anti-Semitism is a global reality but most Gentiles are certain that Jews are a race, a culture and not simply a religious group. In scientific terms are you a "Jew" if one or more of your parents are Jewish?
The Jews are a religion, not a race. If we were a race, one could not convert to it! I cannot convert to become an Asian, but if an Asian converts to Judaism he or she becomes BOTH an Asian AND a Jew!
Being a member of a race means that there is some genetic code determining physical characteristics, that indicates that a person is a part of that specific race, and there is no such genetic code, and there is no such physical characteristic, for Jews.
We are not an ethnic group, the Jews of Morrocco would not recognize the ethnicity of the Jews of Russia.
We are not a culture, the Jews of Yemen would not recognize the culture of the Jews from Mexico.
The Jews of Yemen, Morrocco, Mexico, and Russia are all Jews because they share the same religion.
But one could say that we are a NATION. By that i DO NOT mean with passports and borders like for a country, this has nothing to with the COUNTRY of Israel.
Gd spoke to Abraham and said, "I will make you a great NATION."
All Nations have their own laws of citizenship, and no one of one nation has the right to tell those of another nation, who is and who is not a citizen.
Nations have laws to become Naturalized. The Laws of the Jews are that to become Naturalized to the Nation of Jews one converts to the RELIGION of the Jews, which is Judaism.
Similarly, if a person does nothing to promote the ideas of their nation, they remain a citizen. The only way they can lose their citizenship is to become a citizen of another country.
For the Jews, if a Jew converts to another faith, he or she is no longer a Jew. Regardless of still doing the Jewish "culture" or "ethnicity" things, even if they continue to do the religious things, their conversion means they are no longer Jews.
The Orthodox Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, writing for the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, for the National Conference of Synagogue Youth, the Orthodox Youth Group, in his book The Real Messiah, on page 21 wrote:
"""This brings us back to our original question:
What can a Jew lose by embracing Christianity?
The answer is: Everything.
Christianity negates the fundamentals of Jewish
faith, and one who accepts it rejects the very
essence of Judaism. Even if he continues to keep
all of the rituals, it is the same as if he
abandoned Judaism completely.
A Jew who accepts Christianity might call himself
a "Messianic 'Jew,'" but he is no longer a Jew.
He can no longer even be counted as part of a
Jewish Congregation."""
This is no different than with any other Nation. If a U.S. citizen moves to China, and gives money to terrorists, they remain U.S. Citizens until they become citizens of China, thereby losing their U.S. citizenship.
I think Judaism is more a culture and religion than a race. Jewish communities are scattered all over the world, so you'll find Middle Eastern Jews who resemble their relatives the Arabs, white Jews in Europe and the U.S. who have blond or red hair and blue eyes, black Jews in Africa, East Indian Jews in India, and even Chinese Jews. So no, Jews are not a 'race' per say.
Races are fuzzy distinctions that have nothing to do with science. Most Black people in the US have some European genes. Yet we define them as a race. Race is a social construction that loses all meaning under a close scrutiny.
Yes, you may call yourself a Jew if your mother was a Jew (and father in Reform Judaism). But you must also grow up in a Jewish family in order to understand Judaism. Jews who grow up outside a Jewish family sometimes go through a conversion process. As I understand Christianity, children may not call themselves Christian until they have been Baptised. Jewish children are accepted as Jews at birth.
Christians frequently call people Jews simply because they are born to Jews even though they themselves do not identify with either the Jewish culture or religion. Here in the U.S. we we identify our own ethnicity -- others do not do it for us. God bless the U.S.A.
Scientifically, you have a lot of "Jewish" genes if you have Jewish ancestors. Since Jews were a self-contained gene pool, and still are, among the religious, they are a separate race.
is Judaism defined as a race?
