Patrilineal descent

A short essay by Rabbi Andy Bachman, discussing the idea of patrilineal descent.

I've always had some trouble reconciling Jews-as-a-race versus Judaism-as-a-religion. It was made very clear to me, by more than one rabbi, that the only way to enter the Jewish people as a convert was via religion, and I'm completely fine with that. I love learning, reading, experiencing Judaism in so many ways.

But then, it's always bugged me a little that someone who can trace their Jewish matrilineal descent is automatically Jewish, regardless of their background or whether they've ever set foot in a synagogue or know a word of Hebrew or Yiddish. (Well, I expect most native English speakers know a few words of Yiddish.) And yet, someone who can trace their Jewish patrilineal descent is not automatically Jewish if their mother's not, even if they grew up going to shul every week, observing every Shabbat and holiday, can recite Talmud backwards and forwards. (And yes, if someone's gone so far as to learn Talmud, I would suppose he or she has undergone the conversion process at some point, if necessary.)

The Reform Judaism stance, as I understand it, makes a great deal of sense to me. Reform Judaism accepts both matrilineal and patrilineal descent, as long as the person was raised Jewish.* In the article (and the comments), Rabbi Bachman discusses some of the issues involved.

Personally, it's a moot point for me, but I continue to find the "Who is a Jew?" debate fascinating.

*Edit: In reading through the comments, it seems my understanding of the Reform stance is flawed. Will continue research.

A note on backdating

I'm trying to write at least a little something about each Torah portion. I'm way behind in this, but I want to get them near the correct date, so I'll be backdating and filling in as I go. Not, I think, that anybody is reading, but in case someone is, thought I'd mention it. Carry on.

Details, details

So one of the reasons C. and I appreciate the Reform movement is that Reform Jews don't consider halacha to be binding. We especially consider this around Shabbat prohibitions, or lack thereof...we use electricity; we drive; we cook. (Well, sometimes we cook.) We try not to spend money frivolously, but we will buy things we need or go out to dinner.

We joke between ourselves sometimes that at least we don't have to worry about accidentally winnowing or threshing, since we thought those were purely agricultural prohibitions, and we live in the middle of a city.

We were, however, mistaken, as it turns out. It is, indeed, possible to thresh when one is not a farmer. I have not explored the possibility of inadvertently winnowing.

I do not, of course, intend this as a criticism of Orthodox Judaism; it's more an eye-opener for me as to how very little I know. I do know that, if I attempted Orthodoxy, I'd get so spun up about the details that I'd end up spiritually paralyzing myself. But I have great admiration for those who manage to balance fairly strict observance with living in today's world.