Am I ethnically Jewish?

[Shiggy-no-Piggy]

So I found out that my great grandfather on my mothers side was a Jew, I've talked to a Jewish friend of mine and he says that, that makes me a Jew, is that true?

 

[rosends]

According to any branch of Judaism that believes in matrilineal and not patrilineal descent, no.

 

[Eliab ben Benjamin]

If the Great Grandmother he married was also Jewish it could be yes

 

[Shiggy-no-Piggy]

According to any branch of Judaism that believes in matrilineal and not patrilineal descent, no.

Really? Ah well, thank you very much, still a very interesting religion and culture though.

 

[Eliab ben Benjamin]

Reform and conservative movements have different rules on this from the orthodox ..
perhaps this page may help ,,,
Who is a Jew via Descent

 

[Tarheeler]

Reform and conservative movements have different rules on this from the orthodox ..
perhaps this page may help ,,,
Who is a Jew via Descent

The Reform movement (only in the US) and (I believe) Reconstructionists are the only groups to accept patrilineal descent.

Conservative Judaism follows matrilineal descent, and a Jewish great-grandfather alone would not qualify the OP as being Jewish. He would still need either an unbroken matrilinial line or a halachic conversion to be counted as Jewish.

 

[RabbiO]

The Reform movement (only in the US) and (I believe) Reconstructionists are the only groups to accept patrilineal descent.

Conservative Judaism follows matrilineal descent, and a Jewish great-grandfather alone would not qualify the OP as being Jewish. He would still need either an unbroken matrilinial line or a halachic conversion to be counted as Jewish.

In 1983, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Reform movement's rabbinical association, passed a resolution that said, in relevant part, "that the child of one Jewish parent is under the presumption of Jewish descent. This presumption of the Jewish 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." (emphasis added)

I cannot emphasize enough the word "presumption." Note as well that the resolution does not speak of a Jewish father. It says "parent." The presumption does not convey automatic qualification/acceptance of a child's Jewish status and only a presumption exists even if the one Jewish parent is the mother. As noted in a subsequent teshuvah from the CCAR, "Whether the child of a mixed marriage is in fact Jewish is a matter of judgment. It depends upon an evaluation of his or her conduct and commitment, a finding that the child's acts of identification with Judaism are sufficiently "meaningful" to remove any doubt as to the genuineness of his or her Jewish identity."

 

[Akivah]

So I found out that my great grandfather on my mothers side was a Jew, I've talked to a Jewish friend of mine and he says that, that makes me a Jew, is that true?

I wonder at questions like this. The poster has one Jewish great grandparent. Presumably no one else in the family was Jewish or has practiced Judaism. Thus no one in the past three generations in this family identified as being Jewish. So why would a person in this situation want to identify as being Jewish? It is a foreign concept in their family.

 

[Shiggy-no-Piggy]

I wonder at questions like this. The poster has one Jewish great grandparent. Presumably no one else in the family was Jewish or has practiced Judaism. Thus no one in the past three generations in this family identified as being Jewish. So why would a person in this situation want to identify as being Jewish? It is a foreign concept in their family.

It's kind of like how people get all excited when they are 1/16th cherokee. It's basically because I'm quite interested in Judaism, Jewish culture and history and finding out you have some link to that, no matter how small is very nice and you wonder if you could claim to be part of it.

 

[metis]

It's kind of like how people get all excited when they are 1/16th cherokee. It's basically because I'm quite interested in Judaism, Jewish culture and history and finding out you have some link to that, no matter how small is very nice and you wonder if you could claim to be part of it.

Here's a site that I believe you may find to be quite useful: Judaism 101

 

[Shiggy-no-Piggy]

Here's a site that I believe you may find to be quite useful: Judaism 101

Thanks, but I've been reading it a bit, it's just that my Jewish friends comments threw me off, so I wanted to be sure.

 

[CMike]

So I found out that my great grandfather on my mothers side was a Jew, I've talked to a Jewish friend of mine and he says that, that makes me a Jew, is that true?

You are a Jew if your mother was Jewish or you converted to Judaism. That's about it.