Azrael I had always considered that Jews were both a religion and a 'race' (or group of closely related ethnicities).
Jewishness must be more than a religion or culture. 1After all there are/have been many Jewish atheists who are still accepted as Jewish. So culture is a component?
2Yet there were many nearly fully assimilated Jews killed by the nazis who were not culturally OR religiously jewish, i.e. celebrated non jewish holdiays, ate the the forbidden foods, etc...and yet they have been claimed as jewish because of their mothers and fathers?
3the difficulties occasionally involved in impure jews, especially from russia, marrying cohanim. I've read a few times that the religious court 'certifies' the spouses jewishness through a procedure that seems awfully based around ancestry and blood than religious beliefs or cultural practices.
4the difficulties surrounding so-called nonwhite jews and sephardis, at least in the past (I don't know nowadays...?) If they practice traditonal jewish cultural practices, and religious beliefs, what is this mysterious barrier and difficulty they face to being considered jews? And yes I know about the extreme cases like those guys from india who probably aren't jews, but the africans seem like a problem for the 'non-racial' theory.
Of course, judaism does allow converts although it's not encouraged...but these converts seem to me to be jews by religion only, they don't seem to be as accepted as Real Jews as even atheists and the completely secular are if they are jewish by 'pure' ancestry.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but there seems to me to be three Judaisms: a racial/ethnic b cultural c religious and these three intertwine.
Jewishness must be more than a religion or culture. 1After all there are/have been many Jewish atheists who are still accepted as Jewish. So culture is a component?
2Yet there were many nearly fully assimilated Jews killed by the nazis who were not culturally OR religiously jewish, i.e. celebrated non jewish holdiays, ate the the forbidden foods, etc...and yet they have been claimed as jewish because of their mothers and fathers?
3the difficulties occasionally involved in impure jews, especially from russia, marrying cohanim. I've read a few times that the religious court 'certifies' the spouses jewishness through a procedure that seems awfully based around ancestry and blood than religious beliefs or cultural practices.
4the difficulties surrounding so-called nonwhite jews and sephardis, at least in the past (I don't know nowadays...?) If they practice traditonal jewish cultural practices, and religious beliefs, what is this mysterious barrier and difficulty they face to being considered jews? And yes I know about the extreme cases like those guys from india who probably aren't jews, but the africans seem like a problem for the 'non-racial' theory.
Of course, judaism does allow converts although it's not encouraged...but these converts seem to me to be jews by religion only, they don't seem to be as accepted as Real Jews as even atheists and the completely secular are if they are jewish by 'pure' ancestry.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but there seems to me to be three Judaisms: a racial/ethnic b cultural c religious and these three intertwine.
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