Who is a Jew?
People have disputed aspects of this for centuries, so this is not an attempt to give a definitive answer. However, these are my observations and thoughts on this from a historical, religious, and political perspective. My hope is to clarify some claims where possible and to think somewhat objectively about this. I've previously discussed this general subject here and here.
History
Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917, and re-affirmed by the Mandate of the League of Nations, gave explicit international recognition to the historic connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and their right to reconstitute their National Home.
In 1917, the Balfour Declaration transferred rule of the middle-eastern region known as Palestine to the British Empire as a temporary national home for Jewish people. Between 1917 and 1948, Palestine was inhabited by Jewish immigrants who supported the idea of Zionism (the right of the Jewish people to return to the Holy Land)UN General Assembly November 29, 1947 Declaration adopted a Resolution for the establishment of an independent Jewish State in Palestine:
ACCORDINGLY, WE, the members of the National Council, representing the Jewish people in Palestine and the Zionist movement of the world, met together in solemn assembly today, the day of the termination of the British mandate for Palestine, by virtue of the natural and historic right of the Jewish and of the Resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations,A Jewish state, to be called Israel, was established in Palestine on 14 May 1948 by proclamation of the United Nations. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/truman-israel/
It should be noted that an Arab state was also set up around this time (the land was partitioned). Like the founding of all nations and states, there was inevitable conflict and bloodshed.
The State of Israel will be open to the immigration of Jews from all countries of their dispersion; will promote the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; will be based on the precepts of liberty, justice and peace taught by the Hebrew Prophets; will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed or sex; will guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education and culture; will safeguard the sanctity and inviolability of the shrines and Holy Places of all religions; and will dedicate itself to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
Some Jews have likely lived in this land continuously from the time of its original conquest by Joshua more than 3200 years ago until the present day, though Jews were not always in political control of the land, and Jews were not always the majority of the land's population and were at times a small minority.
While Zionism was primarily a secular movement to create a Jewish state, it still pushed this to be a homeland for the scattered Jewish people, regardless of religious status
Today, almost seven million Jews, more than a third of the world's Jewish population, live in the land of Israel. This is more than the number of Jews living in any other country, including the United States. https://www.jewfaq.org/land_of_israel
About half of all Israelis are Mizrachim, descended from Jews who have been in the land since ancient times or who were forced out of Arab countries after Israel was founded. Most of the rest are Ashkenazic, descended from Jews who fled persecution in Eastern Europe starting in the late 1800s, from Holocaust survivors, or from other immigrants who came at various times. About 1% of the Israeli population are the black Ethiopian Jews who fled during the brutal Ethiopian famine in the late 1980s and early 1990s and continue to emigrate from Ethiopia to Israel to this day.
What do we know
- There are living individuals, families, and regional groups who claim to be Jewish. Some are faithful followers of Judaism, some believe in liberal Reform Judaism, some are culturally Jewish, and some are unbelievers, even atheists, who grew up within Jewish families but reject the religion.
- The Bible calls the children of Israel (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) God's Chosen People. We know that they were still called that through NT times. It records that they lived in the Promised Land, with notable displacements at times due to war, exile, and persecutions. After the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple around 70 A.D., most were scattered but some stayed. Of those who stayed, some converted to Christianity or Islam, others remained "quiet" Jews, and others may have intermarried and silently assimilated.
- The Bible records that this land was given to them (Abraham and his promised offspring) forever.
14 The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. (Genesis 13:14–15)
- God has not rejected His people, even after Jesus came. Nowhere in the Bible does it even hint that the Jewish people are no more, or that they will disappear forever at some point. In context, this scripture refers to the people of Israel, and cannot mean that Christians have replaced them. Paul continues to explain in the rest of the chapter that even though they have rejected Him, they are still loved by Him. The whole chapter is extremely important in understanding a Christian perspective on the Jews.
I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham,[a] a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew… (Romans 11:1)
28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, (Romans 11:28)
- God promises that in the end times He will again gather His Chosen People from the 12 tribes of Israel, scattered among the nations. If they no longer exist, does it make sense that a non-existent people will be returned to their own land, i.e. the Promised Land? This includes various OT prophecies of Daniel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Zechariah, possibly Ezekiel, and NT ones too.
- A Jewish state has existed since 1948 in the Promised Land (post WWII). Whether this was due to politics, sympathy, hidden agendas, just to punish the losers of war, or some combination of reasons, it now exists. It is open for all who claim to be Jewish, whether through claimed ancestry or by conversion to Judaism. God often used other nations to bring about His will, but this side of heaven, it is really not possible to know if this is part of the promised restoration of Israel by God.
- Historically, conflict between Israel and other nations has been a reality whenever Israel has existed as a nation. So today is not really that exceptional.
What do we not know
We can't produce strict genealogical lineages for individuals, even if we want it. Too much time has passed. Even in Biblical times, genealogies that were kept were not of the type we think of today, as they often had many gaps, including only representative or exceptional individuals. This was all based on oral and written traditions and records, with varying accuracy among families. Given all the intermarriages, from their beginning, and converts to Judaism, it is doubtful that there can be any claim to a "race" of Jews. A people – yes, an unambiguous racial distinction – probably not for the majority.
We don't know the timing, from a biblical prophetic perspective, of the return of God's People to the Promised Land, as mentioned in Revelation. Eschatology is a notoriously hard subject that biblical scholars have debated widely. But unless you take the view that it is completely metaphorical, with no connection to actual future events, then it seems that Jewish spiritual and genetic offspring still exist in some form or another until the end. Both the OT and NT affirm an eventual return to the land.
We do not, and cannot, know the timing of God's end-time prophecies, or whether or not the current return of Jews to the state of Israel is part of that timing. As they say, "Time will tell".
We really cannot know how many of the inhabitants of modern Israel truly believe in God, and/or His messiah, but surely there is at least a remnant.
What makes a person a Jew
A person can be called a Jew in at least three ways: Biblically, by religious practice and belief (including conversion), and cultural or ethnicity identity. Are we in a position to make a fair judgment of this? Who gets to decide? I'd suggest that we at least start with people within the religion and culture, since that is their self identification. Without proof to the contrary, we probably need to give the benefit of the doubt to their claims.
Direct lineage from the patriarchs, but what about converts and intermarriage? Would Ruth or Rahab be considered Jews? Isaac or Jacob's wives? Mose's wife? Of course, converts to Judaism and children of intermarriage were all considered Jewish if they chose to be on God's side.
The NT references God fearing Gentiles, how do they fit in?
Is the demand for strict genetic linkage a valid excuse or reason to reject modern Jews as God's people? This seems to be an impossible standard that all are bound to fail.
According to Scripture, Christians have been grafted in, so how does that impact this? It also says that some have been pruned out, but could also be grafted back in (so don't boast).
How many true Jews with ancestral lineage and orthodox belief in God reside in Israel is enough of a remnant? 1 million, 144,000, a single family?
If there are no true Jews, then who were the 6 million+ killed in the Holocaust. On what basis were they identified as Jews? Who then do antisemitic racists hate?
The Muslims have been identifying and killing Jews and Christians (i.e. "people of the Book") for centuries. Didn't they know that the Jews no longer exist, according to some today?
By UN mandate and in their charter, Israel has the right to determine who they allow to immigrate based on their claim to be Jews
Under Israel's Law of Return, any Jew who has not renounced the Jewish faith (by converting to another religion) can automatically become an Israeli citizen, somewhat similar to the way Ireland gives automatic citizenship to second or third generation descendants of Irish citizens. Gentiles may also become citizens of Israel after undergoing a standard naturalization process, much like the one required to become a United States citizen. https://www.jewfaq.org/land_of_israel
Orthodox and Conservative Judaism considers people Jewish if their mothers are Jewish or if they undergo a halakhic conversion. Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism accept both matrilineal and patrilineal descent, as well as conversion.
Most present Jews do trace a considerable or even majority (usually not an overwhelming majority, but surely at least 50–60%) ancestral component clearly identified with the populations from Late Bronze Age and Iron Age Southern Levant, where Judah and Israel were located among other Canaanite-derived groups, e.g. Moabites, Edomites and Phoenicians. Anything more specific than that is totally speculative and inevitably wishful thinking. Unless two populations came from very different homelands and historic backgrounds, it is very difficult to genetically differentiate closely related populations living in the same region and mostly divided by religion and tribal/ethnic allegiance (culture and politics), not by starkly separate and isolated origins. Not sure of the source of this genetic map, but if accurate, it is interesting.
So on what basis can skeptics make any solid claims that an individual or group are not Jews, in contradiction to their own historic and religious criteria? It really seems to be begging the question by assuming that since no one can prove their Jewishness (to their satisfaction) then there are no true Jews around. It is unfair (circular) logic to assume that they can't be true Jews who are descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they can't unquestionably be connected to the patriarchs by blood.
Anti-semitism
Some definitions
Hostility to, discrimination toward, or prejudice against Jewish people. This can also be a form of racism.
While technically semites refer to a larger ethnic group, that is not how anti-semitism is almost universally used. Due to the root word Semite, the term is prone to being invoked as a misnomer by those who incorrectly assert the broader definition (by using the etymological fallacy). First use was in German meaning "Jew-hatred".
“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” https://www.state.gov/defining-antisemitism/
Antisemitism means prejudice against or hatred of Jews, including violence, persecutions, and genocide.
Cultural, racial, ethnic, and religious antisemitism types exist.
Hate crimes committed based on anti-semitism ("Hate crime" is a bad term, since crime is crime and that is separate from proving actual motivation or belief.)
It still exists today, both here in America and abroad.
Examples, objections, and "reasons"
I don't hate Jews, just Israel, Zionists, members of "the synagogue of Satan", and fake Jews.
The Jews killed Jesus (So what? Besides it is not really accurate, since Jewish leaders got the Romans to actually do it. Biblically, we are all guilty of it.)
The Bible says there are Jews who belong to the "synagogue of Satan" and that they are not Jews. (?!?)
They are passover murderers, make blood sacrifices, are pedophiles, and have created a haven for immorality.
They are not real Jews and have no real connection to God's Chosen people.
The term anti-Semetic is just another way to control the thoughts of people
The definition is too broad and could be applied to all the people in that region (see etymological fallacy).
It is not illegal to hate people. Signs and free speech expressing our feelings that are taken as threats by Zionists, Jews, or Israelis should be allowed.
Slogans which support resistance/terrorist groups (like Hamas), or calls for the elimination of the nation of Israel ("from the river to the sea"), are justified by the occupation of "our land"
The remnant of the 12 tribes is not represented by the inhabitants of Israel, and we can't know who are real or not, so modern Israel cannot be a nation of Jews
The Jews control or are heavily invested in banking and hollywood, 2 of the most ungodly things in our world today
Satan wants us to believe that the fake Jews are real and bring souls to him by mimicking God
If you don't see all the obvious red flags, then you are not using discernment if you believe them
They are committing genocide, so they can't be God's people
God's word is eternal and there is no room for interpretation, as long as you see it my way by "just reading it". I don't need other people's opinions or knowledge.
Scripture never says the Jew, Hebrew, and Israelites are synonymous (well actually…)
God's word has been translated and or manipulated by man over time, so I don't believe other's opinions and interpretations. I can do that myself (without knowing the original languages, culture, or biblical history?!)
In Summary (TLDR)
The state of Israel is now a homeland for those who claim to be Jewish. Its location is within the boundaries of the Promised Land that Yahweh gave to the descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Jewish identification can be derived from a variety of aspects, which include religious, historical, cultural, and ethnic. There may be no universally accepted standard that proves or disproves someone's Jewishness.
Hate for Jews, Israelis, and Zionists is evident today, as it has been in the past to varying degrees. It should be universally condemned, but let them expose their bad ideas instead of trying to silence them.
Just like any country, Israel can be run well or run poorly, and its leaders may or may not follow God.
We should support Israel when they are defending themselves or seeking peace. We should be good allies, praising them when they make good decisions, and rebuking them when they are wrong. We should not simply abandon them.
