Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: credmond@watmath.waterloo.edu (Chris Redmond) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Sotah 49a-49b Message-ID: Date: 24 May 91 04:38:26 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Waterloo Lines: 31 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article wlinden@msb.com (Will Linden) writes: >>Why shouldn't Christian Jews call themselves Jews? Jesus was a Jew. >>Was his disciple Peter a Jew? Were his apostles Jewish? >>I know of Messianics who keep kosher and keep the law. You say that >>they are not Jewish, yet there are reformed Jews who do not keep any >>of the food ordinances, are these Jews? > What he said. > I can not understand the rationale for claiming that an atheist who sneers >at Torah and halakah but made the right choice of mother is somehow MORE >Jewish than Moshe Rosen. You are using a Christian idea to make a decision about Judaism. We accept that one is a Christian if (more or less) one believes in the teachings of Christianity and practises its rituals. To some extent we also class people as Christians if they grew up in a Christian environment and adhere to a Christian-dominated culture, but that's much more questionable. According to Judaism, on the other hand, belief and practice are not the criteria of who is Jewish. You are Jewish if you were born Jewish (or converted to Judaism, though that's rare). If you are Jewish, Judaism says that you *should* engage in certain practices; if you don't, that makes you bad, but still Jewish. This difference in definition accounts for a great deal of misunderstanding on both sides. CAR