Is Jewish also an ethnicity?

Question

Can being Jewish be considered an ethnicity? Or simply a religion?
I want to hear people's opinions, and see if there is any good info on this out there. I am russian jewish, so both my parents are jewish and from the USSR, and all i know is that the former USSR used to post jewish under nationality..

Answer 1

Both religion and ethnicity.
Most of the people who practice Judaism (the religion of the Israelites) are Jews by nationality (i.e originated from the Israelite tribe of Judah).

It has been proved by scientists that there is a strong genetic connection between Jews all over the world, that is to say, Jews from Russia and Germany share a lot of genetic resemblance with Jews from Yemen and Iraq, to this matter, and differ from the natives.

But I believe that Jewishness is a matter of feeling. If you feel Jewish, I count you in.
Anyway, you can read some more about "who is a Jew" in wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_is_a_Jew%3F

Answer 2

Honestly, I think we have a hard time with this question because we have no frame of reference.There is no other religion that began as the descendants of one family. There is no other family (as far as I know) that can trace it's roots back 4000 years. There is no other People that lost their homeland and were spread all over the world, adapting to and adopting some of the culture of their countries, but yet retaining it's unique identity . There is not other Nation that allows conversion. So here's what we do understand: 1) Judaism is a religion. G-d gave the Torah to the Jewish People 3320 years ago and that Torah is the foundation of all things Jewish. 2) Judaism is not an ethnicity. There are Jews of every color and race. 3) Most Jews are descended from one family (That of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) 4) Judaism has always accepted converts who truly want to serve G-d as Jews. 5) Jewish is not a nationality, but most Jews feel a connection to our historic homeland. 6) There is a lot of research on the "Jewish DNA" and I don't know a lot about it. While it's been watered down for thousands of years, there are apparently some very strong connections.

Answer 3

It can be both. People of descent from the Hebrews are Jewish by ethnicity, but may or may not be adherents of the Jewish religion. People who have converted to Judaism, are not Jewish ethnically but are Jewish religiously. The old USSR probably wanted to track potentially troublesome ethnic minorities like Jews, Ukrainains, Tajiks, Khazaks, Lithuanians, Germans, Latvians, Poles, Estonians, Finns, in other words, anyone not a Russian by ethnicity. Ah, the workers paradise.

Answer 4

Judaism is a religion. It is not a race. It is not a nationality. The country the Jew is from is his nationality. There are some who are descended from the Jewish race, but, very few. To say it is ethnic, some would say so-----if they do not know about the different Jews of the world. I would place the ethnic part by what group they are-Ashkenazim, Sephardim, or Mizrihim. Each has its own culture and backgrounds. The latter group would be mostly those who are from the Jewish race.........the Jews of the Mid-east.

Answer 5

It's REALLY complicated. To some degree it's a religion, to some degree it's an ethnicity, to some degree it's simply cultural, to some degree it's a nation (NOT a nation-state). I'd say it's mainly so complicated because it's OLD. I suppose you could call the Jews a "people" - I've actually seen the label "tribe" used.

Answer 6

I think of Jews as being a culture and a religion, but it's up to Jews themselves to describe their identity. Many Christians seem to think they are the authority on who is or is not a Jew.

There are many, many secular Jews who celebrate all the holidays and traditions with family and friends, yet don't believe in God. I would say they belong to the Jewish culture, but don't practice any religion.

You should be the one to determine whether you are a Jew and let others decide whether or not they want to describe themselves as Jews. Never again do we have to let others determine our identity.

I don't know where you live now, but you won't find "Jew" under nationality anywhere in the U.S.
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Answer 7

Jewish is not a religion. Judaism is a religion many Jews follow, but there are also many Jews who believe in Jesus and therefore are Christians. In fact, Jesus Himself was a Jew as were many of the apostles including the apostle Paul who wrote most of the New Testament. Furthermore, there are groups such as Jews for Jesus that are very popular today with many Jews who profess Christianity as their faith.....No one is forced into a specific set of religious beliefs just because of their race. You have a choice!

Answer 8

Jewish is more like a nationality or citizenship. It describes peoples culture and beliefs and is effected by their parent's nationality. And, like one's citizenship, one can lose their status (at least their full status) as "jewish" if one converts to another religion.

cheerio

Answer 9

The word Jew is derived form the name of a tribe called Judea. This was the most powerful tribe among Jews which defeated other Jewish tribes in the wars between them. Before that there was no word like Jew. Jews in the time of Moses, Aaron, David and Solmon etc were called Muslims and their religion was Islam and so was the religion of father of Issac and grand father of Jacob (Ya'qoob) i.e Ibrahim (Abraham). Abraham was a Muslim and his religion was also Islam. He built a house of the God (Baitullah) i.e. Kabah in Mecca. His elder son was Ishameel who was from Hajirah. WHile Issac was from his otherwife Sara. Abraham left Hajirah and ishmaeel on God's command in desert Makkah (Mecca). Soon infant Ishameel needed water but their was no water so his mother ran between hills of Safa and Marwah to look for wate desperately. Then suddenly she saw water gushing out from the earth under the heels of Ishameel. The water Zam Zam brought life to the desert and hence Makkah city was born. Later the God tested Ibrahim by ordering him to sacrifice his only son i.e. Ishameel (at that time Issac was not born yet). When Ibrahim pssed he test, the God promised Ibrahim to bring a lot of Prophets form his progeny and these Prophets included Ishmaeel, Issac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Jesus and Muhammad (Peace be upon all of them) With time people forgot their religion and even their names. The final edition of all divine books is the Quran which tells you all these things in great details. Since Quran is the final book God made it dust and rust free and fresh frozen its langauge. So Quran today is same aas 1450 years back and as fresh, as understandable as moving as 1450 years back. Muslims make pilgramage to Kabah in Makkah and drink Zam, Zam and run beteen the hills of Safa and Mrwah and sacrifce lamb or goat to rmember the great sacrifice and salute Ibrahim and his progent in all our prayers five times a day. Muslims today also anually fast for tow days on 9th and 10th Muharrm thanking Allah for saving Moses and his follower Muslims from Pharoah. We Muslims believe in and respect all the Prophets (Peace be upon them)
As most Jews are not following their original religion they have been hijacked by their leaders who have made Jew an ethnic group and a race which it ought not to be.

Answer 10

Primarily it's an ethnicity. The religion is all over the place.