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From: dnd@exodus.UUCP (David N. Deutsch)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re:  Who is a Jew
Message-ID: <181@exodus.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 27-Jul-84 14:13:59 EDT
Article-I.D.: exodus.181
Posted: Fri Jul 27 14:13:59 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Jul-84 10:39:20 EDT
Organization: Bell Communications Research, Inc., Murray Hill, NJ
Lines: 19

The quotation "Mother's baby, papa's?  Maybe" has often
been used to justify the consideration of a child as Jewish
if the mother is Jewish.  This is in sharp contrast to the
classification of the child (Cohen, Levi or Israelite, not
Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, etc. :-))
which is based solely on the father.

I asked "my" Rabbi for a suitable reference as to why
Jewish law bases the child's religion on the mother's.
He directed me to the book of Bereshit (Genesis) wherein
Abraham (considered to be the first Jew) had two wives
and two sons.  Sarah was considered to be Jewish and so
was her son Isaac.  Hagar was not Jewish nor was her
son Ishmael.  The father (Abraham) was common to both.
We thus have a biblical example where the Jewish
religion depends on the mother rather than the father.

David N. Deutsch     (201-582-2032  or exodus!dnd)
(Bell Communications Research, Murray Hill, N.J.)