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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.
Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side [1] or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage.
Historical definitions of Jewish identity have traditionally been based on halakhic definitions of matrilineal descent, and halakhic conversions. These definitions of who is a Jew date back to the codification of the Oral Torah into the Babylonian Talmud, around 200 CE.
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."
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.
Jewish genealogy is the study of Jewish families and the tracing of their lineages and history. The Pentateuchal equivalent for "genealogies" is "toledot" (generations). In later Hebrew, as in Aramaic, the term and its derivatives "yiḥus" and "yuḥasin" recur with the implication of legitimacy or nobility of birth. [ 1 ]
A parsimonious explanation for these observations is that they reflect a history in which many of the Jewish groups descend from a common ancestral population which was itself admixed with Africans, prior to the beginning of the Jewish diaspora that occurred in 8th to 6th century BC" the authors concluded. [5] [93]