Why do Jewish people always give different answers as to wether they are a race or a religion?

Question

....Do they actually know what they are?

Answer 1

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'Always'?...'Always'? 'Always' screams 'bigot'--loud and clear (er...loudly and clearly).
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Answer 2

Being Jewish and being ethnically jewish were not always separate. If you were born Hebrew you were Jewish and being Jewish meant you practiced judiasm. Back then, culture and religion were not separate. Now that the religion has spread and the people were united under different nations, there is a difference. So that is where the discrepency comes in. Just like being a Christian used to be just a small group of 50 people, all those people were obviously the same. Now that it has spread, race, ethnicity, and nationality have nothing to do with whether or not you worship Jesus as the son of G-d.

Answer 3

This is a good question. The Jews, especially European ashkenazim, are quite understandably nervous about discussions of Jews and race after the Shoah. Anyway, to answer the question:-
There are many races of people who practise different forms of the Mosaic (i.e. of Moses) religion. White Europeans who are "ashkenazim" and represent Hassidic, Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionalist Judaism- broadly speaking. There are many subgroups such as Karaites, Haredim, Humanists and even Buddhist-Zen Jews! There are then sephardim from the Mediterranean and Near East, including many Arabic speaking regions such as Yemen and modern day Israel. In addtion there are black Falasha Jews from Ethiopia and Iraqi, Iranian and Indian Jews respectively. Other groups have a slighlty more loose connection to Judaism such as the Lemba people of S.Africa and Zimbabwe, the Chinese and Japanese Jews and Kashmiri Bnei Yusef. To speak of a Jewish race is ridiculous as in the Bible the Yahudim were a heterogenous group anyway.
The Jewish religion on the other hand recognises that all Jews, of a Jewish mother, or converts belong to the chosen people of G-d, i.e. the greater tribes of Israel and in that sense "race" could be implied although it would be better to say "tribe or nation".
If we apply this to other nations we might say that Americans are a pretty heterogenous group but they all speak American English, have a basically American culture and with the passage of time might level to form one ethnically American group!
Remember that the Jewish religion is very old and many terms and concepts are misunderstood today given their at least 3000 year old origin. The concepts of tribe, religion and race were very different to the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans than they are today. Do not confuse the modern "genetic" idea of race with the ancient one.
Shalom

Answer 4

Judaism is a religion, but "Jewish" describes both the religion, and the cultures and ethnicities attached to it. People who identify Jews as a race usually have an agenda, and usually not one that bodes well for any Jew...

Answer 5

Well, they're both. Obviously, Judaism is a religion and - let's just say that there's a reason many Jews have the stereotypical crooked noses.

I say they just pick and choose what they wanna be, depending on which choice is more convenient.

Answer 6

there is a difference. THere is a Hebrew people, ethnically speaking, that came from Mesopotamia... Moses et al. And there is the Jewish faith.

Answer 7

Ask children - they give you good answer

Cheers

Answer 8

Of course they know who they are.jtm

Answer 9

maybe they're both...sort of like, is she a wife or a mother? it depends on if you ask her kid or her husband...

Answer 10

Do They?