Why do Jews say that a convert is no longer a Jew?

Question

I know there are such things as genetic markers that would define a group of people. The person who converts would still carry these genetic markers. There were a group of people in Africa that were tested and their dna could be traced to the Jewish people. They were thought to be decendents of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. They were still following Jewish customs and traditions and some returned to Israel. Anyway, the fact remains that they could be identified with their dna as being a part of the Jewish nation. How can anyone deny their dna? I am confused. Jewish folks out there please explain.

I mean a convert to any other religion besides the Jewish faith.

Answer 1

First of all, anyone who converts to Judaism as Jewish law dictates in the OT is Jewish.
Second of all, being Jewish means having a spiritual quality which is passed on by one's mother (unless someone converted to Judaism).
Many of the Ethiopian Jews have intermarried throughout the generations. Thus, it was unclear whether or not they were Jewish through their mothers...
For this reason, when they came to Israel they were asked to go through a SYMBOLIC conversion, since there was a weak doubt as to their Jewish lineage.
This is a very complex issue, and I tried to simplify it as much as possible. I hope that made sense...

Answer 2

This is why I have a problem with the word Jew being used for both nationality and religion

Yes a person is still "Jewish" in the cultural sense but has abandoned the Jewish religion thus making him no longer a Jew in the eyes of Judaism. Its the same as a person that was born Christian and then became a Hindu. You can say he came from a Christian culture but everyone agrees he is no longer Christian.

Answer 3

that person is a jew in one sense, but not a jew in another. he is a jew because he has a specific responsibility to G-d to follow certain laws, whether he wants to or not, and one of those laws is - FOLLOW THE TORAH. he is a jew in the sense that he may have converted out to a different religion and abandoned judaism, but G-d will still judge him as a jew. just because he shirks his responsibilities doesn't mean he is no longer accountable for them. but he is NOT a jew in the sense that he is no longer identified with or considered a part of the jewish people - he is considered an apostate, and has the status of one until he decides to return to judaism (if he ever does). did he convert to christianity? then he is now a christian, even though he will be judged as a jew. did he convert to hinduism? then he is now a hindu, even though, once again, G-d will still judge him as a jew.

as for "lost jews" etc, its really more of a kindness to them that they have completely lost their status as natural born jews. if we all agreed they WERE still jews, that would mean that generations and generations of people completely unaware of their ancestry have been breaking laws that G-d commanded them to obey, and they would be accountable for that. but since we DON'T consider them to be jewish, that completely relieves them of all their responsibilities that they should have been doing if they were jewish, they are judged by G-d just as leniently as any other non-jew would be, and therefore their conscience is not guilty and they don't have to worry about it, and neither do we.

however, generally, any person/village/tribe anywhere who can show that they truly do have jewish ancestry is generally encouraged to "return" to the jewish religion. it happens all the time. while judaism doesn't hold people accountable who have had no way to know that they are jewish, judaism also very much wants any "lost jew" who is at all interested in returning to their religious heritage to do so.

Answer 4

Judaism is a religion, not a nationality. Perhaps certain individuals carry genetic markers that link them to ancestors from the same region. But there are no genetics that determine which religion one chooses to follow. It makes sense to assume a person from Israel would be a Jew as Judaism is the most common faith in that country. But no one is genetically predisposed to follow one faith over another.

Answer 5

Naturally the DNA markers are not exact enought to be sure of this. Were technology advanced enough to completely capture such things with certainty we would be able to create a family tree of almost everyone in the world. We are far from this acuracy, hence DNA can not be considered acurate proof.

Answer 6

truth being told-Jew by religion-following of Moses-a jew isnt a Jew unless they believe in the Messiah-as prophesied by the Jewish prophets and Moses-so unless a Messianic Jew believing in Jesus-they arnt Jewish by according to the Jewish bible-I have done many questions involving this-Leviticus 17vs11 says we have to have a blood sacrifice to atone for our sins Isaiah52:13-53:12 shows Jesus is that sacrifice-thanks
those that claim to be Jewish-say its ok to be any religion even and athiest and still be Jewish except you cant believe in Jesus-which makes sence because that is the only thing that could actually make you truely Jewish -which would be against-the new religion made when the temple was destroyed and that group of Jewish people said they wouldnt accept Jesus and made a new religion based on there attempts to make up new rules to get atonement for sins-without a blood sacrifice.

Answer 7

theyre mot denied being jewish if thats your wuestion i dont really understand what your asking but another answer is once a jew always a jew even if u convert somewhere else your still jewish

Answer 8

jews like all other religions are just as racist in thier beliefs