Am I still Jewish?

Question

My great great grandfather was Jewish. He married a Catholic and had my great grandmother. My great grandmother was raised Catholic. Her son, my grandfather rejected the Catholic church as well did his daughter, my mother. I have always just assumed to be Catholic although I am not currently attending mass regulary. I am interested in my family history and Jewish ties. In the past I worked at a Jewish summer camp and have read many books about the religion.
Again, my question is, "Am I Jewish at all, or I am I such a tiny bit that it doesn't matter anymore?

Answer 1

The topic has been covered pretty well, as a summary of what has been said:

Orthodox view: According to halachah (Jewish law)- you are Jewish if born to a Jewish mother or if you have a proper conversion (that means accepting all of the halachah, a bris for men, and immersing in a mikveh for men and women).

Conservative and Reform: Patrilineal descent is ok BUT you have to be part of a Jewish community and identify yourself as a Jew before you would be considered Jewish. Note, that Orthodox jews would not recognise you or your children as Jewish.

An additional complication brought in the Talmud when discussing Jewish ancestry and who is considered jewish is the fact that if three generations have rejected Judaism, then any generations beyond that have to convert to be considered Jewish due to the family rejection of Judaism. So in your case even if it was a grandmother, instead of a grandfather, you would need to convert (great grandmother generation 1, grandmother generation 2, mother generation 3, you- generation 4)

As for "Messianic Jews", "Completed Jews" or "Jews for Jesus", all of them are considered to be Christians by Jews and NOT part of the Jewish religion or community.

Answer 2

According to halacha (Jewish law) you're not Jewish of all because your mother was not Jewish. If it was your great grandMOTHER who had been Jewish it would be a different story, but instead it was your great grandfather. Though your mother rejected Catholicism she is still not Jewish unless she converted. According to Jewish law, you are not Jewish. No movement would accept you as Jewish without a conversion. Even Reform and Conservative require that you be raised Jewish in order to accept patrilineal ancestry.

So the short answer is no, not by Jewish law. You are not counted as Jewish by any Jewish authority. However, you are always welcome to convert! (and no matter what they tell you, there is NO such thing as a Messianic Jew!)

Feel free to email me with any questions.
Best of luck to you

Answer 3

Not according to Jewish law. The lineage is passed through the female line. As such, it would have been broken w/ your great great grandmother. If it had been the opposite, you would have been considered Jewish even if you actually had 1/64th Jewish blood and your brother and uncle were both popes. Sorry about that...

Edit: I was also considering the Hitler test, and Hitler would probably be willing to ignore it unless you really pissed him off. If you won an Iron Cross, or saved his life from an assassination attempt, he might even give you a cabinet post.

Answer 4

Judiasm is a few different things.
1. and ancestry
2. a culture
3. a religion.

While you have some judiasm in your ancestry, by jewish law it has to be passed down through the female (mother). The reason behind this is of course, you know who your mother is... never so sure about the father. So, you don't meet criteria #1.

#2. You weren't raised in the jewish culture, so I guess #2 is out, unless you really bonded and felt like part of the people that you worked with at the summer camp.

#3. You can believe anything you want. If you want to practice judiasm, you can practice it. find a local synagogue or temple, meet the Rabbi and see if it's someone who you can relate to. they can help you with the education process, and then later, conversion, if you are interested.

Answer 5

OK, I'm Jewish and I'll give you my perspective. The other answers who discussed Judaism passing via the mother are correct. It is true that in Reform Judaism (I'm Reform) that it also can pass through the father, but that then requires that you be a *practicing" Jew. That is, as long as one parent is Jewish and you practice Judaism, the Reform movement considers you Jewish. Since you're not practicing, and since your matrilineal ancestors weren't Jewish, you wouldn't be considered Jewish.

One final note--if you believe in Jesus as the messiah then you are most definitely *not* Jewish, irrespective of the religion of your forebears.

Another note--Judaism is not a race or ethnicity, as some others have indicated. It is a religion, period, although within it there are groups (e.g. Ashkenazic, Sephardic) who share broad cultural traits within, but not necessarily across, groups.

Answer 6

Judaism is passed down through the mother. So, I'm sorry to say, you wouldn't be considered Jewish at all.
On the other hand (I'm not making this up), Elvis Presley's mother's mother's mother's mother was Jewish, making Elvis a full-fledged Member of the Tribe. Life is weird.

Answer 7

According to Jewish tradition, you are born Jewish if your mother is Jewish. It does not sound like this applies to you.

However, if you find the religion interesting and want to become a practicing Jew, you could convert. I personally liked the response one rabbi in my home state used to give people who wanted to convert. They would say "Rabbi, I want to be Jewish" and he would reply "So be Jewish".

If you are interested in the possibility of conversion, you may want to check out a book called "Finding a Home for the Soul". It is a compilation of stories about people who chose to convert to Judaism. Some of them had a "tiny bit" of Jewish genes in them as well, so you might relate to those stories.

I think your last question is one that can only be answered by yourself. If it is important to you that you havea genetic tie to Judaism, then it matters. Otherwise, it does not. Nobody else has the right to tell you otherwise.

Answer 8

According to Jewish "tradition" one can only "inherit" their Jewishness through the maternal side. So other Jews would not consider you Jewish.

Also, there is a difference between being Jewish and following Judaism.

Answer 9

Jewish is not just a race, but it is a belief as well. If you were to go to Hebrew school, and begin participating in Jewish activities, you might be accepted as a Jew...ut you may never be accepted.
What I would ask is does is matter? What is most important?

Answer 10

Judaism is more than a religion, to which you can convert. It is also a tribe. To be truly Jewish, your mother must be considered of the tribe. Since it was your great-great-grandfather who was, then no, you are not of the Jewish tribe.