So basically jewish a religion?

Question

So basically jewish a religion?
its not a race? i donoe.. its from israel? why is theres always much emphasize on being jewish meaning why must that jewish people tell everyone dat he/she is jewish ? same goes in tv shows or movies. tell me

Answer 1

Judaism is a religion. However, there are people who consider themselves "secular Jews" - what do they mean by this? That they are descended from the 12 tribes of Israel, but don't follow that religion? If this is what they mean, then would they rather be Israeli or are they happy with whatever other nationality they may have (e.g. American, British ...)?

Certainly there are people in Israel now whose families "returned" there from lots of different countries, and it would be stretching things a bit to say that they are all the same race.

So, if "Jewishness" is not religion, race or nationality, what is it? It's a shared history and culture that people identify with, because when the Jews/Israelites were scattered around the world all those hundreds of years ago, they retained elements of their culture and continued to feel like a community.

Answer 2

Well, Judaism, not jewish, is their Religion. And, considering that they do not have any provision for conversion and are limited to the number of their 12 tribes, it's also a Race!

There's, incidentally, no instruction that they must tell everyone that they are Jewish, at all. However, if you're referring to their habit of asking for kosher when they order food, it's just that they have the religious thing about eating meat that is kosher [butchered by a Jewish Butcher in the Jewish ritual] which is the same as halaal for the Muslims.

Most people with Jewish names are easily identified like Sienfeld and Fran Dreschler or David Schwimmer, but that's it.

Answer 3

It's a religion. However, most Jewish people have married eachother and have had kids together for the last 6000 years. When you have the same population that has married & had kids together over this length of time, they share the same genes - like any race / tribe / ethnicity. The result of that is that a certain sect of jews actually has a higher risk for Tay-Sachs disease and an agressive form of breast cancer.

Here's another way to think about it. Some Jews are often confused with Italians or Greeks. Italian is not a "race" - but it's an ethnicity. If you are sephardic jew (one of two sects) , then you tend to look more mediteranian (israeli / southern italian, etc..).... so it's not a "race" but it's sort of a genetic cluster... well, really 2 genetic clusters (askenazi from eastern europe and sephardic from the mediteranian or israel).

You are also aware of when people are Italian and Greek in TV and Movies - right (i.e. The Sopranos or My Big Fat Greek Wedding) so it's really not that different than that. They make their ethnicity known just as much as Jews do. Actually, if anything, most jews HIDE their religion because of the tremendous degree of anti-semitism that still exists in America.

I realize this is the most comprehensive and thorough answer so I expect thumbs down now, if my last 500 answers are any indication-- so thanks in advance

Answer 4

Judaism is a way of life, a religion, and an ethnicity. This is why Jews from Africa, China, Israel, the U.S, South America, etc, emphasize the fact that they are Jewish.
Most Israelis are Jewish; some are Muslim and Christian. Judaism did begin in Israel with Abraham, and let us not forget that the most famous Jewish Israeli is Jesus.

Answer 5

Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. One can be part of the Jewish race only by birth, however, one can be a Jewish citizen by birth or immigration while, at the same time, one can be a member of the Jewish religion by birth or conversion.

To be a Jew is both a racial and a cultural thing.

Answer 6

Let me clearify being jewish is not a religon. Being jewish is not a race. Being a Jew means you belong to a nationality, and culture. Also judaism is a religon, which majority of most Jews do pratice.

What makes a pesron a Jew is having a Jewish mother going back at least 3 generations. How do you know well your grandparents are burried in a Jewish Cementary. Also you can become Jewish by converting via a Rabbi the process takes anywhere from 2 to 3 years. So a person who is Jewish can be white, latino, black, asian they are Jewish so long as the mother is Jewish or if they have converted.

We do not like being called a race think back to World War 2. Not to mention as I stated before there are Jews of every race. There are Jews in Europe who are fair skinned, Jews in Africa who are well African looking, in India who happen to look like Indians...the list goes on.

As far as Israel goes it was promised to us ---think your old testament. Given back to us in 1948..Jews can moved to Israel if they can prove if they are Jewish. If you go to Israel you will see Jews that range in all skin colors and races.

There are various TV shows that have other races...George Lopez, etc etc...list goes on.

Answer 7

Judaism is an old religion with a long tradition of documentation,
according to traditional Jewish Law, someone is considered to be a Jew if he or she was born of a Jewish mother or converted in accord with Jewish Law. American Reform Judaism and British Liberal Judaism accept the child of one Jewish parent (father or mother) as Jewish if the parents raise the child as a Jew by Progressive standards. All mainstream forms of Judaism today are open to sincere converts

Answer 8

Maybe it is because people look down upon the Jewish religion? Don't go too far, Muslims do exactly the same.

Answer 9

judaism is a religion. most israelites are lewish so that is where u might have gotten confused because being jewish is a religion. not a race

Answer 10

Jewish is not a religion, it is a nation (the people of Israel), Zionist is the religion of the Jewish people.