The am-yisrael-jewish-nation tag has no wiki summary.
17
votes
6answers
454 views
When did Avraham Avinu become Jewish
Avraham Avinu is often called "the first Jew".
When did he become Jewish. Was it when:
He recognized G-d?
G-d spoke to him for the first time?
Covenant Between The Parts?
When G-d changed his name?
...
17
votes
4answers
853 views
Is it possible for a Gentile to convert to Judaism?
Is it possible for someone who is Gentile to convert to Judaism?
What is the prevailing belief of Jewish people on this subject?
What scripture backs up this belief?
What do prominent Jewish ...
8
votes
4answers
318 views
Was Eisav Jewish?
Was Eisav Jewish? Eisav was born to the same father and mother as Yaakov. It may be possible to say that Yaakov was not Jewish either as it was before Matan Torah, however if Yaakov was Jewish, then ...
6
votes
1answer
310 views
Why does the Torah forbid interest only on loans to Jews?
Why aren't we allowed to charge a Jew interest but we're allowed to charge a non-Jew?
18
votes
4answers
660 views
Can a Jew lose their Jewish Status?
Can a Jew lose their status as being a Jew by performing any action (example: performing idolatry, disavowing core beliefs, converting to another religion, etc)? Or once a person is a Jew then they ...
4
votes
4answers
408 views
Matrilineal Descent
I have heard that matrilineal descent (i.e. having Judaism passed down through the mother) comes from the Roman period when women were raped by Roman soldiers and the babies were then said to be ...
15
votes
5answers
1k views
Why is Judaism not Racism?
I am only asking this question to educate myself, not because I am anti-semitic or for any other hidden agenda. I do not what to turn this forum into an ugly place. I realize this question is ...
8
votes
1answer
145 views
Halachic significance of the plurality of Jews living in Israel
I once heard that if Israel has the largest Jewish population, it has a significant effect on certain Halachot.
What are the criteria for this, and what halachot are affected? (Shmita is the one most ...
6
votes
2answers
286 views
Comedy and Jewish Life
There are many Jews in America who publicly engage in comedy, whether as a career path or as a way of expressing themselves (blogs, art, etc.). Is there historical precedent to this? Are there any ...
6
votes
1answer
154 views
Purchasing from a Jew
רמבם, הלכות מתנות עניים י:ז
שמנה מעלות יש בצדקה זו למעלה מזו, מעלה גדולה שאין למעלה ממנה זה המחזיק ביד ישראל שמך ונותן לו מתנה או הלואה או עושה עמו שותפות או ממציא לו מלאכה כדי לחזק את ידו עד שלא ...
12
votes
5answers
401 views
Why is there so much stuff?
If the point of all of creation is for the Jewish people to accept and carry out the torah [I realize this is not axiomatic and may be a point of contention - see Shabbat 88a] what is the need for the ...
12
votes
3answers
924 views
How does someone not know they're Jewish?
In this answer, someone said they got offended when people wore crosses, especially if they didn't know they were Jewish. I'm just wondering how someone can not know what religion they follow?
6
votes
2answers
245 views
Why Do Converts Change Their Names?
Rabbi Avigdor Miller said that it used to be that gerim (converts) and baalei teshuvah (repentants) who had been given non-Jewish names did not change their names when they became part of the Jewish ...
21
votes
4answers
1k views
Are children adopted by Jews Jewish?
I was adopted around the time I was three months old by my parents who are both Jewish. I do not know what religion my biological mother was, in fact I have very little detail about her at all. I was ...
9
votes
2answers
188 views
Why do we say that Hashem chose us if He offered to the Torah to all the other nations first?
According to Midrash Sifri (Deuteronomy 343), Hashem first went around to all the nations and offered them the Torah before offering it to Bnei Yisroel. So why do we say in Kiddush and Birchas ...
8
votes
2answers
133 views
Were the eirev rav Jewish?
Were the eirev rav Jewish? If they were in fact Jewish why are they described by the term eirev rav instead of just referring to them as we would any other Jew? If they were not Jewish why were they ...
6
votes
2answers
130 views
Why switch the reference from “גוי” to “עם” in Tachanun?
Why does the prayer "Shomer Yisra'el" in Tachanun say in two of the verses the word גוי in the first and last phrase, but עם in the middle phrase?
שומר גוי אחד שמור שארית עם אחד ואל יאבד גוי אחד
...
4
votes
1answer
98 views
What's “chosen” about Jews?
Jews are commonly referred to as "the chosen people". I've heard it comes from Exodus 19:5 ("וִהְיִיתֶם לִי סְגֻלָּה מִכָּל הָעַמִּים", "ye shall be Mine own treasure from among all peoples", JPS). ...
4
votes
1answer
224 views
Does God discriminate between Jewish and non-Jewish people?
I often wonder if God has a different attitude towards people who are not Jews. Why Jews are consisdered to be most favored nation? Does that mean that all other people are inferior to Jews? Wouldn't ...
3
votes
0answers
122 views
Jewish Status of the Patriarch's Wives?
Judaism is clear on the matrilineal descent. Yet it's not clear to me that the Matriarchs after Sarah were "Jewish" - they were Abraham's relatives, they were not Canaanites as requested by Abraham, ...
2
votes
2answers
208 views
Why are children from a gentile wife not considered Jewish with a Jewish father?
Why are children who have a Jewish Father and gentile mother not considered Jewish?
1
vote
1answer
142 views
Were the prophets and holy people who lived before Judah (Yehudah) also Jews?
The word "Jew" originates from the name of the eldest son of Jacob. The term "Jew" was introduced many generations and decades after him. I wonder whether Adam, Noah, Lot, Abraham and Moses were all ...
0
votes
1answer
144 views
Who is a Jew according the Tanach?
Does the Tanach give guidelines to Identify who is a Jew and who is not?
0
votes
1answer
149 views
What was the 'evolution' of determining who is part of the Jewish people?
Starting with Abraham and continuing till modern halacha. how has the halacha regarding who is part of the Jewish people changed? What were the causes of the change, and the reasoning, and the change ...
-4
votes
2answers
201 views
When did the switch to matrilineal descent occur?
Does anyone know when the switch the matrilineal descent took place? I've seen other information about the potential impetus, but when did it become so? Was there even a switch?
