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The practice of matrilineal descent differs by denomination. Each denomination has protocols for conversion to Judaism for those who are not Jewish by birth. The State of Israel adheres to the Jewish law of matrilineal descent for matters which could affect Israeli family law. [6]
Matrilineality in Judaism or matrilineal descent in Judaism is the tracing of Jewish descent through the maternal line. Close to all Jewish communities have followed matrilineal descent from at least early Tannaitic (c. 10–70 CE) times through modern times. [108] The origins and date-of-origin of matrilineal descent in Judaism are uncertain.
Accordingly, Jewish identity can be ethnic or cultural in nature. Jewish identity can involve ties to the Jewish community. Orthodox Judaism bases Jewishness on matrilineal descent. According to Jewish law , all those born of a Jewish mother are considered Jewish, regardless of personal beliefs or level of observance of Jewish law.
Since many Bnei Anusim (i.e. descendants of forced converts) lack an unbroken matrilineal Jewish line of descent or lack satisfactory documentary evidence to that effect (even if they can prove Jewish ancestry along one or all other of their lineages besides their direct matrilineal lineage), conversion has been a growing option for them to ...
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."
Zera Yisrael (Hebrew: זרע ישראל, lit. 'Seed [of] Israel'), known also as Zera Kadosh (lit. ' Seed [of] Holiness ') is a legal category in Halakha that denotes the blood descendants of Jews who, for one reason or another, are not legally Jewish according to religious criteria.
Another argument is that the rabbis changed the law of patrilineal descent to matrilineal descent due to the widespread rape of Jewish women by Roman soldiers. [84] Since the anti-religious Haskalah movement of the late 18th and 19th centuries, halakhic interpretations of Jewish identity have been challenged. [85]
Reform Judaism rejected the traditional definition of a Jew via matrilineal descent, effectively severing the united peoplehood that had linked Reform and non-Reform movements. [3] For practically all Orthodox Jews (and many Conservative Jews), this was seen as splitting the Jewish people into two mutually incompatible groups.