[Kofi20786]

Is it true that in order to be recognized as a Jew your mother has to be a Jew? And how come I only see white-skinned women who are Jews? Can only white people be Jewish? Would that make Judaism a racist religion?

User Detail :  

Name : Kofi20786, Gender : M, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Episcopalian, City : na, State : NY, Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, 

[Ann L. Lowenstein]

To answer your first question: Yes, Judaism is determined by the line of the mother, a practical necessity when your relgion/race is the target of ugly hatred and attempts at elimination through the constant rape of your women. To answer the rest of your questions: Most of the Jews in the U.S. are of central European descent, hence they are Caucasian in appearance – especially in light of the aforementioned centuries of rape by white/Caucasian attackers. Jews from the Middle East tend to be Semitic in appearance – to wit, they look ‘Arab’ to a certain extent. Ethiopian Jews, not altogether surprisingly, are BLACK. Anyone born to a Jewish mother is considered Jewish, irrespective of skin color, and anyone who sincerely wants to convert to Judaism may do so. You might have heard of this fellow named ‘Sammy Davis, Jr.’. He was a Jew. There are Mexican and South American Jews, as well. It should be noted that the manner in which you asked this question comes off very much as a limp-dick attempt to justify your own anti-Semitism.

User Detail :  

Name : Ann L. Lowenstein, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Animist, Age : 37, City : K.C., State : MO, Country : United States, Occupation : Administrative Assistant, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Cal28597]

I’m not sure what you mean by ‘recognized as a Jew’. There are different Jewish sects and at least some of them accept converts. Some black guys who have converted are Sammy Davis Jr. and Rod Carew. There is also a Jewish minority in Ethiopia, so not all Jews are white.

User Detail :  

Name : Cal28597, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 47, City : Lakewood, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Sasha-A]

If you were to visit Israel you would find, for one example, the Falashas, who are from Ethiopia and are Black-skinned Africans! Also, there are an extensive ammount of Jews who are Persian, Yememites (Arabic) and even Chinese, Indian and Japanese. What you see are those Jews who are derived from Eastern Europe who, of course, are white-skinned. And yes, since Jews have been horribly subject to persecution, universally for 2000+ years, the Rabbis decided to make the Jewish religion come from the mother. In the Bible it comes from the father. But it was common practice for invaders to kill the men and rape the women. Thus Jewish children would become non-Jewish by reason of the invading ‘father’ (soldier/rapist).

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Name : Sasha-A, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 25, City : Los Angeles, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Professor, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper class, 

[Laurie-B28863]

According to Jewish tradition, if your mother is a Jew, that makes you a Jew. (They went with that definition because there was no definite way of knowing who the father was). Less traditional Jews have different definitions. Regarding can only white people be Jews, the answer is no. If your mom is a Jew, you’re a Jew no matter what your color. And people of all colors, races, nationalities, religions, etc. are permitted to convert to Judaism. There are also some communities of black African Jews, Chinese Jews, India Jews, Latino Jews, and others.

User Detail :  

Name : Laurie-B28863, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 55, City : Boston, State : MA, Country : United States, 

[Cynthia28571]

Sammy Davis Jr. who was black, converted to Judaism, so no, non-whites can be Jewish too. Judaism is matrilinial (for the most part–some Reform groups will recognize people whose fathers are Jewish, but not the mother), so yes, it is passed down from the mother.

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Name : Cynthia28571, Gender : F, Race : Asian, Age : 27, City : Toronto, State : NA, Country : Canada, Occupation : Editor, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Sarah28569]

One of the two ways to be a Jew is to either be born of a Jewish mother or convert. Anyone is allowed to convert. There are people of every ethnicity who are Jews. Sammy Davis Jr was a Jew. You only see white-skinned women who are Jews because you aren’t looking hard enough.

User Detail :  

Name : Sarah28569, Gender : F, Age : 35, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States, 

[ShirleyAvery]

Unlike most other religions, Jews do not proselytize, don’t seek ANY converts. There are Black Ethiopian Jews. Anyone with a sincere desire to convert to Judaism has to go through a long process, taking Jewish education classes for some time to prove their sincerity. Blacks are not discriminated against. Don’t know of any blacks other than Sammy Davis Jr. and one local man in St. Louis who chose to convert to Judaism. Blacks have already suffered discrimination so it’s hard to understand why they would chose to convert to a religion that’s been persecuted for millenia. Just Curious

User Detail :  

Name : ShirleyAvery, Gender : F, Disability : none, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 52, City : st. louis, State : MO, Country : United States, Occupation : writer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Dot]

And NO my children are not considered Jewish by the more hardline Orthodoxy of the faith. Thankfully most Reform Jews are less bigoted about these things. As an African-American it may interest you to know that Michelle Obama has a cousin who is a rabbi.

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Name : Dot, Gender : Female, Age : none, City : L.A., State : CA, Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, 

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