she is Jewish and I dont think she thinks it is a religion

when she was talking to me about it souned just like something that is pasted down in a family

she told me that you cant become Jewish that you have to born into a Jewish family

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LW Christian Faith group

LW BF

They don't try and convert people, like Christianity or Jehovah's Whiteness.

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In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed.

You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.

It's really hard to convert. We don't take just anyone off the street who flightily thinks they want to be a Jew for the week. I know there's at least one convert floating around here who can explain it better, but normally there's at least a year of intense classes on the Talmud, Hebrew, and other cultural and religious aspects before you can be even considered as a convert. Plus, the rabbi must try to convince you not to convert 3 times to make sure you're absolutely sure that it is the path for you.

So generally, it is passed by mother. And many Jews are like me and Jewish in culture only. I would even venture to say that most younger Jews are relatively agnostic or deist but participate in the ceremonies for the cultural importance.

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Judaism is a society within a society (bar israel) where jews fail to assimilate into their host country. The jewish community in NI have their own synagogues, their own burial sites, their own language. They make no effort to become part of the wider Northern Irish community and instead insist on forming their own. I see no point to judaism in anywhere other than israel.

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Just like there's no point for Catholics except for outside of the Vatican. They don't eat meat on Fridays and have their own burial grounds. Oh dear me.

And what about those darn Protestants? Every single sect of them has their own burial grounds and their own churches. How DARE they fail to assimilate?

- Edit: This was actually an advert on this page, coincidence or what?? http://www.convertingtojudaism.com/?wcw=google

(Edited by Senradika at 7:43 pm on April 9, 2006)

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There'll always be an England, And England shall be free,
If England means as much to you, As England means to me.

i'm jewish by birth tho btw

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Leaving vapor trails across the bleak terrain: it was the hexagram of the heavens, the strings of my guitar.

So who's going to be the first to cry "racist" "bigot" "stereotyping" or various other BS terms??

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http://zamphir.litek.ws/
www.ihr.org

Here is the info again to clear things up:

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What Is Judaism?  

What is Judaism? What does it mean to be a Jew? Most people, both Jewish and gentile, would instinctively say that Judaism is a religion. And yet, there are militant atheists who insist that they are Jews! Is Judaism a race? If you were to say so, most Jews would think you were an antisemite! So what is Judaism?  

1. Is Judaism a Religion?
Clearly, there is a religion called Judaism, a set of ideas about the world and the way we should live our lives that is called "Judaism." It is studied in Religious Studies courses and taught to Jewish children in Hebrew schools.  

However, many people who call themselves Jews do not believe in that religion at all! More than half of all Jews in Israel today call themselves "secular," and don't believe in G-d or any of the religious beliefs of Judaism. Half of all Jews in the United States don't belong to any synagogue. They may practice some of the rituals of Judaism and celebrate some of the holidays, but they don't think of these actions as religious activities.  

The most traditional Jews and the most liberal Jews and everyone in between would agree that these secular people are still Jews, regardless of their disbelief. See Who is a Jew? Clearly, then, there is more to being Jewish than just a religion.

2. Are Jews a Race?  
In the 1980s, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Jews are a race, at least for purposes of certain anti-discrimination laws. Their reasoning: at the time these laws were passed, people routinely spoke of the "Jewish race" or the "Italian race" as well as the "Negro race," so that is what the legislators intended to protect.  

But many Jews were deeply offended by that decision, offended by any hint that Jews could be considered a race. The idea of Jews as a race brings to mind nightmarish visions of Nazi Germany, where Jews were declared to be not just a race, but an inferior race that had to be rounded up into ghettos and exterminated like vermin.  

But setting aside the emotional issues, Jews are clearly not a race.

Race is a genetic distinction, and refers to people with shared ancestry and shared genetic traits. You can't change your race; it's in your DNA. I could never become black or Asian no matter how much I might want to.  

Common ancestry is not required to be a Jew. Many Jews worldwide share common ancestry, as shown by genetic research; however, you can be a Jew without sharing this common ancestry, for example, by converting. Thus, although I could never become black or Asian, blacks and Asians have become Jews (Sammy Davis Jr. and Connie Chung).  

3. Is It a Culture or Ethnic Group?
Most secular American Jews think of their Jewishness as a matter of culture or ethnicity. When they think of Jewish culture, they think of the food, of the Yiddish language, of some limited holiday observances, and of cultural values like the emphasis on education.  

Those secular American Jews would probably be surprised to learn that much of what they think of as Jewish culture is really just Ashkenazic Jewish culture, the culture of Jews whose ancestors come from one part of the world. Jews have lived in many parts of the world and have developed many different traditions. As a Sephardic friend likes to remind me, Yiddish is not part of his culture

There are certainly cultural traits and behaviors that are shared by many Jews, that make us feel more comfortable with other Jews. Jews in many parts of the world share many of those cultural aspects. However, that culture is not shared by all Jews all over the world, and people who do not share that culture are no less Jews because of it. Thus, Judaism must be something more than a culture or an ethnic group.  

4. Are the Jews a Nation?  
The traditional explanation, and the one given in the Torah, is that the Jews are a nation. The Hebrew word, believe it or not, is "goy." The Torah and the rabbis used this term not in the modern sense meaning a territorial and political entity, but in the ancient sense meaning a group of people with a common history, a common destiny, and a sense that we are all connected to each other.  

Unfortunately, in modern times, the term "nation" has become too contaminated by ugly, jingoistic notions of a country obsessed with its own superiority and bent on world domination. Because of this notion of "nationhood," Jews are often falsely accused of being disloyal to their own country in favor of their loyalty to the Jewish "nation," of being more loyal to Israel than to their home country.  

Because of the inaccurate connotations that have attached themselves to the term "nation," the term can no longer be used to accurately describe the Jewish people.  

ANSWER:

The Jewish People are a Family

It is clear from the discussion above that there is a certain amount of truth in the claims that it is a religion, a race, or an ethnic group, none of these descriptions is entirely adequate to describe what connects Jews to other Jews. And yet, almost all Jews feel a sense of connectedness to each other that many find hard to explain, define, or even understand. Traditionally, this interconnectedness was understood as "nationhood" or "peoplehood," but those terms have become so distorted over time that they are no longer accurate.  

Rabbi Adin Steinsalts has suggested a better analogy for the Jewish people: We are a family. See the third essay in his recent book, We Jews: Who Are We and What Should We Do. But though this is a new book, it is certainly not a new concept: throughout the Bible and Jewish literature, the Jewish people are referred to as "the Children of Israel," a reference to the fact that we are all the physical or spiritual descendants of the Patriarch Jacob, who was later called Israel. In other words, we are part of his extended family.

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http://www.jewfaq.org/judaism.htm

Hope it helps!  

(Edited by skaterofthefuture at 7:10 pm on April 9, 2006)

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In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies,
but the silence of our friends.

http://www.golivewire.com/forums/topic.cgi?topic=276078

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In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies,
but the silence of our friends.