Could someone become a Jew if he/she wanted to?
What about someone who is born a Jew but is not religious. Are they Jewish?
So I suppose my question is; Is Judaism a religion, a race, or both?
Straight Dope Staff Report on Can you be an atheist and still be Jewish?
Anyone can convert to Judaism. You can convert through the Orhtodox, Conservative or Reform tradition but either way will take you a couple of years of study. If the rabbi feels like you are doing it for the wrong reasons, they will not let you convert but practically I don’t know how often that happens. Traditionally, they do not make it easy on you because they want to make sure that you are truely sincere.
If you are born Jewish but are not religious (like me for example) you are considered Jewish by Jewish tradition. Almost all non-religious Jews consider themselves to be Jewish.
You will get a lot of viewpoints to your final question. The best way that I can describe it is that Judaism is a religion and a culture. It doesn’t really fit the definition of race but there are sub-groups within the culture that could be considered races.
Haj
As a slight hijack, why is it that people always seem to ask questions about judaism at the time of the week when the adherents of the religion are observing sabbath and thus are unable to answer their questions? :smack:
well, someone who is not Jewish may not be aware of when the Jewish sabbath is and the restrictions involved.
I only know about reform Judaism, which is both the most liberal sect and how I was raised. The traditional criteria is, as stated, to be born to a Jewish mother.
My mother was born and raised Catholic, my father Jewish. My mother never officially converted to Judiasm, but accepted the faith as her own. They found a rabbi who was willing to marry them. Since they were married by a rabbi, and raised me Jewish, I’m technically a Jew, regardless.
However: I do not believe in Judiasm, and could describe myself as a “agnostic, not-religious, but spiritual” person. I sort of consider myself a borderline Buddhist, and I don’t consider myself a Jew. Judiasm isn’t a culture/ethnicity/etc any more than Christianity is: it’s a religious faith and nothing more.
So (as in my case) you don’t technically need to believe in Judiasm or see yourself as a Jew to ‘be’ one, it can be dependent on your parents.
Apologies if I sound overly critical, but I have serious problems with the politics and such of modern Judaism. The ‘if your born Jewish, you’re a Jew regardless’ thing always strikes me as simply an unethical attempt to “boost membership numbers.”
Yes, anyone who wanted to could become a Jew. The process of conversion is a long and difficult one, involving several years of study and a commitment by the potential convert to live according to the dictates of his/her new religion. It’s not an easy task.
Someone who is born Jewish is always Jewish, regardless of any other religion (or lack thereof) that they practice. No formal conversion ceremony is required to “return” to the fold.
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Is Judaism a religion? Yes it is. A race? No.
Judaism is not a race simply because one cannot convert to another race. A person can, however, convert to Judaism. In addition, there are Jews of all races; so Jews cannot be a race unto themselves.
In addition, Judaism is also an ethnicity.
If you have any other questions, wilsta, please feel free to ask.
Zev Steinhardt
Interestingly, however, only Reform Judaism would recognize you as a Jew (and I’m not even certain that that would pass universally with them). According to Orthodox and Conservative Jews, you (and your mother) are not Jewish.
“Once a Jew, always a Jew” is hardly a tenet of modern Judaism. That has been the halacha (Jewish law) for thousands of years. It’s not an attempt to “boost membership numbers” but a system for telling us how we must interact with other people. For example, if a person is Jewish, I can’t offer them something non-kosher to eat. The rule of “once a Jew…” tells me that even if my Jewish friend no longer practices Judaism, I still have to treat him as if he were Jewish and, as such, I could not offer him something non-kosher to eat. It really has nothing to do with “boosting membership numbers” and “politics.”
Zev Steinhardt
What about adoptions? If a jewish family adopts a non-jewish baby, what is the status of the baby? Do they have to convert to Judaism when they are old enough to do so, or does the adoption cover it? I know we’ve probably had this discussion in the past, but there are so many of these Jew/Not a Jew threads…
If they adopt a Jewish baby, then the baby is already Jewish.
If the baby is not Jewish by birth (or previous conversion) then the child must be converted in order to be considered Jewish. I believe (and I would need further research to confirm this) that someone converted as an infant needs to reaffirm his/her conversion upon reaching adulthood (12 for females, 13 for males).
Once converted, the child is just as Jewish as any other child.
Zev Steinhardt
Zev’s answer to Ninjachick is technically correct, and is correct by Jewish law (both Conservative and Orthodox.) However, it is important to remember that the question “Is so-and-so Jewish?” has a number of different implications in a number of different settings.
Jewish Law (halakha), as ref’d by Zev, is a legal code. Thus, if some question of Jewish legalisms arose, it is likely that Ninjachick would be considered not Jewish. For instance, if she were to go to Israel and apply for citizenship (Israeli citizenship is immediately available for any Jew.)
However, separate from the legal side, there’s a practical side. To use Zev’s example, if she told Zev that she was Jewish and hungry, he wouldn’t question her parentage – he would accept her statement, and he would not offer her non-kosher food. If she came to my Conservative synagogue and asked for an aliyah (honor position in a service), she would get it – no one would question what makes her Jewish beyond her own declaration.
Sometimes it’s just a case of closing one’s eyes to a potential problem. Other times, it’s just the very practical aspect that anyone who publicly declares themselves to be Jewish should not be publicly embarrassed by being challenged.
Hence, we have a large number of people like Ninjachick, who think of themselves as Jewish, were raised Jewish, practice some elements of Judaism, but are not technically Jewish under halakha (Jewish Law.) It’s an interesting tension between the Law and actual practice. In day-to-day practice, anyone who says they’re Jewish is accepted as such… except in cases of Law.
I hope that’s somewhat clear.
Yah - I always got the impression that Judiasm wasn’t a “recruiting” sort of religion (which I always respected). I’ve certainly never been approached by a Jewish person of any description and been encouraged to convert, or had a pamphlet shoved at me extoling the virtues of the Jewish faith.
zev:
The opposite: he or she would have to actively reject it upon reaching adulthood in order to not remain a Jew, e.g., by violating a commandment (such as eating pork) in front of witnesses.
The absence of any declaration or indication of rejection serves as a de-facto affirmation. No active affirmation is necessary.
That’s what I figured. Thanks for the confirmation, Chaim.
Zev Steinhardt
That is an excellent point which is why the ignorant “boost membership numbers” comment stuck in my craw. Prostylization is not a part of any form of Judaism and hasn’t been for something like 2000 years. You will find Orthodox Jews trying to get non-practicing Jews to become “more religious” but they will never approach non-Jews.
Haj
An interesting side point for those in the know:
I attended the high holiday services with a friend both out of personal curiosity, and because he offered. His family had a tradition of not going to services alone, so accepting the invitation helped us both out. Part way through the service, however, the rabbi approached me – probably because I was so rapt with attention – and held up a large, heavy-looking scroll (the Torah?) and asked if I would address it (dress it?) for the reading. As politely as I could I said that I would be honored, but that I was not actually Jewish. He smiled, nodded, and asked the guy behind me.
Did I pass up an aliyah? Would G-d have been unhappy with me had I meekly accepted the invitation? What was the scroll, and how heavy is it?
No, what you passed up was probably gelilah.
In Ashkenazic synagouges (and probably most Sephardic ones as well), after the Torah is read, it is held aloft, open, by the rollers by one of the congregants. That is called hagbo’oh (lifting). Another congregant comes along and rolls it closed and puts the dressing on the Torah. That’s called g’lilha (rolling).
As a non-Jew, you did the correct thing in turning down the honor.
Torah scrolls range from the very light to the very heavy. There is really no way to tell the weight of the Torah scroll you saw without lifting it.
Zev Steinhardt
Hmmm… but I have friends who most certainly break commandments (dietary rules mostly, but other stuff) in front of us & each other all the time. Pork, shellfish, cheeseburgers etc. I don’t think they consider that so much a rejection of Judaism (in fact in terms of attending services they’re pretty observant, I believe all reform) as themselves being sloppy or “bad” Jews, who are disappointing their mothers (which may be a sign of being an average Jew 
?).
Would others see that as an outright denial of the faith? Would they require a ‘conversion’ back into it to honor their Judaism because they saw my buddy eat a chopped pork and spinach sandwich at Tony Luc’s?
Not quite. Reform Jews simply see halacha (Jewish law) as not binding and as such don’t consider themselves “bad” or “sloppy” Jews.
Well, that hits on another point; namely that any and all conversion conducted under Reform Rabbis are ipso facto invalid according to Orthodox Jews. A key component of conversion is the acceptence of the mitzvos. Since Reform holds that observance of the mitzvos is optional, it follows that all such conversions (according to Orthodox and Conservative Jews) are invalid.
If your friend was Jewish from birth then she is still Jewish, regardless of any actions she may have taken and does not require a conversion ceremony at all.
Zev Steinhardt
Aha. Thanks!