Is Jewish a race or religion or both? And why do people says Jews have a lot of money?

Question

If they are both, do you have to be one to be the other?

Answer 1

Judaism is both.

and yes, one has to be jewish by religion, (or at least, hold the most fundamental core beliefs of it) to be considered jewish at all.

if one is of jewish ancestory, but is not jewish religiously, and wish to recognize their ancestory, they can legitimately prefix whatever their belief is, with "hebrew" for example someone who was jewish by blood, and came to belive in Jesus, could legitimately call themselves a Hebrew Christian. but it is deceptive, untrue, and dishonest to use terms like "Messianic jew".

if a person who is jewish, comes to belive in things that are fundamentally contradictory to core jewish beliefs(such as jesus being the messiah, being god, or suchlike) then they have forsaken their God and betrayed their heritage, and are no longer jewish.

and a large portion of jewish people ARE relatively wealthy. (there are non-wealthy jews, unlike some think... but a large portion are pretty well off.)

Answer 2

That old canard about Jews controlling all the money is just anti-semitic propaganda. Israel, the country with the largest Jewish population, unfortunately has poverty issues.

It is fair to say that many Jews are successful. Culturally, Jews emphasize education and family, and problems such as divorce and substance abuse are less common. This provides a good support system for success. The success you see in science, medicine, business and the like is the result of setting goals and working hard to achieve them.

The traditional definition of a Jew is one who has a Jewish mother. Several recent genetic studies have pointed to the homogeneity of the Jewish gene pool today. So in that respect, it is certainly reasonable to say that Jews are an ethnic group. However, you can also look at it in a spiritual way and say that anyone with a "Jewish soul" is included among the Jewish people.

Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people, but only a minority, maybe 10-15%, are strictly religious (Orthodox). Judaism does not seek converts. However, one who is sincerely committed can engage in a process to convert to Judaism.

Jews are a diverse lot. Some have light skin, others dark skin. Some are religious, some are secular. Some are liberal, some are conservative. But (nearly) all are proud to belong to the Jewish people.

Answer 3

What is Judaism, and who or what is a Jew? Depending upon whom you talk to, or the selection of books you read, you will come away with very different answers to this most provocative question. Is Judaism simply a religion? Is it a cultural identity or just an ethnic group? Are Jews only a clan of people or are they a nation?

According to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary a “Jew” is: 1a: a member of the tribe of Judah b: Israelite 2: a member of a nation existing in Palestine from the 6th century B.C. to the 1st century A.D. 3 : a person belonging to a continuation through descent or conversion of the ancient Jewish people 4 : one whose religion is Judaism.

According to rabbinical Judaism, a Jew is one who has a Jewish mother, or one who has formally converted to Judaism. Leviticus 24:10 is often cited to give this belief credibility, although the Torah makes no specific claim for this tradition. Some rabbis say that it has nothing to do with what that individual actually believes. These rabbis tell us that a Jew does not need to be a follower of Jewish laws and customs to be considered Jewish. In fact, a Jew can have no belief in God at all and still be Jewish based on the above rabbinical interpretation.

Other rabbis make it clear that unless the person follows the precepts of the Torah and accepts the “Thirteen Principles of Faith” which Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, one of the greatest medieval Jewish scholars) so clearly expresses, he cannot be a Jew. Although this person may be a “biological” Jew, he has no real connection to Judaism.

I have yet to meet a poor Jew. They are usually well educated and good steady workers. They are responsible and they always stick together and support each other in their business endeavours.

Answer 4

It is both a religion and a nation.

Judaism is the religion that is practiced by the Jewish people. A non-Jewish person may convert to Judaism (and thus be Jewish by religion) and Jewish people may not practice the religion (and thus they are Jewish by ethnicity). So you don't have to be both religiously and ethnically Jewish, although most Jews are.

As for the money thing- I can assure you that there are a lot of poor Jews.

Answer 5

Jewish is a religion and a race. There are many Jews that have wealth, but there are many Jews that live below the Poverty level, even in Israel there are many that are well below the poverty level. The reasons are basically the same as for Goyim, (Gentiles) I mean Bill Gates is not a Jew, and he is rich, Sam Walton was not a Jew but when he died his estate put 5 people in the top 10 richest people in this nation. The thing about Jews being rich is largely a myth created by the Non-Jews that want a reason to hate the Jews.

Answer 6

Judaism is a religion, but according to Jewish law, one is automatically Jewish if their mother is Jewish, and that status cannot change. Someone may not consider themselves a Jew or religious, but according to Jewish law they are all Jews. A person may convert to Judaism, but they must accept all the laws in order to convert, and they are not required nor encouraged to do so. I believe that the reason people say that Jews have a lot of money is because in the olden days, one of the only Jobs a Jew was allowed to have was to be a moneylender.

Answer 7

Well being Jewish doesn't qualify as a Race as we are all Human in General. It's Definitely a Religion and almost a borderline Ethnicity the way people refer to it...

I have no idea why people say Jews have alot of money though. There's no correlation between your Religion and how much money you have or make...

Answer 8

Jewish is both a race and a religion. However, you can be one without the other although it is uncommon for someone to be racially Jewish and not be to religiously Jewish. there are many religious Jews who are not racially Jewish.

People think that Jews have lots of money because at one time the only job they were allowed was money lending and banking and it essentially became a stereotype.

Answer 9

Not a race. A farspread culture. And a religion. And some Jewish do have a lot of money.

Answer 10

Jewish is a religion and a race. You can be Jewish, the religion, and not be Jewish the race. It's believed that Jewish, the race are decedents of Jerusalem.