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> > Would someone who has dropped the Jewish religion still consider themselves > a Jew? Usually. But again, it depends on whom you ask and the circumstance. Example 1: Nonpracticing Jews (ie, non-religious Jews) rarely if ever feel that their lack of religiosity suddenly makes them not Jewish. I, for instance, am not religious but I still very much consider myself Jewish. But if you turned to certain ultra-orthodox Jews and asked them if I'm Jewish, they'd say no way. In fact, many orthodox groups in Israel view the vast majority of American Jews, who were raised as Reform or Conservative Jews, as being not Jewish. If you don't follow the strict rules of Torah, so the argument goes, you're not a Jew. But such views in the US are pretty uncommon. Example 2: Some Jews, for various reasons, have dropped their previous convictions and embraced Jesus as their savior. These people are sometimes referred to as Messianic Jews or Jews for Jesus. They see themselves as faithful Jews who also happened to embrace Jesus - in other words, there's no conflict of interest. Many other Jews, though, are troubled by this and see it as a paradox. Since the time of St. Paul, Jews who adopted the following of Jesus became Christians and were thus no longer Jews. You were either Jewish or Christian - you believe that Jesus is not the messiah or he is the messiah. It's a really delicate issue that gets a lot of Jews very upset, since they see Messianic Jews as distorting the faith. > > How about someone not an ethnic Jew but who converts to Judaism? Would they > still be considered Jews? > Absolutely. Conversion to Judaism is pretty rare, but assuming you've completed all of the strict conversion requirements, you're treated as a full-fledged Jew as if you had been born Jewish. Sammy Davis Jr and Rod Carew are famous examples. Neither of them was born Jewish, but because they legally converted, they became Jewish and are (or were, in the case of Davis) accepted by the Jewish community. **************************************************** Andy Carvin Senior Associate The Benton Foundation andy@gsn.org http://edweb.gsn.org/andy andy@benton.org http://www.benton.org **************************************************** Come Visit The EdWeb Project at http://edweb.gsn.org **************************************************** =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-= All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law. To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST), send email to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST 4) SET LM_NET MAIL * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv. For LM_NET Help see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ Archives: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.html =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=