Why isn't growing up in a Jewish household even if your mother is not Jewish not enough to make you Jewish?

Question

I know a family where the mother is not Jewish, the father is and their kids were raised Jewish but they are not considered Jewish. The family is letting them decide what they want to do.

The conversion process is basically living as a Jew and being approved by a Beth Din.

Answer 1

The law comes straight out of the Torah. It states in Devarim (Deuteronomy). Do not give their (the non-Jews) daughters to your sons for their children will ne lost to the nation. (Bnei Yisrael). Do not give their sons to your daughters for they will lead them to the worship of idols.

From this we see that the children of a man with a non-Jewish woman are not Jewish since the concern is not over them becoming idol worshippers, however, with the woman the issue is that the children will leave Judaism showing that they are Jewish regardless of the fact that the father isn't.

In the above case, the children are not jewish and would have to convert to be accepted by orthodox jews. On top of it- it is highly doubtful they are being raised Jewish. do they keep kosher? Pray three times a day? Do the boys wear tzitzit and tefillin? Do they observe the laws of the shabbos? I doubt that there is a single "yes" to any of those questions.

Answer 2

So there is no confusion..
You have been given correct halacha regarding the traditional determination of who is a Jew by several people here, including allonyoav.

Karaites and Reform Jews do not follow this tradition.

The following page will help you understand the Reform position on who is a Jew.

http://urj.org/ask/who_jew/

Please read this.
For those who won't bother to read that page, one important thing to note is that Reform considers that if one parent is Jewish but MOST importantly if the child is raised exclusively as a Jew, THEN the child is Jewish. If the child is baptised, attends a church or Sunday school, or practices ANY other religion other than Judaism, they're not Jewish. ( This would include as allonyoav once put it..any other religion from A-Z :) )

Answer 3

Because deciding who is and isn't Jewish isn't our call to make, it's G-d's. The Torah (Jewish Law) defines who is and isn't a Jew, the same way American Law defines who is and isn't a United States citizen.

Here, I'll give you another example, without using names. Let's say you were born and raised in country X, by parents who were born in countries X and Y respectively. Let's say that according to the constitution of Y, in order to be a Y citizen, you need to either be born on Y's soil, or both of your parents have to be Y citizens. Let's suppose, for the sake of argument, that though you've always lived in X, Y culture is the dominant force in your household, and throughout your upbringing, you remain immersed in in Y culture. You listen to Y food, you eat Y cuisine, study Y history. Yet if you were ever to travel to Y, you would be refused entry unless you got a proper visa. "How is this possible?!" you ask. "I was raised Y-ish, who are you to tell me I am not a citizen of Y?!" Of course, the answer is obvious. Your personal preference, and even the way you were raised, are irrelevant in the face of Y Law, by whose criteria, you are NOT a Y citizen. The only way for you to become a Y citizen would be to go through Y's naturalization process, which may be made easier thanks to your background in Y culture and history, but you are not exempt simply because you have parital Y ancestry.

Do you see where I'm going with this? Being Jewish is a citizenship of sorts. A Jew is defined by Jewish citizenship law as someone who is either born to a Jewish mother, or who goes through the Judaism naturalization process (a conversion supervised by a beis din).

And that's why the kids in the family you know are not Jewish, no matter how they were raised, and no matter how Jewish they "feel". If, as you say, the family is letting them decide for themselves, then the option of conversion to Judaism (which would make them just as Jewish as if they had been born that way) is open to them.

I hope this helps clarify things for you.

Answer 4

Because there has to be some sort of objective criteria.

Who defines "growing up in a Jewish household"? dose that mean if someone was an orphan that they automatically cannot be Jewish?

I know it sounds unfair, but look at what the family you mentioned are doing. They are letting the kids decide. Do you not think that is a healthy thing to do?

Answer 5

With the exception of some but not all orthodox rabbi's, they would be considered Jewish.

Basically according to the Israeli Supreme Court, when deciding who is Jewish and who is not the first thing they would consider is how the person was raised and how they live their life. Secondly they would look to see if the person underwent a valid conversion process. Thirdly they would look to see if they were born of a Jewish mother.

These criteria were articulated in a case where a Catholic priest tried to claim Israeli citizenship on the grounds that his mother was Jewish. His application was eventually denied.

So if they were raised Jewish, regardless of the mother's religion, they would be considered Jewish.

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To STRICTLY_MILITANT: I have no idea where you are coming from, but outside of being inaccurate, your answer is insulting and stupid.

Answer 6

Reform Judaism would recognise these children as Jewish, I believe. Orthodox Judaism won't. Jewish religious law states that you are Jewish if:

- you have a Jewish mother
- you convert to Judaism.

The rule about the mother being Jewish in fact has a very pragmatic basis. Sometimes there are doubts over who the father of a child might be - but there is no mystery over who the mother is.

Personally, I think that if someone has one Jewish parent, and they grow up in a Jewish household, then I understand why they would call themselves Jewish.

Answer 7

Reform Judaism now considers the child to be Jewish if either parent is Jewish.
The older laws about mother only being Jewish is because in days gone by , Jewish women were often raped and paternity could not be proven.Now we can test for paternity.

Conversion is way more than living as a Jew .
You have to study very hard for years and go through some strenuous physical changes.

Answer 8

Except in the Reform branch of Judaism (I think), Judaism is determined by matriarchal descent because it's easier to determine maternity that to determine paternity. (Sounds crude, but it's true.)

Beyond that, just being raised Jewish isn't enough. For a boy, there has to be a bris (circumcision), traditionally on the eighth day of life, but much later is permissible for conversions. For girls, I don't know of any formal acceptance, with the possible exception of being officially named before a congregation in synagogue.

A Bar or Bat mitzvah actually carries no weight in determining Jewishness, in fact, it's quite the reverse. To be Bar or Bat mitzvahed, the boy or girl has to already be a Jew, in order to be called to read from the Torah.

Hope that helps.

Answer 9

You said: "The family is letting them decide what they want to do." Good for the family! It's their call. If they decide they want to be Jews, they can convert to the branch of Judaism they choose. It appears they have it well in hand!

Please don't define who is or is not a Jew. We Jews have enough problem in that area without interference from others.
.

Answer 10

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