Why do people always make judaism sound like an ethnicity rather then what it is a religion?

Question

Like for example during the WWII even if one was a Christian or Catholic, but was found to have Jewish grandparents they were sent to concentration camps.
Today, Jews were given a country in the middle of haters of Jews; Arabs (Israel was established by the brilliant minds of the NATO + Allies). So why give the Jews a country of there own when no other religion has a country of its own?

Answer 1

I've wondered that myself.

If they're from Israel, their ethnicity is Israeli, not Jewish.

Answer 2

People of jewish religion don't proselytise and don't try to convert others to their religion. In fact, many religious jews are against intermarriage between jews and non-jews, even when the non-jew converts to judaism.

This means of course that jewish religion most often is correlated with genetic continuity and inheritance of physical characteristics the way ethnicity often is among other peoples.

But NATO couldn't possibly have established Israel.

Israel declared its independence from UK in 1948 on the basis of a 1947 UN resolution which partitioned Palestine between the arabs and the jews.

NATO didn't even exist at that time. NATO was officially created in 1949.

Answer 3

Israel was not created by NATO and the Allies. Here's the history:

Israel is historically the homeland of the Jews. In Deuteronomy, the fifth book of the Jewish/Christian Bible, God gives the land of Israel to the Jews and their descendents for all time. Jews lived there until the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem about 2,000 years ago - only the Western, or "Wailing" Wall still remains. The 1st and 2nd Temples housed the Ark of the Covenant, which carried the 10 Commandments given to Moses. After the destruction of the 2nd Temple, the Jews were driven out of Israel and scattered all over the world - this is known as the Diaspora.

Jews lived as outsiders all over the world for many hundreds of years. In the late 1800's, people known as Zionists began promoting the idea of Jews coming back to the homeland to create a modern-day state. At the time, the area was a backwater area of the Ottoman Empire run by the Turks, consisting mostly of swampland and desert. The area was sparsely populated, mostly by nomadic Bedouin Arabs.

The Balfour Declaration was proposed in the 1920's, when the area was held by the British - this would have established both a Jewish State and a separate Arab Palestinian State. It was roundly rejected by the Arabs, who would not accept the establishment of a Jewish State. In 1948, the area was attacked by surrounding Arab nations with the intention of driving out the Jews - some Palestinian Arabs from the area left shortly before because they were promised they would share the spoils after the land was won back from the Jews. But the Jews fought back, won, and established the modern state of Israel. Most of what would have been the Palestinian state under the Balfour Declaration now lies within the modern state of Jordan (fomerly Trans-Jordan).

No other religion has an historical homeland dictated by Scripture. No one gave the Jews a country of their own (unless you count God) - they had to fight to establish their own survival. And there was definitely incentive for Jews to go there, as after World War II many surviving Jews had no where else to go. Over 6,000,000 Jews were killed during WW II. But more was lost than these lives - more than family, friends, villages, and shops. There were formerly Jewish newspapers, literature, music, and theatre. There was a way of life, a culture - and these were all gone. Israel, for many, represented the only hope for the future. The swamps have been drained and the some of the desert has been reclaimed as farmland - it's an amazing place. Jews have a sense of belonging in Israel like no other place in the world - an attachment that extends back long before the modern Arab nations existed.

I am typical of most American Jews - mostly secular. But I identify strongly with my background and my history - being Jewish to me is not just about my religion. If Israel were just about religion, it would be a theocracy like Iran. But it's not - it's about being open and having hope. The Israeli national anthem is "Ha Tikva" - it means "The Hope".

I hope this helps shed some light on your inquiries.

Answer 4

Someone can be a Jew without following the Jewish religion. Anyone born of a Jewish mother or who converts is a Jew.

We are a mix of religion and ethnicity; more like a family; you can be born in or you can marry in (like conversion) and no matter what you do (move away, alienate yourself, sever all contact) it is still who you are. So to define the Jews as a religion or an ethnicity is wrong. Judaism is a religion. Hebrew is an ethnicity.

Answer 5

1) Judaism is a religion, but Jewishness is an ethnicity. Sorry to break it to you like this, but that's a fact.

2) You mean, Israel was established by the British and the UN, not by NATO and the allies

3) See number 1, but initially as a reward for the inventor of smokeless powder, primarily so that there would be a place safe for Jews to live!

Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/

Answer 6

Because they ARE both an ethnicity and a religion. Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people, just like Roman religion was the religion of ancient Romans. Hitler's objection was racial, not religious. Jews were understood to be genetically inferior - that's why he measured it by your parentage. If even one grandparent was Jewish, your blood was too tainted in his eyes.

It's the reason Jews do not seek converts. In their view, it simply doesn't make sense. Jews follow the god of the Jews. Non-Jews follow their own systems of belief.

Answer 7

Jewish is a race. I am Jewish-why do you think Jews look alike. I can most of the time tell if the person is Jewish by just looking at his or her face. The Jews lived in the middle east and were in tribes long ago. Their religion is Judaism.

Answer 8

"A Jew is a member of the Jewish people who are an ethnic group originating in the Israelites of the ancient Middle East."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jew)

'Jewish' can refer to the religion, the ethnicity, or both. There are also ethnic divisions within the Jewish ethnicity (Sephardim, Ashkenazim, Mizharim, etc). My grandmother was Jewish by ethnicity, but not by religion.

Answer 9

Because no one is strong enough to stand up against them and say that what Israel is doing is wrong. And another point, can u blame the Palestinian Arabs for hating Israel? They took away their homes and their memories. And I don't thing Israel is brilliant. I love Jewish people but Israels government and what they're doing is sick.

Answer 10

I agree with you on this one. The UN made a huge blunder when it mandated the establishment of Israel. It happened 60 years ago and we're still dealing with the consequences.

Even though much of Israel is secular, they still identify with Jewish culture. Although I am atheist, given the choice I would side with Christians over any other religion because that's my heritage and culture.

Answer 11

Fajitaman wrote: "Jewish is a race."

Judaism is NOT a race, anymore than Christianity, Buddhism or any other religion is a race. There are no genes for religious belief. Religion is learned/chosen, not inherent.

"I am Jewish-why do you think Jews look alike."

Well, I am Christian, but I think no such thing. Why do you stereotype religion and race?

Grow up.