Tell Me What You Think!!!

[DeeUSA]

Hi All,

I couldn't decide if I should post this in the Spiritual Questions or Judaism section, but I decided to post this here because this has been a long debate regarding this subject!!

I really want to know what do you think about this question, so here goes!!

Are Jews a religion or a race?

Seems like a pretty simple question with a simple answer, right? WRONG!!!

I have heard so many debates over this from Jews and non Jews alike! My husband who's Jewish insists that being Jewish is a race and not a religion. He's Christian and has never stepped foot inside of Synagogue. He said he has "Jewish" features and if that is so, how could it not be a race!!

Then I have my best friend who is my daughter's Godfather. He will argue anyone down that even suggests that being Jewish is a race and not a religion. He emphatically declares "I AM A WHITE MAN!!!" He says that he practices Judaism which is why he refers to himself as Jewish. I've even asked him what about the last name "Schwartz!" That's a "Jewish" last name...so why wouldn't it be your race? There are Africans that have specific last names, Germans, Greeks, Mexicans etc. Their last names are representative of their races, how come not with the Jews? He countered with there are black Jews, mexican Jews, polish Jews, etc...so how could it not be a religion!

What do you think?

Blessings
Dee

[Leon]

The same could be said of Christians, they could say I come from Christendom, which means a country where the majority follow a Christian doctrine. Now we all know that not everyone who lives in the west follows Christianity, but we are sort of lumped together, when people talk about Religions from the east or west.

I would say Judaism is a Religion, though many people derive from a Jewish background. As I derive from an anglo saxon background in England. (which is a debate from another day)

So I would sort of say both, as we are talking about a collection of people that have blood connections or Religious connections with Israel.

[sparklekaz]

Hi Dee,

This is a very interesting question, something I have been thinking about myself strangely enough.

So I decided to do some research on it and have come up with a variety of answer, which shouldn't surprise you.

One answer is that the Jewish people who come from certain area's of the world, particularly Middle East/Eastern European Jews. For centuries they have married other Eastern European Jews. So it should be no surprise that there is an 'ethnic type' with some common genetic traits.

The fact that practicing Jews will only marry other Jewish people means that these genetic traits become more and more pronounced. As you have said the truth is that there are Black Jews and Asian Jews and Middle Eastern Jews and European Jews.

In the 1980s, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Jews are a race, at least for purposes of certain anti-discrimination laws. Their reasoning: at the time these laws were passed, people routinely spoke of the "Jewish race" or the "Italian race" as well as the "Negro race," so that is what the legislators intended to protect.

But many Jews were deeply offended by that decision, offended by any hint that Jews could be considered a race. The idea of Jews as a race brings to mind nightmarish visions of Nazi Germany, where Jews were declared to be not just a race, but an inferior race that had to be rounded up into ghettos and exterminated like vermin.

Race is a genetic distinction, and refers to people with shared ancestry and shared genetic traits. You can't change your race; it's in your DNA. I could never become black or Asian no matter how much I might want to.

Common ancestry is not required to be a Jew, although many Jews worldwide do share common ancestry,for reasons already mentioned and this has been proven by genetic research; however, you can be a Jew without sharing this common ancestry, for example, by converting. Thus, although I could never become black or Asian, blacks and Asians have become Jews (Sammy Davis Jr. and Connie Chung).

It is clear from the discussion above that there is a certain amount of truth in the claims that it is a religion, a race, or an ethnic group, and yet none of these descriptions is entirely adequate to describe what connects Jews to other Jews. Though there is clearly a strong sense of connection. Almost all Jews feel this sense of connectedness to each other which many find hard to explain, define, or even understand.

Traditionally, this interconnectedness was understood as "nationhood" or "people-hood," but those terms have become so distorted over time that they are no longer accurate. I think this is simply one of those questions which cannot be easily defined. We do all so love to put things, people into boxes don't we.

I believe it is a subjective one that only the Jewish person themselves could answer, but even then it would be based on their own perspective of how they view themselves.

Great question Dee, I look forward to hearing what others think.

Love and light
Kaz

[DeeUSA]

Kaz thanks for the enlightenment! I didn't know that the US Supreme Court ruled that Jews were a race!!! I'm sure if you're a Jew that believed it to be a religion you would be quite offended. Leon I see your point regarding "Christiandom." I'm glad I asked this question. I hope to hear more people's opinions regarding the subject.

Blessings,
Dee

[epyphinney]

I think (for what that's worth) that there is but one race, the human race.

There is an academic answer though, and most anthropologists would say that, no, Jews are not a race.

But i ask you why this matters? Would one treat a Jew differently than some one of another "race"? Why would one want to be divisive and think in these terms? We all derive from the same source and i try to focus on that commonality rather than our perceived differences.

[gruntal]

I think the argument (if it sinks down to that level) about race versus religion and/or ethnic group just begs the fundamental question of semantics and rather our language really has words sufficient for the purpose. That things do exist is undeniable. We just don't always have words that mean what we see and think.

A good example of a real problem that we didn't expect but had to be deal with: the colonies had such an admixture of newly arriving immigrant cultures, coupled with aborigional cultures, we depended and perhaps over depended on our public school system to creat the universal colonial cuture. But it did NOT work in that it ruined sub-cultures or what ever we chose to call them. Native American's became nice white people with a reddish tone skin. And most embaressingly Jewish people sent their offspring to school and they assimulated perfectly with the Gentile majority. Except it was later noted no one could learn the Kosher way of life by just attending Sunday School (oops pardon me I ment Sabbath Day School) one day a week. You had to actually attend a Hebrew Academy 5 days a week and eat Kosher food and wear your skull cap ect. to learn to be a practicing Jew.

Judaism like Amish and Muslim is a way of life. Way-of-life. No words I know of in the English language that is simple and means the same but the concept is still there. If I were to convert (which I don't want to) my DNA might give me a propensity for drunkeness and hypoglycemia and near albino-ism but if I studied and lived by the Torah and Jewish traditions I would eventually THINK like a Jew and be one.

I do love Halvah and Kosher chopped liver though . Yum yum!