Are the Jews/Judaism a race or a religion or both in your view ?

[tradeunionsupporter]

Are the Jews/Judaism a race or a religion or both in your view ?

[Aspiring Humanist]

Since when was this a point of debate?

[OhYesIdid]

Jews: race. Judaism: religion. Although saying "Judaism" is like saying "Christianity", and saying "Jews" is slightly like saying "asian people." There are dozens of variations, possibly hundreds, do some wikipeding or something.

Also, please don't be a troll, 'cause then I'll feel dumb for falling into the trap.

[ComradeMan]

Both- ethno-religious group, however the word "race" is inappropriate, people or ethnic group(s) is different.

[Zugunruhe]

The Jews are, ultimately, descended from a tribe. There are a sizable number of converts who were not born into Judaism, but these people are considered to be a part of the tribe after their conversion, just like any other Jew.

[jake williams]

"Judaism" is a religion.

There's also a sort of European ethnocultural group around Yiddish as a language and Judaism as a religion, in Eastern Europe, ie. the Ashkenazis who are sometimes assumed to constitute a "race". But they're only a part of the Jewish religious community, and for that matter they're an unusually secular population.

Zionism has made a project of creating the idea that there is this "Jewish nation" constituted basically by the whole Jewish religious community worldwide, and then secular Jews in addition, but it's mostly a myth.

[~Spectre]

No such thing as race.

[Zugunruhe]

There's also a sort of European ethnocultural group around Yiddish as a language and Judaism as a religion, in Eastern Europe, ie. the Ashkenazis who are sometimes assumed to constitute a "race". But they're only a part of the Jewish religious community, and for that matter they're an unusually secular population.But if all of Judaism is tied closely to ethnicity, does that not make Jews an ethnicity? There are different branches of the Jewish ethnicity, but we've also got plenty of things in common. Additionally, a basic tenant of Judaism is that anyone who has a Jewish mother is a Jew. If they convert to Christianity or Islam or join an African tribal religion, they're still a Jew. They're just a "bad Jew". If you don't have a Jewish mother, you're not a Jew, to become a Jew, you have to go through the conversion process, which is focused more on making you a member of the tribe, than on your religious beliefs.

There's a Hassidic story that goes to the tune of everyone who converts to Judaism had a Jewish soul to begin with, they were just displaced into a goyish family.

I should probably add that these are not my beliefs or opinions, but ones that are supported by halacha.

[jake williams]

I should probably add that these are not my beliefs or opinions, but ones that are supported by halacha.
Right, but they're mistaken.

[Queercommie Girl]

The Jews are, ultimately, descended from a tribe.


I'd say the same about the Han Chinese, and many other modern nations too.

[Queercommie Girl]

But if all of Judaism is tied closely to ethnicity, does that not make Jews an ethnicity? There are different branches of the Jewish ethnicity, but we've also got plenty of things in common.


Ethnicity is not the same thing as "race".

[Queercommie Girl]

There's a Hassidic story that goes to the tune of everyone who converts to Judaism had a Jewish soul to begin with, they were just displaced into a goyish family.

I should probably add that these are not my beliefs or opinions, but ones that are supported by halacha.

That's not some argument that will carry weight for a secular audience.

[CynicalIdealist]

I've always defended my anti-Zionism by pointing how that I'm ethnically half-Jewish, but I find my whole ethnicity-not-religion contradiction to be weird. I also don't really identify with any ethnicity.

[DarkPast]

Jews = an ethnicity
Judaism = religion
any race = something invented to justify the exploitation of a given group

[Zealot]

I've never really understood why Jews were considered a race so if someone can explain that please. The way I've always seen it:

Hebrews = A race
Jews = Followers of Judaism
Judaism = A religion

And I don't think Jews are necessarily Hebrews, especially converts :confused:

[Queercommie Girl]

I've never really understood why Jews were considered a race so if someone can explain that please. The way I've always seen it:

Hebrews = A race
Jews = Followers of Judaism
Judaism = A religion

And I don't think Jews are necessarily Hebrews, especially converts :confused:

Hebrews are an ethnicity, not a race.

[The Dark Side of the Moon]

jews are an ethnicity, and a religion

[Agnapostate]

Hebrew is a language, and a historic ethnicity.

Judaism is a religion, and its practitioners are confusingly called "Jews."

Ethnic Jews are typically called "Jewish" in the U.S. and possibly other Anglophone countries. I don't know if there tend to be precise terms in other languages that would distinguish ethnic and religious Jews.

Ashkenazim, the most numerous Jewish ethnic group, are admixed between European and Middle Eastern populations, which is why they typically resemble Europeans. Their tendency to "look white" despite possessing significant admixture is a facet of modern racism against them, actually, a new twist on the historic depiction of Jews as infiltrators and internal parasites.

[Viet Minh]

I always thought of semites as an ethnic group, anti-semitism is undoubtedly more racially motivated more than it is religiously motivated.

[scarletghoul]

This is an age(s) old question, and its answers vary beyond any coherence.

I refer you, tradeunionsupporter, to this awkwardly named wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_is_a_Jew

[Fulanito de Tal]

Judaism is a religion, not an ethnicity or race. While all Jews share commonalities based on their religion, a Jew in New York or Florida has a very different culture than one in Ethiopia. It seems to me that it gets confused with an ethnicity since the dominant religion in the West is Christianity, so the Jews seem different to the dominant culture and seem relatively similar to other Jews.