Who is a Jew?


"Who is a Jew?" is a basic question about Jewish identity and considerations of Jewish self-identification. The question pertains to ideas about Jewish personhood, which have cultural, ethnic, religious, political, genealogical, and personal dimensions. Orthodox Judaism and Conservative Judaism follow Jewish law, deeming people to be Jewish if their mothers are Jewish or if they underwent a halakhic conversion. Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism accept both matrilineal and patrilineal descent as well as conversion. Karaite Judaism predominantly follows patrilineal descent as well as conversion.
Jewish identity is also commonly defined through ethnicity. Opinion polls have suggested that the majority of modern Jews see being Jewish as predominantly a matter of ancestry and culture, rather than religion.
There is controversy over Jewish identification in Israel, as it affects citizenship and personal status issues like marriage. Israel's Law of Return grants citizenship to those with a Jewish parent or grandparent, even if not religious. But the rabbinical courts use halakhic rules for marriage, requiring Orthodox conversions for those without a Jewish mother. This creates conflicts between different branches of Judaism.
The Nazis defined Jews based on their ancestry and persecuted them on a racial basis. Antisemites have also defined Jews for discriminatory goals. Jews themselves have varying self-definitions, ranging from religious observance to secular ethnic identity. There is no consensus, but common themes emphasize ancestry, culture, and community belonging, even for secular Jews and converts to other religions.

Definition of "Jew"

The term "Jew" lends itself to several definitions beyond simply denoting one who practices Judaism or is an Israelite. The historical Israelites and/or Hebrews, who promulgated Judaism, were not simply a heterogenous assemblage united by a common ideology; they constituted an ethnoreligious group from whom a majority of modern Jews directly descend. Because of this, an ethnic form of Jewish identity exists alongside the religious form, and the concepts of Jewish ethnicity, nationhood, and religion are strongly interrelated. Additionally, conversion allows for one who has no prior connection to the historical Jewish population to become a Jew.
In essence, the word "Jew" can be defined as a conglomerate of several different, albeit closely related, ideas:
  • A Jew is one who practices the Jewish religion, Judaism. This includes both converts and those who have been members of the Jewish religion since birth.
  • A Jew is one who is a direct descendant of the ancient Israelite ethnic group, and therefore is a member of the Jewish people. This includes those who may not be observantly religious, or may be irreligious altogether, and claim an overtly cultural connection, though some scholars limit the definition to descendants of Israelites who practice Judaism.
  • A Jew is one who, regardless of current religious identity, is directly descended from a Jewish ancestor. Traditionally, this has only applied to matrilineal ancestry, although some Jewish groups also recognize Jewishness by way of patrilineal descent.

    Traditional interpretation and variations

The definition of who is a Jew varies according to whether it is being considered by Jews on the basis of religious law and tradition or self-identification, or by non-Jews for other reasons, sometimes for prejudicial purposes. Because Jewish identity can include characteristics of an ethnicity, a religion, or peoplehood, the definition depends on either traditional or newer interpretations of Jewish law and custom.
Israel's Law of Return stipulates that a Jew is someone with a Jewish mother or someone who has converted to Judaism and is not a member of another religion. The Israeli Chief Rabbinate requires documents proving the Jewishness of one’s mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother when applying for marriage. The British Office of the Chief Rabbi has underlined the basic principle that a child is not recognised by the OCR and other bodies as Jewish unless their mother is Jewish, or they underwent a conversion recognized by the body.
According to the simplest definition used by most Jews for self-identification, a person is a Jew by birth or becomes one through religious conversion. However, there are differences in interpretations when it comes to non-Orthodox Jewish denominations in the application of this definition, including
  • Should a person with only a Jewish father be considered Jewish?
  • Which conversion processes should be considered valid?
  • Can one remain a Jew after converting to another religion?
  • How does being unaware of having Jewish parents affect one's Jewish status?
  • How is Jewish identity determined in different countries throughout the Jewish Diaspora?
  • How is the claim to Israeli citizenship adjudicated in the context of the Basic Laws of Israel?

    Tannaitic Judaism

According to the Mishnah, the first written source for halakha, the status of the offspring of mixed marriages was determined matrilineally.
According to historian Shaye J. D. Cohen, in the Bible, the status of the offspring of mixed marriages was determined patrilineally. He brings two likely explanations for the change in Mishnaic times: first, the Mishnah may have been applying the same logic to mixed marriages as it had applied to other mixtures. Thus, a mixed marriage is forbidden as is the union of a horse and a donkey, and in both unions the offspring are judged matrilineally. Second, the Tannaim may have been influenced by Roman law, which dictated that when a parent could not contract a legal marriage, offspring would follow the mother.

Contemporary Judaism

All Jewish religious movements agree that a person may be a Jew either by birth or through conversion. According to halakha, a Jew by birth must be born to a Jewish mother. Halakha states that the acceptance of the principles and practices of Judaism does not make a person a Jew. However, those born Jewish do not lose that status because they cease to be observant Jews, even if they adopt the practices of another religion.
Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism, as movements which reject the concept of halakha, often accept a child as Jewish when only the father is Jewish, provided that the child chooses to identify as Jewish. As conversion processes differ, those performed by more liberal denominations are not accepted by more orthodox denominations.

Jewish by birth

According to halakha, to determine a person's Jewish status one needs to consider the status of both parents. If both parents are Jewish, their child will also be considered Jewish, and the child takes the standing of the father. If either parent is subject to an halakhic breaking status then the child is also subject to that status. If one of the parents is not Jewish, the rule is that the child takes the standing of the mother. The ruling is derived from various sources including,,. Accordingly, if the mother is Jewish, so is her child, and if she is not Jewish, neither is her child considered Jewish. In Orthodox Judaism the child of a non-Jewish mother can be considered Jewish only by a process of conversion to Judaism. The child is also freed from any special status to which the father may have been subject under Jewish law.
The Orthodox and Conservative branches of Judaism maintain that the halakhic rules are valid and binding. Reform and Liberal Judaism do not accept the halakhic rules as binding, and most branches accept a child of one Jewish parent, whether father or mother, as Jewish if the parents raise the child as a Jew and foster a Jewish identity in the child, noting that "in the Bible the line always followed the father, including the cases of Joseph and Moses, who married into non-Israelite priestly families." The Reform movement's standard states that "for those beyond childhood claiming Jewish identity, other public acts or declarations may be added or substituted after consultation with their rabbi". Advocates of patrilineal descent point to and. This policy is commonly known as patrilineal descent, though "bilineal" would be more accurate.

Patrilineal descent

In 1983, the Reform Central Conference of American Rabbis passed the Resolution on Patrilineal Descent, declaring that "the child of one Jewish parent is under the presumption of Jewish descent. This presumption of the status of the offspring of any mixed marriage is to be established through appropriate and timely public and formal acts of identification with the Jewish faith and people ... Depending on circumstances, mitzvot leading toward a positive and exclusive Jewish identity will include entry into the covenant, acquisition of a Hebrew name, Torah study, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, and Kabbalat Torah. For those beyond childhood claiming Jewish identity, other public acts or declarations may be added or substituted after consultation with their rabbi."
Rabbi Mark Washofsky summarizes the 1983 CCAR resolution and subsequent interpretations in Reform responsa literature as follows:
  • "The resolution is advisory rather than halachic in the traditional sense. It does not establish a new definition of Jewish identity, for its preamble states expressly that it means to be operative only for Reform Jews in North America, not for all Jews everywhere."
  • "Jewish descent may be from either parent ...The Reform Movement presumes the child of one Jewish parent, either mother or father, as Jewish. In fact, the 1983 resolution is in one significant respect more stringent than the traditional definition of Jewish status. The child of a Jewish mother and gentile father, whom halachah regards as clearly Jewish, enjoys but a presumption of Jewish status that must be "established" by "appropriate and timely public and formal acts of identification."
  • "Biology remains a crucial factor. In the determination of Jewish identity ... the child of two gentile parents is, as before, definitely a non-Jew and must undergo a formal conversion in order to become a Jew."
  • "Both descent and behavior are crucial in determining Jewish status under the resolution. The Jewish status of a child of an intermarriage cannot be determined "automatically" either by biology or behavior. Both elements—descent from one Jewish parent and the performance of mitzvot that lead to a "positive and exclusive Jewish identity—must be present, and they must be present during childhood."
  • "The resolution applies only to children raised exclusively as Jews ... A child raised simultaneously in Judaism and another religious tradition does not develop a "positive and exclusive" Jewish identity; therefore the presumption of Jewish status is disproved, and the resolution does not apply to that child. He or she will require conversion prior to celebrating becoming bar or bat mitzvah in the synagogue."
Waiving the need for formal conversion for anyone with at least one Jewish parent who has made affirmative acts of Jewish identity was a departure from the traditional position requiring formal conversion to Judaism for children without a Jewish mother.
The CCAR's 1983 resolution has had a mixed reception in Reform Jewish communities outside the United States. The Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism has rejected patrilineal descent and requires formal conversion for anyone not born of a Jewish mother.
Karaite Judaism believes that Jewish identity can only be transmitted by patrilineal descent, on the grounds that all descent in the Torah went according to the male line, basing this idea "on the fact that, in the Bible, tribes are given male names and that biblical characters are always referenced by their fathers' names. However, a minority of modern Karaites believe that Jewish identity requires that both parents be Jewish, and not only the father.
The divergence of views has become an issue because Orthodox and Conservative communities do not recognize a person as Jewish if only their father is Jewish. For the person to be accepted as Jewish by an Orthodox or Conservative community, they require a formal conversion. Orthodox Judaism has a predominant position in Israel. Although Orthodox and Conservative Judaism do not recognize Jewishness through patrilineal descent, "it should also be noted, however, that in the case of a child born to a Jewish father but to a non-Jewish mother, most Orthodox rabbis will relax the stringent demands normally made of would-be converts", and the Rabbinical Assembly of the Conservative movement "agreed that 'sincere Jews by choice' should be warmly welcomed into the community".