Who Is A Jew?/Archive 4

Who Is A Jew?/Archive 4

"Who is a Jew?" (Hebrew: מיהו יהודי‎ ) is a basic question about Jewish identity and considerations of Jewish self-identification. The question is based in ideas about Jewish personhood which have cultural, religious, genealogical, and personal dimensions. The question was of importance during the rule of the Nazi party in Germany, which persecuted the Jews and defined them for the government's purposes by the Nuremberg Laws.

The definition of who is a Jew varies according to whether it is being considered by Jews based on normative religious statutes or self-identification, or by non-Jews for other reasons. Because Jewish identity can include characteristics of an ethnicity, a religion, and citizenship, the definition of who is a Jew has varied, depending on whether a religious, sociological, or ethnic aspect was being considered. The issue has given rise to legal controversy, especially in Israel, but also outside of Israel. There have been court cases in Israel since 1962 that have addressed the question. Also, a United Kingdom court considered whether the question was a racial issue, in the case R(E) v Governing Body of JFS (2009). In 2010 the Labour Court of South Africa addressed the question of who is a Jew for the purposes of the Employment Equity Act.

According to the simplest definition used by Jews for self-identification, a person is a Jew by birth, or becomes one through religious conversion. However, there are differences of opinion among the various branches of Judaism in the application of this definition, including:

  • The effect of mixed parents: i.e. whether a person of mixed Jewish and non-Jewish parents should be considered Jewish.
  • Conversion: i.e. what processes of conversion should be considered valid.
  • Historical loss of Jewish identity: i.e. whether a person's or group's actions (such as conversion to a different religion) or circumstances in his or her community's life (such as being unaware of Jewish parents) should affect his or her status as Jewish or non-Jewish.
  • Diaspora identity: identity of Jews among themselves, and by non-Jews throughout the Jewish diaspora.
  • Claim to Israeli citizenship: the examination of the previous issues in the context of the Basic Laws of Israel.

Read more about Who Is A Jew?/Archive 4:  Tannaitic Judaism, Contemporary Judaism, Non-religious Definitions, Legal Structure in Israel, Other Definitions, Israelite Identity Loss Claims, See Also

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