Well, I’m a Jew (male), that’s news to me. But if it’s a problem word now, I’ll avoid using it.
Exactly.
And thank you @cmkeller.
I’m a Jew, and female, and I’ve never once thought of myself as “a Jewess”. It sounds… I dunno, but as offensive as some of those other words, but incredibly old fashioned and patriarchal.
Serious question- How do we feel about “Shebrew”? Personally, I like it quite a bit
If i saw it in the wild, i would think you were talking about beer.
Personally, I’m all for calling us all Jews. Why divide it further? If you want to talk about our religious adherence, we have plenty of terms for those, but dividing it by gender seems unneeded.
Somewhere I have the bottle from HeBrew The Chosen Stout!
It’s been a problem word for at least most of my life. And I’m 73.
Agreeing with this.
That’s a serious question? I think it’s awful.
It combines the gender problem with the old-fashioned use of “Hebrew” (for humans, as opposed to for the language) which was used to avoid using “Jew” and implies that there’s something wrong with being Jewish.
Yeah, i think it’s a horrible word for referring to people.
What can I say, I guess we travel in different circles. I suppose the word hasn’t circulated so much that it’s on the better known lists of those to be obviously avoided.
You have 13 years on me but I’ve never known a time when it wasn’t offensive
Same. And having spent 50 of those years just outside of New York City (with all that that should imply) if I heard someone say Jewess or Negress I new what was going to follow from their mouths would be pure bigotry.
Under Jewish law the fetus is not considered a live, separate person until birth and the first breath. Abortion is permitted and was no doubt a factor (although in the past abortion could be hazardous to pregnant women). Don’t know if that is what is being referred to or something else.
While I think the word can be problematic in this context I am comfortable with it being a descriptor (“a female Jew”) rather than a slur. It is, however, at best an archaic term and one probably best avoided.
Rather like the word “bitch” can be offensive but if you’re talking about a female dog it’s arguably a specific and correct term. Arguably. That doesn’t mean it’s the best term to use.
Abortion is permitted under certain circumstances, but not in a blanket Roe v Wade sort of way. The fetus is not considered a distinct individual, but a part of the mother’s body, but elective amputation is not permitted in Jewish law either. I am not a Rabbi, and do not presume to list specific circumstances that allow an abortion, but I’m rather certain that when the issue arises for a Torah-observant Jew, their Rabbis would find the appropriate rule that fits their specific cases.
A side question, if I may: if a Jewish lady has a child but refuses to identify the father, could the child be considered and raised as a Jew? I’m sorry if this is an obvious question.
If the mother is Jewish, the child is Jewish. The father is completely irrelevant.
I have heard that before, but Wikipedia says that this is only true for Orthodox and Conservative Judaism. Karaite Judaism is “transmitted” exclusively by patrilineal descent, for instance, and Reconstructionist and Reform Judaism have some form of bilineal descent, etc.
Yes, but that’s an either situation, not both.
Precisely.
Reconstructionist Judaism was the first movement to adopt the idea of bilineal descent in 1968. According to Reconstructionist Judaism, children of one Jewish parent, regardless of gender, are considered Jewish if raised as Jews.
In 1983, the Central Conference of American Rabbis of Reform Judaism passed a resolution waiving the need for formal conversion for anyone with at least one Jewish parent, provided that either (a) one is raised as a Jew, by Reform standards, or (b) one engages in an appropriate act of public identification, formalizing a practice that had been common in Reform synagogues for at least a generation. This 1983 resolution departed from the Reform Movement’s previous position requiring formal conversion to Judaism for children without a Jewish mother.
What exactly are you arguing? Hajaro was responding to a specific question. If the mother is Jewish, the father is irrelevant. Jewish, not Jewish, Martian, whatever. The child is Jewish in that situation.