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Who is a Jew?

alexander garcia

Active Member
This is a funny question to me because the answer depends on who you ask. For some if your mother was NOT Jewish neither are you. Some if you are not circumcised you are not. Or if you are not this or that. This is almost sounding like Christians. Yours is right and every one else is wrong. what is the law of return? Who is it for? Who does it cover?Are my reform cousins Jews? YES! And the stranger that comes, is he a Jew? Yes! Or shall we go back to the truth. Yahuda is one of 12 . Do you keep the law? Than you are a JEW! As for that strict of a line, I am not a Jew. Only a man looking for the mercy of the only ONE true Creator. That He would so bless me that His TORAH would be in my heart more than life itself.
 

zenzero

Its only a Label
Friend Alexander garcia,
I have neither read nor any knowledge about Judaism but am sure that like all other religion the word Jew in reality would mean any religious person like who is a christian or who is a moslem or who is a buddhist. Not that you accept Christ, Buddha or Mohmmaed or moses but that in your life style you follow certain discipline or code of ethics to tune your mind towards understanding god.
However am sure others more familiar with Judaism and other religions will be in a better position to answere the qestion.
Love & rgds
 

jewscout

Religious Zionist
This is a funny question to me because the answer depends on who you ask. For some if your mother was NOT Jewish neither are you. Some if you are not circumcised you are not. Or if you are not this or that. This is almost sounding like Christians. Yours is right and every one else is wrong. what is the law of return? Who is it for? Who does it cover?Are my reform cousins Jews? YES! And the stranger that comes, is he a Jew? Yes! Or shall we go back to the truth. Yahuda is one of 12 . Do you keep the law? Than you are a JEW! As for that strict of a line, I am not a Jew. Only a man looking for the mercy of the only ONE true Creator. That He would so bless me that His TORAH would be in my heart more than life itself.

who is a jew? yes, someone who is born to a jewish mother or goes through a proper conversion process can be considered halachically jewish.

as to Right of Return, this was built to save anyone with a jewish heritage, because those who hate jews don't care about how halacha classifies who is or isn't a jew.

being a jew is more than a faith, it's a people which is why it's so difficult to become part of Am yisrael. It's not just about accepting belief but choosing to become part of something bigger, part of a people with a history and culture.

i believe to start diluting judaism by rewriting what is in the Torah or handed down by our sages (who get their authority from the Torah) endangers the future of Judaism. That orthodox judaism is the only growing form of judaism in America today is evedince of deficiencies in the more liberal forms of judaism.
 

alexander garcia

Active Member
Hi Jewscout, been a few. Being born to a Jewish mother does make one Jewish. but it is not the only thing. As to the law of return it covers anyone that is Jewish, because as you say those that hate Jews don't ask for proof. But as to the Torah, and the diluting thereof. The Torah states not to add to the word. Why do the sages add? I have to tell you this from my heart seek to truth. Traditions are not bad. So long as they do not add or take from the Torah or ANY of the Scriptures. with your back ground you are looking at one point of view, or so I think. As the words HaShem (the Name) the Torah commands to praise HIS Name! Not the words the name! A question for you. After your conversion, if you disagree with your Rabbi do you stop being Jewish? Does the Scriptures give you the form of conversion? NO! Read EVERY conversion in the Scriptures and see what the Scriptures say. Have you ever been shown how many times in the Scriptures that the Rabbi' were wrong? Have you seen that the prophets say how the Rabbi would be deceived. going to end here for now. Hope to be in Jerusalem this year not next and maybe we can both be there. Shalom.
 

NoahideHiker

Religious Headbanger
Hi Alexander! :) Personally I am a kangaroo. Oh I know I don't look like one, I can't hop well, I can't box and there is no kangaroo dna in me but if I say I am a kangaroo then no one can say otherwise. I am a kangaroo! Sounds silly, doesn't it? We are what we are.

Many of the 613 laws that Jews are commanded to keep are for no other reason than to set them apart from the world around them. If the heathen nations around them were shaving and tattooing themselves then Hashem commanded them to NOT shave and to NOT mark their bodies. The Jew has always been separated from the rest of the world because if it didn't then they would surly disappear from the face of the planet. Take the prohibition against marrying a non-Jew. Most Jews who intermarry lose their complete Jewish identity within three generations.

Judaism can be very hard for us Gentiles to understand because we are used to christianity where a person says, I believe! Jesus save me!" and BOOM, you're a christian. I would suggest studying who the Jews say they are. Study why the Jews do what they do. Study what the Jews say needs to be done to become a Jew and why. Study why the sages said what they did and if the rabbis really did take away from or add to the Torah. Study what the oral law is and how it effects the written law. Just ask over and over, "Why?" until you have the full picture. It is not the best way to learn by kicking in the door of the synagogue and shouting, "You're wrong!".

It's OK to not be Jewish ya know. LOL! Jews have their job and we have ours. Actually you sound like a Noachide (Righteous Gentile). It is said that a Gentile who takes upon himself the seven laws of Noah has more honor in heaven than a priest of the Temple.

AskNoah - The Seven Laws of Noah
Noachide.org.uk - The Bnai Noach of the UK
B'nai Noach - Rachav
First Covenant Foundation- Home
 

alexander garcia

Active Member
Noah it is not hard for you kangaroo to understand (I said kangaroo as your joke stated) Or are you a kangaroo? HAHAHA. As to the NO reason but to set us apart. NO. That is some of the stuff that the adders say. Do you know the difference between the writen law and the oral? Yes Yes before you correct me yes I know what the Rabbi and sages say. I just don't agree. This is why. Read the Torah. What was writen in STONE? The rest is ORAL. Do you wish me to give referance to Deut5:1-2
 

NoahideHiker

Religious Headbanger
The sages are wrong, you're right. The rabbis are wrong, you are right. JewScout is wrong, you are right. I am wrong, you are right. You are right because you can read. Bully for you! :)

Well Alexander you obviously have everything figured out. So, exactly why are you here then?
 

jewscout

Religious Zionist
Hi Jewscout, been a few. Being born to a Jewish mother does make one Jewish. but it is not the only thing. As to the law of return it covers anyone that is Jewish, because as you say those that hate Jews don't ask for proof. But as to the Torah, and the diluting thereof. The Torah states not to add to the word. Why do the sages add? I have to tell you this from my heart seek to truth. Traditions are not bad. So long as they do not add or take from the Torah or ANY of the Scriptures. with your back ground you are looking at one point of view, or so I think. As the words HaShem (the Name) the Torah commands to praise HIS Name! Not the words the name! A question for you. After your conversion, if you disagree with your Rabbi do you stop being Jewish? Does the Scriptures give you the form of conversion? NO! Read EVERY conversion in the Scriptures and see what the Scriptures say. Have you ever been shown how many times in the Scriptures that the Rabbi' were wrong? Have you seen that the prophets say how the Rabbi would be deceived. going to end here for now. Hope to be in Jerusalem this year not next and maybe we can both be there. Shalom.

have you ever read the Torah? :sarcastic how about the part where G-d says that when you have a dispute over Halachic issues you go to your learned men and ask their opinions and you go by what they say even if they tell you right is left and left is right. The Sages and rabbis have been given authority from the Torah BY G-D to render judgment on Halachic issues. Have you ever studied Halachah in depth or are you a karerite who sits in his dark house on Shabbat and eats cold food? You can see in texts like the Mishneh Brurah how the halachah can be traced all the way back to both the written and oral Torah, where they find basis for halacha in the Tanach.

without the oral torah, the Talmud, and our sages you can't tell me the following:
How to write a Sefer Torah
How to read from a sefer Torah
how to make Tefillin
How to make tzitzit
how to kosherly slaughter an animal
how to build a Sukkah
What is a sukkah
what does "Pri HaDar" mean in refrence to the wave offering of Sukkot
what constitutes "work" in a halachic sense on Shabbat
what does "do not cook a kid in it's mother's milk" mean
how much matzah does one have to eat to fulfill the mitzvah on Pesach

i can sit here all day long and list off things you have no way of answering about Judaism without sources beyond the Written Torah.

and where in the Tanach does it say the sages will be decieved? can you show me a source for that which isn't christian and therefore has nothing to do with a discussion in this forum?
 

Poisonshady313

Well-Known Member
Noah it is not hard for you kangaroo to understand (I said kangaroo as your joke stated) Or are you a kangaroo? HAHAHA. As to the NO reason but to set us apart. NO. That is some of the stuff that the adders say. Do you know the difference between the writen law and the oral? Yes Yes before you correct me yes I know what the Rabbi and sages say. I just don't agree. This is why. Read the Torah. What was writen in STONE? The rest is ORAL. Do you wish me to give referance to Deut5:1-2

If you like to read the Torah so much, go ahead and read Deuteronomy 17:8-13
Here it is:

If a matter eludes you in judgment, between blood and blood, between judgment and judgment, or between lesion and lesion, words of dispute in your cities, then you shall rise and go up to the place the Lord, your God, chooses.
And you shall come to the Levitic kohanim and to the judge who will be in those days, and you shall inquire, and they will tell you the words of judgment.
And you shall do according to the word they tell you, from the place the Lord will choose, and you shall observe to do according to all they instruct you.
According to the law they instruct you and according to the judgment they say to you, you shall do; you shall not divert from the word they tell you, either right or left.
And the man who acts intentionally, not obeying the kohen who stands there to serve the Lord, your God, or to the judge that man shall die, and you shall abolish evil from Israel.
And all the people shall listen and fear, and they shall no longer act wantonly.
 

Yid613

Member
Hmmm... Aren't you whatever religion you say you are??

Yes but Judaism not a religion. A religion is based on faith, a belief in something. G-d was openly reviled in Egypt, the desert, Mt. Sinai, the Mishkan, and the Temple. There was no need for faith. Faith when used in Jewish texts means more of a faithfulness or trustworthiness in G-d.

At Mt. Sinai the Jewish people entered into a convent, agreement or contract, with G-d. As with any contract it specifies who are parties to the agreement and under what circumstances additional parties may join.
  1. The G-d of Abraham.
  2. The Descendants of Israel Ben Isaac, aka Jacob, herewith in known as the Jewish People.
  3. Those living with the Jewish people pursuant to laws contained within and herewith in known as Converts.
Now some people, including Jews, have certain beliefs, these are religions. Anyone can join.
 
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