# Judiasm Query **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2002, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judiasm-query/139902 "2002-12-02T05:16:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mrcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@mrcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrcrow)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judiasm-query/139902/21 "2002-12-03T14:33:39Z")
two questions: is judiasm a race as well as a religion, and is being hebrew different from being jewish. thanks. summing up no yes 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judiasm-query/139902/22 "2002-12-03T18:12:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mrcrow \* > \*\*two questions: is judiasm a race as well as a religion, and is being hebrew different from being jewish. thanks. > summing up > no > yes > > 🙂 \*\* As I understand it: yes and yes. 🙂 \*Religion: because it is a supernatural explanation of worldly events. _Race: because it is “a class or kind of people unified by community of interests, habits, or characteristics.” Hebrew: if one is decended from Heber (or “Eber”), then one is Hebrew Jew: if one is decended from Judah, then one is a Judahite–in the old testament it is shortened to Jew. Heber was a great-great-grandson of Noah and Judah was a decendent (I don’t know how many generations) of Heber, hence all Jews are Hebrews but not all Hebrews are Jews._ \*\*\*That is as I understand it from this website: [http://jews-for-allah.org/Hebrew/Jews-not-for-Judaism/Semite-Hebrew-Israelite-Jew.htm](http://jews-for-allah.org/Hebrew/Jews-not-for-Judaism/Semite-Hebrew-Israelite-Jew.htm) . For whatever that’s worth.:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judiasm-query/139902/23 "2002-12-03T18:48:36Z")
> [@](#): > > A Semite (or, “Shemite”) is someone descended from Shem, one of the sons of Noah. A Hebrew is someone descended from Heber (or, “Eber”), one of the great-grandsons of Shem. So all Hebrews are Semites, but not all Semites are Hebrews. But both Arabs and Israelites are Semites, so using the term “antisemitic” in reference to being against the Jews only is incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judiasm-query/139902/24 "2002-12-03T20:40:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by barbitu8 \* > \*\*But both Arabs and Israelites are Semites, so using the term “antisemitic” in reference to being against the Jews only is incorrect. \*\* While this is true in the etymological sense, common usage is that anti-semetic means prejudiced against Jews. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judiasm-query/139902/25 "2002-12-03T21:18:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Telemark \* > \*\*While this is true [that Semitic includes Arabs] in the etymological sense, common usage is that anti-semetic means prejudiced against Jews. \*\* May I assert that this, in my opinion, is a case where common usage should be abandoned? ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judiasm-query/139902/26 "2002-12-03T23:08:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Telemark \* > \*\*While this is true in the etymological sense, common usage is that anti-semetic means prejudiced against Jews. \*\* It’s not true, even in the etymological sense (where I mean by etymology the actual history of the word). The word “anti-semitism” was originally coined by Wilhelm Marr in 1882 to express his philosophy of hatred against Jews. See [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Semitism](http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Semitism) That is still it’s only meaning. See, for example, the Merriam-Webster dictionary at [http://www.merriam-webster.com](http://www.merriam-webster.com) Look up anti-semitism there and you’ll see that the definition is: “hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group” And the same is true in any dictionary you care to name. The etymology of the separate parts of the word might make you think that it means hatred of all Semites, but that turns out to be misleading in this case. Ed ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judiasm-query/139902/27 "2002-12-03T23:13:34Z")
> [@](#): > > And the same is true in any dictionary you care to name. Well, I care to name [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com): > [@](#): > > Anti-Semitism \An`ti-Sem"i*tism\, n. Opposition to, or hatred of, Semites, esp. Jews. -- An`ti-Sem"ite, n. – An`ti-Sem\*it"ic, a. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judiasm-query/139902/28 "2002-12-03T23:20:28Z")
\<\< Race: because it is “a class or kind of people unified by community of interests, habits, or characteristics.”\>\> I guess that means that the Salvation Army is a race? and AOL users, as well? They are, after all, group of people unified by the common habit of playing online with AOL. NO, under any reasonable definition of “race”, Judaism is not a race. A tribe, perhaps, or an ethnic group, or a people, but not a race. And, of course, also a religion. On the use of “anti-semitism,” the etymology is deceptive. The word “black” is commonly used to describe members of a certain race, but when we say “black-hearted” we do not imply anything racial. Similarly, the word “semitic” usually means “middle-eastern”, but “anti-semitic” almost always means “anti-Jewish.” ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judiasm-query/139902/29 "2002-12-03T23:23:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by barbitu8 \* > \*\*Well, I care to name [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com): \*\* Out of the three dictionaries referenced by [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com), only one mentions hatred of Semites as a definition of anti-semitism, and even that one says, “esp. Jews”. The other two restrict the meaning to hatred of Jews only. So I will modify my remarks this much: For most dictionaries, hatred of Jews is the only meaning of anti-semtism. Ed ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judiasm-query/139902/30 "2002-12-04T00:09:40Z")
Jews cannot be a race unless one can belong to two races, as many people who belong to the Negro race are also Jews. And not necessarily by conversion. (See one of my prior posts.) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judiasm-query/139902/31 "2002-12-04T03:42:11Z")
And exactly how do you define the “Negro” race? ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judiasm-query/139902/32 "2002-12-04T18:43:59Z")
[Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com): > [@](#): > > Ne·gro ( P ) Pronunciation Key (ngr) > n. Often Offensive pl. Ne·groes > A Black person. See Usage Note at black. > A member of the Negroid race. Not in scientific use. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judiasm-query/139902.md?page=1)