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I think this can be an interesting thread,especially if we keep it polite...
Antisemites are not welcome but accepted,under the umbrella of fredom of speech,provided they make civil comments...
I am mostly interested in the opinion of Jews themselves...
As a non Jew,my idea is that
traditional & rightwing Jews regard themselves as a nation
( Jews= blood ) & generally don't favour mixed marriages,
modern & leftwing Jews tend to view Judaism more of a religion,( Jews=faith), accepting mixed marriages
&
offsprings of mixed marriages tend to call themselves cultural Jews( Jews=idea)
Some of them are " non practicing "& are not circumcised...
Most Jews in America are in the Reform denomination and are very accepting of outsiders (I myself am a Reform Jew, but was raised Conservative).
Most Jews I know who are Reform or Conservative are very open to the idea of people converting to Judaism; they feel that you can be a "Jew by choice" or a "Jew by birth" and both are equally legitimate, as long as the person converting is sincere and the conversion is done properly.
Most Orthodox Jews will not recognize a Reform or Conservative conversion, but they also reluctantly accept converts. The more conservative a rabbi is, the more likely they are to repeatedly reject someone who seeks conversion, but almost all of them will eventually accept a convert they believe to be sincere. Some ultra-Orthodox sects do not permit conversion at all, but they are very unusual and they hardly exist outside of Israel.
As for mixed marriages...this is a thorny issue for many Jews. Some very liberal Jewish families don't care at all. Others are heartbroken when a son or daughter decides to marry out, but they are almost always more upset if a son marries out because the children would not be considered Jewish, whereas their daughter's children would be. I married out and did not have any children, which doubly upset my parents. I then divorced, which delighted them, and am now in a relationship with a non-Jew, which they have accepted. "It's not his fault he's not Jewish," they said.
Harry, I'm Jewish, and I haven't got the foggiest idea what you're trying to get at in this thread. Judaism is not a nationality or an ethnicity--it's a religion. And before I express any of my own opinions, I'd like to know yours.
Harry, I'm Jewish, and I haven't got the foggiest idea what you're trying to get at in this thread. Judaism is not a nationality or an ethnicity--it's a religion. And before I express any of my own opinions, I'd like to know yours.
Well,if I were a Jew I would follow the conservative/traditional doctrine & define the Jews as a nation primarily of blood...
I would be against mixed marriages,at least not until the Jews acquire some mass...
For example,if the Jews were 30,40,50m worldwide,then I wouldn't bother so much about mixed marriages & low birthrate...
Now,after losing 6m,half of world's Judaism in WW2,I would have a very strict stance against depleting the Jewish gene pool further more...
As for the converts,well if a person betrays his original ethnicity & religion,then he can betray his adopted ones,isn't that danger realistic...?
Better a goyim but really pro-semite than a convert,I would say...
Well,if I were a Jew I would follow the conservative/traditional doctrine & define the Jews as a nation primarily of blood...
I would be against mixed marriages,at least not until the Jews acquire some mass...
For example,if the Jews were 30,40,50m worldwide,then I wouldn't bother so much about mixed marriages & low birthrate...
Now,after losing 6m,half of world's Judaism in WW2,I would have a very strict stance against depleting the Jewish gene pool further more...
As for the converts,well if a person betrays his original ethnicity & religion,then he can betray his adopted ones,isn't that danger realistic...?
Better a goyim but really pro-semite than a convert,I would say...
As a Jew by choice I will speak to your view on converts: People who convert to judaism don't betray a faith they have simply chosen Judaism. You don't just convert to Judaism. You have to work with a Rabbi and study and learn. You need to learn Hebrew, Jewish history, Jewish theology, you need to live a Jewish life and bring the practice into your home. You have to stand before a beit din a Jewish court when you are ready to become Jewish. Then you go into the mikvah. This process may take more then a year and I know several converts who studied 3 years. My period of study lasted 2 years. Most Jews by choice are very sure they want to become Jewish. Jews by choice bring a love of Judaism, and excitement of being Jewish.
As a convert I am as Jewish as someone who was born Jewish. Jews are people who share a religion, and a history. We are not a nation of people connected by blood, but every Jew is connected to all other Jews.
Converts bring much into Judaism, and Judaism during its history (pre-Christianity) actually encouraged converts and it was easier to become Jewish.
I think this can be an interesting thread,especially if we keep it polite...
Antisemites are not welcome but accepted,under the umbrella of fredom of speech,provided they make civil comments...
I am mostly interested in the opinion of Jews themselves...
As a non Jew,my idea is that
traditional & rightwing Jews regard themselves as a nation
( Jews= blood ) & generally don't favour mixed marriages,
modern & leftwing Jews tend to view Judaism more of a religion,( Jews=faith), accepting mixed marriages
&
offsprings of mixed marriages tend to call themselves cultural Jews( Jews=idea)
Some of them are " non practicing "& are not circumcised...
All Jews will agree with me (I'm Jewish) that being Jewish is an ethnicity. Not sure what you mean by traditional, rightwing, leftwing or any of this nonsense.
If a person has a Jewish mother, he/she is a Jew by blood for life. His ancestry is going back to Abraham/Isaac and Jacob. It's only if you have a Jewish mother. If a woman converts to Judaism, she becomes Jewish and now her children are Jewish too, but not by blood.
No matter where we live, our ethnicity follows us.
Now, that's different than following the Judaism religion. Majority of ethnic Jews follow Judaism or don't follow any religion at all. Many of them are agnostic or atheists, but some of them follow Messianic Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism etc...
I think this can be an interesting thread,especially if we keep it polite...
Antisemites are not welcome but accepted,under the umbrella of fredom of speech,provided they make civil comments...
I am mostly interested in the opinion of Jews themselves...
As a non Jew,my idea is that
traditional & rightwing Jews regard themselves as a nation
( Jews= blood ) & generally don't favour mixed marriages,
modern & leftwing Jews tend to view Judaism more of a religion,( Jews=faith), accepting mixed marriages
&
offsprings of mixed marriages tend to call themselves cultural Jews( Jews=idea)
Some of them are " non practicing "& are not circumcised...
You ought to do some reading about Judaism to get better information. It is a religion......
Better a goyim but really pro-semite than a convert,I would say...
You mean better a goy (goyim is the plural!)
As regards conversion, I must say I hadn't considered your perspective. Converts tend to be more orthodox, probably because they take less for granted and have converted out of genuine desire to practice the religion.
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