How can I find out if I'm Jewish?

Question

My Mum and Dad are both dead , but all the time they were alive they would not talk about religion. I can remember as a child we never celibrated Christmas. I have been trying to do the family tree and think my Dad's Mum might have been Jewish. How can I find out for sure and if she was does that make me Jewish.

Answer 1

Judaism is a matriarchal religion. So, if your father was Jewish you're only a descendant. Now, if your mother was Jewish it means you are also and so are your siblings if you have any.
Some ideas:
-Go to cemeteries and check dates and birth places from your grandparents and specially from your parents. Check tombstones, plaques, and the actual records at their offices.
-You could also go to living relatives, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. Relatives that could give you some light about your parents' and grandparents' birthplaces, religion, etc.
-Having dates of births and birthplaces you could search for ancestors in those places. If overseas contact Embassies and ask them for records.
-They are also Professional Genealogists but beware of those you cannot contact in person; they may not be what they say they are.
-DNA test will give you also some light about your ancestry. Then with the results go to a Jewish Center and they'll direct you on what to do to search for your family.

-(Even if you're not Jewish doing your genealogy is an awesome way to know about your own blood, your culture, your past and your present.
I wish you my very best.)-

Answer 2

Your mother has to be Jewish for you to be Jewish, religiously speaking.

But if your Dad's Mum was Jewish, then you of course can identify with Jews on some level. And you could always convert if you felt Judaism calling you.

Have you tried Ancestry.com? They have a free trial right now I think, and it may help you a bit.

If you have any Spanish in you, it's possible you have some Jewish blood, because so many Spanish Jews had to hide their Jewishness, and today, a lot of Spaniards who research find they are partly Jewish.

Answer 3

Being Jewish follows the mother's line. If she was Jewish, then you are Jewish. If your father's mother was Jewish, then HE was Jewish, but it doesn't make you Jewish. Some comparatively liberal Jewish groups (Reform Jews in particular) consider the children of a male Jew to be Jewish as well, but this is (unfortuantely, in my opinion) far from gaining acceptance by the majority to date.

The only other way you can be Jewish is to convert to Judaism. While we don't actively SEEK converts, we most certainly do ACCEPT them if they truly wish to be Jewish. It's a fairly involved process, but certainly doable if that's what someone chooses. I should know, since I converted, and for me, it was a very good thing. It is something only you can decide, however, and we don't believe it's necessary to be Jewish to be a good person.

And folks - our questioner is (presumably) female, so quit asking her to check to see if she's circumcised!!!! Most of the male kids in the U.S. are circumcised, so THAT doesn't anything anyway, even if she were male.

As to DNA tests, unless you descend from the Kohanim (the "priestly" tribe) AND are male, it won't do any good either; that's the only marker that's been found that DEFINITELY links people to being Jewish.

Answer 4

Unless your Mum was Jewish, you are not Jewish. My paternal ancestry is Jewish but that does not make me a Jew...it is only through the female line.

Answer 5

consult a geneologist, or do the family geneology yourself. There are lots of websites that you can use, although they charge for it. By the way, Jewish tradition says that if your mother was Jewish, you are too.

Answer 6

You are only genetically* Jewish if your mother was Jewish. If only your father was Jewish, you would need to convert...and only a few sects of Judaism accept converts.

*Judaism isn't really genetic, its just a religion. But that's what the tradition says.

Answer 7

1) do you belive in Jewish concepts? if not,then you really wouldn't "count".
2) but if you are merely looking for the "bloodline" then the question si not with your father, but with your mother. if your mother was born to a jewish mother, and did not convert to proactively contrary beliefs, (such as christianity or core christain beliefs, like the trinity or jesus as the messiah) then technically you'd count in that manner.

but its more about belief than blood.

Answer 8

Yea my dad always told me I'm Jewish. gave me a star necklace when I was in elementary.
now 29 years he was raised Jewish so called its a religion not an ethnicity, so i hope this helps .

Answer 9

You would be Jewish if your mother's mother was Jewish. Do you have any relatives you could talk to? Any records to find out who officiated at your grandparents' wedding?

Answer 10

Get a DNA test done

P.S. all the thumbs down you will probably see on my answer have NOTHING to do with the answer....they are from hateful people that despise the fact that atheists come to Jesus every day !!!!