they are wise men with real life experiences and often are incredible sources of information.

Answer 7

Most people associate "Jewish" with ethnicity and religion. It actually refers only to religion. There are Jews in most every country (such as Chinese Jews - I'm not kidding). "Hebrew" refers to a person of Israeli ethnicity. This implies that Israel is a literal country that was in existence before 1948. Israel is Israel, not Palestine.

Answer 8

Most are both, a follower of Judaism and a Jew by ethnicity. However, there are secular jews that dont follow judaism and jews who are only jewish by religious classification.

Answer 9

Both.
Judaism is basically Christianity - Jesus being God, and Jews are a race which was severely persecuted throughout history. I am half Jewish (but since it's on my mother's side, I'm considered whole) but I don't practice Judaism.

Answer 10

both. its a race because we all descend from the same people and tend not to marry non-jews so we generally have a lot of the same bloodlines and we consider other jews as family . its a religion because you can convert to judaism even if you dont descend from the hebrews.