Well, obviously, real Jews speak Yiddish or Ladino.
Judaism= religion.
Jewish= either a people, or a religion.
Thus, if you practice Judaism, your are, indeed- Jewish, and Judaism can only refer to the faith.
Jewish: you can be Jewish and be non-religious (ie, not practicing Judaism). I do disagree with some here that say if a person of jewish ancestry converts to another religion, he “stays a Jew”, but I would say that calling a converted Jewish person “A Catholic of jewish ancestry” (eg) would be correct.
Well, the way I phrased it certainly isn’t. That’s more of a IMHO type of question. But phrasing it more along the lines of “Which is more important, being an American Jew or a Jewish American?” brings out more of a debate.
At least more so than whether we’re a race or not. Israel may be the holy land, but we will never all live together there. At least not in the forseeable future. We may make Aliyah, the visiting of Israel, but we don’t stay. If we are indeed a race of Jews, we aren’t set out to take over the world. Even the Jewish religion isn’t there to “convert the heathens.”
There are more Jews in America than there are in Israel. Still, our religion, or race, isn’t a majority of the population in any city. Our race, if there is indeed one, is spread out across America. The important question, IMO, is not whether we are a race, but what we, as individuals, are. Are you a Jewish American, or an American Jew? Which is more important?
I certainly don’t want to hijack the OP here, but I feel that our status as a race is irrelevant if those who are supposedly within it don’t actually care.
Wow… thank you guys for the vigorous debate… reminds me of what my friend and I said to each other.
For the record, I don’t care. While I have “Jewish Blood” it has no bearing on my life or religion. But it is nice to know that some of the smarter folks (dopers) can have the same arguement with the same non-results I’ve had…
BTW, I just discovered the search function… woo haa!! no more needless posting for Tristan, no sir!!