Is "Jew" a race or a religion? We had a debate at work and just want some more input.?

Question

jew race religion israel jewish judaism ethnic

Answer 1

It can be both. You can be of Jewish ethnicity without believing in Judaism, or the Jewish religion.

Answer 2

Technically speaking a Jew is a person and is neither religion or race. A Jew is a reference to someone who follows the Jewish faith. It also depends on what the overall subject may be. In totality it could be both. A race is defined as a group of collective individuals with the same common goal or idea( idea in this case being faith). So it could be considered a race if you are referring to a large group of people. Since you are asking about a "Jew", specifically one person, then you can consider it closer to religion and not a race. In order for it to be a race there needs to be a larger group of people.

Answer 3

See if this is of any help:

JEW---[Of (Belonging to) Judah].

A person belonging to the tribe of Judah. The name is not used in the Bible account prior to the fall of the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel. The southern kingdom was called Judah, and the people were called sons of Judah or the tribe of the sons of Judah. The first one to use the name Jews was the writer of the books of Kings, doubtless Jeremiah, whose prophetic service began in 647 B.C.E. (See 2Ki 16:6; 25:25.) After the exile the name was applied to any Israelites returning (Ezr 4:12; 6:7; Ne 1:2; 5:17) and, finally, to all Hebrews throughout the world, to distinguish them from the Gentile nations. (Es 3:6; 9:20) Gentile men who accepted the Jewish faith and became circumcised proselytes also declared themselves Jews. (Es 8:17) However, in the Hebrew Scriptures the expression “alien resident” may refer to one who had adopted the religion of the Jews (Jer 22:3), and even in the Christian Greek Scriptures such are distinguished at times by the term “proselytes.” (Ac 2:10; 6:5; 13:43) The term “Jewess” is used at Acts 24:24.

When Jesus was a young child, the astrologers came, inquiring: “Where is the one born king of the Jews?” (Mt 2:1, 2) On Jesus’ torture stake Pilate put the title “Jesus the Nazarene the King of the Jews.”—Joh 19:19.

Answer 4

There is a Jewish ethnicity and a Jewish religion. Some Jews by ethnicity were not practicing Jews. Christopher Columbus is one example of a Jew by ethnicity but not by religion. Many in the holocaust were also not religious Jews but ethnic ones.

Answer 5

It started out as a family consisting of 12 brothers. As the brothers grew up, married, and had children of their own, the family grew larger and larger, forming th 12 tribes of Israel.

These were special people, descendants of Abraham and Sarah. When they were still a relatively small group, they moved to Egypt due to a famine. They stayed there 400 years. First as welcome visitors, eventually as slaves of the Egyptians.

They came to be known as "Hebrews" while in Egypt.

Due to the oppression of slavery, this family, who now numbered into the hundreds of thousands or more, were rescued by God, who told Moses to lead them back to the land they were promised (by God).

While travelling to this Promised Land, God trained them, gave them the famous Ten Commandments, and an array of other rules and regulations to follow in order to be a people pleasing to God. At this point, the family entered the "Mosaic Law Dispensation", where the people had God's laws written out for them, and they were expected to follow. Outsiders can join the family, as long as they also agree to follow all the laws.

Another few hundred years later, Jesus was born to the Jews, via Mary, a descenant of King David.

So, if you want to define a vast family of related individuals a "race" then the Jews are indeed one. But, as you can see with delivery of the Law, Jews are also of a common religion.

Answer 6

Judaism is NOT a race; we come in all colors! One cannot convert into a race; but one may convert to Judaism.
Judaism is more than a religion, it is a way of life.
Israeli is a nationality, and not all Israelis are Jewish; many are Muslims, Christians, Druz, Armenian, etc...
I hope I clarified the issue for you.

Answer 7

It's both a race and a religion.

It refers to being counted among the 12 tribes of Israel as a son or daughter. That's the biological (racial) Jew.

It also refers to the religion of the 12 tribes of Israel, or more specifically, the worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Answer 8

Hebrew is a race, Jewish is a religion, although people refer to themselves as Jewish. Doesn't matter.

Answer 9

Can someone who's not Jewish become Jewish? Yes, by conversion. Can someone who's white become black? No.

Judaism is a religion, it is **********not************ a race.

Answer 10

my jewish friends say it's a religion and a culture, not a race.

wow... so much disagreement among jewish people, themselves. my friends were adamant being jewish is not about a race of people.. I'll have to ask them again.