Jewish identity

"Jewishness" redirects here. For other uses, see Jewish peoplehood.

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Ashkenazi Jews praying in the synagogue on Yom Kippur, showing traditional Jewish clothing and practice, including tallit, the Torah, and head coverings. (1878 painting by Maurice Gottlieb)

Jewish identity is the objective or subjective sense of perceiving oneself as a Jew and as relating to being Jewish.[1] It encompasses elements of nationhood,[2][3][4] ethnicity,[5] religion, and culture.[6][7][8] Broadly defined, Jewish identity does not rely on whether one is recognized as Jewish by others or by external religious, legal, or sociological standards. Jewish identity does not need to imply religious orthodoxy. Accordingly, Jewish identity can be ethnic or cultural in nature. Jewish identity can involve ties to the Jewish community.

Orthodox Judaism bases Jewishness on matrilineal descent. According to Jewish law (halakha), all those born of a Jewish mother are considered Jewish, regardless of personal beliefs or level of observance of Jewish law. Progressive Judaism and Haymanot Judaism in general base Jewishness on having at least one Jewish parent, while Karaite Judaism bases Jewishness only on paternal lineage. These differences between the major Jewish movements are the source of the disagreement and debate about who is a Jew.

Jews who are atheists or Jews who follow other religions may have a Jewish identity. While the absolute majority of people with this identity are of Jewish ethnicity, people of a mixed Jewish and non-Jewish background or gentiles of Jewish ancestry may still have a sense of Jewish self-identity.

  1. ^ Spinoza, Liberalism, and the Question of Jewish Identity. Yale University Press, 1997.
  2. ^ M. Nicholson (2002). International Relations: A Concise Introduction. NYU Press. pp. 19–. ISBN 978-0-8147-5822-9. "The Jews are a nation and were so before there was a Jewish state of Israel"
  3. ^ Alan Dowty (1998). The Jewish State: A Century Later, Updated With a New Preface. University of California Press. pp. 3–. ISBN 978-0-520-92706-3. "Jews are a people, a nation (in the original sense of the word), an ethnos"
  4. ^ Jacob Neusner (1991). An Introduction to Judaism: A Textbook and Reader. Westminster John Knox Press. pp. 375–. ISBN 978-0-664-25348-6. "That there is a Jewish nation can hardly be denied after the creation of the State of Israel"
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Jews-are-ethnoreligious-group was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ David M. Gordis; Zachary I. Heller (2012). Jewish Secularity: The Search for Roots and the Challenges of Relevant Meaning. University Press of America. pp. 1–. ISBN 978-0-7618-5793-8.: "Judaism is a culture and a civilization which embraces the secular as well"
  7. ^ Seth Daniel Kunin (2000). Themes and Issues in Judaism. A&C Black. pp. 1–. ISBN 978-0-304-33758-3.: Although culture - and Judaism is a culture (or cultures) as well as religion - can be subdivided into different analytical categories..."
  8. ^ Paul R. Mendes-Flohr (1991). Divided Passions: Jewish Intellectuals and the Experience of Modernity. Wayne State University Press. pp. 421–. ISBN 0-8143-2030-9.: "Although Judaism is a culture - or rather has a culture - it is eminently more than a culture"