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Conference taveng::bagels

Title:BAGELS and other things of Jewish interest
Notice:1.0 policy, 280.0 directory, 32.0 registration
Moderator:SMURF::FENSTER
Created:Mon Feb 03 1986
Last Modified:Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1524
Total number of notes:18709

223.0. "Elsewhere on the net..." by GRAMPS::LISS (Fred - ESD&P Shrewsbury MA) Mon Nov 03 1986 13:29

    Elsewhere on the net I have seen fanciful stories of how the
    Torah, or Old Testament to some, has very little to say to the
    Jews. These explanations go on to say that one's Judaism is
    determined solely by where one's ancestors lived. In other words,
    If ones roots could be traced to the Kingdom of Judea one is a
    Jew. Did you know if one has a street address in Judea he is a
    Jew?
    
    It is uninformed opinions as those above, that spread
    misunderstandings.
    
    The Torah was given to Mosha. Therefore all the laws in the Torah
    apply to the Jews. Whether or not the seven mitzvos of Noah are
    the only laws that apply to non-Jews is another question. 
    
    Secondly the question of who is a Jew is very clearly defined in
    the Talmud. In "kedushin" (I will look up the chapter number if
    someone really wants to know) the gamora addresses a man about his
    wife's child and says "If her mother [the wife's mother] is Jewish
    then the child is yours. If her mother is not Jewish then the
    child is hers". 
    
    			Fred
                   
        
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
223.18-}ZEPPO::MAHLERLizzy Borden had PMS !Mon Nov 03 1986 14:194
    Whaddya know.  I always thought it was only those with
    a street address in New York that are Real Jews.

223.2You're asking for itNONODE::CHERSONA Symbol of RealityMon Nov 03 1986 16:1014
    re:-1
    
     There OTHER places on this earth where Jews habitate(:-).
    
    re:.0
    
    Fred, I hate to tell you this but when you are taking on the born-again
    crowd, you're asking for it.  I know because during the early '70's
    a group of Christians attempted to "save" me.  Don't forget this
    was long before born-again became a byword, and crypto-fascism became
    popular.
    
    David
         
223.3LSMVAX::ROSENBLUHMon Nov 03 1986 16:4513
    Fred, if you have the stomach for it, why don't you take on the
    born-again crowd directly?  I mean, why not post a direct response to
    whomever had the crazy opinion that  only Judeans are Jews, or whatever
    it was (it sounds very confusing to me).   Anyway, posting the note
    you HERE probably isn't going to get it read by the people
    who take the position you are arguing against.  Are you looking
    for moral support from the readers of this file? (Ok, ok, you have
    it.  Now what?)
    
    I suspect that this person is interpreting the Bible through his
    own theological system, which obviously has nothing to do with Judaism.
    So, like, you could point this out to him, right? 
            
223.4Side IssueMINAR::BISHOPTue Nov 04 1986 13:364
    What are the seven mitzvot of Noah refered to
    in the base note?
    
    		-John Bishop
223.5I am curiousSSDEVO::RICHARDMikeWed Jan 07 1987 19:4718
>    Secondly the question of who is a Jew is very clearly defined in
>    the Talmud. In "kedushin" (I will look up the chapter number if
>    someone really wants to know) the gamora addresses a man about his
>    wife's child and says "If her mother [the wife's mother] is Jewish
>    then the child is yours. If her mother is not Jewish then the
>    child is hers". 
>    
>    			Fred


The above seems to imply that a child born to a Jewish father and a 
non-Jewish mother is not in fact a Jew.  Is it true then that maternal
ancestry defines whether one is Jewish or not?  I thought that in Judea,
prior to the destruction of the Temple, Jewish lineage was defined
by the father's ancestry.  Why the change, if the above is true?

/Mike        

223.6Yes but...GRAMPS::LISSESD&P ShrewsburyThu Jan 08 1987 13:2824
    Re .5 	(For referenced quote see .0)

>The above seems to imply that a child born to a Jewish father and a 
>non-Jewish mother is not in fact a Jew.  

    That is correct. 
    
    Based on the same pusik in the Talmud, if the mother of the child
    is Jewish the child is Jewish regardless of any attempted
    conversion. This holds for as many generations as one can trace
    their matrilineal descent to a Jewish woman. 

>				     ...I thought that in Judea,
>prior to the destruction of the Temple, Jewish lineage was defined
>by the father's ancestry.  Why the change, if the above is true?

    The only thing that is patralineal is ones position within the
    community. For example the son of a cohan is a cohan regardless of
    what his mother is. The son of a levi is a levi, the son of an
    israel is an israel. The Talmud is the Oral Law given to Mosha. If
    you can quote an opposing Jewish source please do so. 

			Fred

223.7Things changeCSCMA::SEIDMANAaron SeidmanFri Jan 09 1987 14:4210
	There was a change between biblical and talmudic times, although
I don't know why (one obvious speculation is that one can always be sure
of the mother).  It is quite clear (e.g. wives of Joseph, Moses were not
Hebrew) that at one point affiliation was patrilineal.  By the time the
Yerushalmi (Talmud) was written, Jewishness was matrilineal.

	It is one of a number of things that changed between the period
of the first kingdom and the mishnaic period.

					Aaron